Upon hearing the girl's statement, Shinji couldn't help but let out a sneer that only he could hear.
Etiquette?
Talking about etiquette with an assassin who intruded into someone's home in the middle of the night and engaged in a bloody slaughter?
There was no logic, let alone etiquette.
Even if they were to talk about etiquette, it should be a universally recognized code of conduct that applies across different times and cultures – reciprocity.
If you make a move, don't blame me for going all out. It's impolite not to reciprocate!
"Scalp!"
With the chanting of a syllable, the mercury film instantly dispersed, splitting into seven or eight mercury blades that attacked the middle-aged man from all directions. If even one of them struck, the target would undoubtedly die.
"Step back." The noble girl casually pushed Shinji's target a few steps back. The wand in her right hand traced a peculiar mark in the air, resembling both a badge and a kind of rune.
A faint azure force emanated from the wand, spreading outward. The moment it touched the mercury blades, the delicate edges disintegrated, reverting into liquid mercury that dripped and scattered on the ground.
Shinji's expression finally changed. Regardless of how the opponent blocked the mercury blades, he wouldn't be surprised. However, he had only encountered situations where the moon spirit marrow was directly disintegrated by two people.
One was the unparalleled Queen of Shadows, Scáthach, who was the highest-ranking magus in any era. The other was Kenneth, one of the Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower and the creator of the "moon spirit marrow." It was not difficult for him to perceive and unravel the spells woven into the mercury.
Kenneth had proudly stated that even without manipulation, only a top-tier magus could decipher the "moon spirit marrow." If he were to control it, no one would stand a chance. When he made that statement, he had already experienced failure in the Fourth Holy Grail War, so the exaggeration was unlikely. Could it be that this girl, who was only slightly older than himself, had already reached the top tier? Or was there some other reason?
The girl didn't let Shinji's doubts linger and proudly declared:
"So, this is Lord El-Melloiu's proud Supreme Mystic Code, the Volumen Hydrargyrum. It achieves various transformations through the manipulation of pressure and fluids. It is indeed an excellent Mystic Code. If it were operated by Your Excellency personally, my little trick would be insignificant. However, this anonymous gentleman seems to lack proficiency in pressure manipulation and relies solely on the embedded spells within the Mystic Code, which are meaningless in front of me."
"I see," Shinji nodded inwardly.
As the girl had said, this was indeed Shinji's weakness. The moon spirit marrow was a Mystic Code tailor-made by Kenneth for his composite Feng Shui attribute. It allowed him to fully utilize his expertise in pressure and fluid manipulation.
The water attribute's fluid manipulation endowed the mercury with various forms, while the wind attribute's pressure control made the originally fragile mercury structure more compact, truly giving the Mystic Code combat capabilities. Take the mercury blades, for example. The sharpness of the mercury was a result of the pressure compressing it into thin slices, creating an effect similar to a water cutter. Without pressure, it would be nothing more than thin sheets of mercury, lacking any killing power.
Shinji was pure of the water attribute, so fluid manipulation was given to him, but when it came to the wind attribute's pressure manipulation, he fell short.
Although, with Scáthach's modifications, the mercury was pre-programmed with pressure manipulation spells, allowing Shinji and Kariya, who were both single-attribute users, to manipulate it, it was ultimately just a compensatory measure. When facing a true expert in atmospheric manipulation, it was easy to be deciphered. Judging from the girl's previous magecraft of altering trajectories, it seemed that her attribute was wind.
Understanding this, Shinji immediately retracted the moon spirit marrow. Carrying the moon spirit marrow was mainly for dealing with group battles and barrages. Since it was just the two of them, using it or not wouldn't make much of a difference.
Seeing the mercury retreat, The Head of the Gertler family breathed a sigh of relief and forced a smile. "In that case, would you be willing to—"
Before he could finish speaking, the "Rune Silver Bullet" pierced through the air once again. This time, it wasn't infused with the hurricane rune but with the thunder attribute, Thursaz. The silver bullet flew slightly slower than before but was less susceptible to interference.
However, once again, the silver bullet missed its target. The family head had already activated the workshop's defense system, and the thunderous projectile collided with an invisible wall, shattering into pieces.
Shinji also had no intention of achieving victory with a single strike. In the instant the silver bullet broke through the air, he activated leg enhancement magecraft, swiftly crossing a distance of nearly ten meters like a ghostly figure, with his Divine Guns Blade coming down from above.
"Swish!" A shadow swiftly intervened from the side, deflecting the magically generated blade—the girl's whip.
Interesting.
A gleam flashed in Shinji's eyes as the girl before him completely piqued his curiosity.
The intricate magecraft of effortlessly deciphering the moon spirit's marrow, the skill to easily withstand his blade attack, and the peculiar Mystic Code that possessed both softness and hardness, made her a versatile magus in terms of magecraft and physical abilities—it was almost like a second version of himself!
Since his mentor, Scáthach, had left, Shinji had not encountered a magus who resembled him so closely. Neither his sister, Sakura, who shared a similar rune magic nor Kariya Matou, who practiced both magecraft and martial arts, gave him this feeling.
Sakura's physical techniques were only for self-defense and far weaker than her magecraft, while Kariya Matou lacked offensive spells. Only this girl had a comprehensive similarity in combat style and tactical approach.
If there was anything different, it was perhaps that the girl's maturity level was not yet sufficient. Despite already being in battle, she was still asking, "You, how dare—!"
Her words gave Shinji an opportunity. In a swift movement, he sidestepped and shifted his stance, and with his right hand free, he threw two runic stones: one with a flame rune, Fehu, and the other with a sun rune, Sowilo.
The two runic stones ignited in the air, transforming into two fireballs, one in front and one behind, heading straight to the family head.
Although Shinji was intrigued by the girl, he knew his priorities, and killing Gertler's family head was his primary objective.
The family head eyes widened, and the magic circuits on his body, extending from his clavicle to his jaw, manifested on his skin. The invisible wall that had previously blocked the silver bullet of thunder reappeared, hoping to thwart Shinji's long-range attack as it did before.
However, he underestimated Shinji's strength and the power of runic magic. The original eighteen runes expanded into twenty-four runes, each had more than one meaning. Shinji usually used the high-damage elemental interpretations, but that didn't mean he couldn't utilize other meanings.
Fehu: wild, fierce, rapid change.
Sowilo: smooth success.
Defensive magecraft often relied on stability and lack of change, which happened to be in opposition to the two runes. With the clash of concepts, the two fireballs, one red and one yellow, successfully pierced through the barrier and continued their advance, on the verge of smashing into the man's head.
At the critical moment, a gust of wind swept through the entire workshop. This force pushed away Shinji's Divine Guns Blade and propelled the man's body several meters away, directly outside the workshop.
In the eye of the hurricane, the girl raised her head proudly, her chest out, and her long hair dancing in the wind.
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