Blood of the Guilty

Memory 40: Parting of the Sea

RATATATATATATATATATATAT!

"I've received good information from Izaru's fight, given that he wasn't bluffing," thought Exodus as she shot her rifle at Kaminaro, "His Plague has transformed from a liquid-solid type of material to a gaseous one. Going near him would be near fatal, more fatal than touching the Plague from back then. Considering that, I'm at an advantage with my ranged Magia."

All of the bullets from the rifle shot straightforward at Kaminaro, who was confident about his Plague Magia protecting him. His confidence was deemed correct when first bullet fired got within range of his Plague Magia, instantly deteriorating into dust.

However, a plate formed.

The plate, nearing the edge of the poison's range, floated and ricocheted all of the remaining bullets fired away from the poison, launching into different directions. These bullets would then bounce off of similar plates towards another angle, causing a frenzy of bullets bouncing around surrounding Kaminaro's poisonous fumes, all at the same speed.

"Tsk, Dante.. Wraith..." thought Exodus as she focused on her Magia, "To think that you were hiding this awakening from the rest of the gang for so long... Makes sense why you guys were so strong compared to the rest of us back then.. You idiots!"

Kaminaro stared at Exodus, the bouncing bullets still surrounding him and his gas.

"There's no use," said Kaminaro, "Ricochet those bullets all you want, they're not getting anywhere near me. You have to admit it yourself: They'll just get destroyed the moment they touch the Plague."

Exodus paid no attention to Kaminaro's taunts, for her thoughts were focusing on the manipulation of her plates, and the strategy she was forming for her newfound information. Initially, she came in thinking that Kaminaro had a solid-liquid Magia, similar to the one she faced before. She thought she could use Rotation to finish off a vital point of his body.

However, with the new information she's gained from Izaru's fight, she'd have to rethink everything. Rotation wouldn't work. Rotation would let the bullets pierce anything no matter the defense, but it doesn't change the durability of the bullet.

"You've been standing there staring at me for a while now," said Kaminaro as he looked at his shiny watch, "Are you just gonna keep me here until backup arrives? I might as well just leave now. I don't know why I wait thinking you could stand a chance if my poison destroys your bullets."

"Hold it," replied Exodus.

"What is it?" asked Kaminaro.

Exodus stared at Kaminaro for a while again, not exactly knowing what to say.

"You..." glared Exodus, "What kind of bread do you usually get when you enter a WaySub sandwich place?"

"You god damn idiot!" yelled Kaminaro, "You clearly are stalling for time!"

"Am I?" asked Exodus, scratching her head with her arm after dropping her rifle, "Then where did all the bullets go?"

Kaminaro realized it, but the bullets had stopped surrounding him. It was like they vanished from sight! Where were they? He was confident however, for the bullets couldn't have entered his poison.

Bang!

Kaminaro spat out blood, his chest bleeding as he took a bullet. It had grazed up his chest and plunged itself inside. Where did it come from? How did it evade the Plague fumes? Exodus sighed.

"Hate it here," said Exodus as she shook her head, "You have a minimum and maximum range for your Plague."

Kaminaro was confused. Exodus had figured out that the smoke that Kaminaro was hiding behind wasn't exactly an all powerful defense. It had a maximum range that the fumes could reach before evaporating, but most importantly: it had a minimum range that prevented it from reaching Kaminaro. This meant that Kaminaro had two different Plagued, whether he knew it or not. One Plague seemingly healed him, and the other Plague was a defensive-offensive type that harms anything, even himself.

"And that's all, Minny," said Exodus, as she began to lower her strap.

"Minny?" thought Kaminaro before also realizing that Exodus had a phone in one of her pockets!

Exodus was just another scout as well, like Izaru! She provided information for the rest of the members that she was with.

"I'm not just a scout either," smirked Exodus, sitting down as she held up the bazooka, shouldering it for support, "I'm here to take you down the most efficient way possible. Good luck surviving this."

The bazooka fired straight at Kaminaro, who was stunned in shock. Would the Plague destroy the shell, or would the explosion set him on fire?

Even with these possible outcomes, Exodus wasn't taking the chance. A plate appeared right in front of Kaminaro, bouncing the shell away into a certain angle and destroying the central pillar that supported the building. Since it wasn't all of the pillars, the building would slowly collapse by itself, giving Exodus enough time to escape. Exodus wasn't too sympathetic with whoever was in the building either:

They had planned according to schedule that no office worker except Kaminaro would be near the building.

As Exodus started to run away, she felt a sharp pain in her leg! When she inspected it, she saw the Plague rising from her foot! When she looked at Kaminaro, she saw him extending his hand with a face of desperation. Was that a ranged Plague? Just what was his Magia? Was his awakened Magia trying it's best to keep Kaminaro alive just because it was artificially created from the Key Orb?

"This is bad!" thought Exodus trying to limp away, "I was going to pressure Kaminaro with my rifle once I got to a safe distance to prevent him from escaping the collapsing building... but I'm the one who's gonna get—"

"Exodus!" yelled Minny, running up to the building.

"Minny!"

Minny ran over to carry Exodus on her back, noticing the Plague that was rising from her leg.

Bang bang!

Minny looked over to see Kaminaro trying to shoot her. However, ice crystals had formed around them to shield them from the bullets. Kaminaro was not the only one with an ever evolving Magia. Elemental Magia was truly the most powerful out of all the Magia.

"Take over for me while I help Exodus!" yelled Minny at someone, running away, "I don't have time to deal with him right now! Corner him when he gets out!"

—

Kaminaro escaped the collapsing building. When he turned around to view it, he felt some form of peace. At least now, his fellow office workers would be released from that dreaded CEO. However, another thing reared up from behind him.

A man walked towards Kaminaro, pulling out a bow.

"Dimensional... Focus!"