Beneath their feet

As she heard Kei's words in addition to the loud sound of the bullet being fired, she immediately grabbed him and jumped a hundred metres or so to the side.

"Thanks. Good call, Kei. Chase the Enlightened with me."

"Wait, I can't hold up with your speed, master!"

Yuna was out of sight once again. She didn't even pay attention to his words.

Far away from them mumbled the Enlightened who had just fired the bullet quietly under his breath, his voice frustrated.

"Dammit, you lucky shit!"

He let his sniper rifle disappear and prepared to be attacked by Yuna and Kei while also running to create as much space as possible.

Before long, Yuna came dashing right at him. Her speed was superb as always, but the man didn't struggle to react to her rapid approach.

Now that she was close, she was able to catch a glimpse of the man's looks. He had golden eyes combined with silvery white hair. His hair was short. Long enough to no longer be considered a buzz cut, yet too short for any proper hairstyle. He seemed to be around 25 years of age and he was surprisingly short.

Kei wasn't anywhere to be seen yet. He was far too slow to have already arrived here.

Her intention wasn't to exchange even just a single word with the Enlightened. Hence, she tried to roundhouse kick his head off.

To her surprise, the man suddenly held a loaded shotgun and aimed it right at her with a malicious smile. He had certainly summoned the shotgun just now, otherwise she would have noticed.

"Gotcha."

The bullets left the barrel with a bang and would have certainly killed her.

Fortunately, since Yuna's primary element was air, she managed to push herself out of harm's way with a gush of wind before she could be killed.

Seeing this man's strength piqued her interest slightly. He was strong enough to have a memorable name and title. If she found out these, then maybe she could recognize him and use it to her advantage.

"At least give me a name to remember you by once you're dead. Guns as a primary element? How odd…"

The man threw his shotgun to the side as it faded into nothingness. His previously malicious smile quickly transformed into a playful and charming one as he spoke.

"The first stronghold's devil, Yuna, asking for my name? I feel honored."

Before he spoke his next few words, he got on one knee and put a hand on his chest. His head was lowered slightly as well. It seemed almost as if he was proposing, and it caused Yuna to feel a disgusted shudder run down her spine.

"My name is Akito Taira. I'm more widely recognized by the name 'Killshot' though. The rank's currently 5."

"5?"

Now that he had introduced himself, she finally realized who stood before her. She hadn't previously encountered him, and never knew his looks.

He was the strongest Enlightened of the jade palace and also acted as the leader of this city.

She had expected to encounter him during the war and battle him, but he was known to be a rank 4 Enlightened until now.

This fight was supposed to be one-sided in the favor of Yuna, but now it could go either way.

"We're such a perfect match, aren't we, Yuna?"

She launched a strong punch directly at his sternum as he spoke these words.

"We aren't. Every rat has more attractive features than you."

Akito faked a saddened and dejected face while dodging the incoming blow with ease. At the same time, he manifested a Kriss Vektor, aiming to blow Yuna's brains out.

"Ouch. You're such an honest woman, no? I like that about you."

Just as he was about to fire his gun, the barrel suddenly shrank until it closed completely.

He didn't notice this in time and fired his Kriss Vektor regardless, leading the gun to explode in his hands.

While it was injured, his hand was okay for the most part.

"Fuck!"

Kei had arrived at once.

Most weapons that Akito could create were mainly out of metal, meaning that Kei could destroy them to some degree and control his bullets, but he couldn't control everything created by Akito.

He was far too weak to be able to react to every bullet and weapon at the same time.

If this fight took a long time, then he wouldn't be of much help either. He simply didn't have enough essence to constantly utilize it for a long period of time.

"Keep this up, Kei! Focus on disrupting his attacks!"

Kei nodded with a newly obtained determination. He stood as far behind Yuna as he possibly could while still being able to aid her.

"Now I understand why you're so turned off by me, Yuna. You already have some-"

"I do not. You're simply disgusting and my enemy."

"Think of all the benefits. We could end this war with far fewer casualties. We'd be able to unite our cities and become a formidable force!"

"Killing you and taking all this place has to offer sounds superior to me."

Akito scoffed at her words, finally turning scornful.

There was one simple way he could easily obtain the upper hand, or even win almost immediately. He had to kill Kei.

"So that's how you'll react to my nothing but kind words, Yuna? How ru-"

A few punches to the face, one to the stomach and one to the crotch, interrupted him, and sent him flying many metres.

Somehow, Akito didn't seem to be in any pain whatsoever. He stood completely still, almost like a statue.

In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared. Yuna knew exactly where he was running. Kei didn't even realize he had moved yet. She was unable to react and arrive there in time to help.

Akito appeared right behind Kei, his expression serious and laced with murderous intent.

Dozens, if not over a hundred guns, all manifested at the same time, aimed directly at Kei.

None of them were physically used by Akito himself. Him forcing them to fire themselves cost a lot of essence. This was undoubtedly supposed to be a fate-changing blow.

"How about you die? That way, I can have Yuna all for myself."