Chapter 44: Gun

"Alright, start up the truck. We are leaving." Serene started to organize the new truck that arrived from the ship. However, I shook my head.

"Someone has to guard the ship, Serene. I think I will stay."

"Hmm? Anathema can't live in the water, and there were no indications of flying anathema. Ah! Sorry. You are right." Serene finally realized what I meant after a glance at her shoulder. She then frowned. "That's a problem… You're a vanguard, right? Not an archer. It would be best if Shining Arrow is the one who stood guard here."

"I will manage. I don't think I will do any better at New Soil either. Besides, I think Shining will do far better in New Soil since she is an archer. The wall will be an advantageous position for her."

"Well, unlike Red Hound, you do have ranged attacks. But…” Serene pondered.

"... Lily. If you have any difficulties, use the lifeboat to get to the ship and sail to deeper water where the anathema can't reach, okay?" Shining said. Her smile felt a bit restrained. She knew I was a bit uncomfortable with so many MG in one place.

"It's fine. They need your help. You can go."

"I will stay here as well," Red Flame said. "You guys are right. We shouldn't leave you here all alone. Let's keep in contact through our familiars, okay?"

"Sure! Let's go. We are wasting time here." Alice and Serene climbed up the truck and acted as sentries. The three trucks then went off into the mountains. To New Soil.

Meanwhile, Red Flame Darkness muttered something, and a box from the gate appeared before him. After he opened it, he sighed and equipped the round shield inside.

"Buying new equipment?"

"Well, yes. I was saving for the weak point analysis skill. But after some counseling with Phoenix, my familiar, he said I might need something to protect myself since I am a vanguard. I spent too many points on strength. I can't dodge bullets yet. Phoenix said I need more defense."

"I think you did well."

"Well, I thought offense was the best defense. Just like you, but I've been getting stiff lately. When my shield aura broke the other day, I suddenly got the jitters."

"When you fought the chimera?"

"Yes."

"I see."

"Well, now is a good time anyway. You should buy one too. That long-range anathema took out 30 percent of my aura in one go. It might do worse if you get hit directly. Besides, when we reach this stage, getting a hundred points to open the vault is easier," he said.

"Well, one way to cover for flaws in your point distribution is to buy more equipment. Red Flame did it by buying a shield, while you can do it by buying a gun. Both are solutions in their own way."

"Is that so? I guess I will need to buy the rifle."

"Sure! One sniper rifle coming right up."

[Purchased: Hecate Sniper Rifle]

[-100 Points]

[Remaining Points: 260 (360 - 100)]

"This sniper rifle has auto-zeroing, a magitech loader, noise suppression, rangefinding, and flash suppression," Felicia explained as a box with a black sniper rifle appeared. The design of the sniper looked futuristic. The barrel was a long cuboid shape with a trigger handle attached to it. As I held it, the trigger handle glowed a bit purplish before it faded away.

"That sounds powerful. Could you explain?" I was desperate for more details. We had plenty of time now anyway. I should have bought a bow. The gun looked a bit unwieldy, and I had no idea how to use it. I had never used a gun, not even in games.

"It is better than human-made with various functions to make it easier to be used even by beginners. Now, this gun has an automatic collapsible leg stabilizer that will fold and stretch at your command with a biometric lock. The rifle's effective range is about 1 km. The scope is hidden within the sleek futuristic barrel and can support up to 40x magnification with an infrared sensor. The loader can support up to 20-millimeter caliber custom rounds. The specific rifle you bought is bolt action, but if you buy a feeder, you could make it into an automatic rifle with about 100 rounds per minute."

"Ah, you bought a gun? Looks neat!" Red Flame commented.

"Hm? Yes. I thought since I bought a harpoon gun, I might as well buy real guns for the scorpions."

"Oh, you have a rare gun vault? Neat! What caliber is this? I play some FPS games, too." He asked for the gun and swung it around, looking through its scope. So that's how you use it. But when he pressed the trigger, nothing happened.

"Huh, what? Biometric lock? So only Lily can use it?" Red Flame spoke to his shoulder. "Well, I guess I am a little rude. Here. Let me test it once or twice later, okay!"

"It is still empty anyway," I answered.

"I can unlock the biometric lock for any MG nearby. Do you want to do it?"

"Okay. I trust you," I answered. I didn't care about the lock. Some anathema have hands and can operate simple tools. So, I understood why Felicia gave me guns with locks. But, as long as they were humans, it should be safe.

"Unfortunately, this gun is dexterity-aligned. So, it won't display its full power to you compared to other MGs that focus on Dexterity, like MG Shining Arrow or Magitech Rangers. Nevertheless, ranged weapons are vital for any MG worth their salt. By buying ammunition, you can punch anathema higher than your level by quite a significant margin."

"Really?"

"Yes. For example, it would take ten or twenty humans to surround a single Fomorian hound and stab it with a spear. By buying a silverbane gun, a single human could face three or even twenty fomorian hounds depending on their equipment and environment. The same is true for magical girls and guardians."

"Alice seemed to struggle…" I muttered.

"Well, as the tropes go. Too awesome to use. She might have it in her dimensional storage but refuses to use it. Or she is simply stingy with points, or she bought weapons that don't need ammunition."

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"She is a pink. I wonder why she seems stingy with points," I mused.

"If she doesn't want to tell, then it's not our business to pry. She might be saving her points to buy the next tier. The next tier, Masterwork, is ten thousand points, you know," Red Flame replied. I hadn't realized I had spoken out loud. I nodded in shame.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Alright, next. The bullet. You could use the standard bullet, which costs 5 points for a hundred rounds. The bullet is tipped with silverbane, which will destroy the anathema's core framework. However, this will have little effect on anathema above level twenty. Therefore, I recommend several specialized bullets to deliver the silverbane tip to the enemy."

"Ah. I know about silverbane tips," I muttered. Silverbane is usually coated onto bullets and destabilizes anathema's core framework. It is a magical ore that is not from Earth. It is the most effective means of fighting anathema and employable by the human race.

Humanity's conventional weapons still work against anathema, but silverbane tips are on another level. There are videos on social media that explain the difference. A low-level anathema was kept in a cage and then shot using Earth's rifles. The anathema was wounded. However, after ten minutes, the wounds healed, and the bullet was ejected from its body. Only after the scientist emptied a magazine into it did the anathema die. However, using silverbane bullets, the anathema limped and worked hard to remove the bullet, but it couldn't because it was restrained. The anathema then died and gradually turned into smoke after twenty minutes of painful struggle.

Red Flame left me muttering alone with my familiar as he looked around for potential anathema invasions on our beach while carrying his new shield and his two-handed sword. He seemed able to hold the sword without difficulty; maybe he had enough STR stats for it. I was not standing in the open. I had a four-meter-tall rock behind me as I continued to listen to Felicia's explanation.

"Next, let's talk about bullets. Bullets are divided into two sections: types and caliber. Generally speaking, the higher the caliber, the more powerful the bullet. Unlike conventional weaponry from Earth, our guns don't have a fixed caliber. They can fit any caliber bullet up to twenty mm."

"Twenty millimeters?" I moved my finger and imagined the diameter of the bullet. Despite knowing my security guard desperately wanted silverbane bullets, I had never seen one. It seemed small, only two centimeters wide, but I certainly wouldn't like it if it pierced me.

"Twenty millimeters? That's a standard bullet for autocannons," Red Flame, who was eavesdropping, commented. The surroundings were quiet, and even our murmurs seemed to travel quite a distance.

"A cannon?" I asked.

"Well, this is just from a game, but a 20 mm caliber is usually placed as a turret. It's not typically used inside a gun that's barely a meter long. Huh? Oh, it really could? Well, I wanna shoot it! Lily! Let me borrow the gun sometime. I'll buy you something extra!" It seems like his familiar interrupted him with new information.

"Well, sure."

"Now, let's talk about bullet types. There are many types, but let's start with the four most commonly used bullets against anathema: full metal jacket (FMJ), hollow point, explosive fragment, and finned."

I tilted my head. Felicia stared at me and kindly summarized her explanation.

"FMJ has the most piercing power. The hollow point prevents over-penetration and is the most lethal only if it hits an anathema's soft spot. You should use the Hollow points bullet if friendlies are in the area. An explosive fragment behaves like a grenade upon impact. And finned is if you want the bullet to fly subsonic and curve at a pre-calculated ballistic line. Finned is basically a smart bullet."

"Well, explanation time is over. Phoenix saw something. Anathema in the distance," Red Flame said. "If you want to use the new gun, now is the time."

A dozen minotaurs came rushing down with four scorpions in tow. Just like before, the scorpions stopped a distance away while the minotaurs charged closer. I readied my naginata. Red Flame wouldn't be able to stop a dozen bulls at once. I had to help. I summoned six of my clones at once, leaving fifty mana for emergency use. Nausea hit me for a moment before it passed. Felicia had warned me about using all of my mana at once, but I had no choice now.

"Felicia, 2 dozen FMJs, please."

"Are you sure you don't want to purchase in bulk? I suggest buying 100 bullets for 90 points."

"Done. Do it!"

"Roger nyaa."

[Purchased: Full Metal Jacket silverbane core bullet x100]

[-90 Points]

[Remaining Points:170 (260-90)]

Using a harpoon gun, Clone 1 hit one of the Horned Hellspawn's legs, and I split its head open. Red Flame did the same with Clone 2 and his melee harpoon, but after he stabbed the minotaur in the neck, its friends flanked him and sent him flying. I had no time to help him. Another one of my clones jabbed a minotaur with a javelin, but it didn't budge. As one of the Horned Hellspawn intended to crush Clone 3, I heard a pop behind me, followed by a crack, and its head now had a fist-sized hole in it.

"That looked a lot bigger than two centimeters…" I muttered after seeing the hole. The gun was quieter than I thought, but it wasn't completely silent. Thanks to the automatic suppressor, my ears didn't hurt. It was similar to hearing explosions through earphones. Still loud but manageable.

"The silverbane bullet disintegrated the anathema's coreframe, so the hole is bigger than the caliber size," Felicia explained.

"Next!" I chopped a minotaur into five pieces while dodging its arms.

"Hraagh!!" a shout came from beside me as Red Flame rejoined the fight. His sword decapitated a Horned Hellspawn.

"Watch out, three of them have weapons. One has a spear, one has battle axes, and another has two axes."

"Ah… it's like Arachnomantis again. Will there be mages next?"

"I don't see any Horned Hellspawn mages nearby," Felicia answered my sarcastic questions seriously. So, there really is one.

"Eat this!!" Red Flame screamed as he charged into another Horned Hellspawn. He covered his head with his shield, and an explosion soon occurred right at his shield. I remembered at once that these minotaurs were not alone. There were three more sniping scorpions behind them. I ordered Clone 4 to target the scorpions with the sniper rifle while I moved next to a minotaur, trying to get to cover.

Two of the minotaurs soon fell as a result of excellent cooperation from the other clones, except Clone 4. Clone 2 hit one beast with the harpoon, but it didn't fall this time. However, it proved to be an excellent distraction as Clone 3 hit it with a javelin right in the neck with a jump. The other minotaur tried to help it, but Clone 1 held it in place with the harpoon gun. With the grace of a coordinated dancer, Clone 6 stabbed it in the knee with my other javelin while sliding, followed by a horizontal slash from Clone 5 with my darkeater naginata. Clone 2 and Clone 3 then pulled their respective javelin and harpoon and joined in to kill it.

"I will handle the spear!"

A pop, followed by a crackle, killed one of the two scorpions. Then, another explosion from the scorpions took out Clone 5, leaving her naginata on the ground. I was soon engaged in combat with the hellspawn wielding the battle axe. I jumped and swung my naginata downward, hoping my stats would let me cleave it in two. A loud clang, followed by a windblast, erupted, obscuring our vision for a moment. When the sand settled back on the Earth, I saw the minotaur standing its ground, holding its battle axe.

With coordination rivaling my clones, another hellspawn charged at me from the flank, but Clone 3 recklessly jumped from behind me and intercepted it. The two traded blows, but the beast came out on top, decapitating Clone 3 while my clone jabbed my javelin through its chest.

Using my remaining mana, I swung my icerail and two icicles shot out, turning the minotaur's head into a popsicle. Clone 3 had provided a sufficient distraction. Clone 6 then delivered the coup de grâce, cracking the popsicle open as I looked back toward the battleaxe-wielding minotaur. It jumped and slashed downward with all its strength. I copied what it did before and held my naginata above my head. Another windblast occurred, obscuring my vision. As the dust settled, I was knee-deep in the sand with the menacing bull on top of me, holding its axe.

"Die!" A flash of white decapitated its head before I could react. Red Flame had finished his business with the spear-wielding minotaur and helped me with the last one. A pop then resounded. With my tracker skill, I knew another scorpion was dead. The rest of my clones bullied the last unarmed minotaur before killing it. An explosion from scorpions blasted Clone 2's head, but a pop from Clone 6 soon followed, marking the end of the battle.

[Defeated: Horned Hellspawn level 25 x8]

[Defeated: Scorpion Hellspawn level 22 x3]

[Reward: 430 Points]

[Remaining Points: 600 (170+430)]

[You have leveled up to level 22]

[Bonus Point: 50]

[Your Slayer Class has leveled up to level 5/30]

[2 skill options unlocked]

As we finished off the Horned Hellspawn and scorpions, another swarm of anathema emerged from a distance. Various ghouls and low-level monsters followed. The battle is not over.