Vincent died without ever understanding why Sean’s magic could reflect bullets.
As a forr rcenary, he wasn’t afraid of death. In his line of work, death was inevitable.
If you kill, you must be prepared to be killed.
He didn’t bla Sean. He was just bitter.
As an accomplished Witch Hunter, he had killed over a hundred Wizards. Vincent had seen every kind of Basic Level Magic—Fireball, Ice Spike, Earth Wall, Wind Roll, even Soul Shock—and had experience countering them all. The only exception was Sean’s golden ring of formulas, which was beyond his comprehension.
If he had known Sean’s magic was so bizarre, he would never have let his n open fire.
—Then again, he hadn’t been the one to order the shot. It was the attendant from Holkaydo.
That was why Vincent was so bitter.
Unfortunately, there were no second chances in this world. He wasn’t getting a do-over.
Facing the Armor-Piercing Bullets his own companion had ordered his n to use, Vincent had no ti to react. He was instantly riddled with holes. Blood gushed from the wounds, soaking him and turning him into a crimson figure.
His legs gave out beneath him, and he sank to his knees. He stared at the man he had mistaken for a frail writer, whose expression was now cold and distant. The shock and bitterness in his eyes lingered. As his consciousness faded, his head finally drooped. His mangled body pitched forward, hitting the ground with a THUD.
Only his phone, miraculously untouched by the bullets, continued to BUZZ in his pocket.
...
「anwhile.」
In an office sowhere.
A man sat at a desk, holding the receiver of a landline phone, his brow furrowed.
Ten minutes ago, he had received a call from his superior, ordering him to imdiately contact Vincent and tell the Witch Hunting Team in the Black Fruit Rainforest to terminate their operation.
The Spring of Enlightennt in the Black Fruit Rainforest was the main supply channel for their trading company, accounting for a huge portion of their revenue. He didn’t understand why his superior wanted to call off the operation, but he followed orders and called Vincent anyway.
But he couldn’t get through.
He tried calling several tis in a row. At first, no one picked up. Then, the calls went straight to a ssage saying the phone was off. If he hadn’t known Vincent was on a mission in the Black Fruit Rainforest, he would’ve suspected the guy was fooling around in so bar and had gotten his phone stolen.
Not knowing what Vincent was up to, he tried calling one last ti. It was still off. He had no choice but to report the situation to his superior.
When the superior heard that Vincent couldn’t be reached, he in turn called his own superior.
And so, the Fla Crow Maiden, who had been waiting patiently for a response, received a call.
"What do you an you can’t reach him?"
"No one’s picking up. Now the phone is off."
"?"
’Dammit.’
The maiden’s heart suddenly sank with a terrible premonition.
Not answering, then turning the phone off... that’s what a lot of thieves do. It had also beco a common tactic for Witch Hunters to ignore orders, blaming it on a supposed thief later.
She was in no mood to dwell on which it was. Either way, it ant she could no longer stop the Witch Hunting Operation in the Black Fruit Rainforest. And that ant the prey who had drunk from the Spring of Enlightennt was dood to a tragic end.
When the maiden fell silent, the man on the other end of the line asked tentatively, "Should I send a team to check on the situation? If he’s still alive, I’ll find a way to get him back."
The maiden was silent for a mont before saying, "It’s too late."
’Based on the personality Sean has shown, he isn’t the type to surrender without a fight,’ she thought. ’And the only outco for resistance is being shot on the spot. Guns are the most effective weapon against Low-tier Wizards. Experienced Witch Hunters won’t even let their target get within ten ters. No matter how ferocious the prey is, they’ll never get the chance to fight for their life.’
’Sean is as good as dead.’
’Or rather, he’s probably already dead.’
The maiden closed her eyes, suppressing the swirl of emotions inside her. When she opened them again, her voice was once more cold as ice. "Send your n over."
The person on the other end was clearly stunned for a mont. "Didn’t you say it was too late?"
"It’s too late to save him, but..." A deadly glint flashed in the maiden’s eyes. "...we can certainly do so killing."
Ignoring a call from the organization could be a minor issue or a major offense. If pressed, it warranted severe punishnt under the Witch Hunters’ internal rules. This was a perfect opportunity to clip her enemies’ wings, and she had no intention of letting it pass.
’It would be revenge for Sean, in a way.’
"Have your n rush over as fast as they can. Make a big scene—the bigger, the better. Tell them to act anxious. That way, those people will know they’ve screwed up sothing big," the maiden instructed. She was going to play this out perfectly, so those Witch Hunters would know exactly why they were about to die.
"Understood," the man on the other end replied.
The maiden hung up the phone.
Sean’s face appeared in her mind, and she unconsciously bit her lip.
She had only t Sean twice. They were practically strangers who had t by chance, with no deep connection between them. They weren’t even casual friends. The last ti they t, he had asked for her na, and she hadn’t given it. Yet, despite their shallow, near-nonexistent relationship, she still felt a pang of sadness for his death.
It would have been better if she’d never t him. Now that she had, she couldn’t just act like nothing happened.
She could never turn a blind eye to the tragedies happening around her.
Clearly, she wasn’t cut out to be a re spectator.
So, she chose to leap down from the stands and do everything in her power to end this cruel farce.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
There was a knock on her hotel room door.
The maiden composed herself and said, "Co in."
The visitor was the woman who had appeared beside the maiden after Sean left the Void Technique Space. She had been the maiden’s partner for many years and could tell at a glance that she was in a bad mood, easily guessing the outco.
"Were we too late?"
"Not too late," the maiden replied. "Those Witch Hunters won’t be leaving the Black Fruit Rainforest so quickly."
’If they can’t make it out by nightfall, they’re never getting out.’
The woman understood the aning behind her words—Sean was dead. She sighed and comforted her, "It’s not your fault. You did everything you could."
In this terrible world, countless Wizards were imprisoned and slaughtered. No one can protect everyone.
It would have been wonderful if you could have saved Sean, but you don’t need to bla yourself for failing. After all, things like this are happening all the ti, in places you’ll never even see.
"I’m not blaming myself," the maiden said, her tone harsh. "I warned him. He didn’t listen. If he’s dead, it serves him right."
The woman smiled, not calling her out on it.
The maiden didn’t like the look in her eyes and changed the subject. "Did you need sothing?"
"Nothing important. I just ca to remind you not to forget tonight’s Dawn Conference," the woman said.
"Don’t worry," the maiden said. "He’s not important enough to make forget my real business."
"Let’s go. We’ll get sothing to eat, then head back to the Void Technique Space."
’The Dawn Conference is held in the Void Technique Space,’ she thought. ’It’s still early, so there’s no real rush. But I don’t want to wait for news at the hotel. If I do, I won’t be able to stop thinking about how horribly that man died. And I had to admit, he was kind of my type.’
’Rather than waste ti on an idiot who threw his life away for nothing, I’d be better off going back to the Void Technique Space to ditate.’
At this mont, in the maiden’s eyes, Sean was already a dead man.
But to her utter astonishnt, this "dead man" was about to co back to life.
The Void Technique Space had a rule similar to a mory anchor: a Wizard would always reappear in the sa spot from which they’d last left. So after she and the other woman had eaten and rested for a while, they re-entered the Void Technique Space. And the first thing they saw was the sa familiar street.
And a familiar smiling face—
Sean, the man who should have been riddled with bullets, was standing there completely unhard, watching her with a smile.
"Good afternoon, Miss Fla Crow. I’ve been waiting for you."
The maiden: "???"
"Sean?!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You’re not dead??"
Sean tilted his head. "Did you want to be?"
The woman next to the maiden also parted her red lips in astonishnt, for a mont thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her.
’How could a Novice Wizard, one who just learned ditation and gained Magic Power from the Spring of Enlightennt, possibly survive an entire team of Witch Hunters?’
"How did you escape?"
Sean was about to spin a tale, but a man suddenly ran over and answered the question for him.
It was the sa man who had been on the phone with the maiden earlier.
After receiving the maiden’s orders, he had imdiately sent out the notice and was preparing to personally lead a team to the Black Fruit Rainforest.
A job like this had to be done cleanly and efficiently. He wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.
But just as he had gathered his people and was about to set out, news from the field arrived. He had tried to call the maiden imdiately to tell her, but no one answered. Guessing she had probably gone to the Void Technique Space, he ca in to find her.
"I’ve found out why he couldn’t be reached," he said.
Vincent didn’t get his phone stolen, nor did he intentionally ignore the calls.
He was incapable of answering.
The man glanced at Sean. Seeing that the maiden didn’t stop him, he took a deep breath to suppress his own shock and said in a grave voice, "Including the attendant who joined them at the last minute, that’s a total of 27 people and 43 Sll Crows... all dead."
The entire Hunter team that entered the Black Fruit Rainforest was completely wiped out. Not even a single crow survived.
The two won: "??!"
...
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