Gangster’s Paradise.

The trio of Miko, Momo, and Tia had begun their campaign of destroying a country-sized territory after hearing that the Black Spades were spotted there a few days ago. They were in the middle of burning the third town in that territory to the ground. Players were scrambling while getting killed by the tens. The three were a force of destruction.

“Hm?”

While they were destroying everything in front of them, Tia noticed someone was quickly making their way toward them. She turned around and fired some missiles at the person, no questions asked. The missiles exploded and turned the area into a sea of fire. Yet, Tia frowned. She jumped back while grabbing onto Miko and Momo. A deafening explosion erupted where they were before.

“Looks like we have trouble.”

Miko lifted his head. Dozens of figures were on the rooftops surrounding them.

“I think we might’ve found what we were looking for.”

Momo noticed someone in the sea of flames. They walked out of the flames holding a canon-sized gun. This person was dressed in full brown leather, had their bandana tied around their nose and mouth, and wore goggles and a helmet. It was impossible to see their facial features.

A grin appeared on Tia’s face.

“Jackpot. Look at the gun that he’s holding. That’s a modified Revolver Cannon. It’s powerful enough to shoot aircrafts out of the sky. It’s very hard to get. If anyone would have it, then that would be a pro gamer.”

“Is that so?”

Miko stepped out and drew two katanas from his side.

“So you’re Ace?”

(He’s using katanas today again. Maybe he found the sword that he’s most comfortable with.)

Momo checked her surroundings.

(They’re quite a lot of people surrounding us. Did he bring the entire gang?...This might be tough.)

“I heard you were looking for the Black Spades.”

Ace stopped less than a hundred meters from them.

“Well, here we are.”

The sounds of guns being cocked reached the trio’s ears.

“I see you’ve come prepared.”

Tia stepped forward aiming two grenade launchers at Ace.

“Well, so have we.”

“You’re Jack Matters, correct? We’ve clashed quite a bit. Could it be that you’re Miko?”

The trio’s eyes widened.

(He knows Miko is in this group? How?)

Momo was confused while an amused smile appeared on Tia’s face.

(That little girl…)

Miko pointed his blade at Ace.

“So you knew I was among this group and still came for a fight?”

“Why not? A person’s social status means nothing to me. If I think you’ll make a fun opponent I’ll hunt you down. I’m a PK specialist after all.”

A huge grin appeared on Miko’s face.

“I like your attitude.”

Miko rushed towards Ace using his top speed.

“Wait, Miko!”

Tia held onto Momo.

“Remember, this is his assignment.”

Miko quickly cut the distance between him and Ace.

“He’s quick…But not quick enough.”

Explosions echoed as bullets rained down from the rooftops. Miko dove and crashed through a glass window and into a store. Ace turned his cannon towards the store and opened fire. Explosions erupted and the building collapsed within seconds.

“……….”

Ace stared at the burning rubble while keeping vigilant. The sound of glass shattering reached his ear. He turned to his side and a katana was inches away from his head. He twisted his body and avoided it at the last second.

(He threw his sword?! From where?!)

He noticed the windows of the building next to the one he destroyed were shattered. There was also a hole in the side of the wall.

“He must’ve destroyed the walls of that building and hid inside it when I was bombarding the store.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Ace fired at the building. Not only it, but he also started destroying all of the buildings on that side of the street.

“Ace has good battle sense. He didn’t hesitate to destroy the other buildings to prevent Miko from hiding in them.”

Tia was enjoying the show.

“However, Miko is pretty cunning.”

Behind Ace, the katana he avoided earlier was lodged in the ground. Suddenly, it flew out of the ground and head towards Ace’s back.

“?!”

Ace turned his body and blocked it with his cannon.

“Shit!”

He cursed. The katana was lodged in the cannon. He threw it to the ground.

“He must’ve tied wires to the katana….He was aiming for my weapon from the start.”

He scanned the area.

“He hasn’t attacked me, then his target must be…”

Explosions erupted on the rooftops. Scorched bodies flew through the sky and crashed into the earth. Gunshots echoed but they were drowned out by explosions.

“He’s using explosives to quickly clear out the rooftops…Other than myself, the basic skills of the Black Spades aren’t all that, which makes them NPCs. But to take them out so easily…”

Explosions and screams resounded through the area, and yet Ace couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ve found one. I’ve found another player!”

The sounds of gunshots and explosions stopped. Only the sounds of footsteps could be heard. Ace slowly turned his head. Miko walked towards him.

“I guess not even you could’ve survived all of that unscathed.”

Miko’s clothes were burnt and stained with blood. Cuts and burns were on his skin.

“Do you still want to continue?”

Miko kicked off the ground.

“I guess that’s a yes.”

Ace sprinted forward pulling two revolvers from his jacket. Miko pulled a katana and swung at Ace’s neck. Ace blocked it with the spine of his gun. He pointed his other gun at Miko’s head.

*Bam!*

He fired. However, Miko managed to move his head out of the way. He escaped with only a graze to his temple.

“Incredible reaction speed!”

The smile on Ace’s face widened. His eyes widened as something flew at him from behind Miko. It was the cannon he discarded. Miko’s sword was still lodged in it. Miko pulled the wires and flung the cannon. Ace spun and kicked it into the air. He glimpsed Miko rushing at him from the corner of his eye.

“This brat!”

Ace tried to fire at Miko, but Miko was faster. He swung his sword to cleave Ace in two.

*Bam!*

“?!”

However, Miko wasn’t able to slash him. He was instead shot in the shoulder. He looked and saw a concealed gun in Ace’s jacket. Sensing danger he leaped back.

“Time for my counterattack!”

Ace shed his jacket and revealed six gun nozzles attached to his sides. He pressed a button on his side and the guns started firing in unison. Miko tried to desperately deflect bullets with his swords, but there was a limit to how much he could deflect. He was beginning to take damage.

(If this continues I will die.)

He leaped to the side to get out of the way. He pulled some grenades from his pouch attached to his side and threw them. They exploded before they reached Ace.

“A smokescreen?”

Ace scanned the area and noticed an abnormality in the smoke’s flow. He fired to his left. Miko jumped out of the smoke from the right holding a chain. Ace turned towards him with a sharp gaze. A sword attached to Miko’s chain flew towards him from his blind spot.

“You’re cunning and used to fighting...”

Ace pointed two guns in two different directions. One at Miko and one at the sword flying towards him. He fired both guns. Miko was forced to dodge. The trajectory of the sword was changed. It flew past Ace.

“But I have more experience than you.”

Ace guns transformed into two grenade launchers.

“Let me show you the difference between us!”

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

The grenade launchers rapidly fired causing Miko to retreat.

“Don’t run. Let’s fight!”

*Bam!*

A bullet hit Ace’s head. His helmet cracked open. His face was revealed to be similar to his real one. He was bleeding from a small wound on his forehead.

“Hahahaha!”

Even so, Ace laughed as he bombarded Miko.

“Tsk. I can’t reach him like this. I also lost a sword because I had to release the wires.”

Miko grumbled to himself.

“If it continues like this, I’ll lose.”

Miko clenched his sword.

“It’s all or nothing!”

He stopped and charged toward Ace. He pulled out two guns and held his sword in his mouth. He fired at the grenades that were coming at him, causing them to explode before reaching him.

(Whoa! He’s shooting the ones that are furthest from him and dodging the ones closest while forcing his way through the explosions. That’s a desperate but somehow effective tactic.)

Ace praised in mind.

“Ugh?!”

He was shot in the hand and his fingers were destroyed. He could no longer hold one of his grenade launchers. With the number of grenades decreasing, Miko had an easier time advancing toward Ace.

“This is so fun!”

Ace shouted and switched to a shotgun, waiting for Miko to enter his range. The moment that happened, Ace would also be in Miko’s range.

“Let’s go, Miko!”

“Ohhh!”

Miko jumped in the air. Ace fired his shotgun and tore off one of Miko’s arm and shoulder. Miko now only had one gun and a sword. Ace fired again, and Miko flung his other arm and a leg in the way. They were blown off.

He fell towards Ace, who was getting ready to finish him off.

“Ahhh!”

To Ace’s surprise, Miko became lively with a loud roar which made him delay for a second. Miko swung his head and the sword in his mouth stabbed into Ace’s neck. However, before it could kill him Ace pulled the trigger and blew a hole through Miko’s torso, killing him.

However-

“Guh?!”

Ace’s neck was sliced open. Miko’s blade may have only stabbed into his neck by an inch, but he clenched his sword tightly with his teeth; so when Ace’s last shot blew him back killing him, the sword was blown back with him, slicing through Ace’s arteries.

This caused a large amount of blood to spray from his neck.

“Shit!”

Ace held the wound and looked down at Miko. His corpse was smiling. That’s when Ace realized something.

“That fucker! He planned this! Everything from the suicidal charge into the grenades to his death! He was planning to take me down with him!”

Ace collapsed to the ground. He was losing too much blood and this was the game’s way of telling him that he was going to die.

“To die of blood loss….To think this is how I die.”

His vision began to darken. That’s when he saw two pairs of feet appear before him. He looked up. Momo and Tia were looking down at him.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the boss of the Black Spades? How does it feel to have your gang annihilated by a 15-year-old boy?”

Tia mocked him.

“You shouldn’t have underestimated Miko. He can be pretty scary when he put his mind to it.”

Momo added.

“Hahahaha!”

Ace laughed in their faces despite his position.

“You’re right. You’re completely right.”

He smirked.

“But I gotta say, I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. I’m starting to remember what it feels like to be a true gamer again.”

“Even when you didn’t use all of your weapons? As a Pro, you must have some catastrophic weapons, but you didn’t use them against Miko. Why?”

Tia asked.

“Hey, hey. I still have my pride as a gamer. There’s no way that I’ll use premium weapons when fighting a rookie.”

“I see. Either way, this battle was very beneficial to Miko. He failed because of his suicidal plan, but there were more positives than negatives. I appreciate it.”

Tia pulled out a gun a pointed it at Ace.

“Miko brought you to this state, but I’m still upset about that time you killed me. So I’m going to finish you off.”

She smirked.

“Tell Hina, Tiamat said hello.”

Ace’s eyes widened.

“So, you’re—”

He was interrupted by the sounds of gunshots. Tia emptied a magazine in his head, finishing him off. She lifted her hand in the air with a huge smile.

“I finally got my revenge!”

Her laughter echoed throughout the burning city.