Aleppo: Is My Head Still There?

Seeing Aleppo's gun aimed at him, Lude naturally wasn't about to stand around and wait.

Lude's neural response speed far exceeded that of an ordinary person. The instant Aleppo pulled the trigger, he immediately bent backward into an Iron Bridge.

The .38-caliber bullet spun past his eyes. For a split second, he could even see the rifling marks etched into its surface.

Seeing Lude evade the bullet with a flexible backbend, Aleppo wasn't particularly surprised.

Dodging bullets was nothing unusual. It wasn't Aleppo's first time dealing with this sort of enemy. A mortal's reactions naturally couldn't surpass a bullet's speed, but in a one-on-one fight, as long as one kept a close eye on the opponent's muzzle and trigger finger, it wasn't hard to do.

For an experienced spellcaster, that wasn't difficult, which was why he needed a little technique.

Without hesitation, he aimed the muzzle at Lude, locked his right finger around the trigger, and rapidly cocked the hammer four times in succession with his left hand.

Four gunshots rang out, and four bullets screamed from the barrel, each following a slightly different trajectory.

It was an extremely clever move, sealing off every possible route of escape in an instant.

He couldn't dodge. Lude realized that immediately. The four bullets covered the four directions in which he could evade—crouching, jumping, and dodging left or right. No matter which way Lude moved, he would take at least one bullet.

But Lude naturally wasn't helpless. His response was simple—if he couldn't dodge, then he wouldn't!

With a boom, spiderweb cracks exploded across the ground beneath Lude's feet. Yet instead of dodging left or right, he raised his arms to shield his face and charged straight ahead like a truck!

What the hell kind of tactic was that?!

Even Aleppo, who had fought year after year and seen all manner of things, was startled by Lude's reckless charge. But a cruel smile soon spread across his face. In his eyes, Lude was already making a desperate last struggle, and he loved seeing prey look like that.

But the next moment, he could no longer smile.

The four bullets struck Lude. They pierced his skin at once, then drilled spinning into his muscles, and then...

Then they were caught by Lude's muscles—reconstructed from Dragon Beast flesh and gleaming with a metallic luster!

Back in the storage vault, Lude had already tested this body with scalpels and bone drills.

Simply put, this body's skin was about as tough as thick rhinoceros-hide armor. It could easily withstand a slash from a longsword.

Its muscles were equivalent to hardwood or softer metal. They couldn't stop large-caliber bullets, but they could take .38 rounds head-on.

As for the bones throughout his body aside from his skull and spine, they were as hard as certain alloy steels. Without a sniper rifle, no one could hope to break them.

Lude's spine and skull, meanwhile, had been forged from the Red Dragon Remains, a hard metal that shone with a golden-red gleam.

According to Professor Beshe's experimental notes, without spending months using Alchemy to melt and reconstruct them, no purely physical means could alter the shape of his spine and skull.

Faced with Lude's fierce strike, Aleppo could only leap to the side.

Lude could run continuously at sixty kilometers per hour, and his instantaneous bursts could approach one hundred. Charging from within ten meters at that speed was absolutely impossible for an ordinary person to evade, but an experienced spellcaster could do it.

Yet at the instant their shoulders passed each other, Lude suddenly twisted his body.

Lude's arms had previously been held around his face in an embracing posture, as though they were sheathed in the scabbards beneath his armpits.

The instant they crossed paths, Lude's right hand flashed like a blade toward Aleppo's throat in an Iai Hand Blade!

Before Aleppo realized Lude had attacked, the hand blade had already swept across his throat.

But making such a movement while running at high speed devastated Lude's balance as well, and his whole body immediately tipped toward the ground. Just as he was about to fall flat on his face, Lude slammed his left hand against the ground.

Lude weighed nearly half a ton, but he could bench-press over five tons. That allowed him to pull off a highly difficult maneuver.

Like a professional gymnast, Lude's body launched back into the air at the instant he fell. After nearly spinning three hundred and sixty degrees in midair, he landed steadily in a superhero pose, then turned to face Aleppo again.

Lude let out a long breath inwardly. He had completed that entire sequence purely through muscle response, with none of his own control involved.

Unfortunately, that attack still hadn't accomplished anything. Rubbing his fingers together, Lude thought, but it wasn't without gain. The instant they first clashed, Lude had already guessed Aleppo's ability. The second attack had merely confirmed it.

Only then did Aleppo finally come back to his senses and realize what Lude had just done.

His face went pale as he touched his neck. Cold sweat instantly seeped across his forehead. If he had teammates nearby, he might even have asked the classic question, "Is my head still there?" But what followed immediately was fury born of humiliation.

"You bastard!" Aleppo roared furiously, but Lude merely uttered one word calmly.

"Mist."

The instant he heard that word, Aleppo's expression changed abruptly, as if an ice pick had been jabbed into his ass.

"What did you say?" Aleppo growled, his face unnatural. Yet no matter how one looked at it, his manner was nothing but bluster meant to conceal his guilt. "You thief who stole the Soulless Vessel, what nonsense are you spouting...?"

Lude paid no attention to Aleppo's words. He simply turned around and lightly shook his hand.

"I noticed it during the first attack, but to be safe, I launched a second attack to verify my guess. Though there were no obvious droplets of condensation, I could feel a distinct chill when I shook my hand, even on the back of it."

"Mr. Aleppo, you can turn your body into mist, can't you?"

As he spoke, Lude smashed the wooden door of the medicine cabinet beside him with one punch and pulled out a bottle of high-proof alcohol. He bit off the cap, took a huge swig, grabbed the kerosene lamp from the table with his other hand, brought it to his mouth, then inhaled deeply and sprayed!

Whoosh—!!!

A blazing fire mist erupted violently before Lude. Aleppo's face turned completely ashen in that instant. In the critical moment, he only had time to raise his arms to shield his face before the flames completely engulfed him.

When the flames passed, Aleppo slowly lowered his arms.

He had completely lost his earlier elegance. His neat black trench coat was covered in glaring scorch marks, his carefully groomed hair had been singed into curls, and his handsome features no longer held any grace—only a face full of savage fury remained.

"I'LL KILL YOU—!!!"