Kiana, facing him, had seized the opening Niou exposed, shooting through the palms of his hands with her twin pistols.
Wracked with intense pain, Niou instantly lost his grip on his flute Teigu, [Military Music Dream: Scream].
He had been parrying the bullets relying on the durability of [Military Music Dream: Scream] and his own reaction speed. Now, with his hands injured, he had lost his Teigu and was distracted by the pain.
In the next instant, Kiana's twin guns fired again.
Giving the enemy no chance to react, Kiana's bullets pierced Niou's feet, completely robbing him of his ability to move.
At the same time, Liver watched this scene, completely dumbfounded.
Before Aaron had used his spear to tear through Daidara's defense, he was being pursued by the twin axes.
That pursuit state wouldn't just stop because Daidara was injured. In other words, the axes were still in 'pursuit' mode.
Aaron was extremely close to Daidara. When he made his high-speed dodge, the axes obviously couldn't turn around that fast.
Unable to change direction, the axes could only continue flying forward for a short distance. And Aaron's-position before he dodged...
...was right in front of Daidara.
If Daidara had been uninjured, he could have simply reached out and grabbed his Teigu.
But now, his hands had been torn off by the enemy. He couldn't possibly make that motion.
In this tragic situation, Daidara's own Teigu, thrown to hunt his enemy, flew back and severed his arms at the shoulder.
Aaron, having dodged the blow, threw his weapon from a blind spot, piercing Daidara's throat.
Liver looked at Daidara's body on the ground and the incapacitated Niou, and felt a chill run through him.
Liver, as one of the Empire's formerly most promising generals, actually had the best judgment of anyone present.
His rich experience allowed him to see his two comrades, one dead and one wounded, and understand exactly what had just happened.
Before, when he was using Black Marlin, the two enemies had chosen different moments to suppress Niou or Daidara.
The two of them were like a single person. After testing the combat data of Niou and Daidara, they had attacked Liver's two companions in quick succession.
These two had undoubtedly known Niou's and Daidara's fighting styles in advance, so they had matched up against the most suitable opponents.
Daidara was tough; those bullets wouldn't have done much to him.
Niou was agile, and in a close-quarters fight, he might have found a chance to use [Ghoul's Summons].
So, the one who excelled at close combat held down Daidara and Liver.
And the girl with the ranged weapons suppressed Niou with her guns.
This matchup alone was enough to show they had come prepared.
But the Three Beasts, coasting on their history of one-sided victories, had blindly assumed they didn't need to take this fight seriously.
Even the meticulous Liver, in order to 'fish,' had chosen a disadvantageous battlefield. Deep down, he too had underestimated his enemy.
And just now, the reason Niou and Daidara weren't defeated instantly wasn't just because the enemy was probing, but also because Liver had repeatedly supported them.
But now, Bulat's successor attacked first, luring me to help Daidara.
Then, while he was prepared for it, my cover could only save Daidara for one round. The next round, Daidara was gravely wounded by his own Teigu, and the young man seized the chance to finish him off.
Meanwhile, while I was covering Daidara, no one could help Niou.
The girl seized that chance, using precise attacks to waste Niou's limbs and leave him incapacitated.
*What a scheme. What a scheme...*
And it wasn't just the scheme. Their silent, perfect coordination was also a reason for our defeat.
Although they were two people, they moved as one. Their coordination was just too good.
*Should I retreat and bring this intel to Lady Esdeath?*
*Or...*
Glancing at Daidara's corpse, Liver suddenly had a bold idea.
*Hmph. Retreat? Can I even get away?*
*That little girl's marksmanship is too good. And my speed isn't a match for Bulat's successor.*
*Right now, there's probably only one way.*
*Daidara... I'm sorry.*
*But I believe... as one of Lady Esdeath's loyal hounds, if you knew your corpse could clear an obstacle for her...*
*...you wouldn't mind what I'm about to do, would you?*
.......