20. The Swordsman Who Shoots Guns

Gargoyles.

The town of Rugok is burning, and in the grim orange glow of destruction, I see the raiding monsters for what they are. Bat-like head and face, scaly wings, and a humanoid, muscular body equipped with a shortsword-plus-buckler combo. Whatever these Gargoyles’ intentions are, they came in numbers and with ample preparation.

The sights and sounds outside the barracks are somehow even more harrowing than the massacre I’d just left behind. Screams, shouts, children crying. The surviving members of the Town Watch are out and about, but none of them are Portallen, and the best they can manage is to focus on evacuating the townspeople.

I force myself to ‘shut off’ and think only about myself. The Watch will do their job, and I have to do mine. Which, in this case, is to kill the things Belpha wants me to kill, and live to tell the tale.

The first Gargoyle we come across dive-bombs my way as soon as it sees me. At this point, I’m not quick enough to react, and I watch in helpless alarm as the Gargoyle’s blade streaks towards my heart at speed.

“Vocadasi!”

At a shout from Belpha, a burst of yellow light erupts from her person—no, from her shield. At the same time, the Gargoyle’s bat eyes take on the same yellow glow, as if they’re reflecting Belpha’s magic. The Gargoyle then changes its trajectory mid-flight, with its sword now pointing straight into the Tiefling Knight’s shield.

It’s a [Taunt] spell if I’ve ever seen one. And it works to perfection as Belpha uses her shield and the Gargoyle’s own momentum against it, throwing it into the ground at her feet before impaling it with her halberd.

It’s a fearsome sight. Definitely the most visceral fighting style I’ve seen employed by a Portallen, and for a moment, I just stand and watch in amazement.

“Balutar, Mars Carver, balutar!”

Right. Of course. Focus on myself and my own job.

With Belpha the tank drawing the enemies’ ire, I’m freed up to mete out gun violence to my heart’s content. The next attack comes from two Gargoyles who both start out aiming for me before acceding to the effects of [Taunt].

One Gargoyle meets its end at the end of Belpha’s halberd. The other I dispatch with a bullet through its head, courtesy of a well-timed [Glock Strike].

Even in the heat of battle, the thought does occur to me: why do these Gargoyles appear to be so interested in me over Belpha? Is it just because I look like the easier target (which I definitely do, no denying that)? Or is it because—?

I remember my dream-addled hunch from earlier. The one about this whole commotion somehow being an elaborate attempt on my life. As soon as I remember it, though, I try to put it out of my mind.

Nur saita koranos. Ras saita balutar…

It soon becomes abundantly clear that Belpha and I make a really good team. She keeps the baddies away from squishy me and deals with the Gargoyles who’re foolish enough to come into halberd range. Meanwhile, all I have to do is pick off the more cautious ones that stay in the air.

We complement each other’s ‘style’ really well, and that allows us to fall into a natural rhythm. Belpha: [Taunt], shield, poke. Mars: evade, reposition, [Glock Strike].

We manage to kill monsters and sweep the town at an almost scarily efficient rate. Dead Gargoyles pile up in our wake, and the more they do, the bigger my ego and confidence swell. This is fun. This is easy.

Oh no. I said the E-word, didn’t I? I think I let my guard down because I’m partnered up with such a dominant presence in Belpha. If I were still scurrying about the place alongside Feverfew, I definitely wouldn’t have dared…

Too late. I said the E-word, so now my enemies are obligated to ramp up the difficulty.

Said ramp-up takes the form of the Gargoyles improving their ‘AI’. When they do shift their tactics though, the change is so simple that it’s a wonder they hadn’t been doing it from the beginning.

Yeah, the Gargoyles have figured out that I’ve got bullets that head for their heads with uncanny accuracy. At the same time, they’ve also remembered that they’re equipped with the means to stop that from happening.

The next group we come across is a trio, and instead of dive-bombing the first chance they get, they simply hover in the air, watching. Belpha tries her [Taunt] spell, but it’s apparently got an effective range, and the Gargoyles have also learned to stay out of said range.

With the enemies refusing to come down and play, it naturally falls to me to kill them where they stand (fly). I aim for the biggest and meanest-looking of the three and do my usual overhead swing. [Glock Strike].

Pistol up. Bullet out. Target… unharmed. The Gargoyle in question remains safe and sound thanks to the protection provided by its buckler.

I try the same thing on a second Gargoyle. Same result. The bullet clangs off the buckler and drops harmlessly to the ground underneath.

Man, what’s with the monsters in this Isekai and their defensive capabilities? Why can’t they just let a guy whose Sword Shoots Guns just Shoot some Guns in peace?

Stolen story; please report.

Not time to panic yet, though. The Gargoyles still want to kill me, so they’ve gotta fly down at some point, right? Then it’s just a simple matter of Belpha stunting on their melee-ranged asses while I finish off the stragglers.

Except… these Gargoyles have also learned the virtue of patience. And teamwork. What started as a trio soon becomes a quartet, then a quintet, then more and more numbers I don’t have the vocabulary for.

Before long, there’s a whole—let’s just call it troupe—of Gargoyles hovering in the night sky above us, watching and waiting. By now, I’ve tried [Glock Strike] several more times on different targets, all to no avail.

It’s also become abundantly clear what the Gargoyles are waiting for. The best way for them to break through a Tiefling Knight’s defenses is by overwhelming her with numbers. Belpha could [Taunt] them all she wants, but she won’t be able to deal with a dozen or more Gargoyles coming for her at once.

As the realization sets in, so rises the desperate need for a solution. In lieu of a common language, Knight and swordsman exchange a look. Hers is stern yet composed, calmly asking: “ideas, Mars Carver?”. My response is a panicked and helpless shrug.

Here, I’m forced to reckon with the weaknesses of my supposedly OP weapon.

At first glance, the STSG seems like an arsenal of ranged weapons, ready to be summoned at the flick of a blade or a turn of the hilt. A way for me to shoot at things with a variety of options, without having to carry a truckload of guns and ammo with me everywhere.

But what feels like the STSG’s versatility is, at the same time, the root of its limitations. I can only shoot guns in the specific ways made available by the gemstones. I can’t, for example, improve my own marksmanship or even aim [Glock] in the exact spots I want it to shoot at.

It’s an oddly constricting way to fight, made especially more so by enemies who’ve learned to nullify all of my options.

[Glock Strike] gets easily blocked. [Glock Parry] is useless against an enemy with no attacking intent. [Spin to Glock] is too inaccurate and spread out. And neither of the Dragon family of skills can reach a bunch of Gargoyles flapping their wings overhead.

What am I left with? Man, I wish there was a way to aim and control where my guns went! A way for me to, you know, actually Shoot the Guns that shoot my enemies.

Wait a second. What am I left with? How about a third gemstone, one that came from a Portal Realm alien robot?

I still don’t know what the thing does, but now’s as good a time as any to figure it out. Would it be laser beams? Robot tentacles? Heck, I’d even take that weird humidifier vapor thing at this point. Whatever it is, I need to figure it out and soon. But… how?

Even as the Gargoyles continue to gather in numbers and ready their swarm attack, I force myself to calm down, trying to recall how I’d done this the last time.

When I first pulled out [Flamethrower], it was against the uber-bullshit wall of basketball drones that made me mad like hell—made me channel the wrath of an ancient Dragon. Does that mean… I have to somehow channel the emotions tied to a robot alien Kraken?

I try to think back to the Kraken and the ‘emotions’ it displayed… and I come up empty. I mean, can you do any better? Can alien Terminator things even feel any emotion?

No, the only thing I can recall is this overwhelming sense of detachment and otherness. Sterile environment, uniform walls, alien technology. Big Blue Glob waiting for its challengers with an almost academic disinterest.

That’s all the Portal Realm is. An experiment. A testing ground left behind by an alien civilization that may or may not even exist anymore. Detached. Removed from reality.

Removed from time and space.

The inspiration comes to me in a sudden surge of… academic disinterest. I hold in my consciousness an image that’s most iconic to the Portal Realm: the Portal itself. Then, I draw it.

Yup. I dig the tip of STSG into the ground and drag it around in a roughly rectangular shape. Three sides of a screen, with my own feet acting as the imagined platform.

And wouldn’t you know it? A fucking Portal appears right in front of my face.

Ok, it’s not exactly the real thing, alright? I didn’t just become a walking alien Portal factory. No, it’s more like a hazy replica, one that’s smaller, incorporeal, and most definitely ‘temporary’. But it’s got that trademark blue glow that tells me I can send something into the screen and spit it back out in a second location.

Well, a second location would need a second door, right? Acting purely on intuition now, I raise the point of STSG into the air, ‘aiming’ for the space behind one of the Gargoyles. Then, I draw the shit out of that second door.

Ok, it’s not that grand a gesture. Just a little flick of the wrists to make a rough circle/rectangle with the sword. But it’s enough to manifest that second Portal, in the exact space where I wanted it.

A set of two Portals. One in front of my face, and the other situated behind my enemy’s exposed back. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what to do next.

[Glock Strike]. Into the Portal. The STSG’s blade phases into the first screen, upon which it shows up again in the air, poking out of the second screen.

I can even sense this fucked up phenomenon. Like I’d just swung my sword through two distinct areas of air resistance.

In any case, the [Glock] in question pops up from the second screen and shoots the Gargoyle in the back of its head, bypassing its buckler defense altogether. The thing goes limp in an instant, folds its wings, and falls to the ground, very dead.

I try the same thing again. Same result. With the new angle offered by the Portal in the air, [Glock Strike] is able to aim for weak spots with impunity. A second Gargoyle falls.

Mass confusion. The Gargoyles start darting all over the place, unsure who to attack and where to guard.

As for me? I look over at a wide-eyed Belpha and grin. Here’s your ‘solution’, milady.

Now I’m cooking with gas. Because, now, my Sword can actually Shoot Guns where I want them to go.