The moment Giovanni moved, everything happened at once.

  His rifle swung up, faster than anyone expected, and Dodeka barely dodged the first shot, her shoulder grazing from the near-miss as she rolled behind cover.

  Raliya let out a furious snarl and fired back instantly, bullets ricocheting off rubble as she pinned him down again.

  Kirsi was already moving toward Alphonso though, her blade sliding free from its sheath silently: "You're not leaving here alive."

  Alphonso grinned wider despite having a gun pointed right at his head now though, not intimidated in the slightest:

  "Ooooh scary~!"

  Giovanni meanwhile ducked low behind the wreckage before muttering:

  "...Called it."

  Alphonso, on the other hand, seemed to be loving every second of it. He dodged Kirsi's blade with a cocky grin. "You're quick," he said. "Just not quick enough."

  Kirsi's eyes flared dangerously. "You're cocky," she said, "That's going to get you killed."

  Alphonso tsked. "You can't kill me if you can't catch me.”

  "Wanna bet?" Kirsi hissed, lunging forward with lightning speed.

  Alphonso grinned, jumping back smoothly to dodge her attack. "Not my style, sweetheart."

  Kirsi bristled at the nickname, eyes narrowing. "Don't call me sweetheart.”

  Alphonso let out a sharp laugh, like he knew she’d react that way. "Ooooh, someone’s feisty!"

  Kirsi didn't even hesitate this time, blade flashing as she swung straight for his throat in one brutal motion. "I warned you."

  He barely ducked back in time, mask almost getting nicked by the edge of her strike instead while letting out another amused chuckle.

  "Damn missy...you really don’t play fair huh?"

  Giovanni watched from the sidelines now with arms crossed, clearly entertained by how badly Alphonso was about to get himself killed here today…

  Raliya meanwhile took advantage of the distraction to finally put a bullet clean through Giovanni’s kneecap with a BANG.

  His leg buckled instantly under the force of the impact, mask snapping toward source pain before spitting between gritted teeth:

  "FUCKIN’ HELL, WOMAN?!"

  Dodeka exhaled sharply at sight him getting shot, muttering dryly:

  "...Told ya not run.”

  Giovanni groaned at the sudden pain now, body tensing up while hissing at Raliya sharply:

  "You...little..."

  He didn't have time to finish that sentence though because Raliya had already fired again. BANG.

  Another bullet went straight through his other knee, forcing Giovanni to hit ground now, cursing through gritted teeth again while trying to push himself up again: "...Goddamnit...RALIYA!"

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Shut up," Raliya snapped back coldly while reloading her rifle. "You're lucky I didn't headshot you instead.”

  "Lucky is an understatement," Giovanni gritted out, glaring up at her from the ground.

  Alphonso took a step back, eyes widening briefly before whistling under his breath:

  "Damn, you really not holdin' back are you?"

  Giovanni's jaw tightened at the insult, biting back another curse while trying to push himself up again. "...You're gonna regret that..

  Raliya just smirked, cold and unamused. "You're already on the ground, prick. What exactly are you gonna do about it?"

  Alphonso let out a nervous chuckle from where he was still standing though, slowly backing away now as he realized things were about to get ugly real quick.

  "Uh...Gio? I think we should probably leave while we still can..."

  Giovanni didn't answer him though, too busy glaring up at Raliya with murder in his eyes even as blood seeped through his pants from bullet wounds…

  Kirsi stepped forward then too, blade still drawn while saying icily:

  "Run. It won’t save you."

  Dodeka nodded silently beside her, rifle aimed dead center at Alphonso's chest now.

  Trixie meanwhile just stood frozen again clutching box tighter than ever like she wanted disappear entirely right here…

  Giovanni's breath hitched, his entire body going rigid for a split second as that blood kept dripping onto the ground.

  Then? He snapped.

  With a roar of pure fury, he lunged at Raliya like some feral animal, completely ignoring the bullets still tearing through him in process either, hands outstretched to grab her throat while snarling: "I'LL FUCKIN’ KILL YA—!"

  Alphonso let out an actual yell this time, rushing forward to try and pull his brother back.

  "GIO! DON'T BE DUMB RIGHT NOW!!"

  Kirsi reacted instantly, blade flashing up toward Giovanni’s neck mid-lunge with lethal precision already:

  "Try it."

  Raliya smirked coldly, her Miracle Eyes gleaming with something almost...amused?

  "...Pathetic."

  Giovanni's body jerked violently as the blade bit into his throat, blood spilling down his neck in hot, thick rivulets. His hands twitched toward Raliya’s grip instinctively… but then stilled.

  His eyes flickered wide for a fraction of a second before narrowing again with something almost like… respect?

  "Tch." He let out one last sharp breath through gritted teeth, mask tilting slightly as if to say "...good shot.", before going completely slack in Kirsi’s hold and collapsing forward onto ground now too.

  Alphonso froze mid-step at that, face paling instantly while staring at his brother’s corpse.

  "...No way..."

  Kirsi didn’t even flinch, just wiped her blade clean on Giovanni's jacket casually before adding coldly to Alphonso:

  "You want to test me next?"

  Dodeka had already shifted her aim toward Alphonso next without hesitation, rifle trained dead center between his brows.

  "Yeah, your turn."

  Alphonso just stared at his brother’s corpse while his body went rigid with shock:

  "Gio...Gio, you bastard, no no no...goddammit don't...don't do this to me, man..."

  Kirsi kept her blade pointed at him.

  "You have three seconds to surrender."

  Alphonso barely even seemed to register her voice though, still staring at Giovanni’s unmoving body behind mask.

  After a few more seconds though, he slowly reached for his own rifle, hesitating when he realized it was aimed straight at his head, but it was too late.

  Kirsi didn't hesitate, blade flashing forward in one brutal motion.

  Alphonso's head hit the ground with a sickening thud before his body even had time to slump.

  Silence fell heavy over the battlefield now. Raliya exhaled sharply while stepping away from both corpses, tail lashing once more behind her as she muttered: "Good riddance."

  Dodeka scanned the perimeter carefully for any potential stragglers left standing here somehow.

  Kirsi sheathed her blade and turned toward Raliya.

  "We're done here."

  Raliya nodded curtly in agreement despite lingering irritation still present.

  "Yeah...we are."

  The radio attached to Dodeka's hip crackled to life, breaking silence of battlefield.

  "This is base," an unfamiliar voice crackled through the speaker, "Status report."

  "We've eliminated all remaining threats," Adara said immediately into her own radio, eyes flicking to the dead men briefly.

  "And the Miracle Eyes?" The voice asked again urgently.

  The two exchange glance at that, expressions tight again now while Dodeka nodded curtly.

  "Secure."

  They heard a sharp sigh of relief on other end of radio now, voice crackling through again soon after:"Good. Return to base before nightfall. We'll discuss everything then."

  Adara nodded, exhaling slowly while looking around at bloody mess they'd just made here too:

  "Understood."