Chapter 4: The Glitchwalker vs Weiss Shi

I might’ve underestimated this gal. A little.

Okay, maybe a lot.

Because right now, I’m having a very rough time keeping up with her. And it’s just her. One person.

But to be fair, I think my teammates underestimated me, too. I’m still standing. Still fighting. And holding my own against the infamous Weiss Shi.

That’s gotta count for something.

She moved like a ghost forged in steel. Her dual handheld katanas slashed with terrifying grace, each swing flowing like water but carrying the weight of iron. And if that wasn’t bad enough? She had dual semi-auto pistols strapped to her ankles.

Yeah. Her ankles.

So every time she pulled off one of her insane flips or twisting midair cartwheels, bullets came flying from angles that should be physically illegal. I had no idea how she was doing it, but I didn’t have time to admire the mechanics. I was too busy dodging them.

We were on the rooftop now, shattered tiles beneath us, neon signs casting glows of blue and magenta across the sky like some kind of synthwave death arena. Sparks flew as our blades clashed.

Below us in the field, Judeth and Jarrod were busy fighting the other two from her squad, which meant I had the honor of being the distraction up here.

Thanks, guys.

After everything Jarrod had said about Weiss Shi, I’d half-expected to be skewered in the first ten seconds. But here I was. Breathing hard, heart pounding, but still alive and still kicking. I hadn’t even used my glitch powers yet. Ok maybe a little bit.

I still had my Dangatana. And it wasn’t broken.

That had to be worth something, right?

And unfortunately, so was she. Still standing. Still unreadable. Still as deadly as the moment she appeared.

She was fast. Skillful. Tactical. She read my moves before I even made them. Her eyes weren’t just sharp, they were calculating. Analyzing. Like a hunter processing prey on an atomic level.

And yet…

She hadn’t landed a single blow.

Which was the exact same thing I could say about myself. The difference was, I wasn’t calculating. I was panicking. Improvising. Running on instinct, adrenaline, and sheer refusal to back down.

Because dying meant I’d lose everything, my levels, my gear, and worst of all…my shot at the Easter Egg.

So yeah, I wasn’t dying here. Not today.

Still, with all the chaos…maybe I got a little… distracted.

"You know," I panted between strikes, "if we weren’t trying to kill each other right now, I’d totally buy you dinner."

No response. Not even a blink.

"I mean, I know this isn’t the best place to chat—" I ducked under a spinning kick, just narrowly dodging a bullet that whizzed past my ear, "—but you’re seriously rocking the whole death assassin vibe. It’s hot. Like… weirdly hot."

Still nothing. Her face was like stone. Deadly. Elegant. Cold.

"Do you… like ramen?" I asked.

She backflipped off an antenna, twisted in midair, and opened fire mid-somersault. I slid to the side, sparks flying as bullets skidded across the rooftop.

"Okay, fair. Too soon. Maybe lunch?"

She lunged again, blades coming in fast. I parried one, dodged the other, and stepped back, barely keeping my footing on the ledge.

"Alright, maybe we just skip to coffee. Low stakes. No rooftop murder."

Still silent. Her expression hadn’t changed. Not even a twitch of annoyance.

"Man, you’re good at ghosting," I muttered.

She lunged again.

I countered, steel meeting steel with a loud clang as my Dangatana met her left katana. But her right one was already coming, so I twisted and barely escaped the second blow, heat from her blade grazing past my ribs.

Still no hits. For either of us.

But I was sweating harder now. Not from fear—okay, maybe a little—but mostly from how long this had gone on. She hadn’t slowed down once. Her stamina was insane.

"So that’s a no to dinner then?"

Another combo. Another dodge. Another two bullets fired from her feet. Who designed this woman?!

"Okay! Message received!" I called out. "But you’re missing out. I’m great company."

We locked blades again, faces just inches apart.

Through the mask, I could see her cold eyes bored into mine.

She leaned in just slightly and whispered one word:

"No."

Then shoved me back with a brutal push that nearly threw me off the edge.

I caught myself.

I grinned.

That was the first thing she said.

Progress.

While locked in this relentless rooftop duel with Weiss Shi, something caught my eye—just for a second.

The others were struggling.

Judeth and Jarrod were beginning to lose ground. Their stances were sloppier. Their movements slower. Sweat dripping, blades trembling. And that’s when it hit me, Weiss Shi’s partners weren’t just stalling them.

They were winning.

Suddenly, one of them, tall, lean, the one with the sniper module on his back, fired a pulse round straight into Jarrod’s side, hitting him directly.

Jarrod staggered back, his arms dropping, body stiffening. The shot hadn’t wounded him, it paralyzed him.

A stun shell.

And just like that, he was frozen in place for a full minute. Completely vulnerable.

The sniper didn’t hesitate. He turned instantly, sprinting toward Judeth with fluid, practiced speed.

At the same time, the one Judeth had been fighting, a brute of a brawler, heavy fists like concrete, smashed her off balance with a wide sweep. She tumbled back, crashing into a low wall, dazed.

Then the brute did something strange.

He didn’t go in for the kill.

He left her.

He turned on a dime and made a beeline straight for the paralyzed Jarrod.

Both of them, Weiss Shi’s partners, were converging on him.

They were going to take Jarrod out first. Secure the elimination. Turn the fight into a two-versus-three. And once that happened…

We were done.

And Weiss Shi knew it.

I saw it in her eyes.

But I wasn’t going to let that happen.

As she came in again with her katanas, one high, one low, I blocked her cross-slash with my Dangatana, gritting my teeth as sparks flew from the collision. She pressed hard, trying to overpower me.

I leaned in, eyes locked on hers, and grinned.

"Hey," I said through clenched teeth, "wanna see something cool?"

She blinked. Just once.

That was all I needed.

Still holding the block, I subtly tilted the angle of my Dangatana—shifting it not toward her, but toward the open courtyard below.

Right where her two teammates were about to cross paths.

I squeezed the hidden trigger embedded in the hilt.

Ping.

A small, sharp pulse charged from the base of the blade, a sound only I could hear.

Then—KABOOM.

A thin, glowing beam shot out from the Dangatana’s tip. curving in midair.

A homing laser round.

It zipped through the sky like a tracer made of sunlight, arched perfectly toward its targets and struck them both dead-center as they crossed.

Direct hit.

They didn’t even have time to scream.

The sniper crumpled first, hit clean in the chest. The brute took the round square in the back of the head. Both went down like bags of rock, slamming hard against the steel yard below.

Unconscious.

Flat.

And more importantly—

Out of the fight.

I could hear Jarrod groan faintly behind me. The paralysis was already starting to wear off. Judeth was scrambling to her feet, eyes wide.

Weiss Shi?

She paused.

For the first time since this fight started, she stepped back.

Not much. just half a pace. But enough.

Her eyes flicked to the yard. She saw the bodies.

And she looked at me.

Not angry.

Not frustrated.

Just…

Curious.

And that’s when I knew:

Now we were fighting for real.