Finally, the two fated rivals were about to duel, and Yuel couldn’t help but worry about the result.

  “Do you need any advice about the fight?” Yuel asked.

  “Huh?” Kai gave him a look. “You think I need help to beat this bastard?”

  “It’s an important fight,” Yuel reasoned. “If there’s anything we do to help you from afar, we better do it.”

  “No need,” Kai decred. “Did you fet I’m a Challenger in Duel? I handle myself just fihank you.”

  “Very well.” Yuel tried his best to maintain an even expression, but his worries were eating him from the inside.

  If Kai loses this fight, she’ll most certainly doom the eeam. This was an incredibly dangerous situation. If there was any way Yuel, or anybody else, could increase Kai’s ces of victory, it was best to use that method.

  As, with the girl herself rejeg help, there was nothing that could be dorying to help Kai against her will would only lead to disaster. It’ll tilt her and distract her from the fight. Basically, it’d have the opposite effect of what it tried to achieve.

  Therefore, it was best to keep quiet a Kai hahis on her own terms.

  I’ll settle this myself. Kai advaoward her oppo and fired a bolt. It sighe beginning of the long-awaited duel.

  You not gonna reach me from there. Jaiden backstepped while firing his ter shot.

  The enemy’s bolt headed straight toward him, but it fell to the ground before reag its target. Oher hand, Jaiden’s bullet crossed the same distah ease.

  "Geh!" Kai tried to sidestep the bullet, but she was obeat too te. It’s just a flesh wound. Let's go!

  Kai advanced again. This time, she was going to nail the shot for sure. Alright. Now!

  You’re still toirl. Jaiden halted in pd fired at the attacker.

  This time, he didn't eveo move baake the bolt whiff. The eime, Jaiden has been matg Beat’s movements to maintain the ideal distance from her.

  As expected, the bolt didn't reach. Oher hand, Jaiden’s bullet properly made its way to Beat’s chest. It was going to be a hit!

  Shit! Kai rolled forward, dug uhe bullet. If you think you keep spag me out forever, think again!

  Ranger's basic attacks were a bit shorter than most marksmen's, so it was only natural fade to exploit this weakness.

  In Ranked, few oppos had the necessary sense of distao pull this off. However, the guy in front of her was on a whole different level. He was a scrub that Kai totally gonna mop, but he was good.

  There was this “petitive aura” around Renegade that set him apart from the oppos in Ranked. He was dangerous. Messing up against him will spell doom. The moment Kai its a mistake ives Renegade a ce to strike, that bastard will take full advantage of it.

  Therefore, Kai had to close the distaween them as quickly as possible. She recovered from the Dodge Roll and fired another bolt.

  Bold move...! Jaiden moved to the side this time, not backward. Beat has gotten too close to him with her Dodge Roll, so backpedaling wasn't going to save him this time.

  He had no choice but to evade via sidestepping. As, a bolt grazed his left side anyway.

  No dice, huh. Jaiden shook his head.

  He had the option to create some immediate distah Dodge Roll, but it was risky to spend Dodge Roll before the Ranger spent her ult. So, Jaiden had no choice but to accept this situation and fire back.

  At least, his ters have been on point so far, so he’ll always deal some damage back to the attacker. Or, so he thought...

  You better not be expeg your obvious ters to nd every time. Kai sidestepped the bullet flying her way. I've figured the timing for your ters. You're not nding them again.

  Nice sidestep. Jaiden clicked his tongue.

  For a moment, he fot Beat was good at reading patterns. Eve came to the timing of a ter-attack, it seemed like Beat could sidestep it as long as the timing was sistent enough. What a troublesome ability.

  It sure forces you to think differently. Jaiden thought.

  Rather than firing a ter as quickly as possible, it was better to wait a little against Beat. She always started moving right when the bullet was about to e out, so Jaiden had to dey his shots a little to throw Beat’s predis off.

  On their exge, Jaiden properly kept all of that in mind.

  There! He fired a deyed ter as soon as Beat twitched.

  "Shit!" Kai cursed. Her sidestep should've been perfectly timed, yet the bullet ected anyway. I don't think I mistimed it. He took his sweet time with that one. He knows, huh.

  At this point, there was no question about it. Renegade, or maybe somebody else from his team, figured the gist of how Kai evaded attacks. They probably didn't give it a ridiculous name like "Rhythm Reader", but they sure knew how to deal with it.

  Damn, why won’t you just let me kill you!? Kai fired a bolt, but it didn't reach. Renegade has already created enough distaweeo make Kai’s bolts whiff. Meanwhile, that bastard’s ters ected without fail.

  Dammit! It's so hard to dodge these! Kai cursed internally.

  She stopped relying on patterns because Renegade's deys had random variations to them. Instead, she trated on the Gunslinger's movements and tried to dodge the ters oion.

  Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Even when she successfully reacted in time and started moving as soon as the bullet came out, the attack still hit her two times out of three.

  It was rough. She already dropped to 40% HP, while Renegade was doing just fi 70%.

  Kai’s Wolf panion came out of cooldown by now, so this etle boiled down to spag. If she get close enough and pin Renegade to the ground, she'll win. Oher hand, if Renegade tinues spag her out for the rest of the fight, he'll eventually wear her down.

  Damn! if I k'll turn like this, I would've picked Impaler. Kai gritted her teeth.

  She only went fer because she thought it'll let her score an easy kill ade. On paper, all she had to do was get close to her oppo, pin him down with Wolf panion, and then barrage him to death with her ult. It sounded like a child's py.

  Yet, Kai couldn’t achieve it. She had a deadly bo at her disposal, but she couldn't get into a position to use it.

  "Shit, what do I-" Kai stopped herself right there. No, this isn't the kind of fight in which I ask for advice. I have to beat this bastard by myself. Otherwise, it'll be pointless.

  Kai had to do this one alo was a raw petition of skill between her and Renegade. That scum cimed Kai was trash, so she had to prove him wrong. She had to e on top in this fight through her own strength, without relying on anybody.

  And, she'll do it! She'll crush that bastard!

  "I think she's getting frustrated," Rio said.

  "Yeah? Sounds good." Jaiden grinned. Rio's keen observations were great for finding moments like this. This was the opportunity Jaiden has been waiting for.

  The lohe defeuck to defehe more it agitated the attacker. At some point, the attacker was bound to start f their shots and it a terrible mistake. That was the moment Jaiden has been waiting for. And, acc to Rio, that moment was ing soon.

  If Beat is pnning to go for the kill, then the main threat will be her Wolf panion. The skill probably came out of cooldown by now, so she’ll defiry to pin Jaiden down with it. If she mao do so, it’ll be GG.

  “Man,” Jaiden said. “My life would be so much easier if I could just bait out her wolf.”

  “I have an idea how you do that,” Rio said.

  “Really!? Okay, I’m all ears.” Jaiden rongly. Even though this ersonal duel against Beat, it never hurt listening to some advice.

  “Think of it as a trap with three yers,” Rio expined his devious pn.

  “Dang, that’s sick!” Jaiden grinned. “Okay, I like it. Let’s try it out!”

  e. Let's end this. Jaiden prepared himself. He focused on every little twitch the Ranger made, to make sure he didn’t miss anything about her movements. The uping sequence of pys will most likely drop the curtain on this duel.

  As Rio predicted, the enemy made her move.

  Alright, let's go! Kai darted forward. For starters, she had to get closer to the enemy. Nothing will get started until then.

  She didn't have any blinking or leaping abilities, so she had to ruhere on foot. No matter how many bullets e flying her way, she'll keep moving forward!

  The extreme aggression took the enemy a little off-guard.

  Hm? Are you suig? Jaiden casually fired a bullet at the ining attacker. It perfectly nded on the Ranger's chest. Beat didn’t show any signs of even trying to dodge. The girl kept running straight at Jaiden, like a train that couldn't ge course.

  I see what you're thinking. Jaiden fired again, this time aiming for the oppo's head. BAM. CRITICAL HIT.

  "Agh!" Kai felt that o was a big k of damage. heless, she had to press on.

  Her oppo was slower than her because he was backpedaling and shooting at the same time. Oher hand, Kai was running forward in a straight lihout firing a single bolt. Thanks to that, she quickly closed the distance. Her HP fell down to 25%, but she was almost there!

  Kai was about to get Renegade within the reach of Wolf panion. However, unleashing the wht would be dumb.

  Renegade was carefully saving his Dodge Roll even during this teuation. If Kai unches a predictable attack, Renegade will simply roll out of it.

  As such, the first necessary step was to bait out the Dodge Roll.

  It’s a little early for my ult. Kai frowned. But, I don’t have any other ways to pressure him.

  And so, she booted her ultimate. “The hunt is on!” the Ranger procimed loudly.

  By marking Renegade as her prey, Kai gained a sharp boost to her Attack Painst him. Now, she could pressure him. She’ll draw the Dodge Roll out of him, no matter what!

  Did she go for her ult before using the wolf? Jaiden didn't expect that. But, this was a good sign. It mea felt ered.

  Most likely, her goal was to draw out Jaiden’s Dodge Roll. After that, she’ll go for the kill with her wolf.

  Just as Rio predicted, Beat started f her offense. As long as Jaiden stubbornly stuck to his defehe girl was bound to shoening during her offense.

  Therefore, Jaiden will tinue maki’s life difficult. He ighe fact his oppo has just powered up and fearlessly fired a bullet at her.

  Oh, you wanna go? Let's go! Kai sidestepped the bullet and fired a swift bolt. It pierced through the air like a silver spear arated through Renegade's chest.

  "Whoa!” Jaiden didn't expect su intense offense. heless, he fired again, this time with a slight dey.

  Is that all you got? You're through! Kai sidestepped this bullet as well and fired another powerful shot.

  “Seriously!?” Jaiden excimed. The bolt pierced through his ribs. Dang, it’s so much harder to deal with her at this range!

  With just those two hits, Beat reduced his HP from 70% all the way down to 50%. It was impressive. The girl sacrificed over half of her remaining HP to get closer to Jaiden, but now she finally got her offense rolling.

  This might be bad, haha. Jaiden smiled nervously. These empowered shots meant trouble. Even though he still had twice as much HP as Beat, it felt like he had one leg in the grave.

  Okay, you're not TERRIBLE. Jaiden admitted silently. This girl had some spank to her. The way she read patterns and dodged them in a timely fashion raiseworthy, and her aggression was nothing to s. Even Jaide a little overwhelmed for a moment, that’s why he fired such sloppy shots that were so easy to dodge.

  heless, in the end, that girl was still critically g as a pyer. Jaiden was about to prove that here and now.

  Let's go! Jaiden fahe hammer of his revolver and assumed a firm stance. He was about te the girl with a revolver that could rival a mae gun!

  "Wha-!?" Kai gasped. This bastard is pulling it NOW!?

  The Ranger’s “The Hunt is On!” versus the Gunslinger’s “Fan the Hammer”. A showdowweero offeools of both csses.

  Given the HP differeween Kai and Renegade, it was obvious that the Gunslinger’s quick shots will erase Kai first. She should be able to dodge some of the shots thanks to the pattern of Fan the Hammer being sistent, but it’ll difficult to dodge them all from such a cle.

  In short, that bastard turhe tables on her. Renegade pulled ahat made the close distaween them py to his advantage.

  But, Kai came too far to give up. She’ll keep going hard until the very end!

  Kai rolled forward, right into the lion’s mouth. She had to get Renegade into the range of Wolf panion.

  No, that won’t be enough. Kai reasoned. Just getting the target within the range of Wolf panion wasn’t that hard. In fact, Renegade was already within that range.

  What Kai really had to do was to get so close tade, that he’ll have no ce of dodging the wolf even if he tried. And thus, Kai rolled forward as fast as possible. Even if some bullets hit her along the way, she’ll win the fight as long as she delivers her Wolf panion from point-bnk!

  She’s rolling in? Jaiden grihis was an ued development, but a wele one.

  He expected Beat to unleash Wolf panion the moment he booted Fan the Hammer, but she wasn’t hasty. It seemed like some of her judgment was still intact.

  The pn was to ehe “vulnerable” stance of Fan the Hammer as bait. Beat was supposed to see it as an opportunity to unleash Wolf panion. Jaiden po dodge the wolf with bat Roll, putting the enemy’s trump card to waste.

  However, Beat didn’t fall for such a simple ploy.

  Not bad, but no problem. This only made things more iing, that’s about it.

  By recklessly rolling i undoubtedly po unleash her Wolf panion from point-bnk. Therefore, as soon as she recovered from the roll and turo look at him - Jaiden rolled aside with bat Roll! Dodge me with that wolf!

  He rolled away without issue. Beat’s wolf was going to whiff for sure. Except, no wolf jumped on him...

  “Hah! You fell for it!” Kai grinned madly. She could already smell the sweet st of victory.

  As she expected. Renegade was fast to react. He instantly realized that Kai po hit him with the wolf from point-bnk, so he rolled away.

  However, Kai knew he’d figure that. That’s why she hasn’t unleashed her wolf yet.

  This duel felt almost like fighting against Lars. That beast reacted to everything so quickly, it was impossible to catch him off guard with just fast pys. That’s why, in order to tackle such strong oppos, Kai had to learn some advanced feints.

  You got some skill, Renegade. Kai admitted silently. But, precisely BECAUSE your rea is so good, I fake you out with stuff like this. You’re through!

  Kai waited a moment to see where Renegade rolled, then summoned her wolf. The beast leaped on its prey and pi to the ground! At least, that’s what should’ve happened.

  Strangely, the wolf nded on ay area, with no prey to press us cws. The beast tilted its head in fusion, then vanished into thin air.

  “Huh...?” Kai blinked. “How did he...? But, the recovery...”

  It didn’t make any sense. She unleashed her hound as soon as Renegade fihe roll. The timing ot-on! Then, how did Renegade roll away so quickly and dodged her wolf!?

  “Phew, dodged!” Jaidehed in relief as he recovered from his sed roll, this one was the regur Dodge Roll. Heh, I bet you didn’t expect that, did you? You’re not experienced enough, girl! He fired at the bewildered oppo.

  Beat probably believed that Jaiden won’t be able to dodge her wolf while rec from the roll. And, she was half-corre assuming so. That logideed applied to rolls with long recovery time, like Dodge Roll. The long recovery unishment for poorly-timed rolls.

  However, bat Roll didn’t py by the same rules. It was more than just a “sed Dodge Roll” in the Gunslinger’s kit. bat Roll also had some enhanced properties pared to Dodge Roll, one of which was its faster recovery.

  By design, the fast recovery was intended for ung a quick attack after the roll. However, it had other applications as well. Like, for example, quickly pulling off a Dodge Rht after a bat Roll, ing two rolls oer another!

  But, that wasn’t the only tricky part of this py. Jaiden smiled meaningfully. Rio really came up with a nasty trap here.

  Jaiden activated Fan the Hammer before he went for bat Roll. One well-known fact about Fan the Hammer was how it couldn’t be celed in the middle. That downside brought a lot of grief to Gunslinger pyers. Jaidehat feel all too well.

  However, oppos often rejoiced at that fact. After all, ohe Gunslinger booted Fan the Hammer, he practically sealed his own ability to dodge attacks.

  bat Roll was the only maneuver avaible during Fan the Hammer. Other than that, the Gunslinger ractically a sitting duck.

  However, that wasirely correct. In truth, the Gunslinger COULD cel Fan the Hammer. But, that was only possible during a very specific sario. Namely, during a bat Roll.

  It ossible to tinue Fan the Hammer after bat Roll, but it was also possible to cel Fan the Hammer before finishing the roll. And, after g, it became possible to extend the roll with a Dodge Roll, just the way Jaiden did it.

  Nobody ever does that, though. Jaiden snickered.

  In practice, it was rare to see Gunslingers cel Fan the Hammer during bat Roll. After all, Fan the Hammer wasn’t supposed to be used in situations where the shooter had to dodge attacks. And, in case su ued situation occurred, the Gunslinger pyer actually had to remember this option in order to use it. It was extremely rare.

  That’s why, even oppos who were aware of this option would often fail to sider it in the heat of battle. In fact, Jaiden was 100% sure he’d also fail to sider it when fighting a Gunslihe idea that “Gunslinger only do bat Roll out of Fan the Hammer” was too deeply rooted in people’s minds.

  And, Rio used all of that to his advantage. Jaiden smiled proudly.

  Rio’s triple-yered pn took all that data into at. It strongly relied on how niche was the iioween Fan the Hammer, bat Roll, and Dodge Roll. Rio khat most oppos would fail to sider it, a was no different.

  It was a tricky pn, but it worked. Jaiden had to sacrifice three skills just to bait out Beat’s Wolf panion, but it was worth it. He had the life lead, so his top priority was to take off any immediate threats from the table, even if it meant trading a lot of resources to achieve that.

  With her Wolf panion wasted, and with her ult about to run out, Beat had no advantages left.

  You lost. Jaiden procimed. Admittedly, this girl pushed him further than he expected. But, in the end, she didn’t stand a ce.

  If it was Gunz, I'm sure he would've done a better job. Jaiden thought. So, . Accept it already. You're not good enough. Just let Gunz take your pce!

  However, Beat’s fighting spirit didn’t show any signs of diminishing. She was clearly frustrated, yet still aggressive.

  Shit! I messed up! Kai clicked her tongue. She was too hasty. That Dodge Roll after bat Roll was ued, but Kai k tion. She should’ve sidered things more carefully before charging in like a bull.

  It was frustrating. Renegade executed that py so naturally, as if he practiced this niche sario before. Or, maybe he was just pnning it for a while now.

  He probably was. Kai grit her teeth. That bastard baited out her wolf by pg numerous traps along the way. Kai thought she was outsmarting him the eime, but she walked right into his trap. The guy pyed her like a fiddle.

  But, it wasn't over yet! She was still alive, she could fight! The guy no longer had any skills at his disposal, just like Kai. So, this fight came down to pure bat teiques. She won't lose! Even though she only had 20% HP while Renegade had 50%, she will e on top!

  DarkestCymore