Chapter 46: Emily vs Shotsteed. The Strongest Poacher!

Chapter 46: Emily vs Shotsteed. The Strongest Poacher!

Emily grits her teeth. “I remember you! I was chasing you in the city after you captured civilians!”

“Indeed,” Shotsteed replies. “I suggest that you surrender.”

Emily lashes out. “We didn’t come all this way to surrender!!”

“That’s too bad. You could still live if you did.”

Emily glares at him, her eyes focusing intensely. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shotsteed jumps off the branch above and lands on the ground as he replies. “You see, I am the strongest of us poachers, even stronger than the boss. Consider me a very high F-Rank, soon to be E-Rank.”

Emily keeps up her glare. “If you’re the strongest, why aren’t you the boss?”

“Good question. But the answer is that I like to get my hands dirty. Being the boss is more technical. I like to make use of my… unique magic.”

“Unique magic?”

“You see, I use Formation Magic. I can transform parts of my body into almost anything I can think of. See for yourself…”

Shotsteed’s legs transform into tires while his hands transform into mallets. His wheels spin rapidly, launching him forward and allowing him to slam his right mallet hand straight into Emily’s gut. Her eyes widen as she coughs in pain just before Shotsteed uses his left mallet hand to slam into her from the side, knocking her to the right into a tree. The tree falls over with her lying on it.

Shotsteed launches forward again, giving Emily very little time to react. She quickly pulls out her B3 Tide Shotgun and fires magic-channeled shotgun shells, blasting into Shotsteed as he gets close. With many tiny wounds, the cluster of pellets stuns him just long enough for her to push off the tree trunk and kick him in the chest, knocking him away.

She continues aiming her shotgun at him as he stabilizes himself.

“I got more where that came from,” she says with determination.

“Well played,” Shotsteed replies. “But how about this?”

His feet transform into metal springs. He leans forward as his spring feet curl up, and with a burst of speed, he begins springing all over the area, from the ground to a tree and so on. Emily darts her gaze all over, trying to keep up with his speedy movements.

“Bouncing around I go! You’ll never know when I’ll show!” he shouts with bizarre joy, purposefully rhyming his words.

After bouncing around long enough, he finally bounces off the side of a tree straight to Emily and slams his mallet hand into her arm, causing her to scream in pain as she rolls across the ground.

Shotsteed continues bouncing around, but he changes his mallet hands into daggers.

“I’ll use it!” Emily groans as she stands up. She unsheathes her Shadow Sword. Her irises change from blue to dark red, her glare revealing full hostility. “Let’s see which blade is better.”

Shotsteed bounces off a tree branch straight for Emily, swinging his bladed arm as he closes in. She readies her blade. Both blades scrape and slide against each other during his diagonal path to the ground. With the attack blocked, he resumes rapidly bouncing around.

“Impressive block. But what about when I increase the pace?”

Moments later, he bounces straight for Emily again, and this time he successfully slashes the side of her abdomen. She drops to one knee, wincing in pain. Moments later, he slashes her across her upper back.

She thinks urgently, “Damn it! He’s too fast! But I must counter!!”

“The finishing blow!!” Shotsteed shouts as he bounces off the side of a tree straight for Emily, who opens her eyes wide immediately after.

With nothing but hope, she randomly slashes her sword, and with total luck, she successfully slashes him across his abdomen, causing him to lose control of his momentum. He crashes into two trees close together.

Emily sheathes her Shadow Sword and pulls out her Dual Spinning Blades and throws them at Shotsteed. Spinning in the air, they pierce into both his arms and pin them against the trees.

“You were able to predict my movement?!!” Shotsteed screams in shock.

“No, it was just luck!” Emily shouts as she rushes forward, Shadow Sword back in hand. “And now, you’re helpless!”

“Think again!” he shouts back as his arms change into a rubbery substance, bouncing the spinning blades back at her. They knock the Shadow Sword out of her hand straight into his hand. He grips the sword with his hands back to normal. His irises change from brown to dark red.

“Your sword is now mine,” he says as the hand holding it changes into some kind of launcher. “Now, watch this.”

His launcher hand propels the sword forward at a blazing speed, easily piercing through Emily’s entire abdomen. She coughs up blood as she experiences agonizing pain.

Emily thinks in desperation, “I don’t care if I have to wait until I’m D-Rank to use it!! I’m using the X12 Shatter Shotgun now!!!”

She pulls out the X12 Shatter Shotgun and shoots, blasting out a large cluster of shining pellets. The recoil causes her to stumble backward. The cluster blows into Shotsteed, significantly damaging him and knocking him on his back.

Energy, and even blood, seems to flow out from Emily’s body into the shotgun. Her eyes widen and her pupils dilate as she feels a powerful heartbeat. Du-Dum.

“What was that…?” she questions in a trance-like tone.

Blood flows out from her Shadow Sword piercing in higher quantities than before.

Du-Dum. Du-Dum. Du-Dum.

“Am I… dying?” she questions, her voice barely audible.

The heartbeats grow louder.

DU-DUM. DU-DUM. DU-DUM.

Blood-colored red lines appear all over her body. Blood-looking armor forms on her abdomen around where the Shadow Sword is pierced into. Her hair turns entirely into blood and becomes longer, flowing down to her lower back. Her eyes become completely blood-red. Her muscle mass increases, giving her a highly muscular physique, and she grows 6 inches in height.

Emily – Blood Magic Activated

She screams up at the sky as if a primal rage has been unleashed.

Just as Zeth had done before, Emily now activates Blood Magic! With the activation requirements still unknown, what does the change to her physique indicate?!

Chapter 46 END

To be Continued in Chapter 47: Emily’s Blood Magic