I, Shinjeo, stood before an enemy who vanquished four parties before standing alone with my blade and gun, soul and bond held, two and two. It seemed like it was gonna be another long day.
I looked up as I loaded 6 bullets into my ｢Rashomon Revolver｣.
“This sure as hell ain’t gonna be easy.”
“Let’s get this party started already!”
‘ ｢Ultimate Concentration | Gun Blade Blitz｣’
I shot all 6 bullets in succession towards the massive Automaton.
‘ ｢Lightning Transformation | First Stage｣’
I ran while gathering ether all around me, enveloped in a blue aura of lightning, increasing my speed to outrun the bullets I shot previously.
‘ ｢Gunblade Arts | Blade Slash & Gun Flash｣’
I jumped up slashing the Automaton’s weak points and jumped back off its chest.
‘ ｢Lightning Bond | Full Bloom｣’
Lightning surged from my body and enveloped the bullets I shot, ultimately hitting each of the automatons’ weak points and exploding.
“Easy as pie! Those obnoxious guild bastards wouldn’t listen to my strategy!”
The smoke cleared and a dark shadow revealed itself before me.
“I did not sign up for this kahuna of surprises!”
[New Scenario!]
[Defeat The Hidden Boss | Izanagi (SSS+)]
[Success | Legendary+ Rank Class and Skills]
[Failure | Death, and Expulsion from the ESSE Course]
I closed the window and cursed myself. This is what I get for trying to carry some B-Rank plebs. My skills have already been activated, so let me make this quick.
“Oi, shithead, let’s get this over with so I can make myself a drink.”
“You know not what you seek to vanquish, dear mortal of the Covenant.”
“Yeah, yeah, Izaidiot, come on and fight me, I’ll bust a cap in your head.”
“Seeker of the Truth, Do not regret this choice you are making.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
‘ ｢Gunblade Arts | Blast & Slash｣’
｢Lightning Transformation｣ still had 10 minutes left, and ｢Ultimate Concentration｣ doubled my damage and lowered the enemy’s defense for another 15 minutes so I have a chance. I hadn’t seen any SSS+ classes since the day I lost everything, and I sure as hell ain’t losing shit now.
Bullets doubled and followed me as I ran towards the boss, I went for a feint and swung my ｢Oroboros Blade｣ forth and jumped back as my bullets crashed into him.
“Gotcha, you fell for it you fool!”
The demon didn’t fall back in any form so I attempted a follow-up.
‘ ｢Lightning Bond | Full Load｣’
I rushed up and shoved my revolver into this fucker’s chest and shot directly and fully.
“Insolent Human such attacks will not work against a True Blood God, now it’s my turn”
[Boss is activating ｢Chaos Arts | Blood Counter｣, Stand Guard! and prepare for impending damage.]
Shit, my attacks barely put a couple of cuts and holes into his body and are being healed by his innate regeneration. It’s time for me to pull with the full stops.
[｢Chaos Arts | Blood Counter｣ has been activated.]
“FULL GUARD | BULLETS PROTECT ME FROM THE SCORN OF MY ENEMIES AND BLADE CUTAWAY ALL TRANSGRESSIONS!”
[Damage will be relegated to 25% of your base health]
What? Did the system just tell me that I would be reduced to ¼ of my HP? Well, fuck me cause I’m heading on to meet my maker.
“SHRINK BACK IN FEAR, MERE MORTAL!”
“Listen, Izaidiot, I ain’t backing down at all. I’ve been fighting for longer than you’ve been here.”
And shit I did eat, I was blown back by a force of a thousand Karens coming to run me over. I staggered upholding my bleeding arm.
‘ ｢Ultimate Focus | Chronos Reverb｣’
My wounds retracted and my body returned to the state it was at about a minute before, Izaidiot here slammed my ass. ｢Chronos Reverb｣ is a skill that rewinds the state of my body about a minute from the time I call it out, effectively healing me but keeping that mental fatigue. It was a skill I could use only about once a blue moon due to the immense mental fatigue I would feel.
“Let’s finish this, oh great SSS+ Class God!”
“Mortal, I do not know what wizardry you used to revert your body but it matters not for I will shatter your body here.”
‘ ｢Multiskill Activated｣’
‘ ｢Lightning Transformation | Second Stage｣, ｢Ultimate Focus | Dire Straits｣, ｢Lightning Bond | Bullet Burn, Slash Burn｣’
｢Lightning Transformation｣ filled my body with enough power to keep me awake from the immense mental fatigue and ｢Dire Straits｣ allowed me to gain 3x my normal strength and defense. I would be ending this.
I shot and slashed and clashed with this damn accursed being for 30 seconds before activating my final card.
‘ ｢Gunblade Arts | Full Counter｣’
This skill would take all my accumulated attacks that I dealt healed or not and unleash them into a single strike from my gun and blade.
[Boss is activating ｢Chaos Arts | Final Revenant｣]
Our attacks felt like they lasted for an eternity, but I pulled through and gave one last burst of energy, effectively ending the cursed beast.
“You will never reach the truth of this world, I’ll come back and curse you from the depths of Tartarus! Gods will never forget this loss!”
“Shut up. Does it matter if you’re a god and I’m mortal? What is a damn god to a non-believer?!”
I shot one last bullet into its head to make sure it faded quickly, but I coughed up blood. I did not come out of this battle unscathed, my body was a complete mess, I overloaded my body with skills and constant abuse from the fucker caused major physical damage on top of the mental fatigue I had. It looks like it was all gonna end here with my end to a demon I fought heartedly alone.
I closed my eyes and memories of those guys poured in.
“Ah, what a shitty life this was, in the end, I fell like the rest of them. Rish, please forgive me, this brother of yours couldn’t keep his promise.”
My health was slowly deteriorating and it looked like I had a minute left from dusting away like the demon. A [!] sign showed up in front of me, however, and I clicked it.
[Congratulations you have passed the SSS+ Hidden Scenario! Here are your rewards!]
[ ｢Final Arts | True Reversal｣, Class Change | ｢Flash Chronos Gunblader｣ (L+ Class Rating)]
[Accept Rewards Y / N]
I checked the credentials for the ｢Final Arts｣ skill, to my surprise it was a rewind skill that was far far greater than the one I possessed. It effectively brought me to the beginning of my journey and saved most of my skills to their most basic form. I didn’t check the class change, but I quickly accepted the rewards and was imbued with power. I wasn’t going to lose them again, This world has blessed me with a chance.
[｢Final Arts | True Reversal｣ activated, returning to the first incarnation 10 years ago.]