*CLANG!*
"Belle!" Nicole shouted, her voice dripping with concern as she held back a Hunter wielding a silver katana.
"Ohh..! To hear your name before you die..!" The man sobbed, dramatic tears flowing down his face as Belle used her Nikana to parry every strike.
The man was Miguel Silver, the leader of the Red Fang gang and a C rank Hunter of some renown. He wore a red dress shirt, a checkered tie, black coat and a set of magic greaves and vambraces. His class was fighter, which meant he had to get up close and personal to inflict damage.
*SHIIIING!*
Luckily for him, he possessed a few skills to speed up his movements and attack speed. His body turned into a silver blur as he chased the Cunning Hares. But try as he might, he couldn't land a clean hit on Belle.
Belle ducked a quickdraw slash and grabbed onto the iron handlebars along the staircase they were fleeing. She then propelled herself down, further angering the pursuing Miguel.
"Waaaah...! Fire at them! The safe can take it!" Miguel sobbed as he pointed down.
*BRATTA-BRATTA-BRATTA!*
A torrent of bullets from Ether enhanced firearms rained down on them, a few grazing Belle and Billy as they covered Nicole and Anby, who were in front.
"Tss! Ow! Those sting you know!?" Belle shouted, further pissing off Miguel and the gangsters. She also quickly checked her bag, seeing Eous inside and well, she sighed in relief and pet the head of the bangboo.
"You okay back there!?" Nicole asked as they ran past a series of televisions that were smattered all over the hallway they were running down.
"I'm fine! Just some boo-boos for you to kiss later. How bout you, Billy?" Belle replied before turning her attention to the former war machine next to her.
"I only accept kisses from Monica! So I'll have to politely decline, Nicole." Billy replied, enthusiastically shaking his hand to deny the idea.
"Urgh.. I shouldn't have asked." Nicole huffed, but inwardly felt better they had the energy to banter like that.
"Nicole. Dead end coming." Anby stated as they slid into a room with a large window overlooking some of New Eridu.
The Hollow outside made Nicole feel uneasy. It was certainly not the way she preferred to exit, but it may have to come down to leaping down into it.
"Finally.. Huu.. Caught you." Miguel barged in after them, still crying.
His entourage of criminals followed closely behind him, aiming their guns at them all. Belle tutted, inwardly cursing at how fast he was.
"Now now.. There's no need for things to get so violent, right? We're all reasonable adults here." Nicole tried to placate, stepping forward with a disarming smile as she gave Anby a particular look.
"Hah..? You steal our shit so blatantly after breaking into our turf and you think violence isn't gonna be the answer? You Cunning Hares aren't stupid. No more stalling for time. Give me back the safe or I'll have my men fill you all with holes." Miguel stopped crying, his teeth grit in annoyance as he looked at the safe in Nicole's hands.
"Sure... Sure.. Well, you heard him. Anby." Nicole tossed up the safe, while at the same time, Anby drew her blade from its special sheathe and slashed the window apart.
*BANG! BANG! CLANG!*
Billy started to shoot down the gang members, though only hit their limbs. Regardless, it was more than enough to incapacitate them. While Belle and Miguel once more clashed with their blades. His body and blade once more became a silver blur, forcing Belle to backpedal unwillingly toward the shattered window.
*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!*
Miguel kept pushing, determined to slip past Belle so he could retrieve the special package. But she was a nigh impenetrable wall. Every swing he made, every move he made, it was as if she could see through him. Like she knew exactly what he'd do next.
After his seventh failed attack, Belle reinforced herself with Ether and suddenly pushed Miguel back. Her blade slashed down at his head, forcing him to use his movement skill to move back out of her range. Or, so he thought.
*Vrrrrr-*
An Ether bolt flew out of her hand, forcing Miguel to block it with the flat side of his blade.
"There they are! Those Red Fang fucks!" One of the voices from the Pubsec interview outside exclaimed on the news.
All of a sudden, a Pubsec attack helicopter appeared outside the window, lighting up the interior with its bright searchlight.
"Freeze! Miguel Silver, The Silver Blade Hunter. Surrender now and face-" "Will you powerless sons of bitches FUCK OFF already!?" *SCREEEEEETCH!*
Miguel had quickly sheathed his blade back, activating his speed skills once more. A silver arc flew out from his blade and sliced the chopper horizontally in half, instantaneously causing the officers within to die before the helicopter exploded.
To Belle, this was shocking. This guy who barely had any screen time before becoming an Ethereal just took out a ratger advanced attack chopper. And very easily at that.
"Now give me... the FUCKING SAFE!!" Miguel roared, pointing his blade at Nicole and once more turning into a silver blur.
"Nuh uh." Once more, Belle blocked his strike, though this time she thrusted her fist forward and stabbed into his shoulder with the Blade of Extermination.
"Augh! Where did- No!" Miguel cut himself off as Nicole leapt out of the shattered window.
"Come on, Belle! Nicole and Anby have already gone ahead!" Billy shouted.
Belle nodded and leapt back, preparing to jump.
*Clack*
Miguel, seeing his prize vanish before his eyes quickly sheathed his blade and once more turned into a silver blur. Belle and Billy had already leapt off, but Miguel was determimed to chase them down.
"Crap! Billy, look out!" Belle yelled as she tucked in her legs and avoided a potentially devastating strike.
*CLAAAAANG!!*
Billy was prepared though, he managed to catch the blade with the barrels of his guns as they all fell into the cretan Hollow. But despite the disorienting shift in space or the fact that they were flying across an old trainyard, the fight continued. Billy kept trying his best to avoid the swift and powerful swings coming from Miguel.
"Hold on, Billy!" Belle grunted as she grabbed onto a street sign, using the momentum to launch off of it and parkour up to old train cars.
"Woo man! This guy is capable! I'm not gonna hold on for much longer, Belle!" Billy stated frantically as he pivoted backward from an Iai horizontal slash.
Miguel snorted in frustration. Anyone else might believe what he was saying. But one look at his body language told otherwise. Billy wasn't even taking him seriously.
"Enough.." Miguel stomped on the traincar and activated his last skill.
A silver light shone down his blade as he raised it up. His mana unleashing as he quickly brought it down twice in the blink of an eye.
*SHIIIIING!*
The train had split in half as a razor sharp silver light was unleashed from his blade.
"You bastard.." Miguel cursed, seeing as Billy moved out of harm's way just in time.
*THWACK!*
Unfortunately for him, he underestimated the Cunning Hares' gremlin and took a powerful kick to the back of the head that launched him off the collapsing train's remains. Grunting in pain, he corrected his body position mid-air and slid across the ground until he stopped.
"Billy, my bruzzah. Are you ready to take him on Jumpkaisen Style?" Belle asked, removing the FeiXiao white coat from her shoulders.
"Hah! This guy won't leave us be otherwise. Let's take him down together, like Starlight Knights!" Billy declared with a dramatic pose.
Unknown to Belle yet, her phone buzzed with a notification.
[Divine General Mahoraga Template: 48%]
[AN: I wanna recommend a ZZZ fic. 'ZZZ: Through the Frosted Mirror'. Go check it out if ya wanna read about Ellen as the MC. Also, pics are here]