What the hell was that...?
The black-robed figure atop the warehouse briefly caught Klein's attention, leaving him unsure which way to look.
To his right, under the influence of Al Hassen's poetry, the enemy had emerged beside the stacked wooden crates.
The man wore the same black half-height silk top hat and tailcoat as Klein, making him wonder whether the outfit had also come from Wilker's Clothing and Hat Shop.
In contrast to his formal attire, the man's face was painted red, yellow, and white, forming a clown's face with both corners of its mouth turned sharply upward.
A Clown?
A Beyonder from the Secret Order? No, that orange fireball wasn't a Clown's ability. This fellow was most likely Sequence 7, or had some divine artifact capable of firing fireballs...
As for Sequence 6, Klein immediately ruled out that possibility. Tingen City did not permit Beyonders that powerful.
In any case, with two Nightmares—Captain Dunn and old Mr. Al Hassen—attacking him from both sides, the Tuxedo Clown should not pose a problem.
Klein relaxed a little. Meanwhile, the grayish-white warehouse in the middle had fallen silent again after that scream.
The safest course of action now was... His thoughts raced as he warily scanned the warehouse entrance. At the same time, he unhesitatingly raised his right hand and pulled the trigger at the figure who had leaped onto another warehouse roof.
A stranger had suddenly appeared in the warehouse district. Friend or foe, firing a shot first could hardly go wrong.
If he was an enemy, Klein could simply shoot him. If he was a passerby... unlikely as that was, Klein had great confidence in his own marksmanship.
Sure enough, just as he aimed and led his target, the figure abruptly crouched, switching from running to rolling.
Bang!
Klein's bullet