CH 55

I’m not a swordsman to begin with. I do use a sword, but that’s mostly because of skills. I can’t match the skill and experience of someone that actually specializes in using a sword.

I’m what you would call an all-rounder. I use whatever I can to catch my enemies off guard. Basically a jack of all trades but master of none.

I hold my gun tightly, and look directly at Lloyd. My biggest concern now is whether or not bullets will even pierce that hard skin. Should I shoot it in the eyes or mouth? My skill gives me aim correction, so I can aim there, but it did block magic with its sword before. There’s a chance that it will just dodge it too.

I slowly get closer to it.

It seems Lloyd has cooled off, because it’s not attacking while letting its emotions get the better of it anymore.

This is a problem. I use feints to keep getting closer.

I’m only using the sword to try to intimidate it, I’m not actually going to attack with it. I want to fire a shot first to check if it works. Then again, the first shot might work just because it’s not expecting it, and the bullets might not work as well when it’s watching out for them.

Should I try to take it down with my first shot then?

The hesitation prevents me from even beginning to attack.

But it looks like Lloyd isn’t going to let me drag this on for a lot longer. It seems it decided my half-hearted attacks are an attempt to buy time. There’s also Leila, who is recovering behind me.

Lloyd is now on the offensive, and I dodge its attacks. I need to be careful not to cross swords with it directly. It was bad before, but now that I’m only using one hand to hold the sword, it would overpower me for sure.

Lloyd steps forward, I dodge its slash, and that creates an opening.

I pull the trigger, and fire two consecutive shots to the arm holding the weapon and the center of its body.

The first shot is blocked by its sword, but the second hits.

It doesn’t pierce its body from one side to the other, but Lloyd’s face twists in pain.

It looks like the bullet pierced its skin, but stopped inside its body. Are its muscles tougher than its skin? Did the skin actually stop the bullet’s momentum? In any case, at least I can see it did damage.

For the first time since the fight started, Lloyd steps back.

“What… Is that…”

As I thought, this kind of weapon either doesn’t exist, or is rare in this world.

I wasn’t sure because I don’t know how many people have been summoned here before me, so there was the possibility that one of them had introduced them to this world.

Then again, there’s no reason to think a monster would have that sort of human knowledge. The fact that it can talk threw me off.

But… Looking at Lloyd now, makes me wonder…

Why hasn’t it pulled the sword from its body? Does it want to prevent its enemies from using it? Is it keeping it there to stop blood from gushing out? It looks kind of surreal, like there’s something wrong with what I’m seeing. Not that it seems to care.

“Why do you want to know? You’re just going to die anyway.”

I provoke it while showing it the gun.

Lloyd grinds its teeth with frustration.

“Well then, let’s finish this.”

I say, making sure its attention is here.

My goal is simple, hit as many bullets as possible.

I should be firing from a distance, this is a long range weapon after all, but for some reason I feel compelled to get close and pull the trigger. Of course, that doesn’t mean I get close enough for Lloyd to attack.

Also, this is a fourth generation gun, and while its durability has improved, it can still break if I use it too much. At least I don’t have to worry about running out of ammo, because I have more than enough magazines.

I keep shooting and retreating in an annoying way, and when Lloyd retreats, I get closer and shoot. Lloyd has taken more bullets, but it’s still not going down. If it was a human, it would probably be on the ground by now. Also, maybe it’s instinct, but it seems to be dodging attacks that could be fatal.

When I try to shoot it in the head, it just dodges it. How good are this thing’s reflexes?

Another thing that’s on my mind is that the wounds seem to be closing.

The bleeding is stopping as time goes on, and I feel like the bullet holes are closing.

I don’t think blood loss is going to stop it. I really have to just finish it.

I shoot all the bullets in this magazine and reload.

I added a new feature in this fourth generation, Full auto system. It will without a doubt break the gun, but its destructive power far surpasses shooting one bullet at a time.

I make up my mind and run towards Lloyd.

It comes at me with its sword, but I stop its attack with my gun.

As I get close, I fire two shots and blow the hand holding the sword back.

I don’t let this moment get away, and unload the full auto fire here. I’m aiming at its chest, where I think its magic stone is,

The gunshots reverberate throughout the cave to the point of being annoying, and the bullets carve Lloyd’s chest and push it back.

But it figures out what I’m doing, and takes a defensive stance. It quickly brings back the hand that was pushed back, and uses the flat of its sword as a shield.

I think about stopping, but keep shooting at the sword. The heat I feel in my hand tells me that once this gun stops firing, it won’t fire again.

Bullets hit the sword, crack it, and eventually break it.

Half the sword breaks, and reveals Lloyd’s chest again.

I take aim at it again, but no bullets come out.

The gun is empty, and the barrel is broken. Should I consider myself lucky that it didn’t misfire?

Lloyd sees that the attack has ceased, and lets out a yell of both joy and anger, as it raises its partially broken sword.

But as it swings down, it finds that its arms are stopped. My magic barrier is in the way.

Lloyd is confused, and tries to move its arms. Its idiot strength means this won’t hold for long, but I take advantage of that momentary disturbance and step forward.

My target is the mithril sword. I grab it, and infuse it with magic energy.

Magic energy pours into the mithril sword, and although it didn’t budge until this point, now I manage to push it in without much resistance.

Lloyd screams and lashes out even more, and I can hear my magic barrier breaking.

Lloyd’s face twists as it swings its arm down.

I can’t dodge it, so I take half a step forward and get close to Lloyd’s body.

I can’t avoid taking damage, but I can move into an awkward position where it can’t move its arm very well to minimize it. I take that hit, but since it couldn’t stretch its arm too well, I can bear it.

I then change the magic energy that’s flowing.

Its skin is tough, its muscles are tough. Blows and slash don’t work well.

But I have an idea. Changing the magic energy to the fire element.

“Burn.”

I picture an orc roasting, which brings up an image of Hikari complaining.

Fire flows into Lloyd, roasting it from the inside.

It starts struggling even more violently. It’s not really attacking anymore, it’s more like it’s writhing in pain.

It swings its arm and hits my body.

It swings its arm and hits my head.

The impact runs through my body, and as my head shakes, I feel my consciousness being taken away.

I grit my teeth and keep pouring magic energy.

It’s a game of endurance.

The blows are sapping my HP, and the magic energy is sapping my MP.

I can feel my MP going down like it’s being sucked away, and at the same time, I feel my strength being drained.

This is probably the feeling that comes with running out of MP.

But still, I keep pouring the magic energy.

Lloyd is still struggling, and I’m gradually losing my senses and my consciousness.

I can’t support my body anymore, and the last thing I feel as my consciousness completely shuts off is my body falling.