Chumie thought about how he knew this. He immediately came up with the answer.
There were bloody footprints on the ground that had entered the only small room in the church but had not returned to the exit. They were none other than Chumie's own footprints.
He had never expected to come face to face with the purge officer on the scene, and leaving him alone would only make things worse.
Chumie smacked his lips and got ready.
"I sympathize with you. Meeting me is the most unfortunate thing that has happened to you in your life. If you surrender honestly, I will not hurt you. Listen? I will only count to three, and you will come out within this time."
Bocchi raised three long fingers at once.
Chumie was anxious and confirmed the escape route again. The straight-line distance to the chapel exit was several dozen meters.
If he ran at full speed, it would only take a few seconds to cover this distance. The opponent didn't know that he was very agile, so the chances of successfully escaping were not low.
That being said, the Purge Officers usually work in pairs, and Chumie knows this. It's hard to say that there won't be Bocchi's companions guarding outside.
Chumie couldn't help biting his lip. He kept thinking, trying to find the best solution in this worst situation.
Bocchi's fingers bent one by one.
There is no time to hesitate.
When the countdown was about to reach zero, Chumie pulled out a dagger from his waist in an instant and kicked the door open.
At the same time, he threw the dagger at Bocchi's pumpkin mask with all his strength. Chumie didn't even bother to see if he hit it, and ran immediately towards the exit.
After running through the corridor, he rushed outside. Although he was on guard, there were no other purge officers nearby.
Chumie planned to just run away. Because they met in a dim room, he thought the other party couldn't even see his mask clearly.
"Hey, don't run."
This voice came from behind.
There was a loud "boom" and Chumie felt a chill on his back.
Chumie rolled over reflexively, and the orange flames that illuminated the night stretched straight toward him. The column of fire rose up, blocking the only exit door.
The intense heat passed through the black dog mask to his skin.
"I'm glad you were able to dodge it. You have pretty good reflexes, Black Dog Mask."
Chumie, who was in a passive position, looked back.
The entrance of the church was brightly lit by the fire, and the tall purge officer stared at Chumie.
"But running away is the worst move against me. So far, no one has managed to escape from me alive. If you try to run away, you will also end up like that. If you surrender now, I can still count it as a chance... How do you think?" Bocchi's deep voice sounded.
"Damn it...!"
Muttering, Chumie compared the sight of Bocchi, enveloped in red dust particles, with the blazing gate. The church was surrounded by a square stone wall, cutting off her escape route. Chumie's hysical abilities would allow her to jump over the gate, but judging by the current inferno, running away with her back turned was clearly impossible.
Even so, surrender is simply impossible.
(Is this the only option?)
With a click, Chumie drew out his familiar weapon. His beloved black blade, a top-of-the-line dust-processed product that would never break, somehow felt less reliable than usual in the face of the strange pressure emanating from Botchi.
"Oh. Hmm, a dagger. Stylish!"
Bocchi smiled and raised his left arm.
"Fighting is a hundred times better than running away... but it may also make you regret it even more."
"I...can't stop here."
Chumie answered in the darkness mixed with cold air and heated wind. Bocchi seemed to be interested in his mechanical voice for a moment and turned the pumpkin mask upwards.
"Really? Come on then. I'll play with you."
After saying this, Bocchi sprayed Explosive Flame at Chumie again.
Chumie rolled sideways to avoid it, and a pillar of fire immediately rose from where he was standing. The heat was as if he was burning directly, wrapping his whole body.
This firepower was obviously stronger than the rumors said. The flames that Bocchi produced from the front of his arms swayed as if they could burn the air, burning the surroundings mercilessly.
The high temperature was enough to make people forget that it was a bit cold in this season, and Chumie's forehead was covered with sweat, but he couldn't be timid.
The reinforcements from the Purge Officers might arrive at any time. Since we have decided to fight, we must decide the outcome as soon as possible, but we can't just rush in without thinking of any countermeasures.
In order not to miss this opportunity, Chumie gradually shortened the distance.
(That guy's weakness is probably when someone gets close to him. Also, there will be a gap between each attack...)
Since he was also at risk of getting burned, this sand ability could not be used at very close range. More importantly, if he controlled so many high-energy sand particles that could generate fire, no matter what kind of monster the opponent was, it would be impossible to fire several flames in succession.
This was Chumie's prediction. At first glance, Bocchi was wrapped in a very dense layer of sand particles, but everyone had their limits.
The next time you dodge the flamethrower, it's time to attack.
Bocchi took out a gun made by MGC from the arms of his robe. The large-caliber double-shooter fired powerful Magnum bullets.
Chumie accurately saw the trajectory with his dynamic vision and blocked the bullet with the blade of his knife.
Bocchi saw the bullet bounced off the other side and whistled in admiration. Then, he released the fire without delay.
Chumie used one arm as a support point to roll sideways. He pulled out the dagger while dodging.
In order to create a flaw, Chumie threw the dagger knife again.
However, Bocchi only twisted half of his body, and the dagger aimed at Bocchi's heart was deflected by the huge coffin on his shoulder.
Bocchi's body reacted quickly enough but by then, Chumie had already concentrated all his strength on his feet and jumped up.
There were still some things that were not clear about the creepy coffin that Bocchi was carrying. But since we were going to cut it, we just had to aim at the flesh.
Facing Chumie who was flying in the air and trying to use the cassock slash,
"Too reckless"
Bocchi said with a bored look on his face.
"Tch," Botchi muttered dismissively.
Immediately afterward, Botchi raised his left arm.
In a flash, sensing a bad feeling—at the last moment, Chumie stabbed the knife from the air to the ground. He changed his movements in the air as if he was stepping on the brakes, and barely avoided the flames.
"Ahhh!.."
However, because he failed to avoid the fire, half of Chumie's body was exposed to the high temperature and suffered severe pain.
He was unable to take a protective posture and scraped the ground when he landed. Although he stood up immediately, the high temperature that penetrated his tights caused burns that caused severe pain all over his body.
Bocchi calmly said, "Oh, you can actually do that kind of thing in the air... Interesting."
"Black Dog Mask, are you an acrobat by profession?" He added
There were crackling sounds and flickering flames around Bocchi's feet. Although the expression behind the pumpkin mask could not be seen, it was clear that Bocchi was indifferent.
Instead, Chumie showed a fierce expression under the mask.
(Bocchi Thaidalla, the first-class purge officer... How could there be such an absurdly strong sand ability user...!)
There are five levels of Purge Officers. Bocchi's title is First Class Purge Officer, which is the highest level among all Purge Officers. It is common knowledge that there are only a few Purge Officers of First Class in the entire Grand City. Although I have long known that his fighting ability should not be underestimated, it is still very strange.
(Why can this guy spit out flames without stopping...? The point is, his attack just now...)
Under the night sky, the scarlet flames burned fiercely. Chumie avoided the continuous spray of flames while staring at the red dust particles wrapped around Bocchi.
After continuous observation, the doubts that flashed through his mind gradually became credible.
The color of the dust particles would change depending on the user of the dust ability.
He knew from previous experience that red dust particles tended to contain heat-related effects.
However, this alone could not explain Poki's abnormally high frequency of flame jets.
No matter how powerful a sand user is, there is a limit to the frequency of releasing sand particles. Bocchi ignored this rule.
"Hehe. You're quite skilled. There aren't many people among the Purge Officers who have such strong physical abilities as you. But you can't hide forever, right?"
He was right. The flames were indeed making Chumie's safe area smaller and smaller.
It seemed that Pochi thought it would be okay even if he could dodge, so he kept spraying the flames.
When he came to his senses, there was a circle of flames around Chumie, gradually approaching him.
The dim church standing behind Bocchi flickered vaguely like a mirage. The flames that burned all around began to burn a dead tree standing in the church grounds, illuminating the night like a glowing tower.
The surrounding area was on fire, producing toxic gases, causing a black smoke that was different from the usual dust particles to fill the entire scene.
Although the dust mask was equipped with a special filter to prevent the inhalation of dust particles, it could not prevent the inhalation of gases; Chumie realized this and suppressed his breathing to the minimum.
However, even during this period when he suppressed his breathing to the minimum, Chumie never stopped thinking.
His biggest question was when he was avoiding Bocchi's fire at close range just now.
Chumie didn't see what preparatio Bocchi made before the dust particles he controlled turned into flames.
To be honest, Bocchi's dust particles were just wrapped around him, and their range was not wide enough to cause the fire.
He stared at the Pumpkinhead who was also at the fire scene but stood there as if he was very cool.
(If his sand ability wasn't [Flame]...)
That's the only chance of winning.
Regardless, it was an Indisputable fact that Bocchi could shoot a long flame from the front of his arm at any time.
And, of course, you couldn't defeat him just by dodging. You had to seize a certain opportunity to reverse his attack.
He had already confirmed that he could not rush over and shorten the distance when there was a gap in the attack.
After making preparations to deal with the oncoming flames, the flames had already approached close enough to hit them with a close-range attack, so Chumie had to give up the damage avoidance tactics that he always kept in mind.
Chumie only has one chance left to win.
That is to bite the bullet and go ahead. The opportunity should come soon.
Chumie was coughing badly because he was having trouble breathing.
His whole body felt very dry, which made Chumie's movements slow down for a moment.
With a roar, flames wrapped around the limbs.
"Ugh, Aaaaah!..."
He screamed in agony, but the situation did not allow him to avoid it.
The threat at the fire scene was not just the flames. The toxic gases contained in the smoke gave Chumie a splitting headache, and every time he took a breath, he felt like vomiting, and even his face was distorted.
With every realization of the deep damage she'd sustained, she felt a pain sharper than the burns, piercing her heart.
"My…" Chumie muttered under her breath.
"My, most precious, body…"
Chumie's eyes narrowed menacingly beneath her mask.
______
Comments
Post a Comment