Chapter 86: Hoonter x Hoonter

Chapter 86: Hoonter x Hoonter

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< Side-Quest/Challenge: Father Gascoigne >

Description: You have stumbled upon a wild and feral British priest chopping up a corpse and it seems like he has decided that you do not deserve the privilege to live anymore. Time to prove him wrong.

Requirements: Defeat Father Gascoigne.

Reward: +2 to all physical stats, +2 insight, 1x Random Low-rank skill recovery.

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I didn't pay attention to the quest that just popped up in my rearview, instead, my eyes were solely trained on Gascoigne. He gave off a dangerous vibe. While I had confidence in myself, this was different.

On a fundamental level, it is impossible for Gascoigne to defeat me. I am immortal and he isn't. But I didn't care about that. I was here to improve myself, not to have a dick-measuring contest. Regardless, if Gascoigne couldn't defeat me then why was he dangerous?

He could kill me.

One might wonder, how could someone like Gascoigne could murder someone like me who has slain gods. And there was a simple reason for that. It was skill issue.

I may have killed gods, demons, and anything in between but the reason I could do that couldn't be purely attributed to skill though that was a big factor. Most of the time I brute forced my way through my enemies. As in reality my fighting style is completely unrefined and falls short in front of someone with actual skill and experience.

And Gascoigne. I'm sure is someone with skill and experience. There is a saying, "Beware of the old in a profession where most die young". And Gascoigne definitely fit that category and more. But knowing the danger I couldn't help but be excited.

This was an opportunity to challenge myself and improve. Before I could contemplate for long however the old hunter raised a modified pistol in my direction and pulled the trigger, sending multiple pellets of quicksilver at me more like a blunderbuss.

The moment I heard the bang I rolled to the side as the veteran hunter charged at me with his axe raised. The moment my roll stopped and I got back on my feet Gascoigne had reached me and swung his axe down with impeccable dexterity. nove(l)bi(n.)com

But if there was something I was good at, that would be dodging.

I shifted my body to the side as the axe passed by me on trajectory to hit the ground. As it passed I pulled my own gun and aimed toward Gascoigne's face. But before I could pull the trigger I felt a dull pain in my chest as the air was forced out of my lungs and I was thrown back.

Gascoigne withdrew his extended leg before shooting toward me again, relentlessly he swung his axe horizontally, and seeing as there wasn't enough room to dodge I brought my cane up with both hands and braced.

Hitting him felt like hitting a giant bag of frozen meat. As it staggered from my combo I pulled out my pistol and reloaded using inventory before hitting its kneecaps, chaining a knee to its jaw just after it staggered.

Beasts that are slaves to their instincts and impulses are some of the easiest enemies to fight. For me at least they are.

Because they simply fall flat against a beast that's more monstrous than them. My instincts are far more refined than Gascoigne's beast form and I was far, far more experienced in fighting AS a beast AGAINST a beast.

Chasing after the dazed beast I didn't even give it a single moment to rest before jamming my thumb into its eye socket.

Fire is weaker against a bigger flame. Brutality is weaker against even more vicious brutality. A beast that can't keep a calm mind is an easy-to-fight opponent for me.

I have spent years fighting madmen, hollows, beasts who run on instinct. And I have slain hundreds of thousands of them, maybe even millions. I have died hundreds of times to them, I am well acquainted with hunting mindless beings.

I slammed my forehead into the beast's snout. I transformed my bleeding stub of a wrist into a pointed weapon and stabbed it into Gascoigne's shoulder. His claw hit my left arm, ripping it off its socked but I was barely even shaken as I reeled my spike arm back.

A familiar motion, one I had repeated thousands of times over. A move that pushes the human body to its absolute limit. I didn't need the assistance of the system and skill levels to perform MY move.

All my muscles were forcefully pushed to perform at their absolute limits for a brief second. My spike arm moved so fast that it looked like a blur.

'{Deadman Style: Pierce}'

My arm pierced straight through Gascoigne's ribcage. As a result of the recoil my arm was completely shattered and my legs were broken but Invictus kept me standing. Taking out a blood vial I quickly chugged it down. Now that my hand was restored I set Gascoigne's corpse down.

I could tell he wasn't a bad person. There was no need to disrespect his corpse by just throwing it away like a used rag. After I put the corpse down the notification I saw brightened my mood.

{ PREY SLAUGHTERED }

A/N: What did you think about the chapter? I like reading comments and suggestions they help motivate me. And so do powerstones.

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