BXBX NOVEL Chapter 25: I need a way in.
The sisters joined the worried chorus.
"Darling, please don't be so reckless."
"John, even for a descendant the way you fight is ridiculous."
In contrast, I got votes of admiration from the new group.
"I am in awe that {Withstand} could be used to turn your body into a battering ram. Amazing, southerner!"
"Did you see the way he used {Pack}?! Bloody Oath, you are fucking awesome, wombat!"
"That was a fantastic battle, Smith-san. Such tenacity even puts warriors from my homeland to shame."
I didn't immediately respond to any of them and instead merely cracked my neck. After I took a few moments to stretch I then checked the 1911 and began walking forward.
"I fought like this to show you all that Formless are not trash. Their deaths will be the first to prove this. Amari, Mia and the brute will be the next. No one touches Red. He is mine. Loot everything you can, and we will finish this after killing the brute."
The girls didn't reply but all moved with me. Our group walked until I could see Red on his back on the ground, unable to stand. Was that why he couldn't follow up? His posture seemed painful, so it seemed like something had broken from his spine. This was the enemy I wanted to get back at? I felt pathetic.
"Hey Red, you still alive?"
"What's up cunt, that throw really did a number on my back. I lost without even getting to swing my sword… Oh? Is this your team? Your women look real nice. Have you tasted any fannies yet? Good on ya!"
Irritated, I didn't even bother replying and just shot both his kneecaps. Then his elbows and then his wrists. His screams rang out repeatedly with each round I fired. The event I looked forward so much to turned into nothing more than a chore. The shooting only ceased as I reloaded.
"Oy, you wanker. Just shoot me in the head like you did the others, yeah? This fucking hurts."
I then shot two rounds in each of his shoulders then shot his balls. The girls around me had different expressions. Liv's group relished the pathetic state of Oliver, while Bella's group just winced in disgust.
"AHHHHH!!! KILL ME ALREADY YOU CUNT!"
I walked forward, picked him up with {Pack} then pistol wiped his jaw. The sounds of bone shattering meant he would no longer be able to move his mouth. The man was bleeding all over, but as he was a reaper, and none of the spots were major arteries he would be okay for a while longer.
Red now could only mumble as he waited helplessly for his death.
"{Loot}"
A marble appeared on his right ear. Intrigued that he moved it there, I placed the 1911 in my armpit as I touched the soulgem. I then felt a stringlike energy swirling inside of it and drew it out like water into my own soulgem.
'This should be the souls,' I silently thought.
As his manifested {fate} was not touching his body, whatever ability he had turned out to be useless. Weren't manifested even more useless than the Formless? If you separated the weapon from them, they were no longer reapers in a sense.
I draped the bleeding Oliver on my back and turned to address the girls.
"I am done here, are you all ready? Who got to level 3?"
"Everyone already did, honey, the number of souls from the guys you killed was more than enough. Some of us are close to getting to level 4," Bella confessed.
"Got it. Let's move."
"You aren't going to ask for them? If you took them all, you would already reach Level 5, southerner."
"You girls belong to my group, so it benefits me to develop you all. I can just kill some more if needed. It's not a hard thing to do."
"I see." With a curt reply, Liv showed me a faint smile.
"Have you gotten to Level 3 as well, Smith-san?"
"No, I'm still a thousand souls short. Never mind. Having a stock is good for me, too. If you all are using {Rewind}, the same goes for you all as well. Robyn, do you need more blood? Just use {Loot} after the battle," I instructed.
"Already did, wombat. Don't you worry."
"Right. Let's get going, then."
For some reason, the zombies nearby all headed towards the reaper army. Was someone there still alive? Well, good for us as this meant we didn't have to be worried about the small fry.
Despite the clashing of the titans, the Brute and the Gorilla made no sound as they pummeled each other inside what looked like a large glass dome with excellent lighting. Before I could even ask, Jo explained what the contraption was for.
"It is a soulcage, a soulgear that creates a fixed field for hunting or containment. As for its functions, nothing can go in or out without a key. To think they prepared something like this… Either Amari or Mia should be a descendant," our blonde Italian explained.
"Why, though? Why bother to do all this? They had the firepower with the assault squad, didn't they?" Bella countered.
"My father once told me that each enlistment had a secret that few would know. Maybe this elaborate setup is what Amari-san and Mia-san chose to fulfill that requirement?"
A secret achievement, huh? That would make sense as to why would they went through all the trouble. But such things hardly mattered to me. The more pressing matter was how could we get into the dome?
Without a word, I pointed the 1911 on the cage and emptied my mag into it. The lead bullets I fired got stopped by the dome as if I shot bulletproof glass. Cracks appeared around the impact point, but they were far too small compared to the size of the entire thing.
"Wow! It looks way tougher than I thought! I don't think even soul weaponry would break this type of material." Josephine couldn't help getting excited while she checked the bullet holes I made.
"Fuck me dead, this is going to take forever, should we crack open a tinny?"
Jasmine chastised the swearing sailor. "Robyn, you should try to curse less you know, you are a lady so act like one."
Ignoring their debate on what I lady should be, I used {Identify} on the dome. Inside, the brute was showing signs of fatigue. The werewolves were dousing the Gorilla's wounds with a green fluid. As the injuries healed, it had to be some sort of medicinal salve.
"I need a way in. Show me," I commanded.
A sudden heat again appeared on my neck. My {fate} seemed to have once again answered my wish. Why it worked, I didn't know, all I was sure of was that {Rewind} responded to my call and gave me a new possibility.
"{Expose}."
Like with {Loot}, green reticules showed me different spots on the wall of the dome. {Expose} was created from using {Perceive}, {Code}, and {Gather}. {Gather} was {Eat}'s evolution from Aki. It recorded information like a cookbook. Once information was found, it could be analyzed, stored and used in the future.
In the same way {Loot} searched for the soulgems, {Expose} now searched for weaknesses. I couldn't help but smile. Anyone with {Code} would hardly have any use for it. The same could be said for {Gather}. Yet having both and {Perceive} gave me such a powerful weapon.
"{Reload}."
I refilled my ammunition and began shooting the highlighted spots in my vision. The girls noticed the areas I shot at, and all came to the same conclusion. The points appeared to form a star of David or the six-pointed star from the flag of Israel.
Like clockwork, Bella, Jo and Liv began hammering the points down low. The others took the ones up high. Jas shot five arrows per point. Aki and Robyn threw Kunia and steel spheres respectively at the other spots. When the highlighted points were beaten enough, they turned dim.
The moment the last point ceased to glow in my vision, a loud crack like a whip echoed in the air.
"HOLY SHIT!" Jo shouted in excitement.
"Amazing! John, is this yet another {Kismet}?" Jasmine asked in wonder.
I quietly nodded. I changed magazines and pulled the slide back on the 1911. "Well then, shall we make history?"
"ROGER!" a united shout from the girls roared from behind me.
The glass which slowly cracked from the inside finally broke and the thunderous roars of both the Gorilla and Brute made the very air tremble. Not willing to wait, I dashed inside and fired my gun towards the Brute.
My gunshots rang out as Amari the gorilla, Mia the werewolf and the undead brute faced me. The .45 ACP didn't penetrate the zombie and only bounced off its skull.
"Tsk, guessed it wouldn't have been that easy," I complained.
"NO!" the female voice of one werewolf cried out.
The Brute, seeing the rest of us, violently struggled from Amari's grip. Unable to hold on, the undead suddenly bodyslammed Amari as one would do in Judo knocking him out cold. The Brute dashed past us out of the broken cage and ran towards the platform.
What the hell?! This thing knew kung-fu? How was that thing so fast? The werewolves all tried in vain to get on the massive undead.
I then threw Red to Liv.
"Robyn, pack the gorilla and run with me! The rest of you follow!" I shouted to the combat joey.
"Okay!"
Robyn and I grabbed one foot of the downed 10-foot Gorilla and ran after the Brute together with everyone and the werewolves.