Chapter 126: Can You Catch Up?

A burst of blood mist erupted from among them. The sound earlier had come from the unlucky fellow who got shot and was blown apart. Several seconds later, the gunshot finally arrived.

“Hmph~ You can see missiles, but what about much smaller bullets?” Zheng Yichen caught the ejected shell casing. His double wings flapped hard behind him. While quickly retreating, he swung his gun barrel around, aiming at the next target. Bullets were much easier to hit people with than missiles. Even if physically blocked, they wouldn’t just explode like missiles.

“Ah!! Damn it!!” With the second muzzle flash, another Mage clutched his blown-off arm and screamed in pain. After the earlier unlucky one got hit, they had cast many counter-magic spells on themselves specifically for ranged attacks. Whenever a ranged attack got close to them, such magic would trigger. The countering magic would strike the incoming projectile.

This was also a kind of defense. As for protective Shields, the earlier example in the camp, where those two were blasted to nothing, was too clear—useless!

Knowing it was useless, naturally they chose another way. But this defensive method still wasn’t very effective. When the counter-magic touched the bullet, it was like a thin, useless membrane, getting pierced right through! Still, his luck was somewhat better; this bullet didn’t hit a vital spot directly, hitting his arm instead. Even so, it nearly killed him!

“What exactly is this thing? Why can it ignore magic…” one Mage frowned tightly. Mana-repellent metal? Mana-repellent metal didn’t have this effect! That stuff could block the flow of Mana, but that didn’t mean it could block the impact of a Magic spell!

Mana-repellent metal wasn’t very strong; hit directly by Magic, it would either deform or shatter!

They collected the two slightly deformed bullet casings. They examined the bullets, puzzled. These things had nothing to do with mana-repellent metal. The only special thing seemed to be something added to the bullet’s tip. Once their Mana touched the bullet tip, it would mutate. It was clearly their own Mana but became uncontrollable.

It felt like touching someone else’s Mana. But upon specific inspection, nothing could be found. The materials here were ordinary. Their advantage was that their hardness and toughness were even stronger than some Enchanted Materials. There were no additional Magic Rune Arrays inside providing Magic effects.

It could be said these were things made from ordinary metal, yet they had super strong Magic-piercing effects!

This baffled them completely. But… as long as they caught that Little Dragon, this puzzle should be solved. Of course, things weren’t as smooth as they imagined. During their chase of Zheng Yichen, they also came under additional sniper fire. This sniper fire wasn’t as powerful as Zheng Yichen’s; a hit could blow a person apart directly.

But the bullets’ shield-piercing effect was still outstanding. They were not only a deadly threat to Mages but also a great threat to Mana Warriors. It was true that Mana Warriors had strong physiques, but the main power they used was still Mana. Those bullets affected Mana far too noticeably.

Against Mages, as long as the shot was accurate, it was truly unstoppable. Mages’ reaction speeds weren’t slow, but they were different from the reactions Warriors possessed. A Warrior’s reflexes showed in blade work or close combat; their judgment of incoming objects was more precise. A Mage’s reaction was about observing the situation, precisely releasing each needed Magic spell. It couldn’t be said whose reaction was faster or slower; the difference wasn’t big, just a matter of specialization.

With Magic Shields failing, a Warrior in a sniping situation held a greater advantage. A Warrior could slash bullets with a sword. Even if a Mage’s reaction kept up, some bodily movements couldn’t catch up… Even if some Mages’ physical fitness was formidable, Mages as existences could fight just by raising their hands. So compared to Warriors, there was still some gap.

Apart from the hard-pressed Mages, the Mana Warriors were slightly better off, but only slightly. The protective layer Mana Warriors produced on their body surface, resembling a Magic Shield by operating their own Mana, was also useless. Those bullets didn’t come one and done. Sometimes they faced attacks from several directions, inevitably getting a bit overwhelmed. Once hit by these bullets, the body surface showed a small hole, but the flesh and blood inside would be churned into a mess. Even with a strong physique that wouldn’t cost their lives, it greatly affected their combat capability.

The ones in the best situation were the Battle Qi Warriors. Although the sniper bullets could also break through their Battle Qi protection, when touching Battle Qi, the range of Battle Qi mutation was very small. Unlike a power like Mana, where mutation covered an area several times the bullet’s size, Battle Qi was limited to the bullet’s area only. Because it was so small, even if they couldn’t directly block it, they could “pinch” it.

Once the bullet’s speed slowed down, they had enough time to react. Battle Qi Warriors had the most formidable physiques!

“Tsk… in just a while, twelve are scrapped…” Zheng Yichen took out a counter and looked at the number on it, saying somewhat heartbrokenly. He recalled some of the scattered Alchemical Puppets used to snipe these big shots. Although it brought good results at first, once they reacted, they started cleaning up the Alchemical Puppets.

Most of these big shots didn’t act personally; their underlings did this very enthusiastically. Thinking this, two more bursts of light erupted in the distance… Okay, now it was fourteen scrapped. By now, the other side didn’t need any Magic to lock onto him; just watching with their eyes was enough.

About this, Zheng Yichen felt nothing but deep frustration. Damn it, I’m a dragon after all, yet I’m not faster than a group of people flying. Complaining in his heart, he took out from his pocket an exoskeletal device that fit his wings perfectly. This thing wasn’t powered by anything; it was just an external piece. Clamped onto his wings, it would move as his wings moved.

Because of the Dragon Clan’s Magic Resistance, the Magic Zheng Yichen cast on himself was affected, making it hard to achieve the best effect, whether buffs or debuffs… Generally, buff-type Magic should ignore one’s own resistance, yet he seemed to be an exception… Really, does the Otherworld look down on Earth people too? If I can’t receive buffs, then I can’t. It wasn’t like he had no other way!

Once Zheng Yichen clamped this exoskeletal device onto his wings, the thrusters installed on the device immediately started working. Zheng Yichen’s flying speed, with the boost from external force, instantly turned into a mad dash, quickly widening the distance from his pursuers behind.

“Mmf! Awesome!!”

“…!?” The big shots chasing Zheng Yichen all froze for a moment upon seeing this. This… what the heck was this!?