1195. The Amalgam Vs Vengeful Red
The Vengeful Red Hooded Assassin was a Corrupted Frost was first made aware of during her visit to the ImpulseWorks Site F-H5. She had even speculated that the Corrupted was based on her woes against Iscario.
It was no more than a baseless speculation at the time.
Little did she know that she was indeed correct.
The Vengeful Red Hooded Assassin was originally a Monsoon-Level Corrupted that operated as a deterrent against Fairytale-based Corrupted. According to its Codex entry, it was noted to seemingly possess a form of consciousness. From this, it gained the power of discretion, which allowed the Vengeful Red Hooded Assassin to selectively target its prey and those it wished to protect.
However, in the event that it came across a Fairytale-based Corrupted, then it would enter an enraged state. That seemed to be true even as an Original. She had to wonder if, like Acedia, Red had become an Original during the Black Nexus event when the Piece of the Fallen Star was fulfilling wishes.
If that was the case, then she could not treat Red as a Corrupted and merely follow the rules of the Conditions. Nor could she eliminate her outright.
In Frost’s eyes, a child of hers needed help, and it was up to her to alleviate whatever was causing Red’s insanity. Though, calling Red her own ‘child’ was a stretch.
But she was not against it. After all, Aspects of Amalgamation were born from her Nex. Thus, how could she not be their mother?
“I’m sure you’ve lived long enough to know that shooting first before asking questions is the way of life out here.”
Frost loosely reached outwards with De Jure Sanguinis. Her lax hold of the oversized rifle was indicative of how unserious she was taking this battle. Loaded in the chamber of De Jure Sanguinis was Infinite Hatred – the Corrupted Item that had dropped from the Unfair Tale.
Unlike her blood-hardened bullets, Infinite Hatred’s power output was 500 ATT at most. Emotional States increased the damage by five times, but even so, it was still vastly inferior compared to the bullets Frost could naturally procure.
The amount of propellant Frost used also influenced the final ATT, meaning that if she were to use De Jure Sanguinis at its minimum output, she could still deal 100,000 ATT damage. =
This was the bare minimum, but this number could still go lower.
Thus, in a battle where the objective was to draw out the fight for as long as possible, it was entirely possible to handicap herself.
Had she used De Jure Sanguinis at maximum output…
“There will be no point in speculating the damage soon enough. Seven kilometers, huh. I don’t believe I’ve had an engagement at this range before.”
Humored, Frost put on a voice that a warrior would make to invite an opponent to strike.
Needless to say, it was bait. Although her opponent could not hear her due to the immense distance separating them, the perfectly timed attack that followed made her believe otherwise.
From the ruins of the levelled building, and through the plume of powdered concrete, a bullet arrived. Because of the way the bullet parted through the smoke, Frost was able to precisely determine where the shot was fired from.
She merely pivoted her head to the side and avoided the bullet at the last possible microsecond. As a motherly grin crept along her face, she returned fire. There was no immense heatwave, or jaw-dropping ball of flames that accompanied the bullet.
The muzzle ejected a simple flash of fire, as she meant to tone down the bullet as to not outright eliminate Red. It beamed through the smoke, and a distant explosion reverberated seconds later.
Then, another bullet was exchanged with her from an entirely new angle, forcing Frost to move her head yet again. Red’s agility was impressive to say the least. Additionally, her Level was likely in the high 100s if she was able to survive the initial attack.
Either that, or she was incredibly lucky to be alive.
“Had you shot closer to center mass, then you would have had a better chance of injuring me. Could it be that you’re also testing my limits?”
Frost only assumed this because after the initial shot, Red should have noticed that Frost could dodge her bullets seamlessly. Unless she was not aware that Frost did not possess blind spots?
A smart shooter would fire from an angle the opponent least expected.
Normally, this was outside of the vision of the target.
However, Frost possessed omnidirectional vision and precognition, which made this tactic useless.
She could not help but feel pity for Red.
To call it an unfair advantage would not do it one hundredth of the justice it deserved. Such an Ability, paired with Frost’s AGI, made her virtually impossible to strike. There had to be a major blunder on her part to incur damage.
She pulled the trigger only after Red returned fire, as to keep it somewhat competitive. After several more exchanges of gunfire, and as structures behind her began to crumble with each dodged bullet, she fired exactly seven bullets into the air.
These bullets were vastly more powerful than the ones she used against Red, evident by the intense heatwave it released. Loose debris that shook beneath her feet glowed orange as the air distorted. Even with her vision impaired, she swayed to the side, avoiding another bullet.
“From your perspective, it must be frustrating to keep missing an immobilized target. Don’t worry. I’m not moving anyway.”
Scorched earth split in the wake of her footfall, and she cemented herself in place.
Indeed. Frost had no intention of moving. She had enough advantages, and if her goal was to further increase Red’s Emotional State, then what better way than to make a mockery of her?
The Conditions had still not yet arrived, so she didn’t know if this was the right way to approach Red.
Is Lailah ready?
“She is almost finished. I believe she’s being careful since there’s a chance you may accidentally kill Red.”
By the way, what’s Lailah been doing with Red?
“That is a conversation for you to have after you stabilize her.”
In the meantime, Frost continued to dodge Red’s bullets.
Concrete exploded in the background. Chunks of debris flung across the plaza with enough force to instantly pulverize a human. Red’s shots arrived from varying elevations, and she seemed to be moving around Frost in a clockwise pattern.
“Haaaah. But this isn’t much fun for me either. I shouldn’t let myself become sloppy by relying on an Ability.”
Frost spoke to herself, casually weaving through bullet after bullet, as though dancing through falling petals. She did not even take aim with De Jure Sanguinis, since [Foresight] revealed the best possible outcome. If she missed a shot in one of the possible future outcomes, then all she had to do was readjust until she reached the desired outcome.
Needless to say, it was a boring way to fight. There was no expression of skill on her part, and as an avid enjoyer of firearms, it pained her that she had to fight another skilled shooter with such an unfair advantage.
As such, Frost brought the weapon to her face and peered through the sight made by Amorphos.
“In that case, dear–”
< [Foresight] Has Been Deactivated >
“–Let’s even the odds!”