MG - Chapter 367: My Marksmanship Is Unbeatable (Patreon)

The instant the gunshot rang out, the Hunter's scalp prickled, and it immediately dodged to the side.

But there was no way it could move faster than a bullet, especially one fired from a top-tier Mecha Girl's signature weapon.

And yet...

The Hunter stared speechlessly at the bullet hole at its feet.

It had missed by at least a meter and a half.

What the hell?

Was this Mecha Girl deliberately taunting it, or was her aim really that bad?

In the distance, Comet slapped her forehead in frustration after missing yet another shot.

It was all Mecha Island's fault for refusing to unlock their permissions until after they reached the provincial level. With races happening all the time, she had never gotten a proper chance to practice shooting.

Otherwise, how could her aim possibly be this awful?

And why did her signature weapon have to be a sniper rifle?!

Wouldn't a sword have been so much better?

"Um, Comet..." Caio Yang rubbed his hands together and quietly suggested from beside her. "If you really can't hit it, why don't you give me the gun and let me try?"

Stella seemed to have noticed how terrible Comet's aim was too.

She immediately retreated another ten meters, dragging the fallen Imperial Scale into the nearby woods to hide with her.

Meanwhile, the Hunter took the opportunity to duck behind a tree.

"Quit nagging!"

Comet rolled her eyes.

A Mecha Girl's signature weapon could only be used by its owner. If Caio Yang had been able to fire it, she would have handed it to him ages ago.

She aimed at the tree where the Hunter was hiding and began firing repeatedly through gritted teeth.

"Like hell I'm giving up today!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

She somehow managed to make a sniper rifle fire like an assault rifle.

At the same time, Comet's Endurance steadily dropped with every psychic energy bullet she fired.

A little over ten seconds later, every tree and bush around the Hunter had been shot to pieces.

Even the tree it was hiding behind had been reduced to a bare trunk, every branch stripped clean.

A gust of wind swept through the pouring rain.

A single leaf drifted forlornly to the ground.

The Hunter crouched behind the trunk with its arms over its head.

It had already prepared to block incoming bullets with its weapons...

But somehow, it hadn't been hit at all.

Was this Mecha Girl actually blind?!

The Hunter cautiously poked its head out from behind the tree.

Comet immediately fired again.

BANG—!

A bird's nest dropped onto the Hunter's head.

In a sense, that did make its invisible position a little easier to spot.

"Fuck! I can't hit it! There has to be something wrong with this gun!"

Comet's face flushed red with anger as she punched the back of the rifle.

She was about to fire again when she realized her Endurance had been completely drained.

"Ammo!"

Comet thrust out a hand.

Caio Yang immediately pulled out a bottle of sodium-fiber nutrient solution and passed it to her.

Naturally, the Hunter wasn't about to let such a perfect opportunity slip away.

Whoosh!

It flung the bird's nest aside and shot out from behind the tree like a cheetah.

With its cloaking ability concealing its movements, it crossed the distance to Comet and Caio Yang in only a few steps.

Its blade spun through the air toward Comet's neck.

Comet backed away while drinking the sodium-fiber nutrient solution.

But this wasn't some game item. It could accelerate Endurance recovery, but it couldn't instantly refill her reserves.

The Hunter's first slash shattered the rock Comet had been using for cover.

Its next strike immediately followed her retreat.

"Blur!"

At the last possible instant, Caio Yang used his Techmaster skill on Comet.

The Hunter's blade passed straight through Comet's neck.

Comet immediately raised her rifle and fired at the Hunter from barely a meter away.

BANG—!

She missed.

The bullet whistled over Stella and Imperial Scale's heads.

Both Mecha Girls immediately ducked deeper into the bushes, too terrified to stick their heads out again.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Caio Yang stared at Comet in disbelief.

She couldn't even land a point-blank sniper shot?!

"Shut up!"

Comet snarled around the bottle of nutrient solution clenched between her teeth.

She knew it was embarrassing.

But what was she supposed to do if the shots simply wouldn't land?

With the Hunter closing in step by step, desperation finally took over.

Comet swung the butt of her rifle straight at it.

The Hunter clearly hadn't expected her to be crazy enough to start brawling with a sniper rifle.

The stock smashed directly into its face.

This time, Comet's strike was fast, accurate, and vicious.

THUD!

To Comet, it felt like she'd just smashed the rifle into a solid lump of iron.

"AARGH!"

The Hunter screamed as the blow sent it sprawling.

But it quickly scrambled back to its feet and cloaked itself again.

This time, it didn't dare rush forward recklessly.

Its cold eyes remained fixed on Comet as it searched for an opening.

Ordinary Hunters were designed to fight ordinary Mecha Girls.

Elite Hunters were the ones meant to take on top-tier Mecha Girls.

In terms of raw strength, this Hunter couldn't compete with Comet at all.

After knocking it flat with her rifle stock, Comet felt as though she'd discovered an entirely new world.

Her excitement instantly surged.

"Come on! Fight me!"

"Dammit! If you've got the guts, stop hiding!"

She gripped the sniper rifle like a hammer, shut her eyes, and wildly swung it through the entire 180-degree space in front of her.

Caio Yang scrambled away on all fours, terrified of getting caught by one of her swings.

Even that monster's iron-hard head had been left ringing after one hit.

If Comet struck him like that, wouldn't his skull burst open on the spot?

Although Regulation One of the Mecha Girl Restrictions and the Intelligent Machinery Ordinance prohibited Mecha Girls from harming humans, accidental injuries caused while fighting an enemy were unavoidable and fell outside those restrictions.

The Hunter relied on its cloaking ability to dodge left and right in front of Comet.

Comet swung so violently that her arms practically started smoking, but the Hunter was slippery as an eel.

Her sniper rifle couldn't touch it.

As their struggle continued, the Hunter gradually relaxed.

It finally understood.

This top-tier Mecha Girl was nothing but a reckless brute.

She couldn't hit anything with her sniper rifle from long range, and at close range she had no technique whatsoever. She simply swung wildly.

So what did it matter how powerful her overall abilities were?

She couldn't make proper use of them anyway.

A vicious grin curled across the Hunter's lips.

It left behind a faint afterimage while its true body silently circled around behind Comet.

"Die!"

Its blade came down.

Caio Yang noticed something was wrong and activated Blur again.

The blade passed straight through Comet.

The Hunter struck nothing.

Furious, it immediately turned toward Caio Yang, deciding to kill him first.

But at that exact moment, a faint energy pulse swept out from somewhere within Panlong Mountain.

It passed directly through the Hunter.

Its body flickered like static on an old television.

Then its cloaking failed completely.

Its true form was fully exposed.

The Hunter itself didn't seem to notice.

It was still weaving back and forth in an S-pattern in front of Caio Yang.

Caio Yang stared at the monster's bizarre movements as though it were performing some strange ritual, the corner of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.

From the Hunter's perspective, however, the frail creature in front of it had clearly been frightened senseless.

"I'll kill you first, then I'll deal with the Mecha Girl!"

The Hunter raised its blade.

At that moment, Comet suddenly appeared behind it and leaped high into the air.

"Goat-head bastard, take this from me... HAAA!"

THUD—!

The rifle stock smashed viciously into the Hunter's head.

Its goat-headed helmet went flying.

Underneath was a face similar to a human's, except its hair was pale and its skin was noticeably darker.

The Hunter crashed to the ground, clutching its head and howling in pain.

Before it could get back up, a boot slammed down onto its chest.

A cold gun barrel pressed against its forehead.

"You think I can miss from here?"

A savage grin spread across Comet's face as she stood over the Hunter.

BANG! BANG! BANG—!

Three shots rang out in rapid succession.

The Hunter's body twitched twice.

Then it went still.

Comet blew the smoke from the muzzle and gave Caio Yang a smug, challenging look.

"Well? My marksmanship is unbeatable!"