The God of Jesters
Chapter 719 - 11.04.5 I will survive.

Chapter 719: 11.04.5 I will survive.

Existence of common sense itself. The answer is generally pretty simple in situations like these. ’The sound came from the same direction, at least at the start.’ The perpetrator was just one. A single attacker can change the direction of the bullet through a will.

A knight? Someone capable of this feat can only be a knight.

No, it can even be a mage, it should be a mage. Well whoever it was, they were after Darde’s life and if he didn’t do things properly, things might go bad. ’Nowhere is safe.’

If a person can shoot you out of your reach and break through all kinds of restrictions, then it can only mean one thing. "It’s certain death." The small errors were just small, the shots still hit and from the movement and the closeness of the bullets each time they struck Darde, he knew the third one would do him in.

’Death.’ He felt it. The perpetrator was far away, but the closest to killing him than anyone else before. ’I will die.’ Such strength brought helplessness in Darde’s eyes. He will die, he will be defeated, and there is no chance he will survive this ordeal.

’No, I can’t.’

Even if this bullet can twist and turn, at the end of the day, it was still a bullet. ’It’s stuck in my leg.’ Darde felt it, the force behind this sniper bullet was not as high. Usually having a lethal range of kilometers, it could not penetrate too deep into his flesh, which meant. ’All the turns and manipulation caused it to lose momentum.’

Proper defenses should be enough to act as safeguards. ’Just keep safe the important parts...’ Darde spoke, bringing his arms to cover his head and taking the wall as cover, and the bullet struck his arm.

’As long as it doesn’t hit my vitals, I will live.’ With the shot in his arm, Darde was sure of his earlier conjecture. ’The bullet lacks force. But only for a bit.’ The person was closing in, and the sound of bullets that rang became louder by the fourth hit, directly entering his lungs.

With this, even if he is not shot in the vitals, the bleeding and damage alone will make Darde lose his life.

As for the surrounding officers, they panicked and looked around, searching for the killer, but they could find no one. "Use your body as a shield." A suggestion, a strong one that directly broke through the minds of these officers.

Although, Darde got familiar with these two, and they also didn’t do anything shady behind his back, making him appreciate them a lot more. But at the end of the day, they were forced along this job for a single purpose. Save Darde’s life. And it doesn’t matter if they die doing it.

’Karma.’ It’s their karma for all the wrong they did, their death will earn Darde a few extra minutes because no way in hell would the city remain silent as someone shoots sniper loudly into the air.

They ought to be caught soon enough.

And as expected, this did work. These officers covered Darde with their bodies, forced to turn into his shield. Even if they were to survive, Darde had already made up his mind to kill them, just to ensure he was not caught for manipulating the minds of the officers. ’It’s just reason.’

Which somehow worked, an explosion came, and the bullets stopped, before fighting erupted far away with a few more gunshots as everything returned to calm again.

"You guys are dead?" Darde looked at these men, bleeding from their bodies. Unlike him who knew to cover his head and the rest, these men were mind controlled, they didn’t have such senses, not to mention the killer being so close, the momentum of the bullets was far higher, penetrating deeper.

’I am sorry for this.’ Darde thought as he closed his eyes due to intense bleeding. If not for the timely arrival of the Master rank Knight on the scene that gave him the potion, Darde would have died today.

"Interesting." Mini saw all of this, her eyes showing a hint of interest over what just transpired. ’They really are after him... instead of us.’ She had been keeping her eyes on Darde for a while, and she even let him mess around, looking into the matter of hers, for she knew, he had little power to do a thing against it due to the contract.

That is why, unlike the beggar who was eaten alive to send a message, she didn’t bother with this man or the kitchen boy at all.

Struggle as much as you want, he only exists to entertain her. That’s the only value a powerless being like him had in the machination of the city.

Well, that was until the attack just now. ’Those people.’ She looked at the man obscured by fate itself. Even the rituals in her hand were unable to crack the protections that were left on the man’s body. Causing the eruption of curses on her hand, making her lose a few of her fingers. But with some sewing, this can be fixed.

What cannot be fixed is her own ego. ’Such interesting people here.’ She only knew of a few parties capable of such a feat, and none of them would bother to operate in the dark like this. Meaning whoever it was, they were someone else entirely, a party that she didn’t know about.

’Why harm a man like him?’ She wondered before her eyes turned to the stars. ’Found him.’ One of the birds under her command finally found the location of the sniper, who took off his mask to reveal an unassuming face, which appeared blurry in her vision.

But what didn’t appear blurry was the uniform this man wore soon after. ’A policeman?’ Surprised, Mini cut off her vision before the man could detect her existence. Obviously, this was just a cover; the man’s original identity might be something greater than she expected. ’Are they the reason?’

She recalled the events of a few months ago, when a man, a seedling of theirs exploded on his own before showing any signs of instability. One of the odd incidences that had caused her to reassess the methods that they could only develop after mimicking a fraction of Vegal’s knowledge.

And when nothing came up, they really started to think it might just be a freak accident, though some among them, specifically the confident researchers, were adamant that there was nothing wrong with their calculation. A third party might be involved.

But a third party capable of such a feat is hard to speak of. And even if they were, how did they learn about them?

’Even if they know about us, why not harm us again?’ Knowing her plans, anyone sensible party would do their best to stop them. ’But they changed the focus to this detective?’ There are no coincidences, it’s as if fate wanted her to learn of this man and those who wanted to kill him. ’Master, I require your help.’ She sighed, looking toward Darde being hauled into a stretcher, along with the two other bodies.

’Or I can just... follow him.’ Mini was curious, she wanted to know if her suspicions were true or not. ’I need to ensure success.’

*****

Gloria looked at the event, the fight that happened, and even the cruel state of her brother, but she didn’t make a move this time. ’He is safe.’ She thought, and it happened as she had imagined. Finally causing her tightened grip on the blade to loosen up. ’He is safe.’

She had visions of this attack today, which is why she followed her brother from a distance, hoping to catch the killer before he could act. But it would seem she was too arrogant this time. The killer attacked from such a distance that it was impossible for her to cover with her mortal strength.

Which is why, by the second shot, filled with worry, she stopped her actions. "Nerissa is not here, and he is fated to die with her." As the situation entailed, even though she didn’t want it, she was still forced to confirm a detail that had been in her head for a while. ’Keeping them away should do the trick... but if I intrude upon their relationship with this truth.’ It will negate this fate entirely, and a different kind of death will appear in front of her brother.

Which is something that Gloria can’t allow. ’For now... he is safe.’

She looked ahead toward the figure that disappeared after being tackled by the enforcer of the city. ’You can’t leave us alone.’ Before she disappeared from the scene.