The battle began soon.
There were no agreed rules, no referees, not even someone to announce the start. Every member of the E-Team knew that there was no such thing on the battlefield, only victory and defeat.
The initiator of the challenge, the Four of Pentacles, was the first to act.
I saw his lips moving, and he uttered a few unclear syllables at a very fast speed.
The next second, his body disappeared from the spot.
The three teammates of the Four of Pentacles then launched an attack.
"One of Coins" is an ordinary-looking man, slightly older than "Four of Coins". He holds two pistols and fires a string of magic bullets. Judging from the magic fluctuations emitted, the magic attached to the bullets is of a high level, and a magician of insufficient level will be seriously injured if hit by one.
"Two of Pentacles" is not tall, with a baby face that looks like a high school girl. But her fighting style is not as innocent as her appearance. She is a rare black magician, and the catalysts she uses for magic are either her eyeballs or her internal organs. If you have a weaker tolerance, you might be scared to death by this bizarre style of painting.
This curious style of painting is just the beginning. Black magicians are best at cursing, extracting vitality, weakening people, and depriving people of their senses. These are just the basics. Only those who can make people suffer from strange diseases that are worse than death, or directly turn people into puppets or living dead are qualified black magicians.
"Two of Pentacles" is now using a secret disease curse. Those who are cursed by her will feel numb and itchy all over, and they wish they could scratch their skin until it's rotten.
"Three of Coins" has an appearance that matches his fighting style. He has a physique comparable to that of a bodybuilding coach, and uses various body-strengthening magic. Under the cover of his teammates, he rushes up and engages Shinji in close combat.
The tactics of the entire "Star Coin" team are very simple: one is fire suppression, one is auxiliary weakening, one is close combat entanglement, and the last one is lurking in the dark, ready to attack at any time. Each member of the team has an extraordinary speed of casting spells, which makes simple tactics extremely difficult, and it is worthy of the reputation of the quick response team.
While Shinji was hiding from the hail of bullets, he was secretly evaluating the strength of the "Star Coin" team.
"Hey, Captain, why are you hiding? Where's your arrogance just now?"
The Three of Pentacles, who was trying to catch Shinji but failed once, taunted him.
"I just don't want you to lose too badly, so I'll give you some time to perform—"
Shinji stopped and used his left hand's protective rune to deflect a few curse bullets. He then turned the Snake Hunting Scythe with his right hand, with the blade facing down and the bottom facing up.
"—Since you don't appreciate it, don't blame me for being rude."
"Who asked you to be polite!" "Three of Pentacles" roared, and slapped down with his hands in metal gloves, as if to break Shinji's bones.
The sickle handle was swung down, and the bottom cone wrapped in the same material as the sickle blade collided head-on with the palm of "Three of Coins".
With a dull sound, the ground beneath Shinji's feet suddenly shattered, and the body of "Three of Pentacles" seemed to be pushed by someone, and retreated seven or eight steps in a row.
"No—two!"
"Star Coin One", who was maintaining fire suppression, changed color, the firing frequency of magic bullets doubled, and he rushed forward with the help of acceleration magic.
After being reminded by his teammates, "Star Coin Two" quickly took out a beating purple heart from the bag where the materials were placed and threw it at Shinji.
The support of the two teammates did not change the fate of "Three of Coins". The magic bullets in the sky could not break through the protection of "EIHWAZ", and the purple heart was deflected by the air turbulence caused by the "Hagalaz" rune ejected by Shinji.
Before "Three of Pentacles" could stand firm, Shinji appeared in front of him and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.
With the force of his footsteps, Shinji lifted his feet off the ground and did a backflip to avoid the black light that was piercing his back. The "Four of Pentacles" that had disappeared since the beginning of the battle suddenly appeared behind Shinji. If Shinji had reacted a little slower, the sneak attack of the "Four of Pentacles" would have succeeded.
This difference is enough to determine the outcome of the "Four of Pentacles". An assassin without the protection of the shadow can only face a tragic ending, unless you are a "Creed"-level assassin who has received the true teachings of King Hassan.
Unfortunately, successive generations of Hassan after King Hassan did not receive his true teachings, and the only "Creed"-level assassin, Master Connor, did not leave any inheritance, so the "Four of Pentacles" failed to dodge Shinji's flying stick, and fell to the ground with the "Three of Pentacles".
"Star Coin One" who had arrived halfway saw that the situation was not good and was about to retreat, but it was too late.
After taking care of two enemies at once, Shinji was in high spirits. Relying on his level C anti-magic power and rune magic protection, he rushed to the front of "One of Coins" while withstanding the curses and magic bullets, and put his sickle against the latter's throat.
With only "Two of Coins" left, the only female in the four-member team knew that the game was over and raised her hands obediently.
"Surrender, we admit defeat."
Shinji then moved his sickle away and waved to the "Pope", the captain of the "Holy Grail" team in the distance.
"Come and treat them. There are two people lying on the ground. One has ruptured internal organs and the other has a broken shoulder blade."
The "Pope" nodded, waved his hand, and his four subordinates ran forward in groups of two.
"Oh, what a complete defeat." The captain of the "Star Coin" team, "Hermit", stepped forward, "Although I am a little reluctant."
"That's because you, the captain, are not here. The Four of Pentacles is just a cover. You are the real spearhead, the core of the team, am I right?"
After hearing Shinji's analysis, the "Hermit" laughed out loud: "I am convinced, I am really convinced, the acting captain is really amazing. I heard from 'Chariot' before that you can rival the power of the eldest lady, but I didn't believe it. Now I think it's really ridiculous."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar, and the members of "Star Coin" were immediately furious, including the two who were receiving treatment.
"Captain, you're screwing us."
"I've never heard you say that before."
"That's right. If we had known this would happen, we wouldn't have followed Si to die."
"I don't dare to challenge the captain."
The Hermit ignored the team members' protests and said to Shinji, "Captain, I would like you to point out their shortcomings. This is what the young lady did before."
"I see." Shinji thought for a moment and said, "'Star Coin One';, your magic bullets are too focused on quantity, and the power of a single shot is insufficient. If you can mix some powerful bullets into the barrage, I'm afraid it won't be so easy."
"Two of Pentacles, your curse magic is fine, but your adaptability is a little lacking. If I were you, I would use at least three types of throwing objects when the Three of Pentacles is in crisis."
"Three of Pentacles, your problem is the biggest. As a close combat magician, your lower body skills are obviously insufficient. The lower body is the foundation of all physical skills. If the lower body is unstable, no matter how many skills you have, it will be useless. From today on, do horse stance for half an hour every day, and add more if it's not enough."
"Four of Pentacles. You should be careful to eliminate the traces of magic in the future. Is concealment magic still considered concealment if it leaves traces? You need to learn more from your captain in this regard."
"above."
"Thank you for your guidance, Captain." The Hermit bowed to Shinji on behalf of his subordinates.
"So—" Shinji exhaled and said, "—is there anyone else who refuses to accept?"
No one answered.
PS: The unstable lower body is a real experience of Jian Shao. When Jian Shao was in junior high school, a boy from another school came to our school to pick a fight. He must be a martial artist. He beat up many people in a row. Then a girl from the class next to Jian Shao passed by after school. She knocked the girl down in two moves and said, "Go back and do horse stance for a few more years. You can't even stand steadily. Don't embarrass your master."