Volume 3, Chapter 78 – The Pursuit Duo

“Ding-dong! Special mission [Ring of Revenge] triggered. Do you wish to accept?”

[Special Mission]: Ring of Revenge

Mission Brief: The target is Sandi of Morningstar [Elite Monster] [Weakened]. The flames of vengeance burn fiercely. Execute this fiend who delights in slaughter!

Mission Rewards: Base reward: 15,000 EXP

Kill Sandi within four hours after he leaves Twinmoon City: 50,000 EXP, [Elite Coefficient Bonus]

Mission Rank: C to A

Repeatability: Unique

“???”

Meow meow meow?

Anran was completely dumbfounded.

This mission really was something else.

Depending on whether Sandi left Twinmoon City, the mission difficulty could actually jump from Rank C to Rank A, and the rewards were worlds apart too.

The base reward was already quite generous, and the extra reward was even more tempting.

That huge pile of EXP and that obviously overpowered-looking [Elite Coefficient Bonus] were simply too attractive.

But the greater the reward, the greater the risk.

This was an A-rank mission.

Last time, even with the mechanical footgear, she had run into plenty of trouble at the end of that C-rank mission. An A-rank mission…

Anran shook her head. An A-rank mission was not something she could complete right now. Even with Aila around, it was hard to say.

Because Anran did not know whether the mission’s difficulty had taken Aila’s strength into account.

Once they left Twinmoon City, there would be far too many variables.

There had to be Morningstar personnel waiting to receive him outside the city. Otherwise, the mission difficulty would not have risen so sharply.

Anran accepted the mission, but she had no intention at all of going for the extra reward.

Fast.

She had to stop Sandi before he escaped and execute him.

There would be plenty of chances to develop safely in the future. She could not gamble with her life.

Anran moved quickly. Agility: 25.

Aila, following behind her, was not the least bit pressured, because her Agility was also 25.

…

Golden Glory Hotel.

Anran rushed there at once.

Because she was in a hurry, she could only contact Feilian and the others briefly by phone.

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That was also just in case.

The hotel was more than twenty stories tall, but its entrance now looked extremely deserted.

Ever since the war broke out, the entertainment and tourism industries had been hit with devastating force.

People were thinking that they might die any day now. Who would still be in the mood to stay in a hotel? They probably wished they could dig a few more air-raid shelters under their own homes.

Anran took Aila by the hand and walked into the lobby.

As soon as she reached the front desk, the receptionist was about to speak when Anran directly pulled out an ID from her pocket.

“Nine Songs. I need you to help investigate someone’s information.”

“Ah?” The receptionist’s face changed dramatically.

“What’s going on?”

The lobby manager, noticing something was off, hurried over.

“She says she’s from Nine Songs,” the receptionist said tremblingly.

At the same time, she handed the ID to the lobby manager.

“Hm?”

The lobby manager opened the credentials.

At that moment, Anran’s phone suddenly rang.

She answered immediately. It was Feilian. “Anran, don’t act recklessly. Just keep on the target first. We’ll be there right away.”

“Oh.”

Anran acknowledged him, then added, “The target’s name is Sandi. If it’s convenient, look into him too.”

Then she hung up.

Reckless? Of course she would not be reckless. But if she got the chance, she definitely would not let go either.

“I still need to verify these credentials. Please wait a moment.” The lobby manager returned the ID to Anran.

Anran frowned. What a hassle.

“As soon as possible.” She put the ID away.

She leaned against the counter and had just started to glance around when Aila suddenly tugged at her sleeve.

“Anran, Anran, I saw that person!”

“Where?”

Anran followed Aila’s line of sight.

At the passage leading from the hotel lobby to the back, a man was hurrying along.

It was him.

The moment Anran saw that profile, she immediately gritted her teeth.

“Let’s go!”

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Calling to Aila, Anran instantly gave chase.

The three of them, one after another, quickly disappeared deeper into the hotel under the astonished gaze of the lobby manager.

…

Tap tap tap.

Footsteps struck the concrete of the back street, producing an unceasing series of sharp sounds.

Anran had absolutely no intention of hiding her movements.

Against a wounded speed-type esper, and with her own speed not inferior to his, Anran felt no fear at all.

On the contrary, her completely undisguised pursuit, those tap tap tap footsteps, were like a death knell pounding against Sandi’s aching heart.

One step, two steps.

Left left left, right left right.

Faster, slower.

No matter what he did, Sandi realized that the two people behind him could perfectly maintain the same rhythm as him.

Cold sweat poured down his back.

A bad feeling had already risen in Sandi’s heart.

Golden Glory Hotel was located near the center of Twinmoon City.

There was still a long way to go before he could leave the city.

This had once been his safest hiding place, if not for the fact that he had carelessly exposed his location.

At the corner, Sandi glanced at Anran and Aila.

So it really was that pair of sisters.

They did not seem to be in any rush to close in.

If he could stall until the outskirts…

Sandi quietly switched on his radio.

…

I wonder whether this murderer can feel the despair of looming death.

That was what Anran thought.

She was not playing some cat-and-mouse game with Sandi.

It was just that the location earlier had not been suitable.

So when Sandi entered an alley with tall buildings rising on both sides, Anran moved.

Mechanical footgear, first-stage burst.

Agility +15.

Pulling out her pistol from her backpack, Anran shot forward like a gust of wind, charging straight at Sandi.

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Sensing the movement behind him, Sandi’s expression shifted. His reaction was undeniably fast as well. The instant he heard the wind, he started running in a zigzag.

Bang bang!

Two bullets nearly struck him in the back.

Sandi turned and leaped backward a few steps, glaring darkly at Anran and Aila.

There was no escaping now.

He knew very well that there was only one way out of here.

Kill both of them.

“Your little sister is an esper. That was something I didn’t account for.”

Sandi drew a deep breath. There was no fear on his face.

An esper?

Looks like Sandi misunderstood.

Anran let out a cold laugh. “Anything you want to say, save it for after you go below. I have no intention of letting you stall for time.”

She shouted to Aila, “Aila, guard the exit. Look for a chance to strike.”

In a head-on fight, a pistol could not do much to Sandi, even if he was already injured.

A butcher like him, one who had danced through storms of bullets who knew how many times, was thoroughly familiar with dealing with light firearms.

Anran had not brought the mechanical armguard with her. That thing was far too conspicuous.

But against Sandi in his current state, the mechanical footgear was almost enough.

“Looks like I can’t avoid using my trump card. Otherwise I really might die here.”

A smile of unclear meaning curled at Sandi’s lips. Then Anran saw him suddenly pull out a syringe and jam it straight into his arm.

Push.

Damn it.

Anran raised her gun and fired.

Already on guard, Sandi dodged to the side, only getting a bloody gash cut across his arm.

At that point, Sandi tossed the syringe away.

Then he charged straight at Anran.

A stimulant?

A painkiller?

Or something else?

There was no time to worry about that.

Swish…

Clang!

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The mechanical switchblade shot out instantly, just barely blocking the slash Sandi sent down at her.

Anran could clearly feel that Sandi’s speed and strength were both much weaker than the last time they had met.

Even so, she did not dare relax in the slightest.

After injecting the drug, Sandi was overflowing from head to toe with an inexplicable confidence.

His pupils gradually turned blood-red.

As he kept swinging his dagger, the veins in his arm bulged. One sudden slash even carried enough force to drive Anran back several steps.

He was getting faster and faster, until by the end Anran had to struggle with all her might just to keep up with his rhythm.

Could it be a berserk drug?

Anran sprang onto the nearby wall.

Blood had already soaked Sandi’s waist, yet he seemed to have completely lost his sense of pain.

“Don’t dodge. Come fight me head-on!”

“So this is all the speed you’ve got?”

Riiip.

A chill ran through Anran’s heart. It was lucky she had dodged quickly just now. Otherwise, it would not have been her sleeve that got torn open, but her arm.

No good. In this state, she could not beat him at all.

Drag it out?

Anran immediately rejected the idea.

The moment she gave up on keeping him tied down, Sandi would very likely turn and run. Letting a madman like that escape would be a huge problem.

Today, she absolutely could not let him get away.

Anran’s gaze swept toward Aila, just as Aila looked back at her.

A smile.

I have a trump card too.

Anran bent her knees slightly, vaulted to the other side of the high wall in one movement, and at the same time quickly pressed the pressure-slot switch on the mechanical footgear.

Second-stage burst.

Current speed +55.

Woooooo…

Anran could practically feel the pressure surging through the footgear and producing immense power.

She kicked off hard, and her whole body instantly shot out at nearly twice her previous speed.

Whoosh.

A streak of white came converging toward Sandi’s neck.