The bullets whiz past harmlessly and I immediately round on the interlopers. The last three rounds loose from the muzzle of my .44 and hit their targets with lethal results. The Lv.11 takes two of the shots, one to the shoulder and the other to his left pectoral. The stronger of the two flunkies is hit only once but it's arguably much worse. The bullet I'd intended for his brain instead rips away the side of his throat. He collapses to the ground, desperately clutching at his neck to try and stem the bleeding but it's immediately apparent there's nothing he can do.
I stifle the inner grimace. That's a bad way to go. I'd rather it have been cleaner. Just shows that my aim still isn't perfect.
+240 Exp!
+285 Exp!
I swing my attention back down to Killer and immediately bring my sword up to parry. In the short time I'd been distracted he's already launched off the roof of a house to intercept me. My cheap steel sparks when it meets one of his scythes and the angle is too awkward for me to stop his second.
I try to maneuver the empty pistol into the way to block the midsection strike and meet...partial success. The gun is knocked from my hand and Killers blow is instead deflected downward and into my upper thigh.
-148 HP!
'MOTHERFU-' HP Regen Skill Active!
-Current speed: 0.2% max health per minute.
The deflection robbed much of the power behind the attack but it's still wide enough and plenty deep enough for my teeth to clamp down in pain. On sheer reflex my head smashes forward in retaliation. Rattling both our bells and pushing us apart.
21 Damage! (1,735/1,810) -29 HP!
I don't care that his helmet made me come out worse in that exchange. It felt good. The pair of us land again, him on one knee and myself on a slight wobble from the injured leg. Nary a blink in time passes before Killer once again throws himself forward in a mad dash, this time with motorized scythes spinning at who even knows how many RPM.
What follows is a flurry of back-and-forths as our blades crash against each other. His agility is incredible, the best I've encountered besides Korka in his Zoan-form, but my DEX of 200 still has it beat. [Bullet Time] is finally at a level where it can provide a genuine edge in my favor and I can truly milk it for its worth in a close combat situation like this one.
Despite both of these though, I just can't seem to get off the back foot. He has two blades against my one and I'll freely admit he's more skilled with sharp objects than I am. Plus let's not forget that their rotational nature means a single screw-up could cost me the entire fight. 'Or worse a limb. I'm not willing to test if [Hp Regen] can grow back a lost hand.'
Suddenly Killers health drops 40 points and a tiny splurt of blood sprays from his arm from the graze of a gunshot.
"I got him! I got him!" One of the civilians of Baterilla cheers from the rampart before being tackled back behind cover by two of his fellows.
I don't know who that guy was, but in this moment he's my favorite person in the world. Killer's unrelenting assault falters -just for a moment-, but that teensy little moment is enough. My sword bats a scythe away, I break into his guard, and bring my left knee slamming into his midsection.
52 Damage! (1,643/1,810)
His upper body lurches forward, bending around the blow and giving me the perfect opportunity to follow it up with an uppercut to the jaw.
57 Damage! (1,586/1,810)
Two solid hits like that would stun a normal man. Actually, considering the damage output it's enough tohospitalize a normal man. But we all know who we're talking about here. And he is anything but normal.
Killer lets my uppercut carry him off his feet...and then uses the opportunity to bend at the knees and slam both shoes into my face.
-76 HP!
The future 'Supernova' springboards off of my head, sending me tumbling ass over teakettle with a broken nose and rolling into the side of a house.
I spit a glob of blood from the corner of my mouth and let out a frustrated growl. 'Best kind of match-up?' My previous words play in my head. 'Yeah right. May have spoken just a bit too soon. He's probably been fighting his whole life and we've just been in a few good scraps. I'm still winning in terms of health percentage but it's only because I got an assist from the crowd.'
I hold my sword up to check how it's fared from the repeated beatings and...it's not great. Those high-speed scythes have really done a number on it. It's chipped in several places, mildly dented in others, and I've got the feeling only a little more abuse is needed before it breaks completely.
"Tch..piece of crap." I curse, tossing the ruined weapon away. I reach into the [Inventory] for another one...but seeing Killer charging again has me pull my second revolver instead.
I clamp down on the trigger once, twice, thrice! 'Shit he's not slowing down!' Five times, six times! 'This is why I wanted freaking speedloaders!'
Killer deflects the last shot and then leaps for the kill. He cuts the power behind his right-hand weapon and the blade immediately locks back into a straight position, ready to impale me into the building at my back.
'Screw it! I'm better at hand-to-hand anyway! [Kami-e]!'
Once again, the most underrated of CP9's skill set saves me as I narrowly avoid becoming shish kebabed. A quick push off the ground has me back on my feet and into close quarters combat again.
Killer's slashes have a slight trace of erraticism to them now. I've got the impression he's pushing harder to try and overcome [Kami-e] but little does he know he's actually just making the situation worse for himself. The 'paper drawing' ability works by handing the users body over to the smallest, most minuscule currents in the air. As long as his scythes are spinning that wildly, he's never going to touch me. Maybe if he had a lot more DEX than I do but... he doesn't.
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