Chapter 119

The released mist was Piercer, but fortunately, Yuki's sword held the middle, deflecting the bullets with a crisp clang, but several streaks of blood still appeared on his shoulders.

You think Hesitation is Defeat?!

Yuki seemed to see a familiar face, and the Saw Cleaver looked even more familiar.

"Hunter?"

Clatter.

The only answer he received was the sound of footsteps. The priest rushed forward and slashed directly at his face with the Saw Cleaver.

Clang--

The two swords clashed, and the recoil bounced them slightly apart. The two men, who had retreated, spun around and lashed out their right legs like whips.

Bang!

The ground suddenly cracked and sank, but this time the priest retreated even further, standing on tiptoe to loosen his ankles.

It's very hard.

As their calves collided, Yuki felt a stinging pain. Despite having several states combined, he didn't have a clear advantage, followed by a sense of satisfaction.

Lately, it's either people setting off smoke screens, unleashing dogs, or using cheats. Players seem to dislike close-quarters combat and would rather stay far away and launch nuclear missiles.

That was impressive; it's been a long time since I've encountered a master of close combat.

With a swift kick, Yuki immediately straightened his body, and sure enough, the next moment, a gunshot rang out.

Bang.

It was like a different kind of bullet, with an extremely high velocity. The gunshot was still echoing when a round hole appeared in the wall, stretching into the distance.

With his legs firmly planted on the ground, Yuki sat up as if doing a sit-up. Sure enough, the priest was already in front of him, raising his knife to strike.

Clang, clang, clang.

Three sparks burst forth, pinning Yuki firmly to the ground. The latter didn't force himself to get up, but instead rolled on the ground, wielding his blade with utter cunning.

Roller cutter.

A cloud of mist rolled across the ground, and bright blades occasionally slashed across the ground. Now it was the priest's turn to suffer, constantly raising his legs to dodge, his tall body retreating at full speed.

In a few steps, his back was almost against the wall, but he remained calm, his left hand holding the shotgun pointing at his feet.

Bang!

This time it was shotgun shells, blasting countless small holes in the floor, but Yuki was still on guard and retreated as soon as he raised his gun.

'If it has normal human intelligence, does that mean the gun reloads every five seconds? Wait, I didn't see a reload animation?'

Yuki probed something further, lightly touched the ground with his toes, quickly took a sip of Quiet Dew, and bounced back, his blade wreathed in red energy.

The priest also charged forward, his serrated blade deforming and lengthening, slashing down alongside Yuki.

Cut!

Bang--

The collision, entanglement, and explosion of red and black energies illuminated the entire warehouse for a moment. Before the tide of energy had receded, two figures had already Piercer the tide and charged forward.

Physical Enhancement. Full power.

Yuki's arms were covered in magic circuits, as if he wanted to crush the hilt of his sword as he slashed with all his might.

Clang!!

It felt as if church bells were ringing in my ears, my feet sank into the ground, and a tingling sensation spread through my bones.

Yuki's strength was greater, and he struck the priest, forcing him to kneel on one knee at just the right height.

Step forward, slash the sword horizontally, and before the opponent can parry, it slices across their chest. The exquisite sensation of cutting through their ribs fills my palm as it pierces through from behind.

Did you win?

Blood spurted out, and Yuki, who was passing by, suddenly turned around and slashed at his own chest with his sword again.

Bang--Clang--

Gunshots and a sharp crack rang out simultaneously. It was a powerful deer bullet that caused the incredibly hard longsword, forged three times, to let out a mournful cry and almost slip from the hand.

Yuki took several steps back to regain his balance, and when he looked ahead, his eye twitched slightly.

That slash did indeed cut open the priest's chest, severing his purple robe and revealing his black leather jacket underneath.

It's another immortal monster.

He had a bit of a headache. From the Living Corpse to the demons, each one was harder to kill than the last. Fortunately, these enemies were not unfamiliar to him, so he didn't panic.

At worst, I'll risk being watched by the evil god and activate the Demon Eye to find the core.

But soon, he felt it was unnecessary, and saw that the priest's severed chest muscles began to grow back, healing the knife wound at a visible speed.

It is regeneration.

Yuki could tell the difference between the two. Regeneration would be easier; he didn't believe that if he chopped off the head, the other person could grow it back.

"You... are the Judge." The priest spoke the first words under his gaze, causing Yuki to hold his breath.

Was I seen through? Is this a passive perception characteristic of masochists?

Yuki didn't know, but he understood what he had to do:

He must die, no matter what!

"Hurry up, the church bells are ringing, someone is coming out."

Before Yuki could even launch an attack, a cool female voice came through the Walkie-talkie.

Moon Bow has arrived and is standing guard outside.

Yuki taken aback, then suddenly realized that the priest was trying to stall him for reinforcements. Although the priest was powerful, he was still somewhat inferior to him.

Okay, so you're playing dirty tricks, huh?

Yuki discovered that the priest was more intelligent than he had imagined, and seeing him pounce on him in a strange manner, he quickly adjusted his plan.

There can be no delay; we must kill them quickly.

Soul energy is released.

Because the soul energy of the Demon Heart cannot be replenished through rest, the more it is released, the greater the consumption. Yuki usually does not operate at full power, but at this moment, she can't care about that anymore.

Swish.

The two men passed each other, and the priest's horizontal slash, delivered after the priest's, sliced open his left chest. But the priest, as if nothing had happened, passed the gun through his ribs and aimed.

It has weaknesses.

Yuki was not discouraged. He had just seen the priest dodge sideways. If he was really not dead, then why was he hiding?

Bang! Clang!

The bullet was deflected by the slashing blade, Yuki back several steps. Turning around, he saw the priest retreating instead of advancing, using his serrated knife to pick up pebbles and kicking him.

Their keen observation skills have detected that I'm stronger than before, and that they're willing to go to any lengths to keep me here?

Just a moment ago, Yuki might have tried to outmaneuver him, but now that he knows he's stirred up a hornet's nest, he's unlikely to choose a safer tactic.

"I'll crush you!"

He took a step forward and charged, his swordsmanship becoming more expansive and powerful, each strike accompanied by crescent-shaped red sword energy.

The walls were riddled with holes, and the ground was full of cracks. The priest focused all his energy on defense and dodging, and he moved around in the flashing swords like a street dancer.

Not enough, not enough.

Yuki mentally counted down the seconds. Chasing games was too much of a waste of time; his opponent felt no pain and wasn't afraid of being cut. He needed to be faster.

Clatter.

Yuki paused against the wall, looked at the priest a dozen meters away, sheathed his sword, and ignored the raised muzzle of the priest's gun.

Bang! Bang!

Two muffled thuds followed in succession, and one wall was completely shattered. The priest tilted his head slightly, wondering when his shotgun had become so powerful, and then realized that the target hadn't even dodged!

It was the Ram's-Horn Hammer in Yuki's hand that smashed the wall. The Impact Hammer created a reaction force, which, combined with the force of his legs pushing off, sent him flying.

The grayish-red mist thickened, blocking everything in front of them. Hundreds of shotgun shells blasted through it, but under the energy barrier, they were already at their limit.

It still hurts.

Yuki flew out, his hands crossed to shield his face. He felt like he'd been hit by a shotgun, his body riddled with holes, but this wasn't fatal for his extraordinary-level body.

He charged head-on, enduring the damage, and closed the distance between them as quickly as possible. The priest had just lowered his gun and hadn't even raised his knife when, amidst the thick fog, a figure landed three meters in front of him.

His cloudy pupils froze, reflecting the swordsman kneeling on the ground. He kicked off with his legs and slammed his left hand into the ground, as if he had been violently pushed.

He closed the distance in an instant, drawing his long sword from his waist with his right hand.

The red light magnified in his eyes, and his right hand, which was blocking, suddenly lost control. Just as the serrated blade was cut in half, he was plunged into darkness.

Clang--

In the endless darkness, a dragon's roar pierced the ears.

Chapter Fourteen: He Must Die!!

The blade flashed past in an instant; the sound only reached our ears after the blade had already sliced through the air.

The priest froze on the spot, and then, due to inertia, took half a step forward before blood gushed out with a 'splash'.

We won.

Yuki a sigh of relief. This priest was weaker than him, but the victory was not easy. An enemy with intelligence was difficult to deal with; he was almost like a player.

[Player Yuki, you have defeated the church priest. Reward: 1 enhancement point.]

A murmur followed; having learned from his experience at the Demon Hospital, he was used to it and knew there would be reward points before he even took action.

That's very strong; this can't go on.

He was sprayed with projectiles and suffered a minor forearm fracture from using Impact Hammer; the price he paid was far too high.

He hadn't forgotten that back in the square, there were three priests in purple robes, and a saint too. Everyone was so powerful; how could he possibly wipe out the entire church?

[Hint 2: Evil gods receive a boost from faith; the more fanatical followers they have, the more powerful they become.]

It was already clear from the townspeople that the priest's power originated from an evil god, and in the end, it all boils down to the same solution as the Demon Hospital.

"We must find a way to eliminate the believers and weaken the power bestowed by the evil god."

This is the core reason Yuki fought against him: by testing the enemy's strength, he knew what to do next.

"Get out of there first; don't fight head-on before we weaken them."

Yuki turned to leave, but after taking only two steps, he turned back and glanced at the corpse on the ground.

He had already cut the serrated knife in two, but he still held the hunting rifle in his hand. Without thinking much, Yuki bent down and picked it up.

[Chaos Item. Hunter's Blunderbuss (Chaos Grade)]

[Reloads one bullet every five seconds, with both shotgun shells and buckshot rounds available. Power is proportional to the user's reload energy and firing distance. The gun self-destructs when its Limit are exceeded.]

[Side effect: The bullet is forged from the user's soul]

[Description: This is a weapon born from the soul; please do not use it repeatedly.]

No wonder I didn't see the reload animation; it was a soul reload!

The moment the information appeared in his mind, Yuki got the answer: Soul Reload obviously didn't involve a reloading action, and the source was undoubtedly energy supplied by the evil god.

Wrong!

Yuki snapped back to reality, looking at the weapon in his hand. This was the first time he had found Chaos Item in a dungeon, and he had encountered dungeon monsters wielding weapons before.

For example, the Butcher Doctor's giant sword looked really cool, but when he picked it up, it was just a Common Grade. He even thought Li Dan had tricked him.

When I had absolutely no hope, I found it—is there some kind of mystical power at play?

Yuki stared at the dark, less than half-meter-long musket, feeling that something was off. To be honest, if the game had simply given it to him as an achievement, he wouldn't have thought much of it.

"Are you dead? If you don't say anything, I'm leaving."

The girl's urgent voice interrupted his thoughts. Yuki quickly snapped out of it, put away his hunting rifle, and turned to run.