Rustle, rustle...
The oil paintings behind His head flipped to Beckman's "The Wretch," and countless scenes from before flashed through His eyes.
With several muffled thuds, the bullets struck Rafa.
He seemed utterly unaware, as though He were not the one injured.
The history of a second earlier began overlapping with the present, restoring Rafa's wounds to their original, uninjured state. At the same time, His hands began to move slowly.
Sweat beaded on Roderick's forehead as he tried to control Him. He seemed unable to hold on much longer.
Crack!
The black light between Roderick's five fingers shattered. He grunted and staggered backward.
Rafa chuckled. Freed from control, He could move freely again. He gently plucked four phantom images of the incoming bullets from a scene of the past, held them between His fingers, and flicked them away.
Bang!!
The four bullets erupted with a terrifying roar, cutting through waves of air as they flew toward Roderick, Mona, Noah, and Rosa.
"!!"
Roderick no longer had the strength to resist. He could only watch the gleaming yellow projectile fly toward him like an artillery shell and blast through his chest.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward.
Several booms rang out. Mona was also struck by a bullet, which blasted her left arm apart outright. She tumbled into a corner and was buried beneath countless fragments of rubble and dust.
Rosa swept out a silver mist, swallowing the two incoming phantom bullets and making them vanish without a trace.
Noah braced himself against the wall and stood up, muscles bulging all over his body. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to charge up and fight Rafa. But his sister stopped him the next second. Rosa turned her head and said softly:
"Noah, don't be rash."
"But,