In Terra, a Hunter and a Bad Woman

But that brief exchange had made Maria realize that the person before her did not seem to think so.

His physical condition was frighteningly weak. If someone like him lost the weapon he was familiar with, he would not even survive a full Blood Moon in Yharnam!

But... she had never been good with words.

Skullshatterer frowned after hearing Maria's assessment.

"So... you think I'm weak?"

As he spoke, he continued putting force into his grenade launcher.

But Maria merely kept her arm braced against the weapon and spoke calmly.

"At the very least, you can't beat me."

"Arrogant!"

With a furious shout, Skullshatterer abruptly changed his plan. He raised the launcher in his hand, its dark muzzle aimed directly at Maria!

"Bang, bang—!"

Two shells fired at once, ready to explode at such close range!

But... Maria would not fail to the same move twice.

The moment she noticed those strange brass shells being fired, she instantly retreated dozens of meters, escaping the small grenades' blast radius.

As the ground rumbled and shook, another explosion erupted!

"Boom—!"

Skullshatterer burst free from the flames. His cloak snapped behind him, and the fire clinging to it was flung away in an instant.

Their clash had lasted only a moment, moving so fast that no one else had time to react!

By the time they came to their senses, they saw the two standing apart!

"Go, Captain!"

The Reunion Movement members around them, unaware of the truth, began cheering their captain on.

Though they did not know what had happened in that instant, they had seen Maria retreat first.

That seemed to suggest that this woman did not dare confront their captain directly.

Their previously sagging morale rose considerably.

They all began cheering and encouraging their captain.

But... Skullshatterer, who knew he had not held the advantage against Maria, wore a grave expression.

His eyes beneath the gas mask stared fixedly at the woman before him as he barked at his teammates.

"You go first! You must complete the mission!"

"Yes!"

The Reunion Movement members nodded.

Though they were still worried about this side, since their captain had said so, there was nothing for them to hesitate over.

They just had to charge!

After casually stopping several groups that tried to rush past her, Maria frowned slightly.

There were... rather a lot of them, weren't there?

Although she was not at a disadvantage in a direct fight, and had even held the upper hand at certain points.

The problem was that there were too many of them. No matter how fast she was, there was still a limit.

If these people scattered and fled, she really might not be able to catch them all...

"Is this your idea?"

Maria raised her head and looked at Skullshatterer.

After hesitating for a moment, she sighed, then looked up.

"So... why are you so certain I have no way to stop you?"

"If you do, why aren't you using it?"

Skullshatterer was not thrown off by Maria. Instead, he focused completely on every movement the woman made.

His taut nerves continuously sent him signals of danger, telling him just how dangerous the woman before him was.

He was gambling too!

Clearly, given the current situation, Maria would never let them pass freely through this alley.

And simply relying on numbers was meaningless.

No amount of meat could jam a meat grinder.

Right now, they were that batch of meat, while Maria was that merciless meat grinder.

Under such circumstances, the only option was to cast a wide net.

Everyone would scatter and flee. There would always be some who managed to escape.

Then, all he could do was hope they completed the mission.

But unfortunately... Maria had no intention of granting even such a simple wish.

"If that's all... then the battle is already over..."

As Maria spoke, she silently lowered her head.

Chapter 49: A Captivating Charm

"Ah, Senior Texas!"

Backstage at the concert, Sora looked in surprise at Texas, who was sitting obediently in the backstage area.

But her joy did not leave her much time to think. After greeting her companion with a grin, she trotted over to Texas.

"You came to hear my concert too?"

"...Mm."

Texas was clearly distracted, but seeing Sora's excitement, she did not say anything that would spoil her mood. Instead, she quietly went along with her.

After pausing for a moment, she forced a smile.

"Your singing... is very nice."

"But... I haven't gone onstage yet?"

Sora tilted her head in confusion.

Texas's smile froze for several seconds, but she soon turned away again.

"I mean when you were doing a sound check during rehearsal... I heard it too. It was very good."

"Hehe... is that so?"

Sora, lost in the depths of her feelings, clearly did not notice Texas's unnatural tone. She simply nodded with a grin.

After clinging to her for a while, Sora suddenly remembered something and looked around.

"What is it?"

Texas asked.

"I was wondering... where is Miss Maria? Senior Texas, weren't you chatting with Miss Maria just now? Why did you come here alone...?"

Sora tilted her head, rather curious.

"You mean her..."

Texas hesitated for a while and forced a smile.

"She has something to take care of. She'll probably be here in a little while..."

"In a little while... she has something to do?"

Sora was confused.

Her sharp instincts kept warning her that something was wrong.

Texas was hiding something from her!

But her trust in Texas also made her feel that there was no need to think too much about it.

The two emotions tangled in her mind. After a long pause, she shook her head and smiled at Texas.

Forget it. There was no point thinking about that.

After all, she only needed to trust her companions and do her own job well!

"By the way... Senior Texas, have you been staying backstage this whole time? Isn't it boring? If you want, I can arrange a front-row seat for you... Don't worry, it'll definitely be one of the best!"

Sora stayed close to Texas, enthusiastically promoting her concert.

Nearby, the companions performing with Sora gathered together and looked over in surprise.

"So that's Texas, the one Sora keeps talking about?"

"I always thought she was a man..."

"Forget whether she's a man or a woman... don't you think Sora treats her very differently?"

"Differently? Hmm... I remember Sora said Texas once saved her life... Maybe this is just gratitude toward her savior?"

"I don't think so."

Several girls huddled together, occasionally glancing over.

Sora was brimming with enthusiasm, pressed close to the unreadable Texas...

It looked a little like she was fawning over her, but they were idols, after all. Reading people and observing expressions were basic skills.

They could also tell that Miss Texas clearly had something weighing heavily on her mind. Yet even so, she was still willing to interact with Miss Sora...

That was quite interesting.

"I remember that when we signed our idol contracts, there was a rule saying we couldn't have scandals with the opposite sex, right?"

"Yeah, I think there was... But why bring that up?"

"I'm thinking... Sora works so hard to be a good idol, so she must follow the contract strictly. In that case, if she goes too long without interacting with men, then she..."

"Hmm... that's hard to say."

The companions exchanged glances, all wearing subtle expressions.

Clearly, as people who had been through it, they all understood what that meant.

At the end of the day, being idols was merely the image they presented to the outside world. Internally, they were still a group of young girls, with all the usual joys, anger, sorrows, and pleasures.

And where there were emotions, there would naturally be all kinds of corresponding desires.

As idols who had been in the industry for years, they had naturally heard of quite a few peers ending up in peculiar situations because of various restrictions.

So they accepted the possibility that Sora might have fallen for Texas very quickly.

Only...

"Miss Texas doesn't seem to feel that way about her, does she?" one companion said, sounding worried.

Though they worked in the same industry as Sora, colleagues were not necessarily enemies.

At least, everyone appearing at this charity concert basically had kind hearts. They might occasionally feel jealous of one another, but they could keep it under control.

And as one of the younger ones, as well as the hardest-working and liveliest girl among them, Sora had naturally earned the affection of quite a few "older generation" idols.

So after seeing Sora reveal such an attitude toward Texas, they began analyzing it for her.

"Sora is such a lovable girl that even I can't resist her... Yet she's making such intimate gestures, and Texas has shown no reaction at all. Could this be Sora's one-sided love?"

At that thought, the woman could not help worrying about Sora's future.

The companions beside her nodded with great certainty.

"Unless something unexpected happens, it's definitely one-sided love."