Lisi didn’t charge forward, allowing Marco to tie down a captain-level Extraordinary.

"Tina, if there’s danger, get Wei’en out of here immediately."

"Tina understands."

A flicker of red passed through the white-haired girl’s vacant eyes. She clutched the corner of Wei’en’s shirt tightly, refusing to leave his side.

"Wei’en, be careful. Aside from those two captains, the others aren’t that strong."

"Don’t worry, I will." As Wei’en nodded, he gave an order of his own, "Shawa, guard the front for me."

Shawa swayed as she paced in front of him, tilting her head to stare at the men. "Troublesome."

’She knew it. How could a Wizard just stay quietly at home?’

Wei’en watched the charging crowd, tightened his grip on the flintlock, but chose not to fire right away.

He knew very well that the flintlock’s firepower was hardly a threat to enemies more than fifty meters away.

"Damn you, Omen-bringer!"

As the leader ran, several thick, octopus-like tentacles suddenly shot out from his back and smashed toward Lisi.

When Lisi saw the tentacles, she said, "No wonder you felt familiar. So it’s you—Tiki, captain of the Black Pearl’s first squad!"

She knew these were vicious, desperate men. She couldn’t wait any longer.

"Aled!" (Dharma Seal: Shatter!)

She leaped and charged, her Two-Handed Axe cleaving into the tentacles, shattering them into bloody fragments with mountain-like force.

"Hezeler, take the thing and go first!"

The leader’s face darkened. After giving the order, he clenched his fists, and several more tentacles burst from his body. They writhed around him, spraying a viscous green liquid.

SIZZLE—

When the liquid dripped onto the grass, it corroded small pits into the ground, releasing hundreds of wisps of white smoke.

Lisi’s gaze fell upon the pits. "Tsk, so you have the blood of the Vasquez Clan? I never thought the last dregs of your kind would throw in with the Black Pearl..."

"Dregs? You Shetland mongrel, don’t you put on those victor’s airs! Sooner or later, I will slaughter everyone in Klande!"

As his roar faded, pus-filled sacs bulged out on Tiki’s head, densely covering his entire scalp.

Through the thin skin, you could clearly see eyeballs writhing and forming inside the sacs. Then, the skin ripped open...

’Fuck!’

When Wei’en saw this, even his placid heart nearly made him spit out last night’s black bread.

’So hideous...’

He quickly shifted his attention to the others, silently calculating the distance between them.

’90 meters, 70 meters, 50 meters... Now!’

BANG! BANG!

As the gunshots rang out, several bullets flew in a straight line toward the men.

"I’ll handle it!"

A man with a rugged face at the front raised a shield as tall as a person to block the bullets.

’Trajectory Control!’

Ten meters away, the bullets bizarrely veered off course, tracing arcs that bypassed the men in front and shot toward those in the rear.

From the very beginning, Wei’en’s objective was crystal clear: prioritize killing the weaker ones in the back.

They couldn’t even withstand the winds generated by the fierce battle between Marco and Aino. They were the easiest to kill.

"Wha— Everyone, watch out! Watch out for the bullets!"

Unfortunately, the warning from the front came too late—

[You have killed Jeremi Cabral with a flintlock. Evaluation: Trash, not even worth a bullet. Special Reward: Survival Points +2, Gunnery +1.]

[...]

[You have killed Yumite Vazquez with a flintlock. Evaluation: Another one wasted. Special Reward: Survival Points +2, Gunnery +1.]

More than ten consecutive kill notifications scrolled by before the content of the prompts began to change.

[You have hit Zhanlonimo Sanford with a flintlock, triggering Death Trait - Senescence. Instant Kill Progress: 1/3. Reward: Survival Points +1.]

[You have hit Rostin Kuznet with a flintlock, triggering Death Trait - Plague. Instant Kill Progress: 1/5... Reward: Survival Points +1.]

[You have hit Rostin Kuznet with a flintlock, triggering Death Trait - Plague. Instant Kill Progress: 2/5... Reward: Survival Points +1.]

The men running at the very back of the group screamed and fell, either shot between the eyes or through the heart.

Even more bizarrely, as these men died, their bodies all underwent some kind of change.

Some grew a few more wrinkles and sprouted white hairs, passing away peacefully.

Others coughed up clots of blood and pus from the corners of their mouths, their deaths exceedingly gruesome.

Still others were not hit in a vital spot and shouldn’t have died, but were taken out by a second bullet that had passed through a comrade’s body... They died with their eyes wide open.

’The Death Trait is triggering!’

Wei’en noticed the prompts on his panel. As his thoughts raced, he gained a better understanding of how the Death Trait triggered.

’Depending on the strength of the person shot, the number of stacks required for an instant kill is different...’

’Let’s try again—’

Wei’en’s hands became a blur, reloading and firing at the group simultaneously.

Each bullet seemed to have a tracking device. Even when blocked by a stronger fighter, it would curve around to strike someone hiding in the back.

"Damn it, I’ll kill you!!"

The men at the front noticed the commotion behind them and grew furious. Gritting their teeth, they all charged at Wei’en. Some who also had flintlocks began shooting back at him.

’40 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters...’

"Fall back!"

Wei’en kept a constant eye on their distance. To prevent a surprise attack, whenever they closed to within 20 meters, he would retreat with Tina while dodging their attacks.

At the same time, he directed Shawa to cover their rear. ’Well, as Miss Zombie, she probably can’t die... right?’

[You have hit Rostin Kuznet with a flintlock, triggering Death Trait - Plague. Instant Kill Progress: 5/5... Survival Points +1.]

[Rostin Kuznet has triggered Death Trait - Instant Kill, and is now deceased. Evaluation: Tsk, feels like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito. Special Reward: Survival Points +4, Gunnery +2, Spirit Level +1.]

[Zhanlonimo Sanford has triggered Death Trait - Instant Kill... Special Reward: Survival Points +4, Gunnery +2, Spirit Level +1.]

[...]

"Scream of Fear."

Miss Zombie’s performance was equally impressive. Her scream, in particular, caused chaos in the crowd every time she used it, creating openings for Wei’en to shoot.

"Damn undead! Norbert, take her out!"

Whenever someone tried to restrain Shawa, a bullet from Wei’en would pierce their body.

A single round of shots was enough to trigger the Instant Kill trait, causing their faces to age unnaturally, their bodies to wither, or their skin to erupt in broken pustules as they died miserably...

And so, with Shawa’s fearless cooperation, the pursuers’ speed was greatly reduced, giving Wei’en enough time to empty his gun’s chamber again and again.

In less than two minutes, only five of the pursuers remained.

Wei’en’s eyes gradually grew excited. Neither the hunger that came from his surging base stats nor the grazes from enemy bullets could affect his movements.

All he knew was the mechanical rhythm of reloading, aiming, pulling the trigger, firing...

"Watch out, his bullets have a contamination effect!"

The five men stopped, doing their utmost to dodge the hail of bullets.

But with Miss Zombie Shawa relentlessly hounding them, one of them would inevitably be hit by a bullet, causing their condition to worsen.

"Damn bastard! Big Brother Elno, if you don’t get here soon, we’re all going to die!!"

Hearing this roar, Wei’en finally stopped.

He saw that of the forty-three attackers, only three remained. They stood back-to-back, glaring at him with a mixture of anger, resentment, and fear.

[Devourable Source detected. Use Soul-Devouring Magic?]

PS: Thanks to the great Nan Ke for the tip.

Still only two Chapters today. Thanks for all the support, everyone.

The mass release starts this Friday. Mmm, let’s shoot for a 10k-character day.