Hard-Fought Battle

Among the three present, Leonard could lull others into slumber through poetry, Angel was familiar with Mrs. Sharon, and the "Phantom Phosphor Eruption" in her hand could easily spot hidden targets, but the greatest threat to Mrs. Sharon was undoubtedly Daly the Spirit Medium, who could manipulate the blue spirit body and burn away the invisible threads she used.

The moment the new Phantom Phosphor Eruption illuminated Mrs. Sharon's figure, she simultaneously launched an attack on Daly.

Angel didn't think Daly could withstand an assassin's all-out strike, especially since the latter had her back to the enemy and was completely defenseless.

In her anxiety, she raised her hand and fired a shot at the incoming figure, while simultaneously sliding sideways to block the space between Daly and the attacker.

As Angel expected, the hasty shot was easily dodged by the attacker, but the physical barrier she formed also prevented the attacker from passing, leaving no choice but to switch to attacking Angel, and the two engaged in close-quarters combat.

Even at close range, Mrs. Sharon's invisibility ability remained in effect, and Angel could only vaguely make out her silhouette through the phantom phosphor powder clinging to her, but this undoubtedly had a huge impact on the hand-to-hand fight.

Seeing the powder-outlined figure swing a punch toward her, Angel raised her left hand to block, while holding the gun in her right hand to continue closing in on Mrs. Sharon, preparing to fire at point-blank range to compress the opponent's dodging space.

Just as her left hand was about to block Mrs. Sharon, Angel felt a chill in her heart, and her "Assassin" intuition warned her that doing so would be extremely dangerous.

Without a moment of hesitation, she chose to trust her intuition, instantly retracting her outstretched hand while shifting the direction of her right-hand muzzle and pulling the trigger right at the center of Mrs. Sharon's outline.

Bang!

The muzzle spewed flame, carrying the bullet toward Mrs. Sharon, but at that exact instant, Mrs. Sharon seemed to be horizontally yanked by someone, changing her trajectory at an incredible angle to dodge the point-blank shot.

This also caused her slash toward Angel to miss.

The spiritual warning was extremely accurate; if Angel had used her left hand to block that "punch" at the time, her arm would inevitably have been severed by the dagger that was invisible alongside Mrs. Sharon. At the very moment of the attack, this dagger burning with pitch-black flames materialized from midair, quietly brushing past Angel's side before vanishing completely without a trace.

It seemed Mrs. Sharon hadn't come to sneak-attack truly empty-handed; it was just that compared to firearms that would make a bigger commotion, she chose a dagger more suited for an "Assassin's" attacks.

Although invisible weapons were difficult to defend against, as long as the shape and length of the dagger were seen, the pressure of close-quarters combat for Angel would be greatly reduced. As fellow "Assassins," even if the opponent had a higher sequence, she felt no fear.

Moreover, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Leonard nearby having broken free with Daly's help, raising his revolver to aim in this direction.

Mrs. Sharon clearly also noticed that Leonard, who had been trapped by the invisible threads, had recovered his mobility. Her outlined figure rapidly retreated a few steps, sidestepping the bullet Leonard had hastily fired, while several black flames appeared in the surroundings, tracing complex paths through the air toward Leonard and Daly.

With no time to continue firing, Leonard displayed action speed no less than an "Assassin's." He grabbed Daly, rolling to hide behind the sofa and dodging the incoming black flames.

The black flames struck the fabric surface of the sofa like bullets, yet didn't ignite it, instead rapidly dissipating into thin air like a phantom that didn't exist in this world.

Seizing this opportunity, Angel raised her gun to aim once more, firing the last two bullets in the cylinder at Mrs. Sharon's silhouette, which was dotted with phantom phosphor powder.

The bullets were dodged by Mrs. Sharon, who also possessed an "Assassin's" premonition of danger. Her dodging didn't seem driven by her own strength, but rather as if she were being nudged by an invisible giant hand to quickly displace herself. Two bullets successively hit the wooden partition behind her, punching out two irregular holes.

An invisible giant hand... It seems the threads that tied down a few of us earlier can also be used for movement simultaneously...

While tracking Mrs. Sharon's figure with her gaze, Angel silently guessed.

Under this method of movement, long-range shooting was purely a waste of bullets. She flipped open the revolver cylinder, ejected the spent casings, dropped the temporarily useless ladies' handgun with her left hand, and quickly loaded fresh rounds using a speedloader. Leonard also very cooperatively fired from behind the sofa to pin down Mrs. Sharon, though unfortunately, the shots were similarly ineffective.

The black flames appeared beside Mrs. Sharon once more. She raised her hand and waved, several black flames drifting toward Angel this time.

Angel knew these black flames couldn't penetrate objects. She directly flipped over the table beside her, sending the teacups and kettles rolling all over the floor, and crouched down behind the table. With a few "puff" sounds, the black flames collided with the table and directly dissipated, causing no harm to her hiding behind it.

It seems the "Witch's" Beyonder abilities have too many restrictions; they simply can't compare to the "Nightmare"...

She squatted behind the table letting her thoughts wander when her heart suddenly tightened, and she lunged forward.

The spot where she had been standing a second ago was pierced by a transparent ice spike that had passed right through the wooden table. The solid ice stuck into the wooden table, its tip piercing directly through the carpet as waves of chill swept over, making the surrounding environment feel like the dead of winter.

Affected by the cold, Angel felt her movements become somewhat sluggish. She scrambled on all fours, quickly leaving the frost-covered wooden table and dodging a few black flames flying like bullets.

Not far away, Mrs. Sharon held a spontaneously generated ice spike in one hand, surrounded by even more black flames than before, and was preparing to launch the next round of attacks.

Suddenly, a ghostly wind seemed to sweep through the chaotic reception room. The flying black flames surrounding her were like they had been hit with a pause button, and Mrs. Sharon's swinging arm froze in place as well. Beneath the halo of phantom phosphor powder, which had already begun to dim, a figure gradually materialized.

Unlike the graceful, enchanting Tingen socialite in Cole Granger's memories, standing before them now was a Beyonder wearing short-sleeved shirt and slim leather trousers, holding a black flame dagger in one hand and raising a frost spear in the other. Her slender, exposed arms and exquisite face bore an unhealthy grayish-white tint, her expression a mix of anger and panic.

Just like the Nighthawks restricted by invisible threads a minute ago...

A thought flashed through Angel's mind. Shifting her gaze toward Leonard hiding behind the sofa, she saw him also wearing a look of astonishment before realization dawned as he looked at Daly Simone beside him, who was holding a pendant and closing her eyes tightly.

It seemed this was another masterpiece by the "Spirit Medium."

Angel didn't get distracted any longer. She raised the reloaded revolver, aimed at Mrs. Sharon—who was now immobilized and had lost her invisibility—and pulled the trigger.

This time, Mrs. Sharon, imprisoned by the spirit medium, had no chance to dodge. The bullet accurately struck her head, and her entire head—no, her entire body shattered like an ice sculpture. The fragments melted into the air before hitting the ground, and the black flames surrounding her lost their controller, scattering in irregular trajectories and extinguishing with a "puff" upon hitting obstacles.

The huge decorative mirror hanging on the nearby wall shattered along with it, turning into fingernail-sized fragments, some clinging to the frame while others fell to the floor along the wall.

Another mirror substitution... Angel's gaze swept rapidly across the reception room, discovering several more decorative mirrors of various sizes, and she immediately raised her gun to aim at one, shattering it with two consecutive shots.

"Watch out!" Leonard's panicky, shrill roar came from behind.

With no time to look back, Angel lunged straight forward, rolling away from her spot.

A dagger burning with black flames silently swept across the position Angel had previously occupied, and Mrs. Sharon, her entire body shrouded in black flames as well, appeared behind her.

Her complexion had returned to normal; clearly, the binding effect on her earlier had been lifted.

"The black flame forced the spirit body back." Daly's reminder came belatedly. "Give me another twenty seconds."

In the corner of Angel's vision, Daly directly ripped off the crystal pendant from her wrist, pressed her palms together to grip the pendant, her gaze turning profound.

Whoosh—

Mrs. Sharon, who was preparing to continue pursuing Angel, couldn't care less about the target right before her eyes. She directly condensed a frost spear in her hand and hurled it toward Daly, who was in the middle of a seance.

Angel hurriedly fired the remaining bullets in the cylinder, accurately hitting the frost spear in midair. The immensely powerful "Storm Convergence" tore apart the solid ice, shattering it completely. A few ice shards grazed past Daly's body, yet she didn't budge an inch, as if what brushed past her face was merely a summer breeze.

"Reload!" Angel swung open the revolver cylinder to change ammunition, and Mrs. Sharon seized the opportunity, stepping forward once more as her dagger dragged black flames in a thrust toward her.

Bang, bang, bang!

Leonard fired several shots in succession from the side, forcing back the aggressively advancing Mrs. Sharon.

He knew that the most important thing right now was to buy time for Daly so she could once again control Mrs. Sharon through a Spirit Body, otherwise if the consumption continued like this, once the bullets ran out, the few of them would have no means left to deal with her.

To pin down Mrs. Sharon, Leonard rushed out from behind the sofa where he was hiding, rapidly pulling the trigger to empty the bullets in the cylinder in one breath.

Just like before, Mrs. Sharon used Invisible Spider Silk to pull her body and quickly scuttled around, dodging all the bullets. Looking at Leonard rushing toward her, a trace of disdain flashed through her brown eyes. As her snow-white arms waved repeatedly, Leonard's movements stalled mid-charge, his trench coat outlining distinct lines as he was once again entangled by the invisible threads, turning his movements difficult and sluggish.

Mrs. Sharon waved her dagger, about to finish off this overconfident man in one blow, when her expression suddenly changed. Pulled sideways by the threads, she narrowly avoided a bullet fired from her visual blind spot.

Tsk.

The sneak attack had failed, and Angel could not help feeling somewhat anxious in her heart. Mrs. Sharon also possessed the combat intuition of an Assassin, coupled with the control of the Invisible Spider Silk; even with a sneak attack from behind, Angel simply had no way to hit her. The battle had dragged on until now, and they had already changed bullets twice. Aside from hitting a Mirror Substitution, Mrs. Sharon was completely unharmed.

Only by letting Daly complete the Spirit Medium ritual, using a Spirit Body to control Mrs. Sharon, and then shattering all nearby mirrors to prevent her from performing a Mirror Substitution would they have a chance to kill this Beyonder whose means of self-preservation emerged endlessly.

However, how long had twenty seconds actually passed? Seven seconds, or eight seconds?

Thoughts swirled in her mind, but Angel's hand did not stop either, pulling the trigger shot after shot to force Mrs. Sharon to dodge everywhere.

Bullets continuously flew past Mrs. Sharon. Although they could not hit her, she, who was moving and dodging, also had no time to condense Black Flame or Frost Spear to attack. Seeing time tick away second by second, Mrs. Sharon's expression sank as she charged directly toward Angel.

With a bang, Angel accurately hit the panicked Mrs. Sharon, but the sound of shattering glass that traveled over once again made her realize she had fallen for a trick once more.

"Daly!" Angel knew things were bad and hurriedly called out in warning. She looked toward Daly's location, where a faint, translucent figure was materializing beside her. Mrs. Sharon, having executed the Mirror Substitution, appeared out of thin air still gripping that dagger burning with Black Flame, a victorious smile on her face.

Daly, draped in a black robe, still had her eyes closed, tightly gripping the pendant in her hand as if unaware of the approaching danger.

Without hesitation, Angel raised her hand and fired, but only the crisp sound of the hammer striking the primer rang out. This large-caliber revolver could only hold five bullets, and the previous one that shattered the mirror substitution had been the last.

A breeze swept past everyone, feeling as though someone had hurriedly brushed by their side. Angel could not help shivering, her thoughts also experiencing a burst of sluggishness. She pulled herself together and looked back toward the positions of Daly and Mrs. Sharon.

Spirit Medium Daly opened her eyes once more, her deep eyes returning to a gem-like emerald green. The skin of Mrs. Sharon beside her once again showed that previous unhealthy gray hue, and her raised dagger stopped in place, unable to swing down.