Although she held the advantage, Fiore did not become careless or underestimate her opponent.
With one prosthetic limb for attack, one for defense, and the other two moving forward and backward, Fiore gradually advanced. Her own will began to communicate with the animal spirits attached to the limbs, allowing her to switch to manual control at any moment.
Just as Fiore stepped into the corridor, a black organ rolled down from the stairs above. Thanks to her knowledge of the human body, Fiore quickly identified it as a magi's lung.
As it rolled, the lung inflated rapidly like a balloon, becoming bloated and bursting just as Fiore realized something was wrong. The foul stench instantly filled the entire corridor.
The lungs, being respiratory organs, had been magically altered to store a large amount of gas. Sisigou Kairi used them to store poisonous gas.
The organs of a magi naturally contain magical power. As a necromancer, Sisigou utilized the natural decay of these organs as a breeding ground, producing potent corpse poison and rot poison. Ordinary people would die instantly upon inhaling even a tiny amount, and even magus with some resistance would suffer respiratory collapse. It was essentially a magical version of a poison gas bomb.
Unlike "finger curse bullets" and "heart grenades," the "lung gas bomb" has specific environmental requirements. In an open outdoor space, a simple air manipulation could disperse the gas, but in a confined space like a corridor, the gas becomes terrifyingly effective.
Fiore's expression changed. She immediately covered her nose and mouth, disengaged the automatic control of her prosthetic limbs, and used all four limbs to retreat outside faster than the gas could spread, moving like a spider—a beautiful spider.
Her reaction was flawless, but precisely because it was correct and flawless, Sisigou knew she would do this. In the moment of her retreat, as Fiore, the beautiful spider, exited the corridor, still shaken, the necromancer's pursuit followed.
A black shadow flew out from the previously broken window, hurtling toward Fiore at astonishing speed. At this moment, Fiore's four prosthetic limbs were still firmly gripping the ground.
"——Jupiter: Tin arm of Protection!" In the critical moment, Fiore demonstrated her prowess as the next head of the Yggdmillennia clan, a genius lamented by the Clock Tower. She forcibly interrupted her own will, transferring control of the "Arms of Iron Fire" to the animal spirit attached to it.
Under the control of the animal's reflexes, which far surpass those of humans, the "Arms of Iron Fire" flipped instantly, firing a barrage at the indistinguishable black shadow, while the Jupiter: Tin arm of Protection curved around to protect Fiore's head and face.
The black shadow exploded without suspense, scattering a cloud of debris mixed with cursed teeth and nails—an improvised weapon crafted by Sisigou based on the environment. He had embedded a "heart grenade" into a piece of wall debris and thrown it as Fiore escaped the corridor.
As Sisigou anticipated, Fiore's focus was on the poison gas ahead, leaving her no time to identify what was hurtling toward her. Thus, her reaction was predictable—blocking it with her arm or shooting it down with a curse bullet.
Indeed, the debris was shattered, activating the "heart grenade" hidden within, finally giving the "shrapnel" of cursed teeth and nails a chance to unleash their power.
So, you see, you academic types are still too inexperienced compared to us war hounds who've survived countless battlefields. The difference is vast.
A hint of mockery flickered in Sisigou's eyes behind his sunglasses. He had found a way to deal with the Bronze-Link Manipulators: Coupled Reinforcement Mystic Codes. While the four prosthetic limbs were indeed convenient and their reaction speed surpassed human nerves, their maximum number inherently limited their ability to provide 360-degree defense. Against dense "shrapnel," they were inevitably somewhat inadequate.
As long as even one piece of shrapnel got through, Fiore would be severely weakened if not killed.
"The battle is—no, not yet."
Through the shared vision of the owl's eye, Sisigou's sight remained unaffected by the explosion, accurately capturing the scene beyond the smoke.
The cursed teeth and nails had undoubtedly penetrated the Jupiter: Tin arm of Protection. Even combined with the emergency measure of the Saturn: Lead arm of Roaring, it wasn't enough.
However, just before the shrapnel could hit Fiore's body, it was halted by an invisible force, suspended in mid-air, unable to advance further no matter how much it struggled.
"Is that... a rune?"
In front of the shrapnel, on Fiore's chest, an emblem resembling a family crest emitted a faint glow, outlining an ancient script. It was the power of this rune that blocked the shrapnel's impact.
"Although the Yggdmillennia family has many rune magus, none should have runes of this caliber. Is it some kind of ancient relic? If so—"
Just as Sisigou felt a sense of doubt, the protective rune dimmed and vanished, along with the crest on Fiore's chest, which shattered and disintegrated. Fiore, grateful for her narrow escape, gently brushed the remnants of the broken emblem and softly said, "Thank you, Assassin."
It turned out that while Fiore was making equipment for Shinji, Shinji had also prepared a protective item for Fiore. He knew Fiore's weaknesses better than Sisigou and knew how to compensate for them. The runes were one of these items, inscribed with "EIHWAZ," one of the eighteen "Primordial Runes," most often used to shield or mitigate damage at critical moments. This was what saved Fiore from disaster.
Another stone flew through the air. Having suffered once, Fiore did not dare to use the Mars: Iron arm of War to shoot it down again. She grounded her four prosthetic limbs and dodged far away.
"I won't fall for it again."
However, just as this thought arose, reality struck back harshly—the stone hit the ground with a dull thud and remained silent. It was just an ordinary stone, not containing a "heart grenade."
"You—" Realizing she had been tricked, Fiore's face turned livid, but she couldn't find a way to gain the upper hand. She could only suppress her anger and glare fiercely at the dilapidated low-rise building where Sisigou was hiding.
Seeing this, Sisigou let out a piercing laugh, extended his double-barreled pistol out the window, and fired two "finger bullets," then casually threw another stone.
Fiore didn't pay much attention to the bullets, but she couldn't ignore the stone, not knowing if it contained some hidden trick. With just a few bullets and stones, Fiore had been forced to move over a hundred meters, expending a considerable amount of magical energy. If it weren't for Shinji's supply of mana shared through artificial batteries, Fiore might have already faced a severe mana shortage.
"I can't go on like this," Fiore gritted her teeth, ignoring the sharp pain in her legs and pushing her magical circuits to their limits.
"Hmm, it's about time," Sisigou muttered, taking off his coat and covering a sawed-off shotgun.