CHAPTER 212: CHAPTER 212- SHOT

Elsewhere, the battlefield burned under the clash of two deadly skill user.

Belle steadied her breath, her sniper rifle glowing faintly with the orange hue of her Heatshot skill. Each pull of the trigger left trails of steam in the air as the bullet ripped through the space Nia had just vacated. The assassin blinked—appearing and vanishing in stuttering flashes of violet light, like a ghost weaving through dimensions.

Nia’s laughter echoed between the ruptured walls. "Still aiming for me, Belle? You really don’t know when to stop."

Belle didn’t answer. Her eyes tracked every shimmer, every flicker of Nia’s energy trail. Her heartbeat was slow. Controlled. She waited—finger brushing the trigger—then fired again. The bullet missed by an inch as Nia blinked away, the projectile slicing through her afterimage.

Nia reappeared behind her, blade slashing through the smoke. "You’re so predictable," she hissed, voice low and venomous. "Still pretending to be calm... when deep down, you’re just angry that you care."

Belle spun, blocking the strike with the rifle’s reinforced frame, sparks flying between them. Their eyes met—cold precision versus mocking cruelty.

Nia tilted her head, smirking. "You care too much, Belle. About me. It’s disgusting."

Belle’s jaw tightened, but her voice remained even. "If that’s what disgusts you, then maybe you were never worth saving."

Nia blinked again, vanishing into the dark as Belle aimed without hesitation, tracking her energy signature and firing through the mist. The shot grazed Nia’s arm, burning through her sleeve and flesh.

Nia hissed in pain but grinned through it, licking the blood from her wound. "There it is... the real you."

Belle adjusted her scope, reloading with steady hands, eyes unwavering. "You talk too much," she said quietly—and pulled the trigger again.

The bullet flared through the smoke, chasing Nia’s next blink.

Belle exhaled slowly, eyes locked through the scope as her rifle hummed with faint heat.

Her trigger finger twitched, but she didn’t shoot. ’Not yet.’

’Blink every three seconds... sometimes four, when she chains them too fast.’

Belle’s mind calculated every flicker of violet light that Nia left behind. ’She’s fast—but not endless. Her body has limits. Her cooldown window is short, but it exists.’

Another shimmer. Another step between dimensions.

Belle steadied her scope, her focus narrowing. The world around her blurred, only Nia’s movement remained clear, like a rhythm she was learning to read.

’One... two... three—there.’

She fired. The bullet screamed through the air, grazing Nia’s shoulder as she blinked a fraction too late.

Nia cursed under her breath, spinning in midair before landing on a broken column. "Still trying to predict me, Belle?" she taunted, lips curling into a cruel grin.

Belle’s eyes narrowed, unfazed.

’You can vanish all you want... but I’ll find your rhythm. You always reveal yourself in the same beat.’

She reloaded, sliding another heated round into the chamber. Her heart synchronized with the countdown she’d memorized.

’The next time you blink... will be your last.’

Nia vanished again, her body dissolved into a streak of violet light.

Belle pivoted sharply, scanning the haze of dust and distortion. Her senses screamed—too late.

’Behind me.’

A flash of movement—steel glinting under fractured sunlight.

Belle twisted her torso just in time as Nia reappeared behind her, blade slicing through the air where her neck had been a heartbeat ago.

The knife grazed her sleeve, missing vital flesh, but the next one didn’t.

A second knife spun through the air—faster, sharper, aimed with precision.

Thwip!

It buried itself deep into Belle’s upper arm.

"—Tch!" Belle hissed, stumbling a step back, her rifle clattering against her shoulder strap. Pain seared through her arm, hot and spreading.

Nia smirked, her form flickering as she prepared for another blink. "You’re slipping, Belle. Maybe your aim’s as rusty as your resolve."

Belle gritted her teeth, yanking the blade free. Blood trickled down her glove, dripping to the ground.

Her gaze hardened—cold, calm, and lethal.

’She’s toying with me. Attacking from my blind spots to throw off my rhythm. But she’s too confident.’

Belle steadied her rifle with one hand, ignoring the sting in her arm.

’If she keeps blinking like that... the next trajectory will bring her right into my line of fire.’

Her finger brushed the trigger again, steady as her heartbeat slowed to match the rhythm of Nia’s vanishing light.

Belle tracked Nia’s movements through the chaos—each flicker of violet light, each echo of displaced air. Her eyes narrowed, breath steady.

’Left... then vanish to the upper flank. She’s using the same angle again—predictable.’

But then—

Nia shifted.

Her blink pattern broke—erratic, wild, impossible to read. She appeared at unpredictable intervals, once above, then behind, then beside Belle in the span of seconds.

’What—?’ Belle barely had time to parry as Nia’s knife came slashing down. Sparks flew when the blade met the steel barrel of Belle’s rifle.

Nia grinned, close enough that Belle could see the faint glow of energy pulsing through her veins. "Still trying to predict me?"

Belle pushed her back with a kick, sliding across the ground, then aimed her rifle and fired—three precise shots.

But Nia blinked between each one, her form a ghost, her laughter echoing in the smoke.

In the next instant, she was right in front of Belle again.

"Too slow!"

Her knife cut upward in a clean arc—

CRACK!

The blade split the rifle in two. Metal fragments scattered like shattered glass.

Belle froze, staring at the broken weapon in disbelief, smoke rising from the fractured chamber.

Nia tilted her head, smirking. "Looks like you’re out of bullets."

Belle clenched her jaw, tossing away the broken half. "Then I’ll just have to improvise."

Her stance shifted—lower, steady. Her eyes, though tired and wounded, burned with unwavering focus.

Belle slowly reached for the holster at her hip, the faint click of metal echoing between them. Her hand came back up holding a sleek black pistol—compact, deadly, and clearly well-maintained.

Nia raised an eyebrow, a smirk curling across her lips. "A pistol? I’ve never seen you use that before."

Belle pulled back the slide, her expression calm but sharp. "Because I never needed to," she said coolly. "Kevin always handled the close fights."

"Oh?" Nia chuckled, her tone laced with mockery. "Too dependent."

Belle didn’t answer. Her eyes locked on Nia, the barrel of her pistol unwavering.

"Guess I’ll just have to remind you what happens when you lose your crutch," Nia hissed, vanishing in a blink.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three bullets tore through the air as Nia flickered in and out of sight. The last shot grazed her shoulder, spinning her midair before she blinked again, reappearing right beside Belle.

The clash was immediate—

Nia’s knife met Belle’s gun at close range, the clang of metal sharp and fast. Belle twisted, using the pistol not just to fire but to parry, block, and strike.

Their movements blurred—

Nia slashing in vicious arcs, Belle countering with quick, efficient strikes and sudden gunshots that forced Nia to reposition.

"Not bad for someone who hides behind others!" Nia jeered, flipping backward.

Belle leveled her pistol, eyes glinting coldly. "Then you’re about to see how I fight when I’m alone."

And with that, she dashed forward—no hesitation, and the will to win.

Belle fired her pistol, the sharp cracks echoing through the air—bang, bang, bang!—but Nia slipped past each bullet with her blink, the afterimage of her form flickering like a ghost.

Belle’s eyes narrowed, predicting the rhythm of her movement. The instant Nia reappeared behind her, Belle spun on her heel, closing the distance instead of retreating. Their weapons clashed—knife against steel frame—sparks flying.

Belle ducked low and swept from the side, her leg snapping toward Nia’s ribs. Nia blocked with her forearm, the impact reverberating through her body.

’Tch... she’s faster than before,’ Nia thought, a bead of sweat rolling down her temple. ’Has she gone insane?’

Belle didn’t give her time to recover. She pressed in, pistol raised to Nia’s chest. Her voice was cold, unflinching.

"From this distance," she said, "I don’t miss."

Nia’s eyes widened. Instinct kicked in—she kicked off the ground, body twisting midair as the gun went off. The bullet grazed her thigh, drawing blood before she blinked again—this time right in front of Belle.

Her knife came down in a flash. Belle parried, her gun’s barrel catching the blade. She twisted, spinning the pistol around her fingers, and leveled it right between Nia’s eyes.

Bang!

But Nia vanished just in time, reappearing a few meters away with a breathless laugh. Belle didn’t pause, she kept firing, each shot chasing Nia’s movements, forcing her to blink again and again.

The moment Belle’s gun clicked empty, she slammed a new magazine in one smooth motion. The clack of the reload echoed just as Nia blurred forward, eyes locked on her prey once more.