Illimitable Until Death

Riko had known for a while that Aria had been trailing her, all to clear the name of her wrongfully accused family member. Riko was well aware that Aria had mastered the customary electromagnetic waves she used for long-distance telecommunication manipulation, and using them would undoubtedly draw Aria’s attention.

Thus, to achieve her goals, Riko had played a calculated game. She intentionally released electromagnetic waves, orchestrating the bus hijacking incident to facilitate Fang Li’s encounter with Aria.

Hence, Riko had spoken to Fang Li in a certain way before.

“Li Li and Aria were bound to meet sooner or later.”

These were not idle words from Riko.

In the mission to find a partner, Aria had set her sights on Fang Li, her fellow S-Rank Butei, from the start.

Similarly, to aid Aria in finding a partner, Riko had planned from the outset for Fang Li and Aria to meet.

Moreover, Fang Li, who had been consistently inquiring about his own whereabouts, hadn’t been particularly cautious about Aria’s intentions. And he had never suspected that Riko was the Butei Assassin. This mix of intention and coincidence had made Fang Li and Aria’s meeting feel almost fated.

Aria seemed to have come to understand this too, and she was seething at the fact that Riko had been manipulating things behind the scenes all along.

Riko, on the other hand, continued her provocations, being utterly impolite as he did so.

“To be honest, it’s quite luxurious to hand Li Li over to Aria. But with you alone, in my eyes, you’re simply not impressive enough. At the very least, I need to give you a slightly higher odds of success; otherwise, it would just be all too dull.”

“… It’s amazing you dare say that, you dirty little bastard,” Aria gritted her teeth, shouting loudly, “The I-U, which has my mother carrying an 864-year sentence, with 122 years of that being your responsibility, I’m arresting you today and proving my mother’s innocence!”

“Just with you?” Riko covered her mouth and smiled, but the condescension in her words was clear to anyone.

Aria, who was already not known for her patience, exploded.

“Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang—!”

The next moment, Aria pulled the trigger repeatedly, sending sparks flying as the barrels of both her Colt handguns spewed flames, shooting bullets in Riko’s direction.

However, Riko seemed to have predicted Aria’s actions. Before Aria fired her shots, Riko had already leaped into motion, dodging the bullets and turning her two Walter P99 handguns toward Aria.

“Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang—!”

In the heavy sound of gunfire, bullets sliced through the air, violently aiming for Aria’s location.

Both Aria and Riko realized something at the same time: their long-distance shooting was utterly ineffective against each other.

Regardless of Aria or Riko, both had the ability to dodge bullets.

With this understanding, Aria and Riko made nearly simultaneous decisions.

“If long-distance won’t work…”

“Then, we’ll get in close!”

In an instant, both petite girls pushed off the ground, dashing toward each other with cheetah-like speed.

They were still wielding handguns.

But now, their tactics went beyond just shooting.

In that fleeting moment of intersection, the two girls pointed their guns at each other’s bodies from an extremely close range, pulling the triggers without any hesitation.

“Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang—!”

The resounding gunshots reverberated again.

At this moment, Aria and Riko were fully entangled, engaging in close-quarters combat centered around their handguns.

This was a form of hand-to-hand gun combat with the assumption that opponents were wearing bulletproof vests.

Even with the vests, the impact of the bullets couldn’t be entirely nullified.

So, when facing opponents in bulletproof vests, Butei often employed this close combat technique, using bullets as impact weapons to strike their opponents at extremely close range and gain control.

Given Butei High’s bulletproof attire, being hit by a bullet was equivalent to taking a full-force blow from a metal rod.

So, after determining that straightforward shooting wouldn’t work, both Aria and Riko opted to use this extreme close-quarters gun technique.

When Aria aimed her gun at Riko’s body, Riko forcefully struck the barrel of Aria’s gun with her palm, deflecting the aim and sending the bullet off course.

When Riko aimed her gun at Aria’s body, Aria used her gun to divert the aimed shots, causing flames to flare beside her body, avoiding being hit.

In an instant, the two were like they wielded two short swords of light, their figures entwined in a dance of combat, accompanied by the symphony of gunfire.

This dazzling display of close-quarters gunshots almost resembled a performance.

However, performances must come to an end eventually.

After all, Aria and Riko’s bullets were limited.

Aria’s Colt 1911 Government Model handgun had a bullet capacity of 7 rounds, totaling 14 bullets for both guns.

Riko’s Walter P99 handguns typically held 16 rounds each, totaling 32 bullets for both guns.

In other words, Aria was at a significant disadvantage in terms of bullet count.

In this situation, Aria would naturally run out of bullets first.

“Click…”

With an empty echo, Aria’s guns were now devoid of ammunition.

“Ugh…!”

“Hahaha!”

As Aria’s complexion shifted slightly, Riko, with a burst of somewhat sadistic laughter, lunged forward toward Aria.

However, at that very moment, a glint suddenly flashed on the deck.

“Bang—!”

Accompanied by a gunshot, a bullet spiraled extremely fast, grazing just under 5 centimeters away from Riko’s body before landing in empty space.

It wasn’t a miss; it was a deliberate deviation.

As a result, Riko stopped her motion, the smile fading from her face as she turned to look at the side.

Standing there was Fang Li.

He stood against the wind, not holding a gun in his hand. But his quiet gaze was enough to make Riko hesitate from acting recklessly.

Because Riko knew that, for this person before her, not holding a gun was actually the most terrifying thing.

No.

It should be said that, when you thought the other party didn’t have a gun, their gun barrel had actually been aimed at you for a while, always ready for a shot.

Invisible Bullet.

This was the Gun Magician.

Immediately, Fang Li took a step forward, slowly approaching them as he spoke.

“Aria, remain on guard.”

“The next move is mine.”