EP.200 Land Flowing Like a River - 2
On the point that countermeasures needed to be established, the Regressor's thoughts aligned with mine.
"Gunner...! Tch, seriously troublesome!"
The Regressor reacted irritably and rose to her feet, shouting.
"Stay here! I'll scout outside!"
"Don't reveal yourself! The moment they see you, they'll shoot!"
"I know! I'll twist space with Cheongyeong, so it'll be fine!"
"It's concentrated fire, will you be okay?!"
"I have to deflect it! There's no other way! What, should I poke a hole and peek through?"
If you poke a hole like that, Historia will find it immediately. That bastard's actions are reckless, but strangely she always pinpoints the core. Should I say she has good instincts?
When I shook my head, the Regressor grumbled while preparing to go out.
"Just... who came up with the idea of shooting guns with that overflowing qi?! She's strangely become more difficult!"
Sorry.
I muttered briefly, then immediately pulled off the cloak I was wearing. With two steel bars crossed in the shape of a cross and the cloak draped over them, a human-shaped dummy was created in an instant.
Good. This should be enough to draw their attention.
"I'll open the back door and throw a decoy, so when the gunfire pours toward it, advance!"
"Alright!"
'What, she actually knows how to coordinate!'
She's satisfied. I scored some points.
Holding the hastily constructed decoy, I kicked open the back door of the container. As the door clanked open, gunfire poured toward that door panel. Bone-chilling sounds rang out in succession. The half-open door repeatedly slammed shut from the impact and opened again.
"Hup!"
I threw the decoy with all my might through the gap in the door. The moment a human silhouette appeared, the soldiers' gunfire turned toward it.
'Bait. Is that Hui's work?'
However, Historia, the one I actually wanted to deceive, only gave a brief glance before turning her attention away. Her muzzle was still aimed unerringly at the container. Ready to react no matter who came out.
Tch, I'll have to use this too. But what if the decoy greets her?
You're so good at listening to sounds? Then listen to this!
"Good morning, Ria!"
Shouting loudly, I yanked the wire connected to the thrown decoy. The part where the steel bars were tied twisted, and the cloak becoming ragged momentarily looked as if it had raised its hand. At the action so human-like it could fool anyone, for just an instant, Historia's muzzle turned toward it.
'Hah, such an obvious trick...'
Why do you think the obvious is obvious? It became obvious because it's effective and used often, isn't it.
Right after, the Regressor burst out from the front. Taking advantage of the relatively thinned bullet curtain, the Regressor wrapped herself in Bantan Gigong and broke through, immediately swinging Cheonaeng.
Cheongeomgi, Cheongyeong.
Bullets that poured half a beat late lost their way in the raging wind. Amidst the rain of bullets scattering in all directions, gripping an invisible sword, the Regressor glared.
The eye that sees far, Raman. Surveying her surroundings with the sixth eye, the Regressor scowled and shouted.
"Only one Yukjangseong?! How underwhelming!"
"Underwhelming, she says."
Having missed the timing, return fire was difficult. Instead, Historia stood firmly atop the automobile and slowly aimed at the Regressor.
With a cold smile.
"Full of confidence, darling."
Taang.
Qi swirled in a spiral, and gunpowder and Gigong exploded simultaneously, propelling the bullet forward. The target was the center of the Regressor's chest. A merciless shot, fired with full power.
At the same time, the Regressor's blade had already moved.
The seven colors of the Chilsaegan. The eye that sees power, Jaan.
The tremendous torrent of power, from its launch to its trajectory, was slowly captured in her eyes.
The stronger the power, the less it is affected by external influences. In other words, its beginning and end are clear without change.
An eye that observes the liberation of power, bordering on half-precognition. The Regressor moved her wrist to reach the end of that trajectory. Weightless Cheonaeng moved in an instant.
The magic eye of suspiciously excellent performance captured the bullet's movement.
But if observation alone were enough to keep up, I would have ruled the world long ago yesterday evening. No matter how good the eyes are, if the body's senses are outstanding but cannot block it, it's useless.
However, the Regressor has a Gigong specialized for defense.
Cheonbangyeong, defensive form. Deflection.
Cheonaeng cleaved the air, and at nearly the same moment, the gunshot rang out. Two trajectories passed through the same space at the same time.
The flash was deflected. Exhaling deeply the breath she had held, the Regressor led Cheonaeng as it was swung.
"Don't get cocky! This place has plenty of wind!"
In the land flowing like a river, a fierce wind roiled. Enveloped in a storm intense enough to distort her vision, the Regressor swung the massively inflated Cheonaeng like a fan.
Cheongeomgi, Nanyeong.
At the end of the flapping of a giant butterfly's wings, an invisible storm arises. More insignificant than a gentle breeze, yet a precious whirlwind that pushes up the butterfly's small and light body.
That, now tens of thousands of times larger, engulfed the automobiles running parallel along the belt.
Rumble. Even the heavy automobiles shook helplessly in the wind's vortex. The automobiles losing balance lurched left and right, and it was about time some of those who lost their balance fell outside the carriages.
Amidst all that, Historia stayed firmly stuck to the roof of the carriage and loaded the next bullet. As if the shaking beneath her feet had no effect on her whatsoever, she skillfully balanced with her arms and legs and aimed her gun.
"Tch, so troublesome...!"
"Look who's talking."
Around the time the two women faced each other, I took out a single cloth I had carefully folded away.
I couldn't bring everything because I was fleeing in a hurry, but I did bring a few truly important items. One of them was my deck of trump cards. My magic cards, each containing tremendous alchemy.
And the other was a special cloth specially ordered and received from Sepier.
"It's not originally meant to be used like this..."
It's a magic cloth. Occasionally during performances, an opaque cloth that covers people's eyes and makes objects inside disappear or switch. Its characteristics are being very sturdy and creasing easily.
This is a secret, but it's actually double-layered so you can hide something inside.
Anyway, I placed the cloth in Aji's mouth. I tapped Aji's shoulder as he stared at me.
"Aji. Can you do it?"
"Woof. Believe in me!"
Aji, having made a firm resolution, immediately ran forward.
Aji landed in front of the Regressor who was preparing to block the next bullet. Aji, with a single cloth in his mouth, shook his head fiercely as if shaking something off.
Even while being scattered by the storm, suppressive gunfire continued. Because gnawing at the nerves also had meaning. However, with Aji's appearance, even that became meaningless.
The fluttering cloth, beneath it all bullets were swallowed.
Thud thud thud thud. Like a net filtering a water current, the cloth was pushed back, creating uneven indentations. The caught bullets made futile sounds.
'The Dog King, using tools? But still the Dog King. Not an enemy.'
Historia ignored Aji fluttering in her vision. Without wavering, she aimed at the Regressor beyond and pulled the trigger.
'Our visions are both blocked. Taking advantage of the gap when she can't see this side, I'll pierce through and attack.'
It was a soft thought.
Just before the bullet was fired, Aji's fur bristled all at once. A beastly sense close to sixth sense. Just before the bullet was fired, Aji made a great leap.
Taang. The gunshot rang out again.
However, the Gunner's gun achieved no results this time. Aji, firmly gripping the thick and sturdy magic cloth in his mouth, blocked the bullet.
If it were ordinary cloth, it would have been pierced. The opponent was even Historia. The bullet fired containing Gigong was fierce enough to tear the world apart.
But my cloth isn't ordinary either.
Bullets rotate. It's to brush off the wind and fly without wavering. However, thanks to the rotation, it sticks to things more easily.
At the moment of piercing the cloth, the cloth that touched it crumpled in a spiral shape. Every part except the part Aji was holding in his mouth stretched backward as if someone had fiercely grabbed it. My magic cloth looked like it would tear at any moment yet somehow endured.
Phew, that was close.
If the opponent had been a blade wrapped in Gigong, it might have been cut, but I knew bullets could be blocked. I believed in it!
Aji's head turned slightly from the impact, but only briefly. Soon after, when he shook his head with a snap, dozens of bullets caught in the cloth fell to the ground and rolled. While Historia clicked her tongue, an officer riding in another automobile shouted.
"Dog King, we are humans! Don't block us!"
"Woof? Me, blocking is this?"
Aji tapped the fallen bullets with his front paw. The enraged officer raised veins in his neck and shouted.
"You are hostile toward humans!"
"Woof? Condolences!"
"Why does the Dog King take one side?"
With the sturdy cloth in his mouth, Aji looked at the many people over there and declared.
"It's a political move! I'm the King!"
"What?"
"Military Nation, I express my condolences!"
"This is why those called kings...!"
When the furious officer growled, Historia, having sensed something, fired a blank into the air. Blue energy composed of Gigong soared like a signal flare.
While everyone focused on the Yukjangseong's signal, Historia fiercely shouted.
"Everyone, evasive action!"
I didn't know how Aji had intervened, but the Regressor didn't miss the opportunity that appeared. The ability to always catch and seize opportunities was the Regressor's virtue.
She concentrated her mind and gathered power. The flowing wind connected backward with the Regressor as the starting point.
Though she used Gigong and held a legendary sword in her hand, the Regressor's power resembled that of a magician. The way of a modifier who changes and twists the world, creating the desired world with tremendous power.
"See if you're the only one who can shoot!"
The wind was sufficient. Holding the condensed wind in her hand, the Regressor raised Jijan's handle and pressed them together.
Until now, she had swung Jijan as the handle and Cheonaeng as the blade, but this time was different.
Jijan as the barrel, Cheonaeng as the shell.
Aiming at the Gunner, exactly in the Gunner's manner.
'Fighting directly against a gun is troublesome, but long-range firepower projection isn't scary at all!'
Historia's weapon was at best a gun crafted with the Military Nation's utmost effort. Not to say it's bad, but it cannot escape the inherent limitations of a gun.
In contrast, the Regressor's weapon was a treasured sword close to omnipotence.
The Regressor returned Historia's method exactly as it was.
The wind that should fairly push each other away hung on Jijan with no recoil and finished preparing to shoot her entire body. The compressed wind burned hot, heating the end of Jijan. Red energy swirled around the pitch-black end of Jijan.
Shooting from earth to sky, the earth's self-assertion delivered to the sky.
Cheonjigeomgon, Bow Volcano.
It was different from Historia's. If the power Historia shot was a gunshot that seemed to pierce the world.
The Regressor's wind bullet, embracing sound within, struck the enemy. As if even sound was a waste, power itself was fired.
Misaligned power becomes heat. A turbulent current of wind containing tremendous heat was fired. Despite being so hot, it didn't catch fire simply because there was nothing to burn.
However, even while flying, the wildly fluctuating searing heat made one sufficiently guess the power contained within.
Historia, clicking her tongue, instead of loading a bullet, violently sucked in air.
Opposite to when firing, a vortex formed, and Qi and wind were sucked inside the muzzle. Historia, having condensed power to its limit, instead of pulling the trigger, detonated her Gigong.
Poksagyeong, Hwang.
Historia's Gigong resembles fire. It explodes, burns, and erupts.
Not a fire net created by bullets crossing each other, but literally a net of blue flames spread out to block the Regressor's wind.
The net of fire shot as if bursting collided with the wind bullet. Flames and heat, the two that were always together, now clashed against each other and briefly contended.
For a very brief moment, it seemed the flames would swallow the heat and swell.
It was impossible.
What the Regressor possessed were two legendary swords. Even cheat-level power called the twin swords of earth and heaven. It couldn't be countered with firepower an individual could exert.
Still, resistance was possible.
"Mado Officers! Headwind!"
When the officer shouted, the same sound rang out in unison from the automobiles. Mado Officers who had gathered magic in advance all stretched out their arms and shouted.
"Set, Ri! Pascal!!"
Unless it's the same magic, unique means like magic are difficult to respond to. The Military Nation is a rigid country, but if even tactics are like that, they'll just be hunted down.
The Mado Officers assigned to each unit drew out all their remaining power for resistance. Headwinds poured out from the outstretched arms and the gauntlets surrounding them.
Even that was insufficient, but it was better than nothing. Three automobiles barely held on precariously, with only the left wheels lifting slightly.
One almost fell with its left wheel raised, but when Historia quickly drew her pistol and fired three shots, it barely regained balance and found its place.
Historia, having put away her pistol, showed a displeased expression.
'If we hadn't countered... they would have all overturned. The power to handle wind is also troublesome. And the opponent didn't even have the Progenitor step forward.'
With no choice, Historia ordered a retreat. The automobiles reduced speed as if they had been waiting and turned their handles outward. Rumble, the wheels vibrated roughly as they distanced themselves.
With just that, the distance between us on the Meta Conveyor Belt and them instantly widened.
'Still, confirming the opponent's means was enough of an achievement. The side starving for information is ours.'
Historia continued to glare at us while mounted on the automobile. As she exchanged glances with the Regressor standing opposite, she cast a sidelong glance inside the container.
'Anyway, the full offensive is tomorrow morning. As a probing battle, it's not bad.'
This is... a probing battle?