Faced with Kamo Shizumi’s declaration of reconciliation, Mai Zenin’s response was extremely straightforward.
“Go to hell, you piece of trash!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!!!
Three shots rang out in rapid succession.
Amid the distorted yellow flashes, the carefully crafted bullets tore through the air and shot straight toward Kamo Shizumi’s chest.
The latter staggered half a step backward without making a sound, both hands rising slightly.
It looked as though he had just been struck by an invisible Tyson with a straight punch, his head tilting upward along with the impact.
What was the result?
Mai Zenin held her firearm, its barrel still slightly warm, and stared cautiously ahead.
“Hiss…”
Kamo Shizumi grimaced and lowered his head.
His expression had visibly twisted from the pain.
His left hand dropped down and tugged open his collar slightly, allowing him to glance inside.
Across his chest, beneath his clothing and over his body, a layer of clearly visible crimson crystalline material had appeared.
Blood Armor.
It condensed extracted blood over the surface of the body to reinforce it.
The solid substance formed through this method possessed extraordinary defensive capabilities.
In the original work, Choso was able to withstand a Black Flash with the protection of Blood Armor without being immediately incapacitated, which was more than enough to demonstrate its impressive durability.
It was also what he had used to protect his lower back just now.
Breathing slightly heavily, Kamo Shizumi tensed his entire body and revealed a somewhat pained expression.
‘Fortunately, compared with the other applications of Blood Manipulation…
Blood Armor has the shortest formation time.
It can practically be activated instantaneously.’
Perhaps because it was released directly around his body, given his current circumstances, Blood Armor was probably Kamo Shizumi’s “specialty.”
“Tsk… Someone who cannot be killed with bullets is not an opponent I can deal with.”
As he lamented this, Mai Zenin pulled the trigger again.
The sound of an empty magazine rang out, making both sides immediately understand the current situation.
She was out of bullets?
Then he had to close the distance immediately and suppress her in one go!
After realizing this, Kamo Shizumi forcefully exhaled and took a large step forward.
‘My physical ability is 33, which is above the average level for a Grade 2 sorcerer.
Mai Zenin was not particularly outstanding in the original work.
As long as I can get close, I win…’
He had already worked out the equation for victory in his mind.
But very soon, Kamo Shizumi’s expression completely froze.
Because he saw Mai Zenin free her right hand and reach toward her waist…
When she raised it again, she was holding a compact, standard-issue submachine gun.
“If you can block this, try it again.”
Holy shit!
She pulled the trigger, and an uninterrupted burst of rapid gunfire erupted like beans being poured from a pan.
Kamo Shizumi could not react at all.
Or rather…
even if he wanted to dodge under these circumstances, he could not.
Open ground, a distance of twenty meters, and absolutely no cover.
Taking all of that into account, Kamo Shizumi was, in Mai Zenin’s eyes, quite literally a sitting target.
A full sixty 9mm rounds were unleashed within less than three seconds.
A steel torrent woven from overwhelming firepower swept across the battlefield.
Kamo Shizumi could only barely raise his arms in front of his face before he was struck repeatedly.
Visible flashes of crimson erupted, resembling bouquets of flowers clustered together for some particular festival…
Twisted yet vivid red shapes burst outward one after another, overlapping and converging into an intensely bright mass of crimson.
Click, click, click…
As the magazine emptied, Kamo Shizumi’s body swayed slightly, and he let out an extremely pained groan.
“Ugh… that really hurts…”
He moved his hands away.
Kamo Shizumi revealed a face covered in blood, his expression twisted with pain.
Mai Zenin’s eyes widened slightly, a puzzled expression appearing on her face.
—This guy clearly does not look that strong.
How is he still alive after taking an entire magazine head-on?
For Mai, the level of shock was comparable to the feelings of a tyrant from a previous era upon seeing Gojo covered in blood and acting crazily beneath the setting sun.
“Seriously?!”
Taking a shower in submachine-gun fire was somewhat too difficult for a Grade 3 sorcerer.
After all, at this stage, even if a sorcerer reinforced their body with cursed energy, they could not completely disregard the damage caused by bullets.
Fortunately, Blood Manipulation made up for this weakness.
Kamo Shizumi lowered his right hand and exhaled somewhat fearfully, but at the same time, a slightly excited expression appeared on his face.
I have grasped the core of cursed energy!
(No, you have not.)
By condensing blood over his skin, he had created another kind of “inner-layer protection.”
This could prevent bullets from becoming embedded in his body and causing penetrating injuries, as well as prevent the chain reactions caused by damage to various internal organs.
Of course, the price was that he looked extremely battered…
And there was also a very real possibility of causing extensive blood clots.
If not for his half-human, half-cursed-spirit physique, Kamo Shizumi really would not have dared to try this.
Out of bullets, huh?
Then it is my turn!
Without giving his opponent time to reload, Kamo Shizumi charged forward with a grim expression while she was still putting away her weapon.
Perhaps it was because his blood was circulating faster, or perhaps he had simply gotten too caught up in the fight.
Kamo Shizumi felt that the more than half of his cursed energy that remained was much easier to utilize than before.
These powers flowed continuously throughout his body alongside his blood, giving him an extremely subtle sensation…
It was as though something was standing directly in front of him.
He could not see it, yet there was only one final step separating him from reaching it.
No wonder Mahito in the original work suddenly “understood” how to use a Domain after getting beaten around.
Under extreme pressure, opportunities for a sorcerer’s growth would also emerge.
And as the person using the technique, what he needed to do most was seize that fleeting moment, that instant resembling a sudden flash of inspiration.
Kamo Shizumi’s eyes widened slightly as he watched Mai Zenin retreat in panic, her left hand reaching toward the inside of her coat.
The movement was somewhat subtle, but it was impossible to hide from someone watching her directly.
Nine times out of ten, she was reaching for another gun…
—Just how many strange little gadgets is this woman carrying on her?
Trying to close the more than ten meters between them before she could draw her weapon was somewhat unrealistic.
But it did not matter.
The current Kamo Shizumi could now attempt something more.
He slowly raised his left hand, palm facing upward, and lifted his index finger.
After briefly gathering his strength, the blood covering his entire forearm rapidly contracted inward, condensing at his fingertip into a miniature sphere of blood.
Piercing Blood was not an option.
But even a maggot has its own way of fighting.
“Blood Arrow, go!”
He made a snapping motion with his fingers.
The blood sphere that had been accumulating there was violently flicked forward.
It twisted rapidly through the air, eventually forming a curved projectile that tore through the air at high speed.