"If I'd managed to drink that Assassin potion back then, would I have both good looks and strength now?" Recalling the abilities this corpse had displayed, Lorne couldn't help imagining the possibilities.
After a while, crystalline material gradually appeared on the corpse, eventually forming a translucent blob of slime.
"Meow!"
Lucky suddenly froze, her tail trembling rapidly. She stared straight at the substance.
Orange Cat's pupils instantly dilated, her eyes full of longing.
"Don't!" Just as Lorne reached out to grab her, Orange Cat had already launched herself forward.
Unfortunately for her, her tongue had barely touched the slime's surface before she was hauled off the ground by the scruff.
"Honestly, why do you always insist on eating random things?"
Looking at the agitated Orange Cat, Lorne was at a loss for words. The sight reminded him of the time Lucky had drunk the Assassin potion.
"Meow!" Lucky began struggling fiercely.
"Besides, even if this person was probably on the same Pathway as you, that definitely wasn't the kind of power a Sequence 8 should have." Lorne continued lecturing without letting go.
He was certain of that. Judging by the abilities the woman had just displayed and the abnormal fluctuations of spirituality around her, she was definitely beyond Sequence 8.
Advancing by skipping Sequences ended in either losing control or death... That piece of knowledge had left a deep impression on Lorne.
If that was true for humans, how much worse would it be for a cat?
Although Lucky was only a cat, and they hadn't been together long, she was already the only living creature in this world Lorne could talk to.
Of course, the cat couldn't actually talk back.
"Be sensible! Unlucky people like us can't just try things at random!"
Since he had already fired all his bullets, Lorne felt safe poking Lucky with the gun barrel.
"Meow!" Feeling the cold barrel against her, Lucky flailed all four paws, her hind leg landing squarely on Lorne's wrist.
"Crap!" Perhaps because he was tired, Lorne failed to keep his grip.
"No!"
The black revolver's falling trajectory appeared before Lorne's eyes... The instant its barrel plunged into the slime, bubbles suddenly swelled across the blob as though it were boiling.
"Shit!"
Before Lorne could react, the gun had already sunk into the half-solidified gel, with bluish smoke hissing from its crevices.
"Meow?" Seemingly realizing she had caused trouble, Lucky stopped struggling and simply dangled in midair from Lorne's grip on her scruff.
A moment later, the transparent substance had completely vanished, while the formerly jet-black revolver had somehow acquired silvery-white patterns.
Did... did the revolver absorb it?
Lorne could hardly believe what he was seeing, but after a moment, he relaxed, as though something had clicked.
"So that's how it works. Objects can absorb Beyonder powers too, not just living creatures?"
"So that's where those Beyonder weapons come from..."
Lorne slowly stood, gently releasing Lucky as he did. Once all four paws touched the ground again, she silently curled up beside his feet.
"Judging by how this woman was fleeing with injuries all over her, someone was probably hunting her. I shouldn't have much time to waste."
Looking at the revolver before him, Lorne instinctively reached to pick it up, only to stop halfway.
With an object formed through such an accident, he really couldn't be sure whether touching it rashly would cause something unexpected.
"No, I can't hesitate any longer. Whoever was chasing her could arrive at any moment."
Robot had a passive ability that countered divination. As long as he wasn't caught on the spot, the other party probably wouldn't be able to find him.
Lorne's fingertips hovered two centimeters from the grip for several seconds...
"No reaction from my spiritual intuition, and no warning from fate..."
"I'll take this gamble..." His Adam's apple bobbed three times before he abruptly reached out and picked up the revolver.
There was none of the pain he had expected, nor any mental disorientation. Lorne breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't keep it against his body as he had last time, terrified that some strange reaction might occur again without his noticing.
He picked up the slightly scorched coat beside him, wrapped the gun in it, then scooped up Lucky from beside his feet and hurried out of the alley.
His footsteps faded into the distance...
"Damn it!" Clown narrowly dodged a Demon-Hunting Bullet.
The bullet grazed his forehead and flew off into the distance.
Had Clown not possessed extraordinary control over his body, his head would have become a shattered watermelon.
Clown still wore a smile, but the situation looked grim.
It was three against five, and their opponents also had a strange, mirror-shaped Sealed Artifact that instinctively made him sense danger. He wasn't in good condition either. No matter how seamlessly the three of them coordinated, they were struggling to hold on.
What do I do... I'm running low on bullets and cards. I already used the Explosive Talisman against that Demoness just now... Clown's mind raced as he searched for a way out.
The already injured Kenley suddenly sprang into action. Under Old Neil's cover, he rushed at Clown with 3-0217 in hand.
Clown instinctively tried to retreat.
But bullets fired by Klein cut off his escape.
Feeling the pressure emanating from the mirror, Clown instinctively closed his eyes.
It's over.
Just as the mirror was about to catch his reflection, a Flame Flow burst forth, cutting him off from the mirror and setting the surrounding vegetation ablaze.
"Ganging up on the outnumbered isn't very honorable, Nighthawks!" Magician suddenly appeared in the middle of the battlefield.
"Boss!"
"Chief!"
The members of the Circus Team grew excited at the sight of their captain.
Magician gave his teammates a meaningful glance. With a sudden flick of his fingertips, a sheet of paper shot from his sleeve toward Old Neil.
The instant the Nighthawks' attention shifted toward Old Neil, orange-red flames surged around Magician. He used Flaming Jump again, snapping his fingers as he did so to send an Air Bullet at Kenley behind the mirror.
"Watch out!"
Frye grabbed Kenley's arm and yanked him backward,
narrowly avoiding the attack.
"Ambushes aren't very honorable either," Leonard retorted at the sight.
"We never said we were honorable." Magician sounded as though it were only natural.
Ignoring the Nighthawks' bullets, he used the blazing fires around him to perform another Flaming Jump. Just as he vanished into the firelight, he opened his palm and hurled a crimson talisman toward the Nighthawks squad.
Then he shouted.
"Retreat!"
Klein and the others immediately realized something was wrong and quickly threw themselves to the ground in every direction.
Boom!
After a violent explosion, the smoke cleared.
The Circus Team had vanished without a trace.
Only torn Paper Figures remained.
Inside the Red Chimney House.
A certain quill was writing on paper by itself:
Fate seemed to have strayed from the original script. The Nighthawks squad had arrived one step behind the Society's Circus Team, and thus the Nighthawk Kenley, who should have died because of 3-0217...
(A large passage showed signs of forced revision.)
Because the Demoness Sharon had fled, it was reasonable for the Circus Team to encounter the belated Nighthawks squad while pursuing her.
The two groups confronted each other, but neither seemed to intend to start a fight...
(Another passage showed signs of alteration.)
As a newcomer, it was reasonable for the Circus Team's Fortune Teller to feel nervous in such an unexpected situation and instinctively pull the trigger of his gun!
The two groups, which should have suffered heavy losses on both sides, unexpectedly sustained no deaths at all.
"Damn it!" A certain hack writer cursed under his breath, forcibly picked up the quill, and wrote something new on the paper.
Before you continue