The Bounty Hunter
Chapter 114: Comeback

December 11th, 2089

Hikari’s POV

I looked at my opponent, the creepy plastic lady, and tried to maintain my cool.  Vera has just managed to redirect the building-sized dog away from us, allowing me to focus on my fight without worry.  Ok, time to stall.  “Why are you doing this?”  I called out.  “Well, little girl, I could tell you the truth.  However, I think I’ll play with you first.  I’m not that into girls, but for a pretty little thing like you I can make an exception.”

There was a lustful undertone to her words, and I couldn’t help but shudder.  “Nope, denied, I reject!  Go find a sex doll to harass or something!”  “Ara, you’re rather energetic, aren’t you?  This is going to be fun~.”  And with that, Mannequin threw out more of her nauseating green flames.  My body reacted before I could even think, throwing myself out of the way.  I did a combat roll and came to my feet just in time to intercept her as she appeared in front of me.  Damn, she’s fast!

Her right hand was like a knife as she struck towards my heart.  Again, my body moved on its own, the muscle memory of many hours of arduous training and spars taking over.  I blocked the first attack, redirecting it wide of my body.  With my blade inside of her guard, I stepped forward, swinging Dynamo to the right.  Mannequin ducked beneath the slice, opening herself up to my foot as I kicked her in the face.  Contrary to my expectations, Mannequin was not flung backwards.  My kick actually pushed me away.  My foot throbbed in pain, like I had kicked a brick wall or something.  “How much do you weigh?”  I exclaimed in surprise.  Those were the wrong words to use.  “I’LL KILL YOU!”  Mannequin screeched, all traces of the sexy elder sister gone, as she pursued me.  I utilized my extended reach to counter her flurry of kicks and punches, forcing her to work harder to get within striking range.

Eventually though, one of her attacks got through my defense.  The defensive artifact Minato insisted we all wear sprung to life, covering me in silver light as Mannequin’s fist struck my abdomen.  It saved me from severe injury, but I nonetheless had the wind knocked out of me.  That did not deter me from using the opening that Mannequin gave me.  I brought the hilt of my katana down hard on her head, sending her plastic face into my knee as it came up to strike.  The silver light was still surrounding me, and it was all I needed to inflict damage.  The silver light pulsed, blasting Mannequin some distance away.

YES!  I finally got a meaningful hit in!  I’m about to say something I never thought I would say:  Thank you Vera for being so damn vicious during our early spars!  My inner celebration was cut short when Mannequin picked herself up.  A large amount of noxious green fire sprung up around her.  Shoot, this is going to suck.  I had to weave frantically in and out of the gouts of fire as they were launched at me.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the fire is toxic, given that my defensive artifact has been glowing non-stop despite me not taking any hits from the flaming projectiles.

Unfortunately, I made a critical error.  Minato has always been adamant about staying focused during battle, he has made me do all sorts of hellish drills to condition me to maintain concentration.  But my focus wavered when I saw Vera zoom across my field of vision like a missile.  What happened?!?  That lapse was all it took for a particularly potent green fireball to get a direct hit on me.

*BOOOM*  My defensive artifact broke, having been forced to expend all its power to prevent my instant death.  I flew for a dozen feet or so, collapsing into a pile of limbs after a jarring landing.  A multitude of burns covered my body, and I felt PAIN.  I’ve never experienced such gut-wrenching agony before.  It was so strong that it made it hard to breathe.  “It hurts, doesn’t it?  For a sheltered little girl, you put up a remarkable fight.  No one told us that you were dangerous.  I’ll have to tell my lord to demand more money for this job.”  I managed to look up to Mannequin, who hadn’t moved from her position.  She seemed rather content to wait and watch my suffering. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Why are you targeting me?”  I asked.  “We were hired to.  Your existence was getting in the way of some very important people and their very important plans.  Now, it’s time to exit stage right.”  She said as she conjured up a fistful of green fire.  I can’t move out of this attack.  I guess I should be feeling panicked, or scared, but the truth is I’m simply tired.  I’m barely clinging to life as it is, and hopefully after I die they’ll forget about Vera and leave.

…I guess after all my talk of determination, I’m going to die having given up.  Gosh, I’m such a hypocrite.  Mannequin was beginning her throwing motion, but before she could finish a familiar looking crossbow bolt suddenly struck her.  The resulting explosion was tremendous.  It flung me backwards despite my distance from the blast and left nothing but a smoking crater in its wake.

My hopes that Mannequin died were thwarted as I observed a black miasma rise up from the crater.  It coalesced into a lust-inducing woman wearing a skimpy outfit of a red crop top and short shorts.  Her long black hair curtained her face which was set with a pair of yellow snake eyes.  A pair of gnarled horns stuck up from her forehead, matching with the bat wings on her back and the forked tail on her behind.  She had lovely tanned skin and beautiful facial features.  She also had a set of ridiculously enormous breasts and some especially curvy curves.  I don’t know my demonology, but I would hazard a guess that Mannequin is a succubus.  Scratch that, she is definitely a succubus.

Mannequin’s beauty was marred by the absolute rage and hate adorning her face.  She will without a doubt kill Vera in retaliation.  Slowly and painfully, based on her expression.  The only way Vera can survive is if I finish these two demons off.  I gritted my teeth, and got off the ground.  It hurts.  It hurts.  It hurts.  I shakily picked up Dynamo and faced down the gargantuan three headed dog and sultry succubus.  “Ara?  You’ve gained a second wind?  Just stay down, cockroach, while I go find your annoying little friend.”  I have enough strength for one last swing with Dynamo.

The blade, given to me by the person I love with all my heart, started glowing with a fearsome light.  Dynamo’s ability to convert kinetic energy to mana is not limited to when it’s swung.  If the sword is moving in anyway at all, it is charging.  If I’m running while holding the sword, it gains mana.  If it gets hit by something that’s moving, it gains mana.  A frantic fight, blocking blows that could fracture concrete, getting flung by a blast, it was all converted into mana.  Combined with what I had already stored up, it had a lot of mana.

My trusty blade was vibrating wildly as it was ready to unleash its power.  “Light ‘em up, Dynamo!”  I swung downwards, and a large beam of blue light shot in a forward/upward trajectory.  Cerberus and Mannequin both conjured up shields of black and green light to block, but it was futile.  They briefly held against my strike, but in the end they were unable to withstand it.  Mannequin’s upper torso got torn right off, and Cerberus lost his left front leg as the beam bit deep into his shoulder.  The beam of light continued going into the sky until it passed the park’s perimeter.  A previously unseen barrier appeared, shattering like glass upon contact.

“Damnit!  The isolation barrier has been destroyed!  Dante’s favored lady will be coming any moment now!”  Cerberus roared in consternation and pain.  He seemed completely uncaring about his dead partner and his missing limb, which was slowly regenerating.  As for Mannequin… my eyes opened wide as the topless corpse rapidly grew out its missing half.  The succubus, who looked as good as new, opened her eyes and stood up.

Oh, come on!  My last-ditch ace-in-the-hole had no effect!  What kind of B.S. is that!?  “Mannequin, we need to leave!  Lord Dante has signaled that the New York decoy has been exposed!”  “NOT UNTIL WE FINISH THE JOB FOR THE HAYASHI GROUP!”  Mannequin snarled at Cerberus before turning to me.  She plunged her hand deep into her own chest, letting out a gushing of blood as she stabbed her own heart, and then she started speaking.  “I call death’s caress upon you, I call time’s agony upon you, I call a slow torment upon you.  By my life’s blood I curse thee, may you wither and rot into oblivion!”

Upon her last words, everything started to fade into a red haze.  I feel so very, very tired.  I saw Cerberus and Mannequin flee and I could hear Minato calling out my name, but I am so very, very tired.  Too tired to care even as an ominous darkness came upon me.

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