o/

Klaassen probably just wants a high-five

"That's what we've got snipers for."

Sniper! Get down, Ms. Paladin.

And there we go

/HE/ was never going to shoot her, but he's not the only one to show up

Cause someone else was? I don't know why but the phrase "I was never going to shoot you" makes me think someone else is, or he is gonna use some other form of attack

ah, he is making sign to his troops to shoot instead.

"I was never going to shoot you; I have people for that."

This is what I was afraid of.

I think people are going to interpret this as "in trying to avoid her future, Shalhia made it come to pass". This isn't that. He's not going to have her killed because she tried to disarm him. He's having her killed because she defied him. He was always going to to kill her, with what she knew and the decisions she would make.

oopsie by off-screen snipers? How unoriginal.

My goon is going to do it for me

Oopsie!

Oh.. there is a sniper somewhere.

You better have prepared for this

... That sharpshooter behind that dune, however ...

...you monster!

Ah. She didn't plan for a sniper.

Goodbye Shalhia!

Ehh, I like her so much

She tried to fight fate by charging straight for it screaming 'come at me bro'. It was never going to end well.

Sniper? But she's facing the wrong direction...

"I was never going to shoot you."

Option A) "I" was never going to shoot you. *Signals the unseen sniper in the distance.

Option B) I was never going to "shoot" you. *Either doing some kind of magical attack or triggering a bomb in Shalhia (might be the bomb set up for the death game, although I doubt he'd want to trigger it when he's this close, or risk injuring Tobi)

Option C) Could he actually be complying?

He was going to have someone else do it?

Sniper

Uh oh, the sniper...

BOSS GET DOWN, ENEMY SNIPER!!

That hand gesture is clearly a signal.

And we've had the same kind of setup before; remember how the talk between Veda and Malhart went?

...but you were always going to have her killed, weren't you?

So, I'm kinda glad I foresaw it coming down like this: "maybe she's focusing a bit too much on Klaasen and not her surroundings in any case, it seems to me unlikely it is him the one that hypothetically kills her, maybe some bodyguards lurking around, but if she's got her guard up, she should be waiting to react on any threatening movement he makes."

Let's see if she reacts quickly enough.

@gobo Yup, wholeheartedly agree with your points there. I still kinda hope she survives, though.

Sniping's a good job mate. Challenging work. Outa doors. I guarentee you'll not go hungry. Because at the end of the day, as long there are two people on the planet, someone is going to want someone dead.

Well, there is that big meat shield right in front of you. Why don't make use of it now?

@Fan: She's carrying a hundred plus pounds of Tobi in that egg, so (if, as seems likely, she is struck down™) she falls on her back and rolls over for much the same reason. Ends up face down after a bit of looting.

That's a signal to shoot Shalhia in the back, alright.

Sucks that the guy legit wasn't planning on shooting her. He would've let her go.

Self-fulfilling prophecies suck.

Well it could happen to anyone. Who amongst has never failed to avert prophetic visions of our doom?

his gesturing to have someone else snipe Shalhia isn't nearly as cool as Veda fake-shooting Malhart with a finger gun while Nail actually sniped him

,,,man I miss Veda, such a fun character

Oh boy, really dreading the next page after this…

I know he could have set up whatever hand signal he likes, but in English-speaking areas IRL, that open hand gesture usually means stop. My guess is he's signaling the sniper to stand down.

I don't know why he'd do that, rather than have her killed immediately. I mean, if it's this easy to defy a magical prediction, why is anyone worried about them in the first place?

My best guess is, the sniper needs the element of surprise. Shalhia has to sit still so they can line up a shot that won't hit Tobi. Or maybe the plan was to trick Shalhia into putting Tobi down first.

Actually, remember that line from https://www.neorice.com/hoh/tobi/1840? "If I end up on that stage, I can ensure I'll take as many people with me as I deem necessary, may my flame be extinguished." Think about that. Shalhia is saying she can instantly kill up to 11 nearby people through reinforced glass. Presumably paladin abilities are just that strong when the paladin stops caring about the backfire effect. And Klaassen knows this, and knows he's in range.