The Count's Gun-Shooting Scoundrel

Chapter 32

“Damn it!”

Arthur’s face contorted when one of Hellot's squad members was taken down by Yakim.

“We must go.”

At Millerf's words, Arthur suppressed his boiling anger and nodded.

When Millerf cast a Haste spell, the distance between them and the enemy widened in an instant.

Arthur once again caught the man in his scope.

The original plan was to inflict at least some damage on him, but the attacks were ineffective.

So, he changed his target to the enemy's subordinates.

He pulled the trigger on those following Yakim.

BANG-!

After killing one, he would invariably move to a new position with Millerf.

After doing this a few times, they entered the western mountains.

Yakim continued to chase them, relentlessly firing Aura Blades.

Arthur looked at Millerf and asked, “That must consume a lot of mana, right?”

“It would. But since he's a Sword Master, he will recover quickly. Still, it's fortunate that he doesn't seem to have made that power completely his own. Moreover, perhaps because he's drunk on his power, he doesn't show the cunning typical of a mercenary.”

“That is his weakness.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“I have a question. How many spells can you cast on me?”

“Hmm.”

Millerf answered after careful consideration.

“Young Master, you can think of magic as a transformation of mana's power. When mana of a different nature enters the body, a conflict will occur, causing an adverse effect.”

“But the opposite could also be true, right?”

“That is true, but it's best to assume it's almost non-existent…”

Arthur continued with a meaningful smile.

“Cast as many spells as you can that can enhance my abilities.”

“I can't! A single mistake could put your life in danger.”

Millerf took a firm stance and refused decisively.

“What if we don't do it all at once, but add them one by one? If it gets dangerous, we can just stop immediately, can't we?”

“But…”

“Facing him with my current skill is a suicide mission. So if there's a way to get stronger, I have to take the risk.”

“Young Master…”

Just as Millerf was about to get lost in thought…

BOOM! KABOOM!

The sound of the surroundings being blown to pieces could be heard.

“We're out of time! Are you just going to let everyone die like this?”

“Understood.”

With a grim expression, Millerf planted his staff in the ground and prepared to cast his magic.

“First, I will cast the defensive spell Stoneskin and the strength-enhancing spell Strength.”

“I'll tell you immediately if anything feels wrong, so don't worry and start.”

“Yes.”

Millerf spread his arms wide and chanted in runic language. His staff then glowed brightly, and the Stoneskin and Strength spells were cast on Arthur.

Arthur's body glowed brightly before fading.

“Move on to the next spell.”

“This time, it's Hawkeye. You must tell me if you notice even the slightest abnormality.”

“Got it.”

Millerf then cast the Hawkeye spell.

Again, Arthur's body glowed brightly before fading.

“Hmm.”

Arthur's face hardened.

He could feel his own mana clashing with Millerf's.

The more the mana of different natures tensed against each other, the more damage accumulated in his body.

‘In that case…’

Arthur drew up his mana.

At that, even his dormant mana awakened and responded to Millerf's mana.

Then, in an instant, it absorbed Millerf's mana.

As the conflict disappeared, power overflowed from his body.

Millerf's gaze wavered as Arthur's presence suddenly amplified.

“This is…”

He had absorbed his mana and made it his own.

While bewildered, a figure came to mind.

Teheran Julius.

The Magic Society had researched his mana, and among the many hypotheses was one that he could absorb the mana of others.

It was said that without it, it would be impossible for him to maintain his power.

Everyone had dismissed that hypothesis as ridiculous nonsense, but now it was proving to be true.

At the same time, Kanmurasas came to mind.

The youngest 9th-class Archmage in the history of the Oscar Empire!

A man like him would have had the ability to supply Teheran with enough mana.

With this, the mystery of how Teheran Julius, one of his many secrets shrouded in a veil, was able to possess limitless mana, was solved.

“This is truly beyond imagination.”

The look of astonishment on Millerf's face was plain to see.

“I absorbed the mana.”

“It must be due to the characteristics of Teheran's mana.”

“I see.”

Arthur nodded and continued.

“Far from having side effects, I'm overflowing with power.”

“Lastly, I will cast Haste. Your physical speed will become a little faster.”

Millerf immediately cast the Haste spell.

As soon as the spell was cast, Arthur felt the mana being absorbed, and his power surged as if it were running rampant.

He exuded a fearsome presence.

“This is incredible.”

“The spells will last for 20 minutes. You must deal with him within that time.”

“Got it. But you've suddenly gone pale.”

“I'm fine…”

Millerf clutched his chest tightly.

He had consumed mana, but not enough to feel burdened. It seemed that tampering with his life force had not yet fully healed.

“Are there no problems or restrictions that come from casting so many spells on me?”

“There's nothing like that. It's just that I don't seem to be fully recovered, so I'll need at least 30 minutes to use magic again.”

“That's quite long.”

Arthur was not unaware that Millerf constituted a significant portion of their forces' strength.

But to prevent him from casting the spells now would have been a foolish act.

It seemed he wouldn't be able to ask for this a second time.

“It would be best not to push yourself until you feel you've completely recovered.”

“I will do so.”

“I'll hold him off somehow, so I'm counting on you to take care of his subordinates.”

“He is a Sword Master. Young Master, you probably haven't seen his true abilities. Please remember that carelessness is absolutely forbidden.”

“He doesn't know me either.”

“I suppose so. And on top of that, you've received buff magic…”

While Millerf was agreeing with his words, Arthur had already moved far into the distance.

The effects of the buff magic were truly tremendous.

But because his opponent was a Sword Master, he couldn't shake the ominous thoughts from his mind.

“Young Master…”

***

“I'll definitely catch you this time.”

Yakim was grinding his teeth and scanning the area ahead.

He felt the man's presence up ahead.

“Found you!”

He shot forward like an arrow with a sinister smile.

‘He took the bait.’

Arthur had no intention whatsoever of engaging Yakim in a frontal battle.

Judging from his vast experience in war, when facing an enemy who trusted in their own immense power and acted alone, it was appropriate to use guerilla tactics, carrying out ambushes and surprise attacks.

Therefore, he moved to a densely wooded area where concealment was easy and emanated his presence.

As expected, he reacted immediately and came running.

“First, a welcoming greeting.”

Arthur pulled the trigger.

BANG-!

As expected, the man deflected the bullet.

Arthur grinned and said, “The real show starts now.”

BANG-!

The moment he pulled the trigger, Arthur quickly loaded another bullet and pulled the trigger again.

BANG-!

The preparation time until the next attack was cut in half.

He had compensated for the Cheytac's lack of an automatic firing function with his own physical abilities.

Yakim tensed up as the loud bangs echoed in succession and the bullets flew at him.

“What?”

Far from advancing, he was forced to stop in place and focus on defense, deflecting the bullets with his sword.

On the other hand, Arthur relentlessly poured on the attacks while closing the distance between them.

The closer he got, the more powerful the Cheytac became.

“Dammit!”

Yakim, who had been continuously deflecting the shots, reached his limit and moved to find cover.

Arthur did not miss that opportunity.

Thwack!

A bullet struck Yakim's thigh.

It didn't penetrate the armor, but the impact was powerful enough to leave a deep dent. The shock pierced to the bone.

“Son of a bitch!”

Yakim clenched his teeth and threw himself behind a rock.

Having barely hidden himself, he checked his wounded thigh.

The bullet was completely crushed, almost beyond recognition.

Looking at it like this, it seemed like nothing, but it was lightning-fast and possessed immense destructive power.

Moreover, now they were flying at him without a break.

If a mage were launching ranged attacks, there would be mana consumption and the attacks would eventually stop, but this bastard had no such limitation.

He was truly a tricky opponent.

For now, he decided to replenish his spent mana while thinking about how to deal with the man.

“If only I can get close…!”

In that moment, he felt the man's presence extremely close.

“What?”

He quickly peeked his head out from behind the rock and looked ahead.

Arthur was running toward him at an incredible speed.

For a guy who he thought could only hide and attack from a distance to charge like this! It meant that far from fearing him, he was looking down on him.

“How dare you!”

Yakim leaped out and swung his sword.

An Aura Blade flew out, cutting down all the trees in front of him.

Arthur quickly dropped to the ground to dodge the Aura Blade, then pulled the trigger at Yakim.

BANG-!

He quickly reloaded and fired again.

BANG-!

The bullets, fired in succession, flew toward Yakim like lightning.

“This is so irritating!”

Yakim's anger soared to its peak.

His mana ran wild, and the deep blue aura enveloping his sword flared up like a flame.

He unleashed all of his mana, ostentatiously displaying the power of a Sword Master.

“With that kind of thing… you dare to toy with me?”

He swung his sword with all his might.

KRA-BOOM!

An Aura Blade flew out with a tremendous roar.

Just as Arthur quickly moved out of the way to dodge the attack and aimed the muzzle at him…

“What the…”

The man had somehow appeared right in front of him and grabbed the gun's muzzle.

“Finally caught you.”

The instant Yakim was about to tighten his grip, Arthur pulled the trigger.

At the same time, Yakim's sword moved like lightning.

*CLANG!

While deflecting the bullet with his sword, he simultaneously sliced off the Cheytac's muzzle.

“…!”

Arthur's eyes widened.

“Let the party begin.”

Yakim threw a punch with a chilling smile.

Arthur quickly lowered his arm to block, but the impact struck his side, churning his insides.

“Keuk-.”

“A little shit like you.”

Yakim kicked Arthur's legs out from under him, knocking him down.

Then he began to stomp on him mercilessly.

“How should I kill you to appease my anger?”

“Ugh…”

Pain and bewilderment crossed Arthur's contorted face.

Despite being in peak physical condition with Millerf's help, he was being overpowered.

He drew up his mana to resist Yakim, who was pressing his foot down on his throat. But he instinctively felt that his bones would break before long.

“At this rate…”

Arthur clenched his teeth and fought back.

But Yakim didn't even blink, instead sneering as if finding him pathetic.

“They said you're the great one who will lead the House of Count Julius? Is this all you've got?”

“Shut up…”

“Listen well. Because of your atrocities, not only the Grada Territory but the entire House of Count Julius will disappear into history. Oh, right, one person will survive. I don't need to tell you who that is, do I?”

Yakim continued with a lewd smile.

“Count Yarve is completely smitten with that bitch. But did you know? The Count has some very peculiar hobbies. Ah, for a lustful bitch, maybe that's a good thing.”

Grind!

Arthur's rage flared.

It was anger at the man, as well as anger at his own weakness.

‘You bastard…’

The presence flowing from him was sucked into his necklace as if being absorbed.

The necklace glowed faintly.

Then, a golden light shone intensely from his armor.

“What!”

Startled, Yakim was thrown back by a massive energy.

He quickly got back up and stared at Arthur with a tense expression.

He, too, had gotten up and was glaring at him.

But a golden aura rose from the armor, and Arthur exuded a fearsome presence.

But that was all.

He was tense for a moment, but he felt no fear.

‘No matter how much he struggles, in the end, he'll just be torn to shreds by my sword.’

“Pathetic bastard.”

Yakim scoffed and pointed his sword at Arthur.

Arthur glared with eyes burning with rage, recalling the voice of Teheran that had echoed in his mind just moments before.

-Be enraged! It will make you even stronger.

For him, anger was a source of power and one of his reasons for living.

“I had forgotten.”

Arthur's lips curled up. It was a chilling expression, reminiscent of a demon.