Lord of Mysteries:The Good Witch

"Spread out, stay away from it, and guard it!" Borgia shouted, throwing the "Antigonus Puppet" 2-049 onto the open ground in front of the warehouse. The iron box skidded several meters across the gravel before stopping. Borgia quickly followed, taking up a position about ten meters from the sealed object, gun at the ready.

A massive fireball had just scattered the four-person team, though it caused no actual damage. To prevent being controlled by 2-049, Borgia followed the predetermined battle plan, throwing the sealed object beyond its range of influence. The task for this item was already complete, and its effect only extended about five meters, so leaving it there posed no issue.

Dunn Smith and Lolotta, a Sequence 8 "Gravedigger" who had traveled from Backlund, quickly drew their guns and prepared for battle. Klein was slightly slower to react, initially stunned by the sudden attack. Lolotta pulled him away from the center of the street, but he soon recovered and joined the fight, gun in hand.

Their target was the mysterious attacker who could launch fireballs. The assailant had struck just as Klein was divining whether there were any threats nearby.

Besides throwing fireballs, the attacker had not yet revealed themselves, but this didn't deter Dunn. He held his gun in one hand while touching the corner of his eye with the other, half-closing his eyes to enter the special state of "Nightmare."

Behind him, Klein, who had just caught up with his gun drawn, felt a strange wave emanating from the captain. It was like a gentle breeze caressing his face or the warm, sleep-inducing afternoon sun. His tense mind relaxed instantly, making him want to find a bed and sleep.

Wait, this is a battlefield!

Having experienced being pulled into the captain's dreams several times before, and not being the main target this time, Klein quickly regained his alertness after that momentary lapse.

Seeing Lolotta also shake her head to stay awake, he felt less concerned about his own slip.

As even teammates were affected by the "Nightmare," the area Dunn was facing—where the fireball had come from—couldn't escape its influence. In a corner of the open space, among piles of debris and wooden crates, the empty ground suddenly rippled like air shimmering with heat. A male figure appeared next to a wooden box.

It was a man wearing a silk top hat, his thin, tall frame making the ill-fitting black tuxedo look more like a cape. His face was covered in white makeup with red and yellow paint, resembling a circus clown who had stolen the ringmaster's formal attire—both comical and ridiculous.

The clown stood motionless, arms hanging limply, as if in a deep sleep.

The Nighthawks had no time to mock their enemy's appearance. Borgia immediately aimed his gun at the suddenly materialized tuxedo clown. Lolotta, holding her gun in one hand and clenching her fist with the other, charged forward in a few quick strides. Instead of shooting, she aimed a punch directly at the clown's seemingly unfocused eyes.

With a thunderous "bang," the motionless clown Lolotta had approached shattered into pieces and vanished.

About three meters behind her, the clown's figure emerged from the shadows, a comical smile on his face. He raised one hand high and snapped his fingers.

Snap!

A flame leapt from his fingertips, rapidly expanding into a fireball the size of a washbasin. It hurtled towards Lolotta's back at incredible speed.

The female Gravedigger, having missed her target, quickly realized she had struck an illusion. Feeling the sudden heat behind her, she didn't hesitate. She rolled forward, using a nearby wooden crate as cover against the incoming fireball.

With a "puff," the fireball vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared, leaving only a wisp of black smoke, like the ash from burned paper.

The tuxedo clown, having forced Lotta back, stepped forward to pursue but suddenly tensed and retreated.

Two gunshots rang out as Klein and Borgia aimed and fired from a distance, one bullet adding a hole to the wall behind the clown.

Seeing the enemy's wariness, Klein gripped his gun tighter, ready to fire again.

The tuxedo clown raised his hand once more, snapping his fingers. This time, instead of flames, there was a sharp crack like a large-caliber gun being fired.

Klein's spirituality warned him frantically. He instinctively ducked, crouching down as something whistled past his head.

What was that? An air bullet?

If not for his spiritual warning, that invisible projectile might have taken his life!

Drenched in cold sweat, Klein abandoned precise aiming and employed the rapid-fire technique he had learned from Angel. He held his gun at waist level, roughly aimed, and quickly emptied his magazine.

The ferocious attack caught the clown off guard. He had to lower his hand, which was ready to snap again, and dodge Klein's erratic shots with gymnast-like movements.

Borgia's precise shots mixed with the gunfire, but the clown's bizarre movements allowed him to evade them all.

The sleep-inducing wave once again swept across the open space in front of the warehouse. The tuxedo clown's movements faltered, seeming to fall into slumber again. From the corner of his eye, he saw Dunn Smith, hand on his forehead and eyes tightly shut, fully exerting his "Nightmare" ability.

"Watch out!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Two gunshots rang out simultaneously from behind Dunn.

...

When Angel arrived on the opposite rooftop, looking down at the open space in front of the warehouse, she found the battle below nearing its conclusion.

Dunn Smith, befitting his status as a Sequence 7 beyonder, had directly entered the "Nightmare" state, affecting the tuxedo clown still fighting the group. This put the enemy in a half-awake, half-asleep state, looking dazed and no longer dodging attacks.

Angel estimated the distance. Although her vantage point provided an excellent view, she was too far from the tuxedo clown to guarantee a fatal shot.

Moreover, she saw Lolotta emerge from behind the wooden crate, gun in hand, approaching the enemy. As long as Dunn maintained control for a few more seconds, the other Nighthawks could finish off their opponent.

Just then, on the roof of a two-story residential building similar to Angel's position, near the warehouse where Riel Bieber was hiding, a vague figure appeared on the terrace.

Angel's eagle eyes instantly focused on the target—a man dressed as a dock worker, his face painted with clown makeup, holding a gun in both hands and aiming at Dunn Smith below.

"Watch out!" she shouted to warn her teammates, simultaneously raising her revolver. With no time for careful aiming, she could only fire based on her general aim.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

The gunshots rang out almost simultaneously.

Fortunately, Angel was a split second faster. Her bullet struck the "dock worker" first, causing a spray of blood from his shoulder. The impact and ensuing pain thwarted the sniper's attempt to kill Dunn Smith. His bullet grazed past the Nighthawk captain, hitting the gravel ground and leaving a shallow crater.

The unexpected attack interrupted Dunn's concentration. The tuxedo clown's mind cleared, his eyes regaining their sharpness.

He raised his left hand to block Lolotta's incoming heavy punch, while his right hand snapped fingers once more.

Snap!

A large flame erupted from beneath his tuxedo, forcing Lolotta to abandon her attack and retreat. From a distance, Borgia fired three shots. The bullets passed through the flames but missed the clown within, only dispersing the strange fire and leaving behind some dust.

Snap! Snap!

Reappearing atop a wooden crate, the tuxedo clown snapped his fingers repeatedly. Invisible bullets cut through the air towards Borgia, who began rolling unceremoniously as soon as he saw the enemy's fingers move towards him, successfully evading the counterattack through continuous movement.

What should have been a quickly resolved battle had suddenly become a stalemate.

The next chapter will feature the complete battle scene, which can't be split, so... hehe.