The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 89

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 89

Through the rain falling like tens of thousands of needles, crowds surge forward.

Lillieta expanded her ki sense.

The rain narrowed her vision and dulled her senses, but it didn’t matter. This battle wasn’t meant to be won.

‘I can’t win, but I can’t lose either. I need to maintain a precarious balance that makes them think they could catch us if they push just a little harder.’

She couldn’t carelessly kill the duplicates since there might be real captured people mixed among them.

She counted the number of presences she detected.

‘7 Lindseys, 8 Male Clerks, 10 Female Clerks, 13 Gatekeepers, 3 types of Special Agents… 9 Red-haired Men, 10 Men with Magic Guns, 12 Women with Hats for a total of 31 Special Agents, 69 in total.’

If even one of them disappeared, she would have to stop fighting, pretend to flee, then chase after that one.

‘Best case scenario would be if Senior Is notices the situation and joins us during the fight. In that case, we’ll leave the tracking to him and hide for now.’

Of course, she had also prepared a strategy for if Isaiah didn’t join them at all.

While she was thinking, the duplicates entered the Botanical Hall.

Rita climbed onto the roof of the makeshift warehouse and aimed her gun. Gid stood firm below her, raising his sword.

Ten men in Special Agent uniforms with magic guns stopped at the outskirts of the town square and opened fire. Half aimed at Gideon, half at Lillieta.

Gid sliced through all the bullets flying toward him with his sword. Rita moved her gun barrel quickly without even blinking. Her fired bullets hit and deflected all the incoming bullets.

[Admiration: The Creator said the user could deflect bullets with bullets, but that wasn’t just boasting—]

Grace’s admiration was cut short. The deflected bullets flew toward different duplicates. Several of the charging duplicates hurriedly blocked the bullets in their own ways.

[Shock: Don’t tell me you calculated even the deflection angles when you hit them back?]

The focused Rita didn’t respond to Grace’s fuss. Her violet eyes moved busily beneath her rain-soaked blonde hair. Except for the few she had restrained by deflecting bullets, the rest collided with Gid.

The Lindseys flanked with daggers, the Male Clerks threw fist-sized orb-like objects, the Female Clerks swung down axes, the Gatekeepers thrust spears, the Red-haired Special Agents swung swords, and the Women with Hats cast magic.

[Casting: Casting enhancement magic on the user’s eyes and arms.]

‘Well done, Grace.’

Rita instantly distinguished between attacks that would be easy for Gid to block and those that wouldn’t, as well as the priority of what needed to be blocked, and moved her gun barrel.

Gunshots rang out like the sound of rain.

First came the flying orbs. The small bombs were pierced by bullets in mid-air and exploded before impact.

Next, the Special Agents who had been casting magic stopped their spells in succession and retreated to avoid bullets striking at their feet.

Finally, three of the flanking Lindseys had their heads blown off, while four dropped their daggers after being shot.

‘I know the original Lindsey. 66 left.’

Ribbon ties or jackets could be lost and ponytails could come undone, but missing the mole under the eye or having six fingers definitely marked them as duplicates.

While she provided cover, Gid faced the duplicates using only pure swordsmanship and martial arts without any special techniques.

He kicked over a table toward a Female Clerk charging with an axe, then turned and pressed down on one side of another table to stand it upright. The Gatekeepers’ spear points stuck into the iron table standing like a shield.

Simultaneously, his swung sword deflected a Red-haired Special Agent’s blade, and as he tilted his head back, a dagger passed by.

The next moment, Gideon’s returning sword took off the Red-haired Special Agent’s head. Having confirmed through contamination check at the moment of contact that he was a duplicate, Gid had struck to kill.

An explosive round fired by Lillieta pierced through the red head floating in the air. Bubbling liquid mixed with rain and poured down.

’65 left.’

Not a single duplicate managed to approach the makeshift warehouse where Rita stood. She moved her gun barrel while standing still.

‘It’s simple with Gid here, as expected.’

[Question: Are such chaotic battles simple for the user?]

She ignored Grace’s words again, focusing on the fight.

While Gid kicked an iron chair to knock down two clerks and tilted a table to strike a Special Agent’s jaw with its edge, Rita put explosive rounds into the heads of two Gatekeepers.

‘I saw the original Gatekeeper when entering the inner chamber.’

Quickly scanning people she met and remembering key features was a kind of habit.

Rita picked out and killed the one with a hooked nose and the one without double eyelids, different from the Gatekeeper in her memory. She left alone those with different clothing, just in case.

Meanwhile, Gid took off the heads of those he was certain were duplicates among those whose weapons clashed with his. Rita unfailingly put explosive rounds into them. The liquefied duplicates mixed with rainwater and flowed away.

’61, 60, 59 left. No deserters.’

She deflected the incoming bullets by shooting back at them again. Gid used the wet floor to slide the iron tables smoothly. Several of the gun-wielding Special Agents fell.

The Women with Hats cast magic again. Rita restrained them but deliberately missed one.

‘As if I made a mistake from exhaustion.’

The cast magic became an ice arrow flying toward them. Gid glanced at it intending to dodge, but suddenly looked alarmed upon seeing Rita and forced himself to cut it down.

After blocking the arrow, his fierce golden eyes glared at her as if he wanted to kill her, then struck the head of an approaching clerk.

[Question: Why is your comrade glaring at the user like that?]

‘I was planning to take the hit, but I guess he caught on. He’s really sharp.’

[Certainty: …The Creator was right. The user lacks self-preservation instincts.]

‘No, I was only going to get slightly grazed.’

Rita, grumbling inwardly, reflexively moved her gun barrel when she saw Gid deliberately expose his forearm to an approaching spear. A defensive round burst like golden fireworks, blocking the spear point.

[Proverb: User, here’s today’s proverb. ‘Try walking in someone else’s shoes.’]

‘Quiet, Grace.’

Rita clicked her tongue, then avoided Gid’s gaze as he looked back at her and restrained the mages again. This time she deliberately missed two but didn’t let the attacks hit her.

‘Getting hurt little by little would be perfect for giving the impression we’re being pushed back… 57 left.’

The fire detection must have ended as the heavy rain gradually subsided. She could see Gid deliberately disrupting his breathing and heaving his shoulders.

This time Rita deliberately missed her explosive round on a head that Gid had cut off. The severed head rolled around and reattached itself, reviving the duplicate.

Her eyes flashed for a moment.

’56 left!’

Even though she hadn’t killed it, one duplicate had decreased. When she expanded her detection range outside the Botanical Hall, she felt one running somewhere. She didn’t look in that direction as if she hadn’t noticed.

Almost simultaneously, light reflected from somewhere hit her face. When she glanced over, the light spun once quickly then flew off in the direction the duplicate had escaped and disappeared.

It was a Beacon Squad signal meaning confirmation and intent to pursue.

‘It’s Senior Is.’

He must have been watching and assessing the situation. His summoned creature could track the duplicate much more easily and safely than Rita or Gid chasing after it.

‘Then now we need to hide.’

Rather than dealing with duplicates while worrying about real people being among them, it was better to hide and rest, then kill the main body.

Rita immediately fired a smoke grenade at Gid’s feet. Smoke billowed up like a tidal wave, obscuring everything.

As soon as the smoke burst, Gid quickly retreated, snatched Rita from atop the makeshift warehouse, and leaped onto a large tree at the edge of the town square that he had spotted earlier.

He sat on a thick branch and pulled her into his arms. The lush leaves of the unknown tree perfectly concealed both of them. Rita gripped her revolver and thought.

‘Grace, magic.’

[Casting: Casting temporary camouflage magic. Duration 30 seconds.]

[Repeat: I will recast the magic with the user’s Oaths each time the duration ends. I will repeat until the enemies leave.]

‘Excellent. Thanks to you, my head hurts less.’

[Suggestion: Rapid magic for Oath Oathbinders has weak power and short duration, and repeated casting causes fatigue. Don’t you have any thoughts of teaching this artificial spirit true magic so I can become more excellent?]

‘If that were possible, Oli would have already input it into you. Just being able to cast rapid magic for me is already incredibly excellent, so don’t be too greedy.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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