The bullet did not pierce Nellie.
She remembered clearly, she had Mott's Axe tucked in her back waist.
But when Rowan fired, Mott's Axe appeared on her chest, dissipating the impact of the bullet over the entire axe.
However, the bullet still left her slightly startled because she was not prepared for such an abrupt killing intent.
In that instant, she realized that Rowan could really kill her. Even though she was not mistakenly optimistic earlier, it was not until she brushed past Death that she truly grasped what it meant to kill.
It represented struggle, despair, fear, the unknown, which indeed exceeded the realm of human understanding in rare instances.
The Gods might know of the temporary abode after death, but even they might not know what a world without existence looks like.
Nellie didn't know either, only the resistance ingrained in her soul and marrow kept jumping in her mind, telling her one thing.
Don't die.
Her defense mechanism was triggered.
