MK2 Heavy Revolver, Explosive Arrows

Merlin rolled across the ground, landing in a half-crouch before glancing back at the pile of Ducati fragments, a flicker of pain flashing through his eyes.

My beloved ride...

"Merlin Shaw! Come quietly with me, and I won't hurt you." The Lizardman's hoarse, low voice rasped out as he took heavy, slow steps closer.

Merlin stood and turned around, letting out a resigned sigh. "Couldn't you have waited a bit longer? I wasn't even ready yet."

Peter, whose mind was already spiraling into frenzy, froze for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"Peter, I know it's you. I also know why you're looking for me. But now isn't the time."

Peter faltered, his cold, reptilian pupils contracting sharply.

"You've known about this all along!" He took an instinctive step back, his voice trembling with shock.

"I figured it out from the experimental data you sent me."

He'd known from the very beginning.

Peter looked down at Merlin before him, still wearing that harmless, innocent expression. Anyone who saw him would instinctively take him for a naive, green high school student.

But at that moment, a wave of unfamiliarity surged unbidden from the depths of Peter's heart.

It felt as if every turn of events had been woven into an invisible web by the other party.

Yet soon, the influence of the genes within him pushed the thought aside, steeling his resolve once more. He stepped forward, his massive frame leaning in, towering over Merlin.

"Then you should know what I want. Come join us. We'll be humanity's first wave of evolvers. Thousands of years have passed, and humanity is still stuck in place. This fragile body of ours needs an evolution!"

"From now on, humanity will no longer suffer from disease or the pain of lost limbs!" Peter spread his arms wide, muttering with a manic fervor.

"Uh... I'd rather not end up like you. Kinda ugly." Merlin's eye twitched as he took in Peter's hideous lizard face and green, keratinous skin.

Compared to a Lizardman, he still preferred Individual Combat Armor and mechs.

"That's not up to you!" Peter seemed to have anticipated the refusal, so he wasn't overly enraged. He believed that once the other party was injected with the Regeneration Potion, they'd change their mind.

Only his current form was the perfect vessel.

As he spoke, his massive claws shot toward Merlin.

"You're kind of gross, so maybe don't touch me." Merlin muttered with a look of disgust, pulling out his Atomic Gun from his waist.

"Useless! That's just a toy gun to me now." A hint of mockery gleamed in Peter's eyes. He'd seen the gun's power at the previous Tech Expo, and even then it couldn't stop him. Now, with his greatly enhanced evolution, he could even withstand those special Incendiary Rounds.

"This time, it's not a prototype." Merlin tilted his head and pulled the trigger.

"Vroom!" Atomic energy erupted in the air instantly, sending a dazzling arc of electricity crackling outward.

Peter, who was about to touch Merlin, was sent flying like a cannonball.

"Bam!" His massive body arced through the air before crashing onto the street, limbs splayed.

After repelling Peter, Merlin didn't continue using the Atomic Gun. Instead, he pulled out a hefty revolver.

"Come taste my new big toy!"

The MK2 Heavy Revolver—its frame was unlike an ordinary pistol, exuding a metallic heft.

In the game, it was two shots, one kill.

"Hmph..." Peter stood up, shaking his dazed head, then fixed his gaze on Merlin across from him.

Seeing the dark, gaping muzzle of the heavy revolver in the other's hand, a sudden sense of danger rose in his heart.

"Woo-woo-woo..." Just then, a dense chorus of sirens rang out from afar, growing closer.

The police were coming!

The Manhattan District police had been searching for the Lizardman's trail this whole time, patrolling daily.

So the moment Peter appeared—and in the Queens Central District, no less—they reacted swiftly.

The sirens made Peter's mood turn instantly irritable.

"ROAR!!! MERLIN!!!" Peter bellowed, grabbing a nearby Fire Hydrant.

"Pshh!" The red hydrant snapped off instantly, water gushing out under immense pressure from the pipe.

Peter hefted the hydrant, ready to throw—but the next second, a deafening blast rang out.

Merlin pulled the trigger, a massive recoil jolting through his hand.

"BANG!"

In the next instant, the hydrant in Peter's hand, along with his palm, exploded into pieces.

"Tch... Lucky shot." Merlin winced. The revolver packed a punch and never jammed, but the trade-off was brutal recoil and reduced accuracy.

Especially with this upgraded MK2 Heavy Revolver.

Peter stared blankly at his shattered hand, but the wound quickly regenerated at a visible rate.

The sirens grew closer. Peter had no time to dwell on his shock. His legs exploded with power as he charged at Merlin again.

Merlin adjusted his aim downward and pulled the trigger once more.

"Bang!" Peter's right foot exploded on the spot. As he stepped into empty air, he stumbled and pitched forward, sliding a short distance across the ground.

"Bang!" The bullet whistled past, but this time it missed.

Peter used both hands and feet, crawling along the ground like a giant lizard, his agility greatly increased.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..." A scarlet forked tongue kept flicking from his mouth as he slithered and twisted across the ground, advancing steadily. His cold, vertical pupils remained fixed on Merlin as he drew closer.

But the next moment, as if he had seen something, his body suddenly stiffened.

Merlin across from him had somehow pulled out another heavy revolver, now holding twin guns aimed his way.

No martial honor!

"How many guns is this guy carrying?"

One gun was already too much for him; with two, he'd definitely be wrecked.

The police sirens grew closer, and he had already thought of retreat.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!" But just then, streaks of black arrows suddenly whistled in from afar, striking his body.

"Beep, beep, beep!!!" The alloy arrowheads flashed red, and the next moment his massive form was engulfed in clusters of fireballs.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As the flames gradually dissipated, another arrow whistled through the air, exploding midair into a wide net that descended toward Peter's direction.

But as the black smoke cleared, there was nothing under the net—it had caught only emptiness.

And Peter, who had been enveloped in flames, had vanished from his spot at some unknown time.

"Nice one, playing the trope game with me, huh."

Whenever a monster gets caught in an explosion, it usually means it's escaped.

As Merlin spoke, he spun both revolvers around his fingertips like a cowboy, smoothly holstering them at his waist, then turned his gaze to the person who had suddenly entered the fray.