The sight of my pistol was aimed directly between his eyes. If I even squeezed the trigger a little, the bullet would shoot right at my target—right in the forehead of that faintly smiling man.
“Thank you for your hard work,” he said.
I pulled the trigger, but Gide moved his head to the side, avoiding the bullet.
“I am sorry for what I did to the children.” His expression didn’t change as he began to approach me. “However, it appears it was worth it.”
The muzzle of my gun followed Gide’s every step as he walked alongside the wall. I shot once more at his head. My skill told me he was going to swerve right, so I purposely fired slightly farther to that side. However, Gide swerved to the left instead.
“Your eyes are the same as mine.” He continued to walk noiselessly, a slight grin spreading across his face. “Those are the eyes of a man who has strayed from the path of life just like my men and I.”
Gide still didn’t reach for his gun. He didn’t even seem worried that I was shooting at him. A chill ran down my spine.
“Welcome to our world, Sakunosuke.”
Then, with no warning at all, he drew his guns and aimed them at me. I couldn’t react to the sudden movement, but not because I was surprised. It was because I felt as though he wouldn’t hit me even if he shot. With our guns pointing at each other, we stood in silence. The muzzles of our guns stared the other down.
“You sure talk a lot.”
“Then the talking shall end here.”
I had a vision.
Five seconds from then, Gide shot one bullet at my forehead and one at my heart. Which way should I swerve?
To the side? …No, if I did that, then he would adjust his aim to the side.
Down? …No, the outcome still wouldn’t change.
I had three seconds left.
That was when I noticed something.
—Oh. Now it makes sense.
One more second.
Rapidly firing both pistols, I charged forward at my opponent.
And just like that, all hell broke loose.
Gunfire illuminated the area between us. As we rushed toward each other, we continued to fire. A few bullets grazed my earlobe and shredded the hem of my coat. Using the back of my hands, I pushed his guns to the side. Gide then brought his arms back to the middle as if he were forming a circle. The grau geist spit fire toward my chest. We were so close that I could grab his nose. When he shot his guns from each side of my face in a parallel fashion, there was no way for me to dodge both bullets at once.
I made a split-second decision to turn my face to the left, avoiding the bullet on the right while using my pistol grip to block the other. A bolt of lightning shot down my arm through my palm, knocking the gun in my left hand away. On the other side of the gun, I saw Gide’s lips tightly curl upward. He had two guns while I now had only one. I was clearly at a disadvantage.
—Depending on where my remaining gun’s aiming, that is.
The gun in my right hand—the pistol I was still holding—was already pointed right at him. I pulled the trigger. Gide desperately tried to move out of the way, but we were too close. The bullet hit his left arm, spewing fresh blood behind him.
“Gah…!”
The gunshot caused him to slowly drop the pistol in that hand. Kicking off the ground, he leaped backward.
“How does it feel being unable to predict the future?” I asked while aiming the gun in my right hand.
“It is hard to believe that something so pleasant exists in this world,” Gide responded.
Regardless of the future seen and the action taken based on said future, the opponent would overwrite it and adjust their reaction. There was only one simple, yet extreme way to solve this problem—just don’t rely on your skill.