"Now now, young lady. I see that you have grown quite a bit in the time that we haven't seen each other. But by how much though? This time you won't have a meat shield to protect you, right? I wonder just how long you will be able to last without that partner of yours."
The wind stirred as the two Dukes stood face to face with each other, eyes emitting murderous desire for each other's lives. Acht hid the uneasiness in his heart by acting in the best way he knew.
Acting cocky as fuck.
Even though he was mocking her openly, his eyes were analyzing every movement of his opponent. He remarked quite distinctively how she had essentially erased the distance between the two of them and nearly taken him out in one slash the last time they had collided.
Tension ran through the depth of his eyes as he carefully analyzed his opponent. His weapons had gone through a complete overhaul as Nihil had shared some of the technology she remembered from her time as an angel with him. The results were more than satisfactory and the power behind each shot had been amplified by a great magnitude. They were far more potent than ever.
Lilin, meanwhile, was more than a little nonchalant. She remembered her defeat even though she had been fighting with Nuwa as a support. She had been bested by her opponent in the end and nearly died if not for the intervention of her mother.
Many times after the defeat she had gritted her teeth even as she swung her sword, ready to avenge this humiliation. Many times the dreams of the defeat and it haunted her soul and made her feel a ruthless sense of anger surge within herself.
But now that she stood in front of Acht once again, she realized one thing.
"I will win."
Of that, she had no doubt. This was an absolute reality. She didn't just have the confidence that she would win. She was absolutely and completely certain that this battle would only end in her victory over her foe.
Her hand around her sheath tightened and she slowly flicked the handle with her thumb.
Waiting in silence, unmoving, she gazed at her opponent. Like a silent wall ready to stand forever without moving, her aura and her stance were unwavering and unparalleled.
Mana started gushing from them, causing the ground to start shaking slightly and the wind around them to move faster and more violently than ever before.
In the end, the first one to crack under the pressure and make the first move was none other than Acht himself.
Bang' Bang'
Two bullets were shot at lightning-fast speed but Lilin reacted even before the sound of the shots reached her ears as though she had already predicted their trajectory even before they left the barrel.
The moment Acht pressed the trigger, she was already two steps closer to him and avoided the bullets with just a simple movement of her head.
Her purple eyes shone and flashed eerily for a brief moment as she watched Acht also move two steps backward along with her; clearly intent on keeping a certain distance between the two of them.
'Does he remember the distance I had traveled during the previous confrontation?'
If that was to be the case then it was quite impressive. Even she did not remember exactly how much and how far she could travel back then.
"Hehe little lady, isn't this nostalgic? Back then as well, you showed your reach too easily, denoting your lack of experience from the start."
Acht chuckled, even though the girl had clearly grown, it had not even been two full months since they attacked Lustburg.
It was one thing for the prince to grow so much since he went to the Astral Realm. But this was clearly impossible for anyone else to reproduce such a feat even more if they remained in the Mortal Realm and didn't have abundant time to grow.
The fight between them started in earnest as Acht placed different runes and talismans on his equipment that allowed him to move slightly faster and deeper into the depths of the forest. This was the best place for a sniper like him and he planned to make full use of that advantage with no hesitation whatsoever.
Even as he moved he would make sure to shoot regularly at Lilin to keep her in check but he knew that such a thing would not succeed, in the end.
As he thought, Clang' Clang' Clang', the sound of bullets facing the metal edge of her swords filled his ears again and again.
It looked as if, no matter how much he shot at her, she would parry and even slice through all of his attacks. Furthermore, she was also refusing to move from the place she had been standing since the start.
Running like never before, Acht finally managed to hide far into the forest, behind the thick ravine of trees and bushes.
Slowly steadying his heartbeat, he made sure to not breathe or make any sound, lest he would be found out by his opponent.
'She is definitely stronger and calmer than in the past. This is an admirable growth, but that wouldn't be enough to defeat me.'
He briefly debated trying to flee now. But even at this moment, he could feel the aura of the prince somewhere out there. It seemed like he was still present and observing them.
'Ugh...'
Putting his back against the tree, Acht caressed the ring on his finger and nine rifles with intricate designs appeared floating in the air.
Those were the same rifles he had used back then but far more destructive. One blast should be enough to wipe out a part of this forest. The only drawback was that the durability was compromised.
But honestly, this was the least of his worries right now.
Crouching on the ground, with one rifle in hand quietly aiming at his target, a grin formed on his face.
[Zone: Mind's Eyes[
At that instant, his eyes emitted a golden glow as the world around him began to change.
Zones could appear in all kinds of shapes and effects.
Some zones only affected the users, while others affected the surrounding, or simply created another effect altogether.
The zone that belonged to Acht was born from his understanding of what was supposed to be a sniper and his own nature.
Rather, it allowed him to amass an incredibly large amount of information and create a map of his surroundings in his own mind. The increase in perception allowed him to process that information at a speed hundreds of times faster than normal.
Thanks to this, as long as his target was in his zone, he did not have to 'see' them and could shoot them from anywhere without even showing himself.
His mistake back then had been underestimating the girl and showing himself when he should have simply ended her in one go.
[Target Locked]
Immediately, everything became as clear to him as if he had been blind all along.
He popped a pill in his mouth to calm down the aching pain that was slowly growing and once again aimed at his unsuspecting prey.
'This time 1 will end you in one shot. See you never bitch.'
Acht pressed the trigger and the moment he did so, through the visor, he saw Lilin looking directly at him, with a smile on her face.
At the same time, the bullet, which was more akin to a laser beam, traveled at a speed nearly that of a falling lightning bolt before reaching his target.
BOOM!!
Acht closed his eyes as everything was engulfed in the debris of a large explosion.
The sky became darker as the fire started to spread everywhere.
Acht could feel his heart beating powerfully inside of his chest.
This shot had been even more powerful than he had anticipated.
But this didn't matter. As long as he could incapacitate her, he could perhaps use her as a hostage to flee.
He started moving while staying slightly hidden behind the wildlife in order to not compromise his position.
'Did I get her?"
Feeling no answer, he couldn't help but start doubting himself.
But... when the wind moved away the cloud that was covering her, he could see Lilin standing still in the same place as the one at the start.
Everything was reduced to cinders.
Everything except a certain perimeter around her.
"I guess it's time for me to fight back?"
The grin she formed on her face made him think of Sol and he started to question if all the royal family members of Luxuria had a screw loose in their head.
