SWNOVELXO Chapter 266: Reached the Crystal?
Marionette, having coated her hand in a thin layer of darkness, grappled at the man's throat with a stoic look.
She then raised the barrel of her gun and stuck it into the gap in his helmet, pointing it directly at his face before muttering:
"You're a fool for coming close."
Hubert, panicking, tried to pry his spear out from the woman's stomach. However, he was unable to, for even the woman's body had a tight hold on his spear.
He twisted his head around, trying to knock away the barrel of the gun out of his helmet.
Unfortunately—
BANG!
—He had been unsuccessful in this attempt.
Having been previously enveloped by darkness, Marionette's attack on his head was amplified, causing the back of his helmet to burst out.
She felt the gun vibrate in her hand as though hinting at its close approach to being awakened.
However, she was too busy frowning at a particular drop of blood that had made its way to the side of her face. She sighed, returning her attention back to her current situation.
She was spinning.
Due to the boosted recoil of her gun and without stable footing to negate the push, she found herself spinning in the air along with the man's body, which had begun to dematerialise, albeit slowly.
But, by the time it finished, they would have already reached the ground.
This was something Marionette had quickly calculated.
She kept a hold on the man's throat, flipping them around and making it so his back was directed towards the ground.
She then circulated her mana through her body, causing her to turn a darker shade and radiate a shadowy aura.
Jericko and Rex, who had watched as their teammate was killed too easily, moved out of the way as both Marionette and the corpse crashed into the ground.
THWOOM...!
Hubert's corpse turned into a splatter, splashing crimson paint across Jericko and Rex, who had noticed had moved farther away from the splash zone.
They then noticed that Marionette was nowhere to be seen.
Well...
That was until dark tentacles slowly rose from where Hubert had crashed into. They then twisted around and merged to form the figure of a beautiful woman with a cold exterior.
With her back facing them, she craned her head back, staring at them with a condescending look.
She turned her body around, facing them before raising her gun towards their crystal as though she was taking it hostage.
She raised her eyebrow at them tauntingly.
Rex, offended by her look, lifted his shield from the ground, prepared for whatever attack the woman had head-on whilst also still splitting his attention to supporting Jericko, who smiled.
"Well, isn't this a bit of a situation? You sure did come here with quite the style."
With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a jewelled necklace into his hand, which he slowly wrapped around his neck. He also summoned a rather antique-looking sword into his hand.
It looked like a katana.
Jericko then asked:
"I assume you're name, Miss, is Marionette Von Roselle. Am I correct?"
Marionette blinked at him before nodding silently.
She then said:
"Good job. You figured out my name. What now?"
Before the young man could even respond to that, Marionette had already fired a bullet towards him.
Bang! Bang!
Ding! Crack...
Jericko stared at his barrier, finding a crack spreading across his translucent green wall, originating from the bullet he had just blocked.
He sighed.
"Not very patient are you?"
"Not like I have to be."
Marionette pushed out the cylinders of her revolver, tilting the barrel towards the sky and letting two bullet cartridges spill out from their chambers.
Jericko watched this before glancing to the side, finding his partner hidden behind his shield. He then glanced down, finding a bullet in front of the man's feet.
He turned back towards the woman and found that she had already begun making her way towards them.
Jericko dashed forward as well, intending to meet her halfway. He raised his katana over his head with clear intentions to slice her in half.
Marionette flashed her gun forward, pointing towards the centre of his forehead.
This caused the young man to change his stance.
Bang!
Jericko used the flat side of his katana to block the bullet, fortunately being able to resist the force behind the projectile. He forced his katana against it and flicked it back.
Marionette tilted her body to the side, dodging it with ease before sinking into the ground. She sped towards Jericko, who raised the tip of his katana towards the dark puddle, moving towards him.
He then watched as Marionette's dark figure leapt out towards him, raising her gun that had become unusually dark.
He raised his katana, coating it in mana before stabbing towards the centre of her chest and piercing through her heart.
SHK!
Jericko watched as his katana sunk into the woman's dark chest and noticed her limbs falling to her sides, becoming limp.
He gave a low hum, "I guess I was just quicker..."
He raised his eyes towards the woman's face, finding... Something off about it.
It was featureless.
No eyes, no nose.
But that weirdness wasn't where it ended, for her face had begun to melt like ice being exposed to heat. Her body even began breaking apart.
That was when he widened his eyes. His mind raced. And eventually, he realised what had happened.
The woman he had stabbed was actually—
"This is a clone!"
He then twisted his head back, looking towards Rex.
His eyes then looked towards the ground in front of the man, finding a dark puddle speeding towards him. It was the actual Marionette.
The Assassin leapt out from the dark puddle she was in and raised her hand towards Rex, who had raised his shield in response.
The man withdrew the speed he gave to Jericko and added it onto himself. Raising his shield, he dashed towards the black-haired woman, intending to bash her away.
However, he was then stopped.
It was as if he had encountered wall in front of him.