The instant his twin swords left their sheaths, two broad, black curved blades took full shape in Shunsui Kyōraku's hands.
The swords were as heavy as axes, their edges curved dramatically, giving off inscrutable fluctuations of reiatsu.
"Since I've drawn my swords, why not play a children's game with this old man?"
Shunsui Kyōraku lowered his woven hat, that seemingly casual smile still lingering on his lips.
"A game?"
Lille Barro stood on the statue atop the spire, his gaze contemptuous. "Playing at such childish things before God's emissary. How ignorant."
Before his words had faded, Lille Barro pressed the rifle's trigger with his index finger.
Along the straight line within his sight, the air did not stir at all, yet in that same instant, a bottomless circular hole pierced the ground where Shunsui Kyōraku had been standing.
The figure left behind dissipated like smoke.
An afterimage.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lille Barro suddenly caught sight of the shadow cast by the statue beneath his feet.
"Kageoni."
Shunsui Kyōraku's languid voice abruptly emerged from deep within the shadow of the statue atop the spire.
A black blade slipped soundlessly out of the shadow, slashing straight for Lille Barro's ankle.
The strike came without warning, completely breaking the conventional boundary between matter and shadow.
Lille Barro reacted with extraordinary speed. Reishi flashed beneath his feet, and he used Hirenkyaku to rise several yards into the air.
The curved blade swept past the edge of his white trouser leg, severing a few threads.
Suspended in midair, Lille Barro held his rifle in one hand, angled the muzzle downward, and fired three times in succession.
"It's useless. No matter where you emerge, death is the only endpoint of my piercing shots."
Three invisible lines of force erupted from the muzzle,