The flour permeating on the air had settled down, making the concrete below whiter than it already was.
Xavier and Eulene stood at the centre of the warehouse, a couple of meters apart- their silvery revolvers locked on each other's forehead.
Coming to a silent agreement, they turned around and rushed to the heap of sacks closest to them.
Once they took cover, both of them maximised their senses. Eulene used her spiritual sense- causing her to perceive every existence in the entire slum. She minimised the range to only that of the warehouse and further enhanced the sensitivity.
Xavier, due to his control over all elements, already had an awareness of his surrounding. But apparently, Eulene had created a barrier of sorts that hid her existence. But he cared little.
His silver eyes glinted gold. A real-time bird's eye image of the entire warehouse interior came into his mind and it focused on Eulene. She was busy reloading her handgun- inserting the projectiles into the empty cylinder one by one.
Eulene, noticing another gaze fix on her, got ready for battle. She re-inserted the cylinder into the revolver and thumbed down the hammer at the gun's back, cocking it. Even though this action was not required since her revolver was a double-action revolver- in which pulling the trigger would automatically place the next round in- she simply loved doing it.
Her heart began to race again. For some reasons, gunfights thrilled her way more than swordfights.
She looked above at a certain direction, from where she felt the second gaze, and showed a mocking smile.
Noticing the smile directed at him, Xavier swivelled out from his high cover- exactly while Eulene stood up from her lower one.
Taking no time to aim at all, they pulled the triggers.
Bang!
It was not possible to differentiate one gunshot from the other.
Both Xavier and Eulene could follow the boringly slow bullets with their eyes as they glided past the air- leaving behind translucent waves.
But none of them bothered to rush back to their cover. They already knew where the bullets were heading.
The two projectiles smashed against each other mid-air. The heat formed from the impact, along with the heat already gained from the air-friction, caused the the two rounds to melt into each other and form a peculiar shape.
The 'object' clinked to the ground.
They got back to their cover. Xavier was a bit surprised at her improvement, but got back his composure in a moment.
Eulene was indeed a heaven-chosen genius with unimaginable talent. A book and a few rounds was all she had required to become an expert marksman. But nothing in this world was perfect. Otherwise, with all those sessions with Aunt Maisel, she would have become a physicist by now.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The battle continued- with bullets sometimes colliding, sometimes grazing and thus changing the trajectories, or sometimes flying past each other. But none of the bullets managed to hit the target. Xavier and Eulene were just too fast.
So why were they even fighting, when defeating the other was an impossibility?
Two words- time pass.
As immortals, if they ever had anything they had plenty of- it was time. Eulene was shooting because she was getting the thrill. She could feel her heart race.
On the other hand, Xavier just had nothing else to do… or probably seeing that arrogant woman playing like a little girl was fun to watch.
After a few more rounds, a smile appeared on Xavier's face. The victory was his. He had counted all the fires Eulene had shot since the beginning, and-
Bang! Xavier and Eulene shot again before swivelling and crouching back to their respective covers.
Eulene was out of bullets.
The smile on Xavier's face widened. Now, either she had to surrender, or steal another gun or bullets from the incapacitated goons. And that was not the best choice in this battle of pride.
But Eulene's answer baffled Xavier, causing him to raise an eyebrow. She just thumbed down the revolver's hammer and cocked it.
Had he miscalculated? Did she have bullets to spare?
Once again, Eulene answered with her actions. She got out from her cover and zeroed in on Xavier. Eulene took in a deep breath and pulled the trigger.
Xavier's instincts, the ones he had developed through two whole centuries, screamed at him- to dodge. And dodge he did, moving his head a little to the side.
The sack of flours beside his head bursted out, filling the space with flour.
That Bitch! Xavier cursed in his mind. She had just shot a bullet manifested from pure mana!
Even with his eyes, he could barely spot the mana-bullet flying through. This was a 'bullet' to even a being like him- fatal and fast in the truest of sense. If he had not evaded that, his brain would have lay splattered on the ground by now.
This was not a game anymore, Xavier scowled. This just turned into a battle of life and death.
He walked out of the large heap of flour bags. He did not bother to wipe the flour from his suit. There was no point in hiding anymore with those mana-bullets flying around.
He shot at her spot.
Bang!
The gunshot was followed by a series of minor explosions mid air- accelerating the bullet further and further until it reached 10 times its initial velocity. According to the K=1/2mv^2 law, the power of bullet increased by a 100 times.
The sack near Eulene's head exploded with white. But Eulene had already dodged, it was still slow for him.
But suddenly, her instincts told her to move. It was the same signal she got the time when she lost her arm. But alas, she was a tad bit late yet again. But nevertheless, she saved herself from death.
When she dodged the bullet and the flour exploded, another round came from the side following a curved trajectory- without making an iota of sound. Though she had sensed it, she paid it no mind. But suddenly, when it came close, its velocity increased by a hundred times.
Moreover, the bullet was spinning with incredible speed- adding to its piercing power.
She barely dodged, but the projectile gazed through the side of her eyes- creating a cut. But the worst had yet to come.
Boom!
The metal round exploded when it was still grazing her skin. Tens of small shards pierced into her skin.
"Aaaah!" For the first time in years- a sound of pain escaped her lips. Even losing her limb that day did not hurt much.
She wiped away the blood from her face. The wounds had already healed.
That son of a bitch! If she had not dodged, that bullet would have pierced through her eye and exploded inside her brain.
Playtime was over, she cocked her gun. It was time for war.
She walked out from the pile as well. These things which once had been covers were nothing but hindrance anymore.
The battle continued.
Unlike before, none of them were stationary anymore as they dodged the rounds and ran around the warehouse with incredible speed.
Eulene's shots were direct and decisive- with overbearing power and speed. Tears appear on Xavier's suit and burns on his skin as the mana-bullets grazed him.
On the other hand, Xavier's shots were tricky and unpredictable; some of his bullets were slow, some fast, some curved, some stayed straight, some suddenly changed speed and trajectory mid-air. Moreover, all of his shots were planned- calculating Eulene's every next move.
There were several tears in her cloth, and cuts and bruises on her skin. Two of the bullets even had pierced into her shoulders. But she remained nonchalant- focused.
Flour sacks after flour sacks exploded as they came in their way, filling the air with white.
A time came when even Xavier, who had a seemingly unlimited amount of bullets, ran out of ammunition.
But he cared little. He ejected the revolver's cylinder and twirled it. Iron from the concrete below rose and manifested into bullets as they placed themselves into the empty cylinder. The prior gunfight had caused the atmosphere around to have enough particle-19, particle-7 and particle-16 to remould into gunpowder.
Xavier reengaged the cylinder and continued the battle.
A time came when both of them had the same absurd thought- that this battle was not intense enough. Not to mention, they had almost lost their brains to hostile projectiles a few times.
Both of them rushed to the fallen ruffians close to them and stole their revolvers.
Double the gun, double the bullets, double the intensity!
The injuries on their bodies increased. But none of them cared.
Eulene could have easily cooped up in her shield sphere. But where was the fun in that?
Xavier could have formed a huge wall that could stop even the mana bullets. But that would be against the rule- the one and only rule they had silently come up with-
Only Bullets.
The magic-gunfight barely passed a minute mark. But the hundreds of flour sacks dwindled to a few dozens. One could barely see a meter beyond the powdery whites.
But the battle raged on, along with an unending series of gunshots. Until-
"Enough! Drop your weapons!"