A Way to Escape

The ants on the road are still diligently marching forward in formation.

The rats at the drain were grinning and baring their teeth at their prey with great excitement.

But before the layer of frosting covering Formaggio could attract ants and rats, it first attracted deadly bullets.

"There it is!"

"Mista, the enemy is right under the tree!"

A sharp, shrill shout rang out in the air.

The first bullet it was carrying was fired by a scout cavalryman dispatched by Mista. By now, the cavalry had already exhausted more than half of its energy during the scout mission and could no longer turn around to attack.

However, prompted by No.1's urgent and timely reminder, Mista, who had been waiting in the wings, quickly pulled the trigger.

Two gunshots rang out, and the second and third bullets began their journey toward Formaggio's life.

They tore through the air amidst the flames, and under the control of those "Bullet Knights," they drew two dazzling spiral arcs in mid-air.

The two smoke-filled arcs quickly merged into one in the spiral, as if the two bullets had solidified into a sharp blade, slashing fiercely towards Formaggio.

"Oh no!"

Formaggio's face was extremely ugly.

He hadn't expected that the imperceptible brat would discover his presence so quickly, putting him in an extremely dangerous situation:

Mista's body has indeed shrunk to the size of a child, but even this size is not enough to completely neutralize the lethal power of the gun in his hand.

In other words, now that Formaggio has grown larger, his enormous body will become an extremely conspicuous target.

If he doesn't grow bigger, he's practically asking for death!

The Sex Pistols is almost always accurate; once its tracks are exposed, even the small Formaggio cannot guarantee that it can escape the bullets' pursuit.

If he were to use his small body to catch Mista's bullet, his death would likely be quite gruesome.

There's no other way.

There was simply no other choice.

Now, Formaggio can only restore his original form and try to withstand Mista's attacks with a more robust and resilient body.

So, without hesitation, he darted out from behind the tree trunk and then leaped off the curb in front of him.

Just like Daigo pulling out his Spark Lens, Formaggio's figure instantly swelled into a "giant" dozens of times taller, before landing steadily on the road in front of him.

Upon seeing this "monster" that had suddenly grown into a tall figure, the rats, who had been barely able to contain themselves, immediately shrank back nervously.

If it weren't for the fact that Formaggio's sweet scent became even stronger and more alluring after he grew larger, these timid creatures would probably have scattered and fled.

Now, Formaggio was obviously in no mood to guard against these rats that kept drooling over him.

He was more worried about Mista's bullets.

The moment he grew larger, the two bullets whistled through the air.

Because Formaggio's body suddenly grew larger, the bullet lost its original target, and the previously set trajectory also deviated slightly.

The bullets that were originally aimed at Formaggio's tiny head and slashed through the air ended up hitting Formaggio's legs unexpectedly after he grew larger.

Formaggio's body, which had just regained its footing, suddenly trembled violently.

After Mista's size was reduced, the bullets that were also reduced in size proportionally no longer had much power.

The feeling of a bullet entering the body is like a thin needle being suddenly driven in. If it hadn't hit vital organs like the brain or heart, it probably wouldn't have killed the person at all.

If the blow is only to the leg, then it's an even less serious injury.

However, the fatal thing is

The Formaggio's thick thigh or his muscular calf, but rather one of the most important joints supporting his body: his knee.

He was shot twice in the left knee, and a hole was drilled into the vital articular cartilage.

His damaged knee could no longer support his weight, and his entire body was uncontrollably tilting to the side.

"Damn it. This is a huge problem!"

Formaggio managed to steady himself despite the pain, but his face was as pale as a corpse.

It's truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly.

He had originally planned to grow larger and use his agility to dodge the attacks, hoping to protect himself from death.

As long as he doesn't die, even if he's seriously injured, as long as he can survive until Mista's body shrinks further, he still has a chance to turn the tide.

But now, in just the first wave of attacks, he has already injured his vital knee.

With his joints damaged, he has difficulty even walking, let alone moving around or darting about.

Without a pair of good legs, Formaggio lost most of his mobility and the ability to save his life in front of Mista.

Mista was clearly aware of this as well.

The two bullets had barely managed to carve out a small patch of blood when he immediately raised his gun and aimed it at the enlarged Formaggio.

The gun was about to fire, carrying with it death.

Now that Formaggio is unable to move or dodge, even if he manages to protect his vitals with his hands, he will surely die quickly from those bullets that move as nimbly as birds.

The winner, who had been sitting comfortably on the sidelines, was suddenly plunged into an abyss of no return.

"Didn't expect that, did you?"

"That naive brat you looked down on is going to win!"

Mista's finger gently pulled back the trigger.

The fourth bullet is about to roar.

At this moment, time seemed to stand still.

"Yes."

"I really didn't expect that."

Formaggio, trapped in a desperate situation, remarked with such emotion:

"You have no sensory abilities, yet you managed to push me to this point. Your strength is indeed worthy of respect."

"I underestimated you before. It was indeed an unforgivable mistake."

The advantages in intelligence, ability, personality, and the excessive success in battle all led Formaggio to unknowingly make the mistake of underestimating the enemy.

Now, that disdain has long since disappeared from his eyes.

Instead, there was a firm, earnest, and razor-sharp gaze:

"I won't make this mistake again!"

"What?"

In this almost frozen moment, Mista vaguely sensed that something was wrong:

Because there was no fear in Formaggio's expression, nor any resentment towards defeat and death.

Every feature of his strong facial features exuded determination, as if he still had some way to escape this desperate situation.

Is this method really possible?

Just as Formaggio couldn't understand Mista's method of perception before, Mista now can't understand Formaggio's method of escape:

His knees were clearly broken, how could he possibly run?

Does it mean it's going to shrink?

Even shrinking won't cure my leg injury!

If a big cripple becomes a small cripple, won't he have even less chance to escape?

In that split second, Mista couldn't help but imagine all sorts of impossible possibilities.

Finally, the trigger was pulled.

With Mista filled with tension and doubt, the fourth bullet whistled out.

Before the flames could even burst forth, Formaggio had already provided the answer to Mista's question:

"Little Feet!"

In that instant, his body, which had just returned to its normal size, shrank again.

"Remember that, Mista."

"My name is Formaggio!"

Formaggio finally announced his name to his opponent with a loud and unrestrained roar.

But this shouting didn't seem to be just a way of venting emotions and expressing will—

It was as if the sound was deliberately provoking someone.

Amidst this roar, Formaggio shrank back to the size of a finger.

He was covered in ice cream frosting, and now that he's shrunk so much, he looks like a talking ice cream cone.

Then, in that very instant

Before the bullets could even reach them, a dark figure suddenly darted out of the nearby drain.

In an instant, the dark figure leaped to Formaggio's side and bit through the shoulder of the cream-colored little man.

"This is a rat?!"

Mista felt an indescribable shock:

"He actually shrunk himself down to act as bait, deliberately luring the rat over so it could carry him away!"

Rats are cautious by nature. They cannot eat in places where humans are present. Instead, they will instinctively bring the food they find back to a safe area.

So, after snatching the "food" into its mouth with lightning speed, the mouse immediately turned around and leaped away.

The faint, painful cries of Formaggio as he was being gnawed by rat teeth still echoed all around.

But his figure had already followed the black shadow, and before the bullets could catch up, he leaped into the drain.

Formaggio survived.

Mista knew he was in big trouble.