Jeanne's group did not linger. After observing the situation for a short moment, they continued driving forward. Seeing Jeanne depart, the remaining men hurriedly tried to find a way to pursue their departing target.
But in the next second, countless iron thorns erupted from the ground, surrounding them completely. The density of these thorns made escape impossible, trapping them like animals in a prison cage.
Seeing this, the pursuers took out the weapons at their sides and began hacking at the iron thorns. Even if they could no longer catch up to Jeanne and the others, they couldn't just sit here and wait for the Lungmen Guard Department (LGD) to take them away, could they?
"Use your brains! Find a way to get rid of this junk! If this keeps up, being stuck in a cage is going to be very dangerous for us!"
A voice tinged with anger drifted out from one of the rear cages. The leader held a combat knife, striking the iron thorns repeatedly, creating a rhythmic clanging sound like a blacksmith at work. However, although his attacks could cause some damage to these ghost-like things, after hacking for a long time, he had achieved nothing further beyond leaving a few marks on the surface.
"I have a gel bomb here. Should I stick it on and see if it works?"
"Ursus profanity, did you actually use your brain to come up with that? You're planning to kill us all, aren't you?"
Before the man could finish speaking, his teammate trapped in the same cage immediately "greeted" all of the man's blood relatives, wishing he could shove the idiot into the gel bomb himself.
"Boss, the target has escaped. What should we do? If the mission fails, we won't be able to explain this to the higher-ups, right?"
As the leader struggled to hack away, a subordinate beside him spoke up with concern, worried that the group would be punished.
"Don't worry. There are others responsible for the hunt besides us. The people above seemed to guess that this job would be a bit thorny, so they specifically sent two groups to act separately."
The leader continued to focus on attacking the things trapping him. His main worry now was that the explosion would draw the LGD's attention to this area.
On the other side, not long after Jeanne's trio had broken away from their pursuers, they spotted a group of people on motorcycles charging toward them from not far away.
Their motorcycle-riding skills were truly impressive; relying on the lightweight nature and powerful maneuverability of their bikes, they dodged surrounding obstacles and advanced rapidly, gradually closing the gap between them. They even used ruined houses as ramps to dash forward, clearly very familiar with the local environment.
"Lemuen, if they enter firing range, act immediately! They definitely aren't carrying anything good!"
Jeanne spoke to Lemuen behind her while driving. Her Revelation had just told her that if these people were allowed to get close, nothing good would happen. Furthermore, these people felt different from the ones driving the cars earlier. The sensation these newcomers gave off was like a pack of rabid animals—there wasn't a shred of reason to be found.
Upon hearing Jeanne's words, Lemuen climbed out of the sunroof with the revolver cannon. Using the driver's seat as a brace for her feet, she held her weapon and looked at the frenzied pursuers behind them.
"Don't worry, I won't let a single soul get near this car. If they dare come over, I won't be polite."
As Lemuen watched the motorcycle-riding pursuers with her own eyes, she too noticed their abnormality. She saw those who weren't wearing helmets had blood-red eyes, and their entire facial expressions were extremely distorted; they were the living embodiment of chaos and madness. At this point, it was debatable whether they could even be called human, for not a trace of rationality could be seen in their gaze.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat...
As the enemies drew closer, Lemuen pulled the trigger of the revolver cannon. Accompanied by the constant spinning of the barrels in front of her, rounds of bullets streaked toward the enemy under the blue flashes of the muzzle.
The enemies on the opposite side had no ability to resist the attack of such a weapon. The power of this weapon was so great that even a grazing blow could leave a horrific wound. Even if the terrifying bullets only brushed past them, it caused the motorcyclists to instantly lose their balance and crash to the ground.
"Whoa~ this thing has some kick! It's much harder to control than my previous guns. As expected of a weapon those guys treasure so much..."
Lemuen ducked back inside, rubbing her arm which was aching from the vibration. Her expression was very serious; she was surprised by the horrific power of the revolver cannon. It was not something ordinary firearms could be compared to!
At this moment, she also understood why Laterano strictly limited the use of the revolver cannon. Compared to other firearms, this thing existed entirely for one-sided slaughter. Imagine if a weapon that possessed such immense power while also maintaining continuous fire—and required very little talent to use—was popularized to the point where every Sankta had one; what a terrifying thing that would be.
However, it did have a serious flaw. Or rather, it shouldn't be called a flaw, but a difficulty in usage: its recoil was far too great compared to other firearms.
As it was Lemuen's first time using the revolver cannon in combat, she not only witnessed its amazing power but also saw how terrifying its recoil could be. During the process of holding the weapon and firing just now, even that short burst of continuous fire was somewhat difficult for her to withstand. What was even harder was maintaining her physical balance during that time.
No wonder the revolver cannon was only issued to members of the Gun-Lance Knights. This thing indeed required training measured in years to master; a novice wouldn't even be able to control it.
"A revolver cannon..."
Shirayuki, who was assisting Lemuen, glanced at the weapon in her hands with shock. What she was holding was an actual, genuine revolver cannon, not some model or a weakened imitation!
Seeing the blue light spitting from the muzzle as it defeated the pursuers, the first thing Shirayuki thought was that Ruler Wei's estimation of Jeanne's identity was a bit too low, and that Jeanne absolutely must not come to harm.
As the ninja beside Madam Fumizuki, Shirayuki had naturally studied detailed information on the major nations of the continent, including Laterano and its Gun-Lance Knights! Therefore, she understood what the revolver cannon signified to Laterano—it was their most potent weapon for guarding the nation.
According to legend, when a Sankta uses firearms in battle, they will never fire six consecutive shots no matter what. Regardless of how many bullets are left in the magazine, there will always be a brief pause between the fifth and sixth shots. The Sarkaz once relied on this point, choosing to force the Sankta into continuous firing until they could attack during the gap of the sixth shot.
According to very rare intelligence, the sixth consecutive bullet is actually a taboo that requires courage to use. It is said that those Sankta who fire six shots in a row seem to encounter "something," and basically none have ever been seen returning.
But the revolver cannon is special. When using this weapon, one does not need to care about the issue of consecutive shots; as long as your body can handle it, you can fire continuously all day without problem. Furthermore, she had never heard of anyone in history being allowed to carry a revolver cannon for private action, let alone traveling to other countries!
To make a country like Laterano break its rules and grant such a weapon... it seemed Jeanne's status was surely of the terrifyingly high variety.
At this moment, they discovered that the riders behind actually ignored their companions who had fallen due to injury; some even treated running over them as a normal occurrence.
"It seems these people can't be described as just 'abnormal' anymore. Did these guys eat something foul?"
With that, Lemuen climbed out of the sunroof again, set up her revolver cannon, and began the rat-tat-tat attack once more. Just like before, the blue-lit bullets swept rapidly across their bodies like the cold scythe of the Grim Reaper, swiftly harvesting the lives of the enemy members.
Meanwhile, back at the previous intersection, Pink Sausage Dragon (Ch'en), who had followed the sound of the explosions, arrived with the LGD operators. They saw the group of people trapped by Jeanne. They looked at the black thorns standing in the middle of the road and the trapped crowd, then at the burning street. Their gazes toward these people immediately became stern.