Chương 701: The Gunslinger Army

Casper stood atop Kataleya's wall, watching the city through a pair of binoculars. Four massive towers rose from different points across the city, each firing beams that bounced off glass and crystals scattered through the streets, rooftops, and façades. The light threaded through the place like a glowing web, turning every reflection into part of the attack. The strange part was, the beams didn't shatter the glass they passed through. The energy simply traveled along the surface and struck its target.

It's using reflected light to spread through the whole city. Some kind of security system? Casper lowered the binoculars a little and looked back. Three ships sat anchored outside the city, and God only knew what it had taken to keep them there. The current was too strong, dragging everything toward the waterfall that plunged into the Abyssal Zone. If the target's already dead, that's one hell of a cosmic kick in the teeth.

Thanks to a tracking thread granted by one of their beacons, they'd managed to follow Luke Moon. It hadn't been simple. Ever since leaving the Phase 5 city, the man had been moving from halo to halo, apparently searching for the Phase 6 Beacon. Even so, the Order had caught up to him.

"Executioner Casper. Orders?" Climb asked. He was one of the Order's Patrol Gunslingers. Casper kept the binoculars trained on the palace.

"Those towers just wrecked our ambush. We were supposed to wait for Luke Moon to leave the palace and take him outside."That plan's dead. Shooters and Patrols are getting hit the second they cross a beam."

"Should we take down the towers?"

"No." Casper didn't even look at him.

"Leave that shit alone. You want to waste time going head-to-head with magical constructs from an advanced civilization?" Climb shut his mouth. Casper adjusted the focus and went back to watching the palace.

"Fire the signal. Blue smoke. New plan: breach the palace, neutralize the target, and extract him." He narrowed his eyes.

"And let's hope he's alive." The Patrol Gunslinger did as ordered. The flare rose, burst into blue smoke over the city, and moments later, Climb dropped from the wall to relay the orders. Casper drew his revolver and checked the cylinder. An old habit. From the weight and feel alone, he already knew how many rounds were inside, but he did it anyway. At his waist, the [Executioner's Sword] rested in its sheath. A gift from the [Order of the Gunslingers of the Long Night] to those promoted to the rank of Executioner.

Across the entire event region, only two Gunslingers in the Order held that title. Him and Red Death.

"Weird damn contract," Casper muttered.

"First time anyone's paid me this much to bring someone in breathing." The client wanted to kill Luke Moon with his own hands. Then, all at once, every tower fired. The beams raced through the city's crystals and glass, converging in a single direction: the palace. The amount of power converging there was obscene. In the next instant, a colossal explosion swallowed the building. Stone, dust, and light burst outward in a violent wave, making the wall tremble beneath Casper's boots.

When the glare faded, the crystals atop the towers cracked apart. The roar of destruction gave way to a heavy silence. With the palace gone, the towers died for good.

"Shit." Casper stowed the binoculars and jumped down from the wall.

"You'd better still be alive, Luke Moon."

Luke pushed himself up from the floor, shoving rubble aside. The palace had been destroyed. But he hadn't been inside it. Right before the explosion, he had activated [Teleportation Pentagram]. Just in case, he'd placed a pentagram outside the palace, inside a nearby building. Now, covered in dust and surrounded by cracked walls, he almost laughed. Can't believe my paranoia actually paid off. Luke dissolved into shadow and slipped into a more sheltered corner of the building.

Through a gap between broken stones, he watched what remained of the palace. Gone. The house he was in had been damaged too. Walls split open, the roof cracked, furniture smashed to pieces. Those towers hadn't just destroyed the palace. They'd gutted the city. A floating sphere appeared beside him. Cadmus. Luke looked at the robot with zero patience.

"Explain something to me. Why did that king have the same name as you? And don't tell me it's a coincidence, because I seriously doubt that."

"Because I'm the king who left the message," Cadmus replied. Luke went still for a second.

"How the hell is that possible? You were supposed to be some system robot. A random guide. You even mentioned a maker or whatever."

"I cannot answer that, Luke Moon."

"Can't, or won't?" Cadmus remained silent. Luke stared at the sphere for another moment, then looked away.

"Forget it. You know what? Right now, I need to figure out how to cross a city full of people trying to kill me. And I'd love to know why." He left the building carefully. The towers' glow had gone out, and some of them were already beginning to collapse, shedding huge blocks from their sides. They used every bit of power they had to kill whoever entered that crystal chamber. But what was that place, really? What happened to this kingdom? And how the hell is Cadmus also that king? Too many questions.

Not enough time. An army of Gunslingers came here to drag me out. If those towers hadn't activated and started killing anything that moved, I might not have noticed the army until it was too late. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. From what little Luke knew about Gunslingers, they were specialized killers. And in the entire event, only one organization had that many Gunslingers and took contracts. The Gunslingers of the Long Night.

Luke moved through the shadows, slipping between alleys, ruins, and broken walls. With the towers disabled, the Gunslingers were starting to reorganize throughout the city.

"Forward. We move toward the palace."

"Eagle squad entered the palace right before the explosion."

"Then they're probably dead."

"And the target?"

"Probably dead too. Still, we follow protocol." Luke listened from behind a ruined façade as he moved. Their objective isn't to kill me. It's to capture me. The shots those Gunslingers fired inside the palace must've been meant to incapacitate me. He ran without a sound and stopped near an alley, watching the movement. The closer they got to the palace, the less the Gunslingers talked. They were organized, disciplined, split into groups of five. Luke approached one from behind. The kukris flashed for an instant.

[You have slain a Human - Lvl 71...] 345, 885, 841 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [975/1000] There's an army here. Ships outside. But why capture me? Do they know I killed a Gunslinger in the Battle Royale? Another Gunslinger crossed a narrow street. Luke dropped from the top of a wall and landed on him. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 76...] 871, 149, 357 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [976/1000] The body vanished into his pocket dimension before it hit the ground.

Luke was already moving to the next one. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 82...] 1, 002, 149, 447 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [977/1000] Two men walked side by side. Luke appeared between them, low and fast, his kukris flashing before either man could react. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 73...] 120, 741, 222 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [978/1000] [You have slain a Human - Lvl 84...] 347, 153, 621 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [979/1000] Another one was a few steps ahead.

Luke aimed and threw a kukri. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 77...] 90, 841, 366 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [980/1000] A gunshot echoed. Red smoke rose into the sky.

"One of ours just died!" You've got to be kidding me.

"Where?" Luke ran and threw himself into a half-ruined building. Some kind of marking skill? Did I just get unlucky and kill the tagged guy, or does every squad have one? The Gunslingers moved like a military force. They weren't scattered mercenaries. They had protocols, formations, signals, roles. Luke stayed still in the shadows and watched for several minutes. Some of them are still heading for the palace. They're checking whether I died there.

When he found an opening, he slipped out of the building and ran close to the walls. The Gunslingers hunted him with revolvers in one hand and glowing knives in the other, the white-lit tips sweeping over the ruins like flashlights. Luke climbed onto the roof of a house and threw a kukri. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 90...] 622, 555, 987 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [981/1000] Before the man hit the ground, Luke was already below. He came up behind another Gunslinger, but the man still managed to shout.

[You have slain a Human - Lvl 67...] 58, 874, 159 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [982/1000]"He's close!" [Witch's Thread activated] Luke reappeared on top of a building and looked down at five Gunslingers gathered around the corpse. They're using a tracking skill. But he hadn't left tracks.

"He's nearby!" The kukri flew and struck one of them. In the same motion, Luke dropped behind another and attacked with precision. The three remaining Gunslingers fired. Luke grabbed the corpse and hurled it into them, breaking their line of fire, then raised his bracers. Knives launched. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 77...] 474, 258, 877 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [985/1000] [You have slain a Human - Lvl 81...] 554, 741, 222 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [986/1000] [You have slain a Human - Lvl 62...] 30, 879, 147 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [987/1000] Shots came from another street. More Gunslingers were running toward him. Luke leapt into a ruined house, crashing through dust and broken wood.

"What did you see?"

"A black blur running."

"Same."

"Which way did it go?"

"I don't know. It disappeared." Luke stepped out of the shadows behind them. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 66...] 44, 884, 355 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [988/1000] Another tried to turn. Too late. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 81...] 722, 772, 325 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [989/1000]"One of ours died right next to us!" someone shouted from the street. They threw bottles into the building. Glass shattered, and flames burst across the floor. Luke ran before the fire could box him in.

Behind him, bullets cracked against walls and doors.

"Neutralize! Don't kill! Could be the target!" [Witch's Thread activated] Luke was pulled back along his own path, appearing behind a Gunslinger who had been trying to flank him. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 86...] 417, 987, 324 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [990/1000] One of them fired. Luke dodged, kicked the man into the wall, and attacked with his kukri. More shots echoed. He rolled aside, barely avoiding them, and took down another one.

Seconds later, all four were dead, and Luke was already climbing onto the rooftops. [994/1000] My turn to hunt. Conjuring knives, Luke began throwing them from the rooftops, hitting Gunslingers in different streets. He wasn't throwing to kill. He was wounding them, drawing screams to make the groups believe there was more than one enemy moving through the city.

"There's more than one of them!" someone shouted after getting hit. Luke jumped into an alley where five Gunslingers were arguing, tense, weapons in hand.

"I swear I saw a shape on top of that roof."

"But the screams came from the north."

"Wasn't there only supposed to be one guy in this city?"

"Maybe." The Gunslingers froze.

"Who said that?"

"I did." Luke stood in the middle of them. He attacked before the pistols could come up. The first two dropped almost immediately. The ones who survived the first strikes hit the walls hard enough to lose their breath and any chance of fighting back. Luke finished the job in silence.... [You have slain a Human - Lvl 89...] 812, 987, 113 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [999/1000] He picked up one of the corpses' revolvers and weighed it in his hand. Requires the Gunslinger class. Shit.

He'd planned to fire from different spots and throw the squads into confusion. Luke threw the revolver away. Before the others could arrive, he was already running across the rooftops. A bullet skimmed past his body. H e dodged at the last second. Then more shots came, too precise, fired from far away. Where did that come from? He threw himself behind a broken chimney, feeling another projectile rip chunks out of the stone. A sniper? Are you kidding me? The Gunslingers knew where he was now.

Luke ran between houses, jumping from roof to roof. The building ahead exploded before he could reach the roof's edge. The net was closing. Luke changed course. A figure stood there with his back turned, half-hidden in the drifting dust. Luke dropped down for the kill. Then stopped. The man turned.

"Luke Moon?" Luke narrowed his eyes.

"Hero of the Flame?"