The time goes back a bit before Rio and Kiyo approached Michail.
…
"Considering whoever is at the top of the hill, she must have any sort of ability that can provide her teams from far away. So my plan is for one of us to be a decoy and try to squeeze some information about their abilities. And some of us will intercept the enemy on the hills."
"A risky plan, considering one of them uses a gun, and nobody here has ever fought against a gun before. I never saw it, but I heard that it shoots like an arrow, but faster than your eyes can see. And just one shot from it is fatal enough to kill us."
Kiyo objects to Ryuma's plan out of safety and caution. But then Rio stood up as he spoke…
"No, I'll do it. I've seen how fast the bullet from the magic gun goes. I'm pretty certain I can deal with it."
"Are you sure, Rio? You're probably going to be jumped on by four of them at the same time." Kiyo put his hand on Rio's shoulder, out of consideration.
"No, I'll be prepared for it. Ryuma, I had one more idea I'd like to discuss."
"What is it?" Ryuma asked.
"I know that you've said this before, someday we might do it. So… I suggest that we at least incapacitate one of them to reduce their manpower. And what I mean by that is with blood. I'm going to at least… Kill one of them."
Suddenly, everybody was surprised by what Rio said. And Kiyo is the most surprised of them all. And suddenly, Mika goes to grab Rio's shoulder with a serious face.
"Rio… Taking part in killing is like losing your virginity in your lifetime. Are you sure you're going to do it, Big Boy?~"
"W-What the hell are you on about! Don't tell me that when you're a virgin yourself!"
"Haa~ I don't need to hear that when your face is red as a tomato~"
As the two were about to start a fight, Ryuma started to smirk along with a few laughs.
"Hehehe, didn't you already forget that you took Verina's life yesterday, you ball of steel? It doesn't matter, one day we all had to do it right?"
Rio sighed calmly when he heard Ryuma's response.
"Then, I'm glad. So I don't have to hold back on them at least."
"Yeah yeah, just go ham, dude." Ryuma spanked Rio's back repeatedly as the three walked forward together. And one of them, who stood still in place, Kiyo, hasn't moved a muscle. Ryuma realized about Kiyo and called him out.
"Oi Kiyo, watcha doing? Gotta pee or something?"
"O-Oh yeah, I felt like I'm in need of a toilet now, but I feel like I can hold it."
"Huh~ If you gotta do it, just do it. I don't want you peed or shit yourself midmatch."
"Nono, I'm fine, really."
As Kiyo said, he pushed Ryuma forward with a smile on his face.
"Hmm, ok then. Oh, by the way, Kiyo, I want you to use your wind magic and fly to the top of the hill when they are unaware."
"No, I… I think I'll leave that to you, Ryuma."
"Eh, why?"
Ryuma was surprised when Kiyo objected to his plan once again.
"Since the enemy has a magic gun, I think it's for me to be by Rio's side to find his presence. So it's up to you and Mika to interpret the enemy on the top of the hill."
"Huh..."
Ryuma was silent for a while. But spoke again with a smile.
"Nope, Mika isn't coming with me. I can handle the enemy at the top of the hill myself."
"That's good then…"
As the group went with the plan, they then went ahead, hoping nothing would go wrong.
("But something is wrong… I don't know what it is, but it is wrong. Ryuma of all people wouldn't say that. *Sigh* I feel like I'm in some kind of alternate world or something.)
Kiyo walked behind the group. With sweat dripping on his face, he felt that something was wrong…
…
Back to the present, the sniper who was lying on her back was looking at the direction in which she was shot at. And there was Ryuma standing among the trees and leaves.
("He isn't holding any gun. But why is he doing the 'pistol hand sign'?")
Ryuma was doing the pistol hand sign with the right hand while the left hand was holding the right forearm. Ryuma then went hiding among the trees.
("What am I doing! This isn't the time to keep lying down!")
As the sniper was about to get up, something struck her on the rib. One of the bones in the ribcage was broken. She has to grit her teeth so as not to let any of the sounds come out. And then, her eyes were fixed on something that was rolling on the ground.
("Iron ball?! But I don't see any weapon on him! How does he shoot these iron balls?!")
The sniper tried to find Ryuma, who was hiding among the trees. But he wasn't in her presence, as if it was a ghost that just shot her. Then, Ryuma slowly comes out from behind the tree to fire his third shot.
("That's... an iron ball spinning on the fingertips of his hand?!")
In an instant, an iron ball-sized marble was shot, straight toward her head. The sniper barely had any speed reaction and instinctively blocked the shot with her hand. But she couldn't make it in time. The iron ball broke her ring finger and hit her head.
The damage to the head was minimized since it hit her finger first, but she definitely can hear a crack in her skull. This led to blood coming out of her head.
("What was that?! I've never heard that someone could shoot a marble with this power with their bare hand! That's ridiculous!")
Sometimes, before the Deathmatch, Ryuma was just exploring around the school. He then stumbles upon Kiyo…
…
"Yo, Kiyo, it's rare to see you alone. Moreover, right behind the school."
"Rio and Mika went to town, and I feel like not going. So I'm just taking a nap here."
"Why aren't you sleeping in your room then?"
"Like I said, I'm just taking a nap. Also, I like sleeping under the shadow of a tree. This place is quiet, and the wind blows quite strong here. It feels great doesn't it?"
Hearing a word from Kiyo, Ryuma also went to sit beside Kiyo.
"Yes, it feels great."
The two just enjoy nature while chatting about random stuff. And then a pinecone falls onto Kiyo's head.
"Ouch, damn."
Kiyo grabbed the pinecone with the tip of his finger and launched it off at high speed.
"Wow, that pinecone just went very far… And fast."
"Oh! It's one of the techniques I just learned by myself. Want me to teach you?"
"Oh really?! It looks so cool!" Said Ryuma with gleaming eyes.
"Haha, but promise me you won't tell anybody else, especially Mika. He's gonna stick to me like glue, asking for me for months."
"My lips are sealed, O great one."
"So, the trick is..."
…
To the present...
"Place the stone right on the tip of the finger. And by using the wind magic to keep the stone still on your finger. But at the same time, rotate the stone slowly and make it stronger bit by bit. And then, you widen the wind as if you're pulling them along with the stone. But don't widen it too much or the stone will be destroyed to dust. But, I'm using the iron ball right now… So thanks to its durability, I can at least make a hole in the tree."
The iron ball was launched at high speed, and it hit the sniper's leg.
"This technique is as same as using a slingshot. By rotating the bullet at a high speed and creating high pressure on the back of the bullet to shoot the bullet, it will even pierce through the stone pillar at most. But I'm still bad at this, so the power can't even pierce through human flesh. And the name of this technique is 'Fingshot'."
Ryuma took another ball to his fingertips...
"Now then, I'd better finish this fa-"
Ryuma was unaware of it until the last second... He couldn't react that a bullet had pierced his head.