Amber stood stunned on the spot, her little head buzzing as her mind screamed wildly:
Is she crazy?!
Her teacher was undoubtedly one of the strongest beings in the human world, suppressing anomalies and intimidating distant lands. Only the secretive, ancient monsters from the first few eras buried deep underground could possibly threaten her.
Even if this girl knew nothing about supernatural powers, did she feel nothing toward the organizer who had flattened the family she relied on for survival?
Was it numbness, indifference, or a complete loss of reason?
Letisia’s tone didn’t sound like a threat; it was as if she were stating a fact that was bound to happen.
The loli’s small face showed no sign of wavering, her gaze firm as she stared straight at the white-hatted woman. The mad oppressive pressure emanating from the other side felt almost tangible, forming streaks of terrifying shadows that swept over her tiny body, stirring invisible gusts of wind.
The loli’s lips moved slightly, and she said:
“Humans have three great fears—death, bodily destruction, and losing a loved one. Which one scares you more?”
With that, she made a strange motion—slowly raising her arm and turning the Finger Gun ninety degrees to point at her own chin.
“Bang!”
Ashley shouted an onomatopoeic word, but nothing happened.
What was she doing?
Letisia’s inner vigilance spiked rapidly. She didn’t act rashly but tensed her nerves, ready for any sudden development.
Battles between ability users were extraordinarily dangerous, especially when neither side knew the other’s details—no one could predict what might happen next. It could be the loss of air, flames engulfing the body, bones dissolving in acid, or forgetting everything, even that they were in the midst of combat…
However, no matter how terrifying or bizarre supernatural powers were, their users were still human. When human consciousness was highly focused, they often subconsciously made certain motions.
By observing the opponent’s micro-expressions and body language, one could gauge their psychology and accurately judge whether they would use an aggressive or conservative strategy, gaining the upper hand. This was similar to interrogation techniques.
Combined with biotech enhancements that made human bodies more resilient, secreting hormones to endure greater pain, with reaction speeds and athletic abilities far surpassing baseline humans.
Masters proficient in combat could leverage their robust physiques and vast experience to gain the advantage, using superhuman reaction speeds and mobility to dodge or counter anomalies within milliseconds of their onset.
This was also why firearms from the old era had declined—muzzle velocities couldn’t keep up with the tangential speeds of superhuman movement, making even crossfire largely ineffective.
Cold weapons, on the other hand, could gain terrifying kinetic energy with the wielder’s high-speed motion, surpassing anti-tank weaponry in destructive power.
A storm of blood and violence brewed in the interrogation room.
What puzzled Letisia was that Ashley’s declaration of “I’m going to take you down” had been too certain, yet everything she did seemed like bluffing.
What exactly was she doing, or rather, what was she waiting for?
Did her ability need warmup time, or some activation condition?
Generally, the harsher the activation conditions and the longer the wind-up, the stronger the ability.
But there were no signs of ability activation around the loli—no ripples, sounds, manifestations, or vibrations…
Suddenly!
Ashley flicked her little arm, swinging the gun barrel toward Amber, who sat nearby!
An immense sense of unease surged into Letisia’s heart. She instantly understood—the previous two pointings of the gun hadn’t been meaningless; they were to lower her mental assessment of the danger in that motion!
It was a psychological suggestion ploy!
What would happen next?
Ashley’s earlier words involuntarily floated into her mind.
Humanity’s three great fears—death, bodily destruction, and losing a loved one.
Death was dissipation, the moment consciousness cut off, when all desires, memories, and sensations vanished.
The body was fragile; even a shallow scar took time to heal, and large-scale rot, mutation, or mutilation instilled bone-deep terror.
The third was the cruelest…
Letisia’s pupils reflected Amber’s small figure.
She remembered the first time she saw her— even tinier than now, with slender limbs, a frail and lightweight body like a fragile porcelain doll.
Bang!
This time it was a real gunshot, without smoke or muzzle flash, nor a high-velocity bullet slicing through the air. The layered, echoing sound carried a mystical timbre.
Shock flashed in Letisia’s pupils. Her tall, slender body collapsed uncontrollably. From the thud of her fall, her muscle density was enormous—at least several hundred kilograms!
She didn’t fully collapse; her elbows and knees propped against the ground as her body curled up, joints creaking harshly, her head, neck, and limbs twisting in unnatural directions!
Amber sat dazedly in her chair, mouth agape in an O shape.
Though she had systematically studied the nature and types of supernatural powers, she still couldn’t comprehend what had just happened in the room.
The force twisting her teacher’s body and rendering her immobile was none other than her teacher’s own Disorder Force!
This power disrupted the stable operation of systems. When applied to the human body, it caused blood to flow backward, muscles to fail to contract, neural impulses between cells to scramble, and more.
Amber noticed that, aside from the Disorder Force, no other supernatural power manifested obviously in the room.
So, from the looks of it, it was as if the teacher had taken herself down.
Fear gripped her heart like a giant hand slowly tightening. Amber gasped for breath, tiny whimpers escaping her throat, despair etching her small face.
For the first time in her life, she felt the madness and disorder of this world—any seemingly indestructible reliance could crumble in an instant.
She stared in horror at Ashley, who was slowly holstering her gun, her light blue tousled locks drifting leisurely in an invisible airflow…
Suddenly, Amber realized something.
It was a counter!
That girl’s ability was to rebound her opponent’s attacks!
Having passed through the Tribunal’s rigorous selections, Amber naturally possessed one-in-a-million aptitude.
“Whatcha lookin’ at? It’s over already.”
Ashley grinned and winked at the black-haired loli.
Amber had guessed right. Ashley had indeed rebounded Letisia’s ability. Her supernatural power was called “Revolver.”
The second ability of “Revolver”: “Oriole Harmony.”
It copied and stored all energy fluctuations within twenty-five steps as “bullets,” not limited to supernatural powers—explosions, air currents, flames, water flows, and more could all be replicated.
The drawback was that the cylinder held only six bullets. Continuous firing followed the order they were loaded in, and reloading took time.
The first ability: “Gun Counter.”
If used in the first frame (1/12 second) of the enemy activating their power, it could suppress and reflect it.
Ashley, who had played plenty of games in her previous life, was familiar with this mechanic. It was more like parrying in fighting games—hitting the opponent before their move fully registered, creating a parry effect—than shield rebounds in Souls-like games.
“Gun Counter” seemed invincible if you nailed the timing for a perfect rebound. However, real-world ability users didn’t have obvious wind-up animations like NPCs or monsters in games, with their telltale startup chants or charge bars.
If she misjudged, the fatal flaw of “Revolver” would be exposed: no offensive capability of its own.
Thus, for a successful “Gun Counter,” Ashley had to predict the opponent’s timing, using info warfare and psychological warfare as support.
After repeatedly pointing her Finger Gun at Letisia and herself, Ashley had successfully lowered the Trial Judge’s danger assessment of the motion. Then, suddenly swinging her finger toward Amber changed its nature—from a duel between two to a hostage situation—exceeding the Trial Judge’s expectations and pushing events into unpredictable territory.
Ashley judged that at that moment, Letisia would definitely activate her power to stop her. That was her 100% guaranteed Gun Counter opportunity!
What actually happened matched her judgment perfectly.
In truth, if Letisia hadn’t perceived Ashley as a threat, her ability would have been useless—she couldn’t even beat a dog.
Just as the loli cowgirl was about to claim victory and leave, a small figure suddenly pounced from the corner of the wall!
