Chapter 90: Corrupting Rounds and Tactical Shifts

Boom!

Imeline’s fireball struck the house where the black-haired girl was hiding, causing the ceiling and walls to crash down.

The entire building crumbled into a pile of ruins.

However, given the girl’s incredible speed, it was impossible for her to be trapped beneath the debris.

Before the house could even fully collapse, her dark silhouette had already escaped through a window on the opposite side of the building. They could only glimpse a rapidly elongating shadow, unable to discern where the black-haired girl had vanished.

Bang!

A gunshot echoed from a different house nearby.

The black-haired girl had no intention of fleeing.

The intricate and winding terrain here allowed her to leverage her superior speed and range. She intended to continue sniping Lucia and the others from within its complexities.

A purplish-black projectile flew towards them, tracing an unsettling trajectory. This was undoubtedly a magic bullet, its direction controllable by the black-haired girl.

Through these recent attacks, Imeline had discerned two types of attacks: pure purple signified ordinary bullets, while the purplish-black indicated projectiles capable of altering their path.

Imeline no longer conjured ice walls in front of Lovelenica and Lucia for defense. The purplish-black projectiles could change trajectory, rendering any preemptive ice wall useless.

The black-haired girl would simply guide the bullet around it, and Imeline couldn’t instantly create a 360-degree, impenetrable defense.

Her best bet was to seize the moment and deploy a swiftly manifested Ice Shield.

Besides, judging by Lovelenica and Lucia’s demeanor, they didn’t seem to require her direct intervention. Not only were they agile, but they also appeared to be wearing Rings of Arrow Evasion, which offered a degree of protection against the black-haired girl’s gunfire.

Imeline only needed to focus on her own defense.

As expected, the black-haired girl’s attack was aimed directly at Imeline. After circling once, the purplish-black projectile shot straight towards her.

Imeline, having accurately gauged the timing, waited until the bullet was hurtling directly before her.

Only then did she conjure an Ice Shield merely a hair’s breadth in front of her.

Crack!

With a crisp, muffled thud, the purplish-black projectile embedded itself into the Ice Shield. Cracks spiderwebbed across the icy surface, and though it was on the verge of shattering, it barely managed to block the attack.

However, the purple hue on the projectile seemed to spread, staining the shield’s ice-blue with its own color. At that moment, the Ice Shield completely dissolved.

Imeline was somewhat surprised. If the Ice Shield had merely shattered from the impact, she could have understood. Yet, she had clearly blocked the strike, and as long as the shield hadn’t directly fragmented, it should have quickly regained its initial hardness under her control.

Despite her continuous infusion of ice elements, the Ice Shield had melted away. Observing the spreading purple on its surface, Imeline realized that the black-haired girl’s ammunition must contain something capable of inflicting continuous damage.

She wondered if it was poison or something else entirely.

“They are Corrupting Rounds,” Lovelenica stated.

Seeing that Imeline had already noticed the issue, she directly offered the explanation to both of them.

“If you’re hit, the wounds will continuously fester,” she explained. “Holy Healing Scrolls won’t work on them. You either have to wait for the corruption to fade or use a Purification spell to dispel its effects first.”

Mid-sentence, Lovelenica turned her gaze to Lucia.

“Even your self-healing abilities will be temporarily suppressed, which is precisely why I didn’t want you to pursue her, Lucia. Do you understand now?”

“Mm…”

Though Lucia outwardly assented, a flicker of dissatisfaction remained within her. Even if they were Corrupting Rounds, they would only temporarily suppress her self-healing. ‘Temporary’ wasn’t ‘permanent’.

If she could just stop their opponent, what did a few injuries matter? However, witnessing Lovelenica’s earlier flash of anger, Lucia could only rein in her emotions for the time being.

She could only dutifully follow Lovelenica’s instructions.

Rat-a-tat-tat—

The very next moment, gunshots erupted continuously from all directions. The black-haired girl had ceased her probing attacks, now unleashing her full power in a ferocious assault.

‘No… I can’t pinpoint her location at all now,’ Imeline thought.

Imeline’s pupils contracted. She hadn’t anticipated the black-haired girl’s speed could be so astonishing.

Lovelenica and Lucia, with their agility and Rings of Arrow Evasion, could likely still evade such a dense barrage with ease.

Imeline, however, would find it incredibly difficult. As a Mage, her physical prowess was merely that of an ordinary human.

Even if she used Spatial Magic to teleport herself, she couldn’t guarantee her landing spot wouldn’t fall within the bullet’s trajectory. Teleporting to a slightly more distant location to escape the barrage would be akin to leaping into a tiger’s mouth.

Without Lucia and Lovelenica to protect her, the black-haired girl would effortlessly catch up.

Relying solely on Ice Shields wouldn’t suffice. Against such concentrated firepower, even if the opponent wasn’t using Corrupting Rounds, the Ice Shields would inevitably be shattered.

Consequently, Imeline had no choice but to conjure wide-ranging ice walls to defend.

She pointed her Wand downwards and pressed it, causing a series of ice walls to erupt from the ground. These walls also encompassed Lovelenica and Lucia within their protective embrace.

Imeline felt her magical energy draining at an alarming rate.

At this rate, even in a battle of magical reserves, Imeline was no match for the black-haired girl. The black-haired girl merely needed to shift positions and pull the trigger.

Imeline, however, had to constantly conjure new ice walls in every direction. Since the opponent’s bullets didn’t consume magic, how could Imeline possibly outlast her?

Just as Imeline was overwhelmed and flustered by her defensive efforts, a purplish-black bullet materialized right before her eyes.

‘When?!’

Imeline was both startled and infuriated. Her defenses had been breached once more.

For the first time, she felt that bullets were not as useless as she had imagined. Compared to the more conspicuous and massive magical spells, these small, rapid bullets felt almost like cheating.

Clang—

Fortunately, Lovelenica’s keen blade once again intercepted the attack, severing the purplish-black bullet in two.

Lovelenica had noticed it from the very beginning of the black-haired girl’s assault: a highly inconspicuous purplish-black streak amidst the purple barrage.

Lovelenica instantly realized that the black-clad girl could continue firing even while launching a controllable bullet. She was merely limited to firing one controllable bullet at a time, which didn’t prevent her from simultaneously shooting other projectiles while guiding its trajectory.

Previously, only firing one controllable bullet at a time had simply been a ruse to mislead Lucia and the others into thinking she couldn’t control them during rapid fire, causing them to lower their guard.

However, Lovelenica had already deduced this fact through her keen perception, allowing her to parry the strike.

The black-clad girl’s attacks momentarily ceased. Firearms, unlike a Mage’s constant stream of spells fueled by magic, required reloading, creating a brief window of vulnerability.

Imeline felt a jolt of fear. Having been nearly hit multiple times in quick succession by the black-haired girl, she was genuinely frightened now.

With her physical constitution, she definitely couldn’t withstand even a single bullet. She could only rely on magic for defense, yet magic itself was proving difficult to maintain.

Without Lovelenica’s protection, she estimated she would have already died at least twice over.

Just as Imeline found herself at a loss, she suddenly felt a slight touch on her fingertips.

“Put this on.”