It felt like a whole world froze exactly at the moment when Robert’s body was at the peak point of his jump. He could clearly feel the cold wind that was blowing from the side. The blinding light from the sun was finally showing itself from the clouds. And of course, the huge enemy’s dirigible that was occupying over half of his sight. Even though its cabin was much lower, it was just too big, rising far above with its enormous balloon. Moreover, the cabin itself had two floors, giving plenty of places for beastmen to use as a shooting spot.

Currently, around a dozen of them were aiming with their weapons. Somehow Rob could see the rage that was painted on their faces. A sincere desire to kill. To take their revenge as at least five motionless bodies were lying behind their backs. Maybe there were more, hidden behind the covers, dead from the dwarf’s bullets. Still, some of them were standing straight, like the pilot, who was actively turning the wheel of the airship in an attempt to follow them. This beastman didn’t look angry but more in anticipation of the hunt, grinning with a mad distorted smile.

That was the last thing Robert saw before the world came back to life. Instantly accelerating to an ordinary speed, it simultaneously started to pull his body down. However, he was ready as the conjured metal was already going through his shirt, creating huge wings from his hands. Not stopping on that, a very thin construct was spreading even further, while connecting in one single piece directly on his back. He felt an emptiness in his stomach before the strong hit pushed him up when Rob’s self-made glider caught the airflow. Turning his body to the right by instinct, he barely managed to correct his trajectory before his very short flight came to an abrupt end. Crashing into the ballon itself above the cabin, he instantly started to slide down. It took a mere second to redirect his efforts from wings to hooks, but that was too late. The sphere form of the ballon’s side had already turned into a negative decline, sending Rob into the fall.

The thought about how far the ground felt like a morale boost. Acting without thinking, Robert had made his unused hooks grow longer. Much longer. Stretching his arms in an attempt to stop his fall, he was terrified to see how the steel instrument on the left was barely able to scratch the surface of the cabin before dropping down without result. Luckily the right had managed to hook on. The strong push almost tore his shoulder, sending a wave of pain when all his inertia was stopped by it.

Crying from the terrible feeling, Rob still focused on raising himself up. The steel instrument under his mental command was quickly decreasing in length, while he was hanging on it like a sack. His dislocated arm was completely unusable and only the fact that he didn’t need to physically hold his conjured element helped him to avoid the fate of a meat paste.

The moment Robert had reached the cabin, he had to avoid the strike of a bayonet aimed directly into his face. Barely reacting by conjuring a metal mask, he felt a strong impact with a screeching sound when the blade gazed at the metal. Gripping the barrel of the rifle, he immediately pulled it down, forcing the dumfounded soldier to follow his weapon. This second of surprise had cost the latter his life when he flew over the bulwark with a surprisingly high-pitched scream.

Not wasting time, Rob was already climbing up. Pushing his body over the ship’s palisade, he dropped to the ground only to avoid a few bullets that flew over his head. Glancing down the pathway, he saw two soldiers in the process of reloading. Cursing his luck, he instantly summoned a shield on his usable arm and jumped up. Following gunshots were met with steel plates of proper thickness to protect himself, while he was charging directly on them. The strong hit had thrown both enemies as they were weightless.

Stopping for a moment, Robert turned his attention to his shoulder. Grabbing his rope-like hand, he pulled it downwards, simultaneously creating the biggest ball he could directly in the palm. This instantaneous increase in weight made something in his shoulder snap, leading to a painful groan. Dispersing the load, he was glad to feel his fingers, despite the horrible pain.

Still unworkable… Left it is…

Creating a pad around his right shoulder to fix in one position, Robert stepped forward to meet both doth soldiers, who were already back on their feet. One of them was taking his knife out while the other was trying to pick up his rifle. Glancing on the former and his weapon, Rob widely smiled, finally feeling an ability to impact the situation around himself, and not just patiently waiting for something to happen. The powerless anxiety was over and now he was one to bear the consequences of his action, which was much better than relying on fate, other’s deeds, or just stupid luck, which in his case was the worst.

“That’s not a knife… This is a knife,” conjuring a half-meter (3 ft) blade, Rob added with a wild grin, “always wanted to say this.”

With a shout either to scare Robert or to give enough bravery for himself, the soldier lunged himself forward only to be impaled a moment later by the short sword, which was put forward in thrusting strike. The steel strip had entered his stomach, while the gaze of beastman was locked on Rob’s crazy smile. However, before he could do anything, Robert rotated his weapon, widening the wound. The following kick had thrown the beastman back on his comrade, who was raising the weapon. The protruding bayonet had meat the flesh of the unlucky guy, going through his heart from the back.

The soldier died instantly, keeping his dumbfounded expression till the end. The killer, too shocked after his own deed, involuntarily pulled the trigger, sending an additional bullet into the corpse. The next moment a short pickaxe made a hole in his skull, going through the helmet, and enveloping surroundings in darkness.

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Dispersing the weapon, Rob hastily grabbed the rifle only to drop it a moment later as not only it was completely uncomfortable to aim from a different shoulder and eye, but also the enemies didn’t wish to give him any chance. Diving into the nearest room, he barely avoided a few shots and possible death. The clumsy dodge reminded him about his injury once again, when he had hit the floor. At least the wound was slowly fading away, thanks to his increased regeneration. However, the unpleasant feeling disappeared even faster, when he realized where he was. A small storage room, filled with multiple boxes of ammunition. Connected to another with a bombarding compartment, it had plenty of toys.

“Keep shooting! Do not give him an opportunity…”

The beastman’s officer voice was cut off when Robert had hurled a grenade down the pathway, before ducking back. The projectile was flying with such force that managed to break the nose of a soldier before bouncing back to the floor. The loud explosions made the whole cabin tremble, sending fragments everywhere. The smoke hadn’t even dissipated when Rob already started running to the epicenter of the devastation. The wide gap on the wooden surface and bulwark together with a few lying bodies took all the attention of soldiers behind, missing the approaching figure.

Jumping over the hole and reaching the other end of the dirigible with lightning speed, Robert rammed into the nearest soldier, sending him over the edge. Not stopping his motions, he conjured a sword before making a wide swing, simultaneously turning around. Cutting through the face of another soldier, it got stuck in the neck of a third beastman. He might have hit the arteria as a real spray of blood painted the surroundings in red. What was more important, it had blinded the wounded soldier, not giving him a chance to react on the second finishing strike.

Using a long bolt-action rifle in melee is a suicide. Revolvers, on other…

Rob was interrupted by a movement on the periphery of his sight. Turning around, he was met with a rifle’s barrel aiming at his face from there meter distance (around 10ft). Too far to reach with his arm but too close for missing. The soldier was leaning out from the corner and was part of a group on the second pathway. His trembling lips and teary eyes were literally crying from fear.

“Don’t shoot…, “Slowly raising his open left palm, Robert continued, “We can discuss…”

The following gunshot made him blink. He tried to be fast to summon a shield from his palm to cover himself but was a bit too late. Feeling a strong impact, Robert was readying for the pain that never came. Looking down on himself, he was in search of any wounds only to fail. It took a few more seconds before he realized that the soldier indeed didn’t miss, shooting directly into his injured shoulder that was covered by a steel pad. The bullet was still stuck there. Turning his attention back, Rob saw how the beastman was hastily gripping the bolt to reload. However, the shot never came as the enemy had already emptied his magazine earlier.

“Oh, you are so fucked!”

Grabbing the barrel of the rifle with a swift motion, he pulled it before forcefully shoving it back, directing the weapon's butt into the soldier’s face. Repeating such hits a few times until the enemy was barely standing, Rob had to sidestep the thrust of a bayonet from another soldier with dog’s facial features. Closing the distance, he crashed his elbow into the jaw of the disoriented beastman. The body of the latter instantly went limp only to be grabbed by Robert. Tightening the grip on the clothes and inwardly thanking the quality of the fabric, he raised the enemy with his left hand before throwing it back.

The narrow pathway of the dirigible didn’t give any space for retreat. Still, the dog-like man tried. Putting his rifle up, he tried to resist the hit from the improvised projectile. He even did it successfully, pushing away unconscious comrade-in-arms… right over the bulwark. Instinctively trying to grab the falling body, he completely missed the swing of the axe.

Stepping over the fallen body, Rob carefully went forward only to stop near the room with a ladder. Two soldiers were pointing their weapons at the doorways, which made him immediately turn around and grab the nearest dead before shoving it inside. Raging gunshots found nothing except empty air, while Robert was already in a motion. Charging to the nearest enemy with a conjured spear, he rammed into him with force, piercing not only the chest but also the wooden wall. Dispersing the construct, he turned around only to see how a grenade was thrown down from an upper room.

Exchanging a shocked look with the survivor, Rob instantly rushed out, noticing how the enemy went in an attempt to throw away the explosive object. The heat together with shockwave had sent Robert flying, clearly indicating the beastman’s failure. However, being carried by inertia right over the edge of the bulwark while feeling an impact from a few fragments wasn’t any better.

Making a somersault in the air and somehow managing to conjure long hooks that, surprisingly, even pierced the wood and prevented his fall, Robert barely stabilized himself in a hanging position. The endless sky under his feet, despite its beauty, currently looked quite undesirable. Especially, when he noticed another huge dirigible that was approaching from underneath.

They just don’t want to end!

Slowly raising his body up, he was shocked to see how an enemy officer was trying to climb down on broken ladder. The wooden construct, already damaged beyond repair, managed to hold just a single step before breaking apart and sending high-rank soldiers into the fall. Pushing himself up, Robert almost catapulted himself back to the dirigible. Such hasty motion wasn’t missed by the enemy, who was lying in the wooden debris. After losing his revolver, he didn’t find anything better than to grab a grenade from his belt. Swiftly igniting, he instantly threw it into Rob.

Unfortunately, the latter wasn’t better in his reaction. Summoning a baseball bat in his left hand, he clumsily hit the projectile to send to the side – directly through the gap in the wall through several rooms, ending in second to last. The room, which happened to be a section meant for bombing. And of course, it had quite a few things ready to drop.

Oh, crap!

Instantly turning around and jumping out of the dirigible, Robert had a single thought before the thunderous explosion outsounded the whole world.

Where was that airship again?