No battle had come to an end. The battles went on in an endless cycle, with each side exchanging advantages and disadvantages. However, nobody knew who would win the first combat until it was almost over.
"I must be misinterpreting the situation. Even though you've been nodding off the entire time, you shouldn't be in any shape to engage in fight. Your body must start to tire from the fight, which will cause you to wakeup."
Gabi carefully followed along, keeping her gaze fixed on Elliott's spot. She intended to use the clock and alarm to wake him up, but in order to do so, she had to be as silent as possible. She discovered that Elliott was able to determine her position by listening to even the slightest sounds she made, just like a rabbit.
"The course of this is not what was intended. Others must be struggling as well, I wager. My previous experience with a loud vibration was not something our "Sun Soldiers" were capable of. That kind of sound must have been produced by one of the intruders; the impression alone makes me question who."
She was able to sneak to the corner close to the clock while watching Elliott in front while remaining completely still. His sleeping body didn't move an inch and was as stiff as a rock. No matter where the sound came from—inside the room or outside—his hearing was fixed on it.
Slowly and steadily, her hand moved toward the alarm clock until it silently made contact with it. If she had moved the alarm's time, the ticking of the clock would have been audible and she would have been attacked right away.
She had to come up with a better solution. Elliott, the foe could not hear it, yet it was difficult to achieve.
Gabi had to take a chance on the case. She had no choice but to change the alarm inside the space where her fearless adversary was standing. Elliott, in contrast to how he usually is, had appeared serious and dominant. She started slowly rotating the arm while also setting the timer, which she hoped would be loud enough to wake Elliott.
But her plans were destroyed. A sudden bullet being launched from a pistol could be heard, seeming like a shadow in the night. Elliott's ears were able to pick up the sound. A silver round object sped by his ears as his senses gradually began to awaken him.
Gabi was caught off guard as it spun through the air at an unbelievable rate of speed. As if fired from a sniper rifle, it created a whirl of wind behind it before crashing into the alarm clock and entirely shattering it.
Clock parts were left lying around like trash inside a pit. Gabi's gaze focused on the direction the bullet came flying from, knowing that another adversary happened to approach her.
Before Elliott's body fell to the ground, nobody was around at first. Other than snoring noises, his body did not linger or produce much noise.
Someone emerged from the darkness in the blink of an eye. It was like emerging from a thick cloud of smoke. To the sight, it appeared as though thunder had pounded the ground before fire suddenly appeared. It was amazing to see, and then ripples of black clothing appeared from the interior of the shadows.
They had a blacker hue than that. That body appeared to be carrying what appeared to be a violin in a case. The next thing Gabi saw was a right arm holding a black pistol.
"There's more of you? I can't believe this," she claimed, "just how many of you are there exactly? Why are you all conducting this business? To protect your girl's safety and return the "riches" to them fools with nothing but filthy clothes?"
"I don't need to respond to that query. Only because I intend to get rid of the "Sea Nobles" and their bounty am I aiding them. Other than that, I don't have a good reason to support them, but I will concur with them on this.
"The underprivileged people you have degraded deserve defense. On the Grim Isle, I also faced a similar situation, and just like these people, those were also in harm. Even if I want to work independently and need not to be concerned for their lives, I still have a great deal of respect for them."
Despite his habit of favoring solo operations, Natan seems to have concluded that Tem and her companions were people he should encourage and trust.
From his one encounter with them at the Golden Wasakona, he understood it. He could attest to the fact that these people were unlike anyone else he had ever encountered.
"In this world, most people crave power, and fewer people prefer to demonstrate that civilisation needs protection." he confirmed and pointed his pistol forward, "The Global Government is thought to be the only guardian, yet their culture is so overrated that it makes me want to assassinate them one by one,"
Whatever he said, Gabi didn't care about his plausible justifications and ignored them. Without spending any more time listening, she protruded needles between her fingers from her palms, complaining that it was a waste of her time.
She sprinted after hurling the six needles directly at Natan, who would go numb if struck, as she swung both of her arms forward in a crossing motion.
Natan was difficult to get rid of, but she wanted to do it before it was too late. The needles stabbed into the wall behind Natan as his body flickered to the side, leaving a path of blackness in its wake. As soon as Gabi slipped on the floor, she turned to face Natan and swiftly caught up to him.
She spun around on the ground, pulling her left leg around, and then kicked upward with her heels aimed towards Natan's jawline. However, he dodged her kick and swept his left arm while swinging the violin case.
He intended to slam it into Gabi's torso, but she raised both of her arms in defense and to cushion the blow.
Her body felt the impact of the case, which caused her to momentarily lose her equilibrium and fall unconscious in the spot. Natan used this as an advantage and shot.
Gabi quickly curved her torso back so the bullet would fly over her top and hit the mirror behind her, shattering its glass, before she was shot.
She caught herself by placing her palm firmly on the ground and then used balance to raise her body straight again. When she turned to face ahead, Natan had vanished from view, and she didn't notice that he had moved to stand behind her, silent as an assassin.
She turned around after being struck in the back by the pistol's handle, at which point she swung her arm in an attempt to jab a needle into his face.
Natan, however, ducked behind her and circled behind her before aiming his pistol up at her back. She caught a fleeting glimpse of him before feeling the impact of six bullets striking her quickly.
The explosions were weaker after the first five bullets, but after the sixth, they became stronger, like a more potent Rhapsody. It knocked her through the air forward, through the ruined wall onto her chest where she felt her body slid across the pebbles.
Gabi tried to stand up by supporting herself with her arms. Before she could activate the alert button, she felt Natan's foot press against her back and pin her against the ground as she attempted to escape by crawling away.
"You're like a bounty to me, waiting to be rewarded..." he explained, "and I should warn you; I never miss a good bounty."
Knowing he couldn't murder her, he stowed his gun on his belt before grabbing a rope. Not just due to the potential prize, but also because his captain wouldn't permit it. He had no idea, however, that Tem's experiences in the current situation had utterly derailed her goals.
Only three remained when Gabi and Kizu were easily dispatched, with Garuda wandering the grounds of the castle oblivious of Yumiko's presence.
To be continued...