Chapter 3
1
The moon in the sky only showed a crescent shape, hidden behind thick clouds. The air felt heavy and oppressive, indicating an imminent rainfall. Xiao Qiong quickened her pace.
"Drip...drip...drip..." It started to rain just a few steps later.
Xiao Qiong had to find shelter under a canopy. In order to reach the academy quickly, she had taken a detour instead of walking on the well-lit main roads. She ended up at a construction site, where steel frames and exposed steel columns were visible, with only the first floor covered by a roof.
It was said that an art gallery was going to be built here, with a steel shell and translucent glass to display the artist's breath. However, at this stage of the project, it was just an empty frame.
"That damn Qin Yang made me walk so much and now I'm stuck here in this damn rain." Xiao Qiong flicked off the water droplets on her body, complaining all the while.
Since noon, she hadn't been seen at school. The club president and others found out from the gatekeeper that she had been out at noon and never returned. So, in her absence, everyone was searching the campus for her. Xiao Qiong was about to head back when the rain hindered her progress.
"What a nuisance for just a sheep to cause such a commotion. Everything he said was just empty words." Xiao Qiong, irritated, stepped on an inconspicuous ant on the ground, impatiently crushing it a few more times.
The crescent moon slowly moved behind the dark clouds, with its reflection following suit.
A shadow emerged bit by bit from the corner...
With Xiao Qiong's keen perception, she could tell. Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine. Silently, she surveyed her surroundings, slowly inching closer to the shadow, with the "Roaring Thunder" held tightly in her hand.
The rain outside showed no signs of stopping, and it seemed to be getting heavier.
Leaning against the wall, Xiao Qiong cautiously peered out. In a second, she saw the figure.
She gasped. It turned out to be a few drunk workers from the construction site, sound asleep.
Xiao Qiong realized she had been overthinking things and returned to her previous position. She checked her phone, only to find that there was no signal.
"I can only wait for the rain to stop now."
Looking up at the sky, the rain continued to fall. Suddenly, Xiao Qiong turned around, her gun drawn horizontally. "In the imperial capital, no signal means only one thing: someone is maliciously blocking it."
The person behind her wore black clothes and was floating off the ground. He wasn't a ghost but used lightning-based magic to generate magnetic force, allowing him to float in the surroundings made of steel. Silent, he said nothing.
The two stared at each other for a long time, listening to the rain outside while there was complete silence inside.
Xiao Qiong waited for the person's answer, but he remained silent, silently charging his curved knife with electricity.
"Bang!" The thunderbolt broke the silence and announced the beginning of the battle.
The curved knife and the black-clad figure were pure assassins. The knife deflected the bullets effortlessly without needing to dodge.
Xiao Qiong could sense that this person's lightning-based magic was not much different from her own, maybe even stronger. If she had been caught off guard by the surprise attack earlier, she would have had no chance to fight back.
The curved knife produced a beautiful arc in the air, swiping directly at Xiao Qiong.
"Hiss..." The blade made a spark as it grazed the "Roaring Thunder". The opponent swiftly swung the curved knife continuously, all of which were blocked by the "Roaring Thunder".
With a gun in her right hand and her left hand free, Xiao Qiong gathered the magical power of lightning and threw out a small electric ball. The opponent immediately retreated, moving to a dark spot, gathering magic power on the hilt of the curved knife. When the magic power had fully gathered, the curved knife swept horizontally from left to right.
The blue and white lightning seemed to transform into countless curved knives, all slashing at once. Xiao Qiong didn't hesitate, directly retreating. The lightning cut off the steel bars, causing the newly constructed upper floor to collapse.
The rain mercilessly beat down on Xiao Qiong's body, her short hair sticking together, damp.
"Splash!" The person in black swiftly emerged from inside, making a sound as he stepped on the accumulated water on the ground.
Without hesitation, Xiao Qiong raised her gun and fired three shots towards him before taking cover on a construction board. The "Roaring Thunder" was charged with a large amount of magic power. She then fired into the water on the ground, instantly illuminating the area. Due to the heavy rain, the entire construction site became a current of electricity.
The flash of lightning is only for an instant. The darkness favors the assassin. Once Xiao Qiong has spotted the assassin's position, she loads "Thunderclap" with live ammunition. The bullets, combined with missile technology, are difficult to escape once targeted.
Xiao Qiong quickly loads "Thunderclap", takes aim, and fires in an instant.
The black-clothed figure senses danger and tries to dodge several times, but is unable to avoid the bullets. They can only come up with a way to withstand the attack.
The black-clothed figure takes out another identical curved blade from behind, holding the two blades in a cross on their chest. They channel their magical power to the extreme, driving the surrounding lightning elements to crackle.
The lightning elements gather on their body and form five lightning shields, slowly pushing the bullets away.
At this moment, Xiao Qiong can't let the bullets be pushed away. She fires five more live rounds, but they are not ordinary bullets. They are fired at the black figure.
Because they both possess lightning-element magic, they unleash lightning from the sky. A bolt of lightning as thick as an arm descends. This lightning can split neither steel nor trees, but it can split the black-clothed figure.
"This is bad!"
The lightning is purely a strengthening effect. The black-clothed figure is filled with a large amount of lightning elements. They seize this opportunity to continue their unfinished magic.
This is their ultimate magic technique, but it has a prerequisite. They must reach a distance of one hundred feet away from their body with the five lightning shields before progressing to the next stage. The first stage is defense, while the second stage is for attack.
After being charged, the black-clothed figure immediately counterattacks, pushing out the lightning shields with all their strength. Six bullets are ejected and drop to the ground.
Surrounded by the lightning shields, the black-clothed figure enters the second stage. The two curved blades combine into a boomerang-like shape, carrying high-voltage electricity, and flies out.
Xiao Qiong immediately evades upon seeing this. She narrowly avoids the first attack coming towards her, but unfortunately, she can't avoid the second attack when the boomerang returns. When she turns around to see the boomerang, it is already less than ten feet away from her. Its turning speed is extremely fast. There seems to be no possibility of avoiding it. The two curved blades she senses have an extraordinary power. They are magic tools.
Facing two opponents by herself, "Thunderclap" is unable to withstand the pressure. Out of instinct, Xiao Qiong raises her right hand to shield her eyes. She can already imagine what it would be like to be hit.
But strangely, Xiao Qiong doesn't suffer the imagined injury.
"What is this?" The black-clothed figure finally speaks. It is a male voice. He seems young, probably a high school student.
Xiao Qiong opens her eyes and takes a deep breath when she sees what's in front of her.
The two curved blades are held by a blue and white lightning dragon head. The dragon body directly faces Xiao Qiong's right hand, and the dragon head constantly flickers with a magic formation. Although it is called a magic formation, it is not complete, as half of the surrounding runes are missing.
"It's you again!" Xiao Qiong mutters to herself.
The dragon head releases the curved blades it had bitten and casually throws them, deeply embedding them into the ground. Then, the entire lightning dragon head and half of its body transform into lightning and return to Xiao Qiong's right hand. In that instant, the lightning that had started as blue and white transforms into a blood-red color. The red lightning gathers from her whole body to "Thunderclap", completely elevating the gun. The gun barrel is engraved with a winding dragon, and the red lightning continuously flashes.
"Although I don't like it, I have no choice."
The gun barrel fires blood-red lightning projectiles. Even without live ammunition, their power surpasses the original live rounds. The entire construction site glimmers with red light as the lightning projectiles sweep by, causing explosions.
2
"Hiss~" It feels like my right hand was shocked by electricity, and I have to wake up from my sleep.
It's pitch black around me, and I feel dizzy and unbearable pain.
Suddenly, I feel a warm sensation in my left hand. The touch is smooth and delicate. At that moment, I thought it was Nofice, but the size seems to be different.
