Chapter 138: The Plan In Motion(II) (Bonus)
Albedo turned toward Valerie immediately and gave a nod. "Now!"
Valerie didn’t need to be told twice.
She raised her right hand above her head with the red magic circle over her palm as she whispered; "Reverse Bind Sealing."
Two extremely large magic circles formed at exactly the same time in response to her command.
The first one materialized high in the air directly above the entire property, spanning across the whole landmass with the Clyn house positioned at its center.
The second magic circle formed on the property’s ground itself, spreading across the full surface area of the estate until it matched the size of the aerial circle above it perfectly.
The two circles glowed in perfect synchronization for just a moment then suddenly went off as the spell fully activated and became invisible to normal sight.
This was the advanced version of the sealing spell that she had had used to trap Keating and Juan in the boardroom during their confrontation with Ethan
But this version was significantly more powerful and covered a vastly larger area.
It was a Tier 6 spell that effectively sealed space within its designated target zone. No one and nothing inside the bounded area could move out through any means, not even through teleportation or relocation magic like Martina’s specialty.
The barrier was one-way: those outside could step in if they chose to, but those inside were trapped until the spell was either dispelled by its caster or the anchor sustaining it was destroyed.
Valerie then lowered her right hand and placed her left palm on Albedo’s back.
The magic circle that had been hovering over that palm briefly glowed on the surface of Albedo’s clothing before disappearing from external view.
She had just been made the spell’s anchor point, channeling the abundant mana she was constantly receiving from Ethan to maintain the Reverse Bind Sealing indefinitely.
Valerie withdrew her hand and instructed,
"Now stay within this point and don’t move away, If you go too far from this spot, the anchor connection will destabilize and the whole spell will collapse."
Albedo nodded in understanding. "Don’t worry, I’m going nowhere."
—
Reyener, had been watching around the compound with heightened caution.
And when that bullet suddenly traveled through the air to strike someone below, the ranger hadn’t been able to warn or intercept it early enough.
However, she could see the trajectory it traveled from.
Like most high-level rangers, she could perceive fast-moving projectiles as though they were traveling much slower and react to them; but only if she was expecting the shot.
Reyener’s eyes narrowed as she automatically calculated the range and distance from just that one observed shot, quickly working through mathematics of ballistics.
She quickly raised her head toward the calculated direction, her body already moving into action simultaneously as her right hand reached back over her shoulder to draw a crackling arrow from her enchanted quiver.
The arrow was then knocked onto her SR-Grade bow artifact while now facing the sniper’s position.
The massive red glow of the magic circles forming overhead and on the ground around the property had just faded at this exact moment.
But Reyener didn’t let that visual distraction pull her focus away from her target.
She drew the bowstring back, but in that moment her eyes widened with genuine shock as her ranger vision made out the distant figure.
"Joe?" she whispered in disbelief as she released the crackling energy arrow, sending it through the air toward the distant rooftop.
And of course, Joe himself had absolutely expected that return shot from her the moment he pulled Katarina’s trigger on Greta.
Which was exactly why, in the very instant that he had fired the shot that killed Greta, Joe had already shifted Katarina’s aim to point directly at the ranger’s position on the rooftop.
And his finger pulled the trigger again. "Relay Shot."
This particular ability allowed him to fire two bullets from Katarina’s barrel at the same time, that they traveled along the same trajectory line with only about five meters of distance separating them from each other during flight.
The first bullet acted as a decoy or shield for the second, and the minimal gap between them.
Both of Joe’s bullets and Reyener’s crackling energy arrow launched at almost the exact same moment, traveling toward their respective target.
But there was a fundamental difference in the conditions affecting whether each projectile would reach its intended target.
Reyener’s arrow traveled at tremendous speed, then struck the invisible barrier of the Reverse Bind Sealing spell and came to a dead stop, as though it had hit an impenetrable wall.
It was unable to pass through the one-way spatial barrier since it was being fired from inside trying to get out.
But Joe’s bullets, coming from outside the zone, passed through the barrier and continued traveling toward Reyener’s position at full lethal velocity.
From her perspective, the ranger perceived them as moving much more slowly, giving her just enough time to react. She swept her bow to deflect the first bullet away from her head, sending it ricocheting off at an angle.
However, she had no time to respond to the second bullet, concealed directly behind the first. By the time she completed the deflection, the trailing shot had already reached her, striking just above her left eye and passing clean through the back of her skull in a burst of blood.
Reyener’s body went limp instantly and toppled backward off the rooftop, falling two stories before striking the ground.
Donovan had just witnessed two of their members shot down in rapid succession, and his werewolf instincts screamed at him to take cover. He did not waste time looking in the direction of the shots. Instead, he dashed forward in a single burst of speed, crossing the lawn toward the front entrance.
He sprinted past Greta’s crumpled body, still bleeding in the doorway, and into the building. The moment his back foot cleared the threshold, another bullet struck the doorframe behind him.
From a distance, Joe kept his eye on Katarina’s scope and muttered with a hint of disappointment;
"Lucky you." He paused, then repeated, "Lucky you."