Fast Shot Mixups

"I told you," Howard scolded Ellen. "Your baits are pushing it at this point. You should've quit before it came to this."

"Yep, my bad," Ellen admitted. The fact that Julia came to Lars's help was already bad enough, but on top of that, Yuel also intercepted Ellen. This entire play might turn into a huge disaster.

"But," Ellen shrugged. "No need to worry about me. I mean, it's just Yuyu, right? I can dodge his stuff."

"I really hope so."

"Just watch me~" Ellen continued along her planned escape route, pretending that Yuel was just empty air. "Mr. Genius" over there was smart, but not skilled. Even though Yuel beautifully predicted Ellen's route, he lacked the means to finish her off.

[Oopsy-daisy.] Ellen rolled aside right as a gray raincloud formed over her head. It was only natural for an Aquamancer to begin the assault with Rainfall due to its slowdown effect, so Ellen was prepared. [How predictable, Yuyu~ You can't hit me even if you take five years aim- aya?]

A splash of water hit Ellen. Eh? What? Where did that shot come from? Like, it was a water attack, so it obviously had to be from Aquamancer, but...

[E-Excuse me!?] Ellen roared internally. [That was a hella fast follow-up! No, wait. That gotta be a fluke, right?]

Ellen recovered the roll and continued running. Another shot came flying her way, but she easily maneuvered around it.

[There we go.] Ellen nodded. [That's the slow and steady Yuel-quality shots I know- kya!?] Another ball of water struck her right after she dodged the first! How!? Yuel never fired this quickly! Didn't he need time to adjust his aim because he wasn't mechanically skilled!? This felt like cheating.

"I, I may be in a tiny bit of trouble here..." Ellen squeezed out.

"Yeah, I noticed," Howard said. "I'll try to get you out. Just don't die too quickly."

"I really don't get it," Ellen twisted her lips. "When did Yuyu learn to shoot like this?"

[A slow, steady shot.] Yuel took careful aim and fired. The aim was pinpoint, but it took him too long to prepare, so Ellen dodged without trouble. So, right afterward, he followed up with a fast improvised shot. It hit! Ellen failed to react in time. It actually worked!

Ever since Ignis completely shut down Yuel's shots during their 1v1, he has been practicing the idea of shooting faster with reduced accuracy. The first shot was his usual type: slow and steady. However, the follow-up was fast and instant. That second shot was much harder to land properly, but it was also much harder for the enemy to dodge!

At first, Yuel had a terrible aim with these quick shots. That came as no surprise, considering he was the type who couldn't make a single proper pass in soccer.

However, through repeated practice and some vague advice from Lars, he improved leaps and bounds. To take the idea to the next level, he combined his prediction ability with this shot. By predicting how the enemy will dodge his first shot, he cut the time required for aiming the second shot.

Even though there was barely any time to adjust the aim of the second shot, Yuel created a mental image of the future aiming he'd have to do and he did that before even firing the first shot! Thanks to that, his accuracy skyrocketed and he started landing quick shots. At least, most of the time...

[Oh, he missed.] Ellen blinked. These surprise quick shots have been on point so far, but this one just totally went in the opposite direction. Hmhm, interesting.

[Yuyu seems to have learned a new trick. I'm so happy for him~!] Ellen smiled meaningfully. [But, looks like it's not polished yet. Say, what if I do something like this?]

Ellen dodged the first slow shot as usual, then stopped in place. Yes, she was in the middle of making an important escape, yet she froze in place like a statue.

"Huh?" Yuel gasped. Ellen paused? Why? It'd be so easy to hit her now.

Except, Yuel's hand already moved ahead of him and fired the second quick shot. It was aimed toward where Yuel expected Ellen to be next, and he definitely didn't expect her to just stop in a place like that...

[As I thought~] Ellen smiled to herself. Yuel's quick shots were based on prediction rather than on expert gunman skills. As a result, anything that threw off Yuel's prediction guaranteed that his fast shot will miss. [Now, things gonna much easier~]

[She's good.] Yuel frowned. It only took Ellen a couple of seconds to come up with a new way to mess with him.

With Ellen throwing off Yuel's predictions, his quick shots were reduced to 50-50 at best. No, they even worse. Their hit rate wasn't even 100% in the first place, so even when he predicts right he might still miss. This chase will be rough.

Three more hits, that's all Yuel needed to finish Ellen off. Unfortunately, she was already close to reaching her lane. There wasn't much time left. Yuel had to make every shot count!

[Two can play this game.] Yuel fired a slow accurate shot, but it was dodged like always. Then, instead of going for a fast shot, he paused.

As expected, Ellen slowed down to throw off Yuel's prediction. But, too bad for her because he wasn't going for a quick second shot this time around! Instead, Yuel went for another slow accurate shot. Hitting a slow opponent was a piece of cake even for him!

[You whippersnapper...!] Ellen gritted her teeth. She both loved and hated Yuyu for this bullshit. They were both experts of mind games, like two birds of a feather. And, precisely because of that, they were each other's worst enemy on the battlefield.

[So,] Ellen pondered. [I need to slow down before the second shot, but not to the point I can't dodge a slow shot. Bingo!] Ellen pretended to slow down all the way, but she picked up the pace right as Yuel fired.

[Smooth dodge.] Yuel nodded. [But, if you move like this, it becomes much easier to predict. There! Yes!]

[Ack! You flipping Yuyu!] Ellen flinched. One more hit and she was a goner! The lane was right over there, she just had to dodge like two more shots and she'll be in the clear. But, what else should she try?

If she runs fast, Yuel counters via prediction + quick shot. If she slows down, Yuel counters with a slow shot. And, if she slows down and then speeds up, she seems to fall back within the scope of his prediction ability, which lets Yuel snipe her with a fast shot all over again.

Then, how about going fast and then slowing down in the last second...! Whoa! The shot passed right in front of her nose!

But, it didn't hit. She dodged! Ellen was about to get away- aya! Another shot!?

[A quick third shot!] Yuel fired right after the second shot without wasting any time on readjusting his aim. To pull off this technique, he first had to predict where Ellen will be after his first shot, then from there predict where she'll be after the second shot.

It was a difficult and unpolished technique, but Yuel didn't have the time to be picky. He had to hit Ellen here and now, no matter what!

[I can't dodge!] Ellen just started accelerating again after slowing down, so this third shot came way too fast! [C'mon! Miss! You wanna miss me, right? Right!? No way Yuyu can be accurate twice in a row like that! C'mon, it's just Yuyu! Phuuuu!] Ellen blew at the screen as if it was going to blow the shot away.

Alas, the ball of water made contact. It was a hit! ... except, it didn't deal any damage. Instead of hitting Ellen, the water struck against ice. Ellen was turned into a block of ice! Cryo-Freeze to the rescue!

"Pheeeeeew!" Ellen exhaled all the air in her lungs. "That wasn't close at all."

"Then, dodge better next time." Howard shrugged.

"Meanie." Ellen pouted.

[Damn!] Yuel was so close! The third shot was actually going to land! But, Ellen was a block of ice now, so she was untouchable. At least, not until Yuel erases her invulnerability. That's right, it wasn't over yet! He still had Splash, the anti-invulnerability tech!

[No, it's over.] Howard erected an ice wall right before Yuel sprayed water. The splash struck against the ice wall and vanished.

[No way...] Yuel bit his lip. As always, an impenetrable defense. Damn! If only he practiced the fast shots a little more, he would have been able to kill Ellen before Howard got here.

Now, Yuel's only option was to retreat. He couldn't do anything to Ellen while she was healing up inside the ice. If he stays, this will just become a 1v2.

[So close.] Yuel sighed. He almost got this important kill, but Ellen's slippery nature and Howard's darn defense made Yuel miss the opportunity by just a little. Hopefully, the others were doing a better job in the 2v2...