Abnormal Moon

"Your face, which seems to be fearless and invincible, is still so annoying to this day!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Gunfire rang out like thunder, incessantly.

The three bullets, almost indistinguishable from one another, flew toward Zhenyi in a triangular formation.

Zhenyi's hands are very steady, as steady as an Olympic champion's. Having decided to use a gun as her weapon, she has been practicing marksmanship since childhood. Forced by various internal and external pressures, she practiced shooting for long periods of time every day. Among the students of the two schools, her marksmanship is arguably the best.

Three bullets were fired at three vital points on Maki's head and chest.

This bullet won't kill her, but it will let her taste the pain she's been experiencing for a long time!

"Qiang——!"

But in Maki's eyes, those bullets that are too fast for ordinary people to see with the naked eye can be clearly distinguished by her, just like toy gun bullets.

Without even expending a fraction of her strength, she swung her sword once, as if a child were playing a matching game, slicing all three bullets into her defensive range, deflecting or ricocheting them away. The clanging sounds even blended together.

After this wave of attacks was also stopped, Maki saw a visible panic on Mai's face.

She lifted her foot and walked forward with an expression that showed neither joy nor sorrow.

Seeing this, Mayi unconsciously took a few steps back, then gritted her teeth, turned around and rushed into the forest behind her, using a big tree as cover to hide behind it, and sticking out the muzzle of her gun from the bushes that Mayi could hardly see.

"Boom!"

Two more bullets came flying in.

But Maki's eyes were like a high-speed camera; no matter how hard Mai tried, the last two bullets were deflected by her sword like powerless cotton.

The revolver has a total of six bullets, and she has already fired six shots.

She used a tree as cover, probably knowing her predicament and wanting to use the opportunity of hiding behind the tree to reload her bullets.

"This will never end."

Maki sighed almost imperceptibly.

Hopefully, her request to Mr. Roy will provide Zhenyi with a safe haven.

However, she would not hand over victory to anyone, not even her own sister!

She strode forward, wanting to end the battle quickly and then return to help Itadori's side.

"boom!"

But in that instant, without any gap, another bullet shot out from the bushes.

There was less than a second of space; she didn't even have time to reload the bullets.

That was the seventh bullet that was there from the very beginning!

Just as if caught off guard by this bullet, once it was fired, it was like a homing snake fang, hitting Maki squarely in the face with incredible precision!

He hit her so hard that her head snapped back.

"Success!"

Mayi pinned all her hopes on this bullet, and seeing it hit Maki squarely in the face, she immediately perked up and walked out from behind the tree with a joyful expression.

Unlike Maki, who was born with zero magical power, Mai was born with magical power and spells.

However, her total magical power was average, even less than that of an ordinary sorcerer, and even below average, hovering only around level three. Her low aptitude meant she was destined to be ridiculed and despised within the Zen Academy clan.

In comparison, her technique was quite good.

Her technique is a construction technique, which means that she uses incantation to construct matter from scratch. The constructed object will not disappear even if it loses the support of incantation. It is a genuine product the moment it is created. In essence, it is using incantation to create real objects.

Of course, not just any substance can be constructed. The prerequisite for her to construct a substance is that she must understand that substance herself. If it is a conceptual substance that only exists in fantasy, such as imagining an element and giving it certain properties, then such a substance cannot be constructed.

Moreover, the construction technique consumes a great deal of magical power and puts an astonishing burden on the body. With Mayi's physique and magical power, the limit is that she can only construct one bullet a day if her body and magical power are not damaged.

The reason for using a revolver is to give the opponent the illusion that "she only has six bullets." Once the opponent forms this illusion, they will definitely be penetrated by the seventh bullet!

"This is your trump card?"

Maki turned her head, refocusing her gaze, which had been momentarily averted, back onto Mai.

"How is that possible! You took a bullet head-on...!"

Thinking she had turned the tables, Mayi was stunned when she saw Maki looking over unharmed. Her brain went blank for a moment, and she stared at her with a frustrated expression.

No, actually, they weren't exactly unharmed.

There was a light red patch on Maki's forehead.

If you don't look closely, you won't be able to notice it. It looks like a mosquito bite, without even breaking a pore!

Almost completely unharmed!

Maki has no magical powers.

She could only endure it physically.

Even so, she only suffered a small red mark on her skin.

In other words, the last bullet she had placed her hopes on—no, to put it bluntly, no matter how many bullets she fired with a pistol, even if she could fire an endless stream of bullets, it was impossible for her to harm Maki in the slightest from the very beginning!

"...You've become stronger?"

Mayi clenched her teeth tightly, as if she wanted to crush her gums, and looked at Maki with hatred.

"You used to be as strong as an elephant, but you couldn't possibly be so indifferent to taking a bullet!"

That's right.

The only possibility I can think of is that she has become stronger!

But Mayi absolutely hated this kind of power!

"It's always the same! You get stronger, and I'm forced to get stronger too! You work hard, and I have to work hard too! I don't have any ideals that I absolutely have to achieve, nor do I have your strong will. I just want to live a good life in the Zen family and pass this life by as I please. Why can't you be like me...!"

They can't just live a carefree life with me.

Don't fall into depravity with me!

The Zen family's rules were so strict that they showed no mercy even to its own members.

Maki and Mayi's father is the eldest brother of the current head of the family, making Mayi and Maki practically the direct nieces of the current head of the family.

However, despite being the direct nieces of the family head, they were forced to live like servants simply because of their poor natural aptitude. From a young age, they had to handle household chores, such as washing clothes, cooking, and sweeping, which were usually done by servants. The two sisters had to do these tasks together. Even if someone bullied them, no one in the clan would stand up for them.

The Zen clan is like an ancient noble family living in modern times, retaining all the dross, making the clan like a swamp deep in the jungle, turbid and full of the stench of decay.

Living in such a family means either shining brightly and becoming the focus of everyone's attention, or falling to the bottom, erasing one's own identity and becoming a slave, knowing only how to obey and serve the former for the rest of one's life.

Zhenyi is the latter.

Having always been in the position of being protected like a younger sister since childhood, she had no ability to maintain herself in the mire. Her protective shell was as easily broken down as if it were made of mud by the bad habits of her family.

She was well aware that she had willingly chosen to fall into depravity, and that her character was only third-rate.

Arrogance is merely a way to mask inner inferiority.

The moment she encounters power, her arrogance crumbles like mud, revealing her true nature of abandoning dignity and willingly degenerating.

Just like when facing Roy.

Obedient and compliant, with lowered eyes and meek demeanor.

That was the way she learned to survive in the face of the powerful, a skill she developed at the Zen temple.

"This power is not something I acquired on my own."

Looking at Mayi's face full of hatred, Maki knew the source of her hatred.

She didn't hate Maki as a person, but rather Maki's act of leaving her.

—As long as my sister is by my side, even if I'm in hell, I'll find it sweet.

Although life at the Zen temple was like living in hell, it was fine as long as my sister was around.

But this very sister chose to abandon him and leave, embarking on a completely different path—a path of rebellion.

In that case, one would certainly feel hatred.

But Maki had no intention of defending herself, nor did she explain her inner intentions.

She simply and calmly explained the source of her power.

“This power is not mine, but was given to me by Teacher Roy. So you did not lose to me, but to Teacher Roy.”

Even without this power, I still wouldn't lose when facing Mayi.

But Maki did not say these words aloud.

"...You obeyed orders too?"

Upon hearing this, Mayi was slightly taken aback, then, as if she had figured it out, she revealed a look of great satisfaction, like she had gotten her revenge, and gave Maki a mocking smile.

"You stubbornly left, then went around in circles and came back to where you started. In the end, what's the difference between you and me?"

Why would Roy, a Special Class, grant her such immense power?

Just like her, he took the initiative to accept the task assigned by his family and sold his dignity and body, didn't he?

No matter how eloquently they speak, or how much they defy their families, in the end they're no different from me.