SWNOVELXO Chapter 267: Crackle Wand? [Bonus]
Rex continued to push forward, finding himself unable to. He had even raised his shield a little to try and get over any kind of bumps he was possibly stuck on.
And yet.
He was still unable to move.
He leaned his head over the edges of his shield before flinching as a hand suddenly appeared. It was a slender hand whose fingers fell on his shield and began pulling on it.
Marionette, who was standing in front of the man, had her left palm on the metal shield's surface, holding him. Due to her body being enhanced with mana, there was a now definite chance she wouldn't be overpowered.
Her right hand, which was gripping the edges of Rex's shield, began to pull his shield to the side, eventually ripping it out of his hands and tossing it aside.
Rex, having been disarmed, became flustered. However, still under the effects of his element, he flashed his fist forward, throwing a punch that Marionette dodged with no issue.
Marionette, leaning to the side, swerved and moved forward. She flashed her revolver towards the man's head, pressing her barrel against the bottom of Rex's chin.
She cocked back the hammer and—
Bang!
—Eliminated him.
Rex's entire head exploded. From above, it would look as though a blooming red rose had replaced where his head was.
Marionette kicked his body back, causing him to fall with a thud. Once placing her foot back down, she twisted her body around, raising her forearm.
Jericko, speeding forward with his katana raised and several swords floating behind him, slashed down.
Cuk-Thunk!
The edges of his blade slammed down on the smooth and polished surface of solid darkness.
Right before he had swung his sword, Marionette had preemptively prepared the creation of a shield forged from her darkness.
Jericko narrowed his eyes and sent mana into his katana, which slowly lit out with a fiery glow before slowly crackling.
Marionette, hearing this slow crackle, felt something bad was going to happen. She quickly stepped back and moved her gaze over her shield, feeling as though time had slowed for a moment.
Jericko's katana, upon hitting the ground, began to react vigorously, crackling.
A split second later, a chain of explosions erupted—
Boom! Boom!
—Snaking towards her.
Marionette narrowed her eyes at the wave of explosion rapidly approaching her. Could she dodge it?
'I'll still be in reach of the blast radius...'
Marionette, skidding back, planted her feet into the ground. The shield that she had attached to her forearm stretched and enveloped her entire body into a dome.
***
Lillian stared at the screen, recounting all she knew about the weapon Jericko had in his hand.
'Crackle Wand, a precious sword crafted and gifted to him by his father. A low Rank 4 Item, around C grade, with the ability to release a small chain of explosions after every hit once activated.'
Lillian stroked her chin, recalling her time facing Jericko, who was... Mini-boss level at this time in the game.
With his ability to summon a durable shield, attack afar using a stream of swords, and fight with a katana that can explode you into pieces, there was no doubt he was a strong opponent.
Lillian would no doubt believe that she would lose most of the time against the man. Well... Unless she had a suitable source of vitality and mana.
She stared at the screen, which displayed a sea of dust and flames. She gripped the armchair of her seat out of unconscious anxiety for her girlfriend.
'Are you going to keep using that gun...'
She watched as deep inside the cloud of dust, the black dome that Marionette had hidden herself inside suddenly bloomed like a flower.
'...Or are you going to get more serious...?'
The dome's black petals pushed aside the dust like fans, allowing the screen to display Marionette's entire glory as she was perfectly fine.
And...
With her revolver in hand.
Lillian grinned widely before muttering out loud, "Four out of the five are done... Just one more..."
***
Once exiting her protective sphere, Marionette locked onto Jericko's figure, who had already begun making his way towards her with swift steps.
The Assassin quickly raised the barrel of the revolver towards the man, shooting her last bullet before having to reload.
Bang!
Jericko, running with his body fully bent low, raised his crackling katana and swung down, elegantly slicing through the bullet down the middle.
And because of this, his sword shot out another chain of explosions towards the black-haired woman through the air.
Marionette, dashing to the side whilst forming a dark wall behind her. The blast was blocked by the wall and gave her enough time to reload.
She pushed out the cylinders, emptying out the cartridges before slotting in new ones. She was fortunate that Lillian had given her so many to spare "willy-nilly".
She looked towards the wall of darkness she had formed, finding it to have been bursted and torn through. And following that were flying blades that shot towards her.
Dark intent flashed through her eyes as she raised her revolver—
CLANG!
—Using it to block one of the swords.
After making sure that her gun was fine, she reached out towards the handle of the sword she had parried.
Upon grabbing it, she felt a sort of discomfort spread across her body. This feeling originated from the gun she had clutched in her hand.
She clicked her tongue and dashed to the side, dodging the flying swords and occasionally turning her body into an ethereal darkness to avoid damage.
Soon enough, Jericko bursted out from the dust and made his way towards her.
They then engaged in a back-and-forth clash and dodging.
This lasted for a few minutes.
Bang! CLANG!
Marionette fired a bullet before having to use her revolver to deflect another blade.
Jericko raised his barrier—
DUNK!
—He clicked his tongue, finding the cracks in his barrier growing.
Unless he gave a long period in between use, his shield would still carry over the damage from the last time it was used.
"Jericko!"
Jericko, in the corner of his eyes, looked to the side, finding Hubert charging towards them through the air. The man's wings fluttered as his armour clattered together during flight.
However, in the other corner of his eyes, he noticed Marionette raised her arm...
The one that was holding her gun...
And then...
BANG!