Blessed Combat

21 - Back To Square One

Arma expected the short girl to fall down limply on the ground, unmoving for she had pulled the trigger. However, to the tall lad’s surprise, she didn’t and the scream of anguish didn’t come from him. The tall lad turned to find Ophelia crumbling before his feet again. The back of her fur trimmed jacket blossomed another red stain which indicated where a bullet penetrated through her skin and deep within her flesh. Arma was by then mystified. Where had the bullet wound come from and why weren’t Zessica dead by then?

Before anyone could react, there was another sound of a gun firing and Ophelia screamed again in agony. Arma turned to find that his partner, still staring at them with lifeless eyes, was still having a gun facing at her head. She pulled the trigger again and another gun shot was fired, this time it went on Ophelia’s left leg. Was Zessica transferring all the bullets to Ophelia even though the barrel was located at the side of her head? If so, how?

That’s when Arma, still in shock, saw Ophelia growled lowly before crouching down like a panther and shooting off like a runner. He didn’t know why but instincts kicked in and Arma found himself chasing after the injured Rising Star. It was a miracle that she could even move with those serious injuries. Arma had expected her to limp in her dash but even that proved him wrong. Ophelia was running wild like a mad gazelle as if her gun wounds weren’t there in the first place.

The Rising Star raised one hand, transforming to a black claw with the dark purple fog around it and then slashed it straight into thin air. Arma wondered what she could possibly achieve from this when he realised that it had actually left an impact on something. She practically slashed the air infront of her, breaking it like glasses and behind it was the real Zessica with a gun in hand.

In a split second, Arma turned to find the one with the lifeless eyes disappearing into a cloud of thin smoke. It all made sense then, his partner was using her Minor of Illusion, tricking both of them to think that she was trying to kill herself. Arma reeled his attention back to his partner to find that she had barely dodged the slash Ophelia had inflicted on her. However she didn’t go unharmed for the Rising Star’s claw tore her left sleeve and scratched her arm severely. Already Arma could see the skin beneath the torn fabric turning black with the poison in her blood stream.

When Ophelia raised her poisonous arm to attack again, Arma jumped behind Zessica. With his left hand, he wrapped his arm around of Zessica’s waist and pulled her close to him as he jumped backwards. With his other free hand holding the sword, he deflected the claw and was surprised that it didn’t cut it. The claw was as if made out of steel, pushing the sword back with sheer power. By then, Arma was very well sliding back with the girl in his arm due to the strength Ophelia was pressing against his weapon.

That was when he felt Zessica move. He briefly glanced down to find her taking another gun with her free hand. She fired them both simultaneously despite the poison spreading on her left arm and then Arma would have sworn he only blinked once to find the girl then fired the other two guns, the previous one thrown in the air above her head. She did it so swiftly; the audience who had been watching them almost thought she had fired four guns at the same time. Arma was once again marvelled at her skills. If Zessica had another Major or Minor, it would be Enhanced Gunmanship.

Ophelia groaned in pain before letting her knees buckle beneath her. She was almost kneeling before the two players, clutching the four bullet wounds Zessica had shot at her exposed navel. Her groans and moans of pains was so shrill, it almost made Arma feel sorry for her. He wondered how Zessica was able to shoot her own partner without hesitation with her guns. Even if he were to use a gun, he would have been slightly hesitant to pull the trigger despite playing so many games that require shooting skills. Was it because she couldn’t remember? Glancing down at his partner, Arma knew he was practically staring at a blank wall for she didn’t hint any emotions as usual.