"Aled!" (Dharma Seal: Crumble!)

Lisi paid the bullets no mind, pushing off the ground and leaping forward to throw a punch.

"Blink."

The moment his shots were fired, Wei’en blinked away, having no intention of getting close to Lisi again.

However, casting the Blink Spell for the third time in such a short period had consumed a full ten percent of his Spiritual Power...

The cost gave him a major headache.

At this rate, he could only do it three more times at most before his Spiritual Power was completely depleted.

Lisi shook the rubble from her hand. Ignoring the illusory double casting a Charm Spell nearby, she tilted her head to look at Wei’en, who was over fifty meters away. "Not bad. That Magic really suits you... Huh?"

Before she could finish, her head snapped to the side.

’These bullets... How?’

She was sure she had dodged them, yet the six bullets were now curving back toward her in a wide arc.

Lisi’s expression shifted. For some reason, the sight of those bullets sent a faint sense of danger through her.

’How is that possible?’

"Ku’erde!" (Dharma Seal: Shield!)

Lisi didn’t dare to be careless. Clenching her fists and crossing them before her, she summoned a cyan barrier to envelop her body.

Immediately after, the bullets struck the barrier one by one, instantly turning to ash with a series of soft POPS.

[Your firearm struck Lisi Jeannece Montoya. You failed to inflict any damage. Death characteristic cannot be triggered. Evaluation: Weakling. Useless even when given a chance. Try putting some effort into it!] 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’Damn it. Just as I thought, I can’t break her defense. None of the characteristics work if I can’t do damage.’

In fact, Wei’en had already discovered this during yesterday’s battle.

When his bullets hit their shields, the system would register a hit, but if no damage was dealt, the Death characteristic wouldn’t trigger at all.

But Wei’en wasn’t about to give up. Seizing the opening while Lisi was defending, he grabbed a handful of bullets and tossed them into the air.

His form flickered as his hands became a blur—loading, chambering, firing... He emptied the gun in just two seconds.

Before Lisi could react, all the bullets struck the exact same point, shattering her Dharma Seal.

"Asriel!" (Dharma Seal: Gale Blade!)

A massive blade of light slashed out, pulverizing all the bullets before flying onward to strike the Gladiatorial Arena’s Rune Array, sending ripples across its surface.

Watching from the sidelines, Marco stared in astonishment. "Lisi, you actually pulled out your axe? Do you really need to get this serious?"

Inside, however, he was thinking, ’That mid-air reload and fire maneuver was so cool. I have to remember that, I have to remember that.’

"Shut up!"

Lisi gripped her Two-Handed Axe, her expression grave as she stared at Wei’en. ’That feeling from just now...’

’There’s no mistaking it.

If those bullets had hit me—I would have died!’

Wei’en raised his hands in resignation. "I surrender, Captain."

’I knew it would end like this...’

’Against an Extraordinary with a powerful physique like Lisi, it’s difficult to accomplish much with my current standard-issue firearm.’

’Even if I summoned Shawa and used Undead Frenzy, it would only prolong the fight by a few minutes.’

’The outcome would be the same.’

Lisi put away her Two-Handed Axe, a gratified smile on her face. "I didn’t expect your marksmanship to be so good," she praised. "Combined with Blink, you’re more than capable of handling a Level One Disaster."

A Level One Disaster refers to an aberration created when an ordinary person becomes corrupted. Their strength is significantly lower than that of a captain-class Investigator.

"Wei’en, aren’t you a Specter’s apprentice? What about your undead? And those mechanical parts you bought a few days ago?"

Marco, who had been getting into the fight, thought Wei’en was still holding back. He gave him a conspiratorial look. "No need to go easy on Lisi. Show her what you’ve really got."

"Why don’t you give it a try?" Lisi shot him a sidelong glance, her eyes flashing with a cold light.

"No, no, I can’t. I’m still not recovered from yesterday’s fight..."

"Hmph. You’d better start training harder, Marco. Otherwise, it won’t be long before Wei’en surpasses you."

"What?"

Marco was taken aback. "Are you serious?"

"What do you think?"

With that, Lisi put on her jacket and turned to leave the Gladiatorial Arena.

’To her, the stronger the Investigators of Investigation Department One were, the better. Only then could they handle the upcoming cases more effectively. Especially Wei’en... It was about time he and Tina were paired up for a mission.’

"Was she serious, Wei’en? Have you really gotten that much stronger so quickly?"

Wei’en scratched the corner of his eye, where the swelling had finally gone down, and gave a bashful smile. "I’m still a long way from your level."

"I see."

Marco watched him pensively. ’So Investigation Department One really has a monster of a rookie on its hands.’

’And with the Candidacy Saintess, Kali, yet to arrive...’

’I can’t afford to slack off anymore.’

Wei’en wasn’t concerned about whether he could surpass Marco. The duel with Lisi had given him a clear understanding of what he needed to work on.

’To put it bluntly, my current skills are only good for crushing weaklings.’

’Against large numbers of enemies weaker than me, the lethality of my firearm combined with the Corpse Explosion Skill isn’t that far behind Lisi’s or Marco’s.’

’But my weakness is obvious: I have terrible burst damage.’

’If I run into an Extraordinary like Lisi who can tank on the front lines, my only option would be to flee...’

’Burst damage...’

’The Six-Barreled Shotgun is one option. If it’s as good as that Mechanical Transformer claimed, it should provide a decent boost.’

’But that’s not enough. I need an even more powerful firearm, or a single-target Magic with extremely high damage!’

Just then, Tina, who was clutching the corner of his sleeve, suddenly spoke up. "Four heads."

"Huh?"

Wei’en glanced up at the Xiaoxis and began to explain. "I’ll teach you how to tell them apart. The one with the most Rune Brandings is named Ghost. The one with the fewest is Red Demon. The other two are Secret Master and Driver. Got it?"