The shadow wielding cws lu Marcus once again. This time, without fag the attack head on, Marcus shot backwards areated into the narro between two almost pletely ruined wooden walls. The cws tore both walls down, but at the same time the throwing bdes from the other shadow were blocked as well.

  Marcus looked around. Gloria was fighting another shadoielded a metal whip at some distance behind him. He stomped the ground and unched himself backwards, heading towards the location of Gloria’s oppo. Under circumstances like this, fog their power and taking down at least one shadow would be their best bet.

  Gloria seemed to think the same, and after leaning bad letting the metal whip strike a tree by her side, she shot at Marcus.

  “Stop them!” The shadow who had been attag Marcus with throwing bdes leapt up from a broken roof, shouting at the shadow wielding the metal whip while shooting two bdes at Marcus.

  Marcus rolled on the ground to evade the throwing bdes, unzipping his jag while doing so. And just as he pulled himself to the back of a tree, the metal whip swung down his way. He burst out from his hiding pce, both haended forward at the shadoielded the metal whip, holding his gun.

  “Bang bang bang!” Three rapid shots in the blink of an eye, all of which struck the shadow on the chest. The shadow took a few steps backwards, but did not go dht away. Gloria shot from behind and delivered a powerful hand chop onto this shadow’s neck. The shadow colpsed in an instant.

  “Fuck!” The fury of the shadow wielding throwing bdes alpable. Before either Gloria or Marcus could turn on him, he pulled out two handfuls of bdes from both his sleeves and unleashed them owo all at once.

  The two handfuls sisted of more than a dozen mini bdes and spinning rings, all enclosing them from a wide angle. Marcus grunted, pushed his Qi to course through his entire body, grabbed Gloria by her sleeves and rushed towards the back of a thick tree.

  A few loud ks exploded from around Marcus. Three bdes bounced from his shoulder and his back, tearing his jacket and shirt but not leaving any visible marks on him. The trees around them took the brunts of those bde attacks.

  “Thanks, but you didn’t o do that.” Gloria sighed and looked Marcus up and down: “Are you hurt? I know your Qi harden your body. But it’s not beh these bastards to ce the ons with poison - ”

  Befloria could finish, light smoke arose from Marcus’ back - he ushing the tiny traces of poiso on his back using his Qi. Lucky for him, there was not that much poison.

  Another shadow shot at the tree, two metal cws glowing in light green. Gloria immediately pushed Marcus to the side while jumping backwards. The moment, the metal cws broke through the trunk of the tree, sending splinters everywhere. The other shadow shot out from the side, shooting another handful of throwing bdes at Gloria.

  Gloria threw out a loud curse before tapping her feet on the ground and ung herself backwards to find more trees to hide behind. This took her further away from where Marcus was. Without much of a choice, she rushed to an area behind a small hill and opened up her backpack. She was not expeg that she would get ambushed here, thus she put her own throwing bdes in the bad not in her clothe pockets.

  Taking a moment to focus and calm her nerves, Gloria shot out from behind the hill and towards Marcus’ dire. The other shadow was jumping over the hill, just in time to see Gloria pass him by.

  The shadow wielding two metal cws was dishing out a flurry of attacks at Marcus, swinging both cws oack after another. But Marcus kept leaping around, dodging swing by swing, not letting even one swi close to him. Yet, the attacks were so rapid in its succession and he was never able to get a good shot or ter attack.

  “e and face me head on!” This shadow screamed at Marcus as he tore down another unforturee that was barely three adult men tall.

  Marcus looked around once again, and he saw that Gloria was heading his way from a distance, chased by the shadow who used throwing bdes as ons. He leapt back again, narrowly dodging atack. The metal cw left a long gash on the ground.

  The shadow with two cws roared, then swung both cws at Marcus. His light green and light blue Qi shot out, in the shape of two cw marks in the air.

  There was not enough room or time for him to dodge again. Marcus had to cross his arms in front of him and take the attacks directly. The Qi cw marks exploded on him upon impact, throwing him into a tree, breaking his gun and tearing a few gashes on his arms. The shock squeezed the air out of his lungs. His visio blurry for a brief moment.

  The shadow lunged forward and swung his right arm at Marcus’ head, and his left at Marcus’ waist. Marcus immediately lowered his body and blocked the shadow’s right wrist with his right hand. His left khrust forward, aiming at the shadow’s abdomen. The shadow’s body arched bace again, his Qi focused on his front torso, attempting to dissipate Marcus’ attack like st time.

  This time, however, the knee was not the only attack from Marcus. His left hand turo a d swung from below to up, striking the shadht at his right waist.

  Dull pain shot from the four fingers of his hand to his entire left arm. A metal pte underh the shadow’s cloak ierced and cut through by the sharp bdes of Qi on Marcus’ fiips. The excess Qi shot into the shadow’s torso, cutting his inside like four thin bdes sshing at high speed.

  The shadow screamed for a brief moment, before Marcus headbutted his nose and muffled his voice.

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