No Prize for Guessing Right

Laudon knew that, in truth, there had only ever been one choice before him.

Bang!

After a moment of hesitation, Laudon chose to fire.

The specialized firearm mounted on his arm was his personal equipment. It fired quickly, reloaded fast, and with the extension and stability provided by his own arm, it had never missed a shot.

This time was no exception.

Almost the instant Laudon tensed his arm muscles and the bullet left the barrel, a crisp ding rang out amid the thunderous gunshot.

The kitten had been hit—or rather, it had not.

Because the moment Laudon raised his arm and fired, a black box appeared out of nowhere around the kitten. The bullet struck the box with a ding and knocked it flying.

"Hm?"

What was this now... Never mind!

Ding ding ding ding ding...

Laudon held both arms level. As he slowly rose from a half-crouch into a bent posture and edged forward in small steps, the muzzles above his arms spat continuous tongues of flame.

A dense chorus of clinks followed. The seemingly fragile black box was repeatedly driven higher into the air. Every one of Laudon's shots hit the box, yet he could not break it.

His expression darkened further. Laudon knew he had made a mistake today. He should not have acted rashly without thoroughly investigating the target.

And he definitely should not have trusted that old bastard Falcone.

Laudon now felt that Falcone might have been plotting against him from the very beginning. Perhaps the entire hiring arrangement had been a scam, all to get this mysterious Tree-Man to kill him.

Maybe I was the target of this mission!

With that thought, Laudon immediately lost all interest in killing his enemy.

Those observers who had lost contact might be leading that Tree-Man over here right now.

Fuck, so they were in this together!

The box was still floating in the air. Although enough firepower had been poured onto it to fill the small box entirely, it showed no deformation or damage whatsoever.

That only strengthened Laudon's resolve to leave as soon as possible.

Adjusting the angle of his arm, he fired a bullet that sent the box, which had been hovering steadily in the air, flying far away. Laudon decisively put on his hood, turned, and jumped off the roof.

While falling, Laudon saw an enormous heat source on the ground through the infrared spectrum detector built into his mask.

"What the fuck..."

What was that thing?! Some kind of flaming monster?

Was that Tree-Man's pet too?!

Communicating with bullets was what Laudon did best. He drew his backup gun from his waist, aimed at the thing below, and unleashed a barrage.

Using the recoil from the gunfire and the rappelling cable he had prepared beforehand, Laudon landed without suffering any injury.

But the huge monster apparently had no intention of letting him leave safely.

Bang!

In Laudon's eyes, the heat-emitting monster suddenly seemed to grow limbs. It not only stepped forward, but raised a hand and smashed it down at him.

"What the... FUCK!"

He rolled away in a sorry state, tore off the cable device hanging from his body, and dodged the blow with a butt-first sliding retreat.

Thankfully, his legs had spread wide enough. His crotch was unharmed.

Yanking off the hood he had just put on, Laudon fired as he rose and backed away. At the same time, he finally saw what the monster that looked like a burning person really was.

It was a humanoid monster over two and a half meters tall, its entire body piled together from irregular black stones. It was indeed covered in flames, while also giving off thick smoke and a pungent sulfurous stench.

Was this some demon from hell?!

Laudon regretted this even more.

That thing did not look like something bullets could scare.

Wasn't it a Tree-Man? Why would it keep a fire-spewing monster inside a wooden house?!

Laudon had no desire to attack, but the monster clearly had no intention of sparing him.

Instead, that stirred up Laudon's ferocity.

Not afraid of bullets, and not a flesh-and-blood creature, huh.

I'll blast you to pieces!

With Laudon's marksmanship, against a target less than ten meters away, he could guarantee that two hundred consecutive bullets would all pass through the same coin-sized hole.

Overwhelming skill brought overwhelming confidence.

He aimed at the monster's head. Who knew whether there was a brain inside that stone head? It was Laudon's first time facing an enemy like this, so he could only rely on experience.

Thus, while guarding against a potential sneak attack from the strange black cat, fighting while retreating, and watching for signs of the Tree-Man approaching, Laudon multitasked as he fired shot after shot at the same spot on the flaming stone man's forehead.

The flames and stone offset most of the bullets' kinetic force. They were certainly no ordinary flames or normal stone. But the bullets could still hit them.

So, when Laudon was almost out of ammunition, the monster finally let out a silent roar so dizzying and nauseating after a gunshot that it crumbled into a heap of broken stones and fell to the ground.

Laudon was glad he had not worn his hood, or vomiting in it would have been miserable.

"Σ_(°△°) Bleurgh..."

Fuck!

Laudon's heartbeat, which had only just slowed after defeating the inhuman foe, instantly surged again. He spun around and fired into the woods behind him.

The bullet struck a tree trunk with a dull thud.

Perhaps he had been too tense just now, distracted by too many things, and the gunfire during the fierce battle had been too loud. Without his hood and its soundproofing, Laudon had clearly failed to notice when someone had hidden in the woods behind him!

Bang, bang, bang...

Laudon calmly shifted his footing and kept firing precise shots. Before long, something suddenly flew out of the woods.

Laudon took one glance and recognized it as a helmet, then ignored it.

However, whatever was inside the helmet gave off an unpleasant smell, which caught Laudon's attention.

It seemed that he was not the only one affected by that roar.

After turning halfway around, Laudon finally saw what was in the woods: a person entirely wrapped in branches.

The moment they came face-to-face, the Tree-Man burst from the woods, constantly changing direction as he ran toward Laudon in a zigzag pattern.

"Heh..."

Bang.

With his final bullet, Laudon dropped the Tree-Man mid-run. The body kept sliding after hitting the ground, coming to a stop at Laudon's feet, where he raised a foot and pinned its head.

He crushed it.

"These are... branches? Fuck!"

"Your marksmanship is good, but your brain isn't."

A weary, listless voice came from behind a tree. A pale-faced man emerged, holding a pistol on Laudon with one hand while wiping his mouth with the other.

"Schrodinger! You're eating at the same table as Old Eight today!"

"Meow—!!"

A miserable cat's cry came from afar. It did not sound happy.

Laudon raised his hands. "You're that Tree-Man."

"You... Forget it, call yourselves whatever you want. Tree-Man is better than fucking Thorn Vine Man.

"To me, none of you..."

Laudon suddenly lunged forward. Before Lynn could fire, he seized Lynn's hand, pressed one finger against the hammer, and struck Lynn's shoulder with his elbow. Then he turned and delivered a backward diagonal kick, sending Lynn back beneath the tree roots.

"Sorry."

Holding the gun he had taken, Laudon pointed it at Lynn. "I'm also very strong in close combat."

Lynn rubbed his chest. "Yeah, yeah... You ranged fighters are all good at close combat too. Very scientific. But let me tell you about this gun of mine..."

Bang!

The gunshot rang out. The bullet pierced Laudon's shoulder, leaving behind a bleeding hole.

Looking at Laudon's shoulder, Lynn seemed a little embarrassed. "See, didn't I say it? This gun of mine..."

Bang!

Laudon's other arm went limp as well, and the pistol fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Why... How is this possible?"

Switching hands, Laudon, whose shoulder had been pierced by the backward-fired bullet, aimed the gun at himself this time.

Then his other shoulder was pierced as well.

"Listen when people are talking, brother."

Lynn got up, first shooting a glare at Schrodinger, who was running over from afar. Then he walked to Laudon, picked up the Oddball Gun, aimed it at Laudon's forehead, and asked with a grin, "Guess whose head blows up if I fire this shot—yours or mine?"