Chapter 74
“C-Cadet Elisha, I’m not… a demon! I just borrowed it! No, I’m using it! And what you see isn’t all of me. I’m, uh, much more…”
“Much what?”
“Much greater! So…”
Whatever I said about Elisha earlier, forget it.
Elisha was helpful!
‘She’s actually helpful!’
If I were alone, I wouldn’t have saved Faris.
Faris was a capable fighter against the apocalypse.
If I hadn’t saved him, I might’ve regretted it later.
“What’s so great about you, Senior Nelson? I’m listening, so explain.”
“Well, uh, well…”
Oh, this was fun.
It was entertaining to hear.
Elisha’s provocations intensified.
She’d clearly caught on to my plan.
She wasn’t just a show-off.
Using the ample time she bought, I hid Faris under a sandpile behind a nearby cover.
…Not a grave.
Just hiding him.
“…Huh? Brother Faris?”
‘Caught.’
But it wasn’t too late.
Nelson shouted in a furious tone.
“Ugh! You tricked me! Where’s my brother?! Give him back! Then I’ll spare your life!”
I snapped back curtly.
“Who’d fall for that lie, Senior?”
“Yeah, Senior. Heehee.”
“You guys!”
Elisha chimed in, hiding herself.
A sniper with a knack for provocation—what was this?
And the shootout began.
Elisha and I moved between covers, attacking Nelson.
Bang!
A bullet pierced Nelson’s body with the gunshot.
“Argh! You!”
Arrow-shaped Maki shot out like a bomber.
But dodging wasn’t hard.
It was easy.
Nelson was a skilled marksman, but he seemed to have forgotten tactical shooting, mindlessly pulling the bow and firing projectiles.
“Ugh! Argh!”
Bullets and arrows pierced Nelson’s body.
“Why…! Why can’t I win…!”
Even with demonic power, his flesh was human.
Bullets and arrows pierced his limbs, incapacitating him.
‘Tch, I was nervous because I used the flashbang meant for shootouts on the Desert Wraiths, but it was a pointless worry.’
Bang!
The final gunshot rang out, and Nelson’s head exploded.
‘It’s over.’
Elisha, hiding behind the opposite cover, flinched.
“Y-You killed him.”
“I don’t have a hobby of leaving loose ends.”
Save if possible, rehabilitate if possible.
That was Gilbert’s style, so it must be unfamiliar to Elisha, who traveled with him.
But this was my way.
Elisha stared at Nelson’s corpse, as if weighing whether this was right or wrong.
“Let’s escape. There’s a chance Nelson created an exit when he came down here…”
“C-Cadet Martin. L-Look at that.”
Wild Instinct (Lv 3) sensed it’s not over.
‘What?’
The bullet had surely blown away more than half his head, including the brain.
Yet Nelson was alive and moving.
He focused Maki in both hands, tore open his chest… and crushed his heart.
I’d read this scene in the original text.
That was… a sacrificial ritual!
“Tch, that…!”
“Don’t stare, hide!”
I grabbed Elisha and dove behind a cover.
Maki surged from Nelson’s body.
It spread in all directions like a bomb exploding.
The Rosary of Grace trembled violently!
His eyes and skin turned black, and his form began to change.
His head regenerated, horns sprouted, and scale-like armor covered his body.
Know-It-All (Lv 3) analyzed that Nelson sacrificed himself to summon a demon! The opponent is a high-ranking demon!
‘This didn’t happen in the original…!’
The demon-possessed Nelson’s eyes opened.
Could those black, Maki-flaming things even be called eyes?
Then, large membranous wings extended from his shoulder blades.
Like a newly born butterfly drying its wings, they slowly unfurled.
[Ah, aah… a splendid body. At last, I, a high-ranking demon, have descended…]
A high-ranking demon was top-tier among demons, short of nobility.
Weaker than the demon count I’d faced before, but far from negligible.
I didn’t think I could win without the diamond bullet.
“Cadet Elisha! Let’s do it like before!”
“Got it!”
We hid behind our covers and began the shootout.
The high-ranking demon laughed mockingly.
The laughter crawled into our ears as we prepared for battle.
[Heh, mortals…]
Sensing danger, I dove again.
The demon waved its hand, and the cover I’d been hiding behind was swept away by Maki, vanishing without a trace.
‘Insane!’
It was on a different level from Nelson’s haphazard swings.
At that moment, a red arrow struck the high-ranking demon’s back.
[Haha! You call this an attack?!]
This time, Maki poured toward Elisha.
I confirmed she dodged successfully.
Good.
Now I fired a piercing bullet.
It hit, but it bounced off the demon’s outer shell.
[You really call that an attack…? The archer’s much better.]
‘True, but it pisses me off.’
The difference in learned skills and accumulated energy was clear, both in quality and quantity.
‘This… I’ll have to use the diamond bullet.’
It was practically the only way.
[What’s there to think about?]
“…!”
When I blinked, the high-ranking demon was standing in front of me, behind my cover.
‘Teleportation?!’
As Maki exploded from the demon before me.
‘Flash!’
I barely dodged.
Not too late!
I felt it.
I knew instinctively.
If I’d hesitated even slightly, I’d be dead!
But it wasn’t good.
I’d revealed my hand.
[That technique… it’s from the Cosmos Empire that once ruled the human world… Holy Assassins, was it? Annoying memories. But strange. The lords surely wiped them out…]
The high-ranking demon tilted its head in confusion.
‘Demon lords…? The Cosmos Empire was destroyed by the Time Chaos Dungeon, wasn’t it?’
There was a discrepancy with the original story I knew.
[Well, whatever. The underlings must’ve botched the job. I told them to kill everyone involved and erase all information, but surviving that means you had decent skill. Let’s see, are you a Peacemaker too?]
As expected, it mistook me for a Peacemaker.
…Not good.
“…So it was you who left so little information about the Cosmos Empire.”
[Hehehe, well… don’t you resent me? I was there too. The flesh and blood of humans imbued with Stellar Force… what can I say? Hmm… right! In your human terms, it was like ‘soda.’]
It’d be natural to play a Cosmos Empire survivor now.
“…I’ll kill you.”
[Is the Star Child doing well? He slipped away cleverly. Since you use a gun, you must’ve been trained by him, right?]
“Don’t mention him.”
[You’d better listen well. You won’t leave here alive. From your skill, you’re just a courier carrying the Star Child’s letters, yet you think you can threaten me? Or…]
Maki spread from the demon’s body.
The gentle Maki grew fiercer, sweeping the entire ruins like a storm.
Sand and stone walls began to melt and boil under the Maki.
My breath grew tight.
[…did you really not know I was toying with you?]
I felt my body’s cells dying.
This was… the power of a high-ranking demon!
[Despair!]
The ceiling and walls, melted by Maki, began to collapse slowly.
The Maki-infused debris was deadly just to touch.
The situation was deteriorating rapidly.
The Rosary of Grace has completed its preparation.
But I didn’t give up.
The enemy had revealed its full power.
That meant now I could observe everything about it.
To settle this, it had to be now.
I reached into my ammo pouch to load the diamond bullet.
‘Hm?’
The pouch was hot.
Inside… the Rosary of Grace was boiling, as if it would explode with Stellar Force.
Unlike before, when it leaked small amounts of stored Stellar Force, it was now trying to unleash all its power.
As if opposing the evil filling the space.
The Rosary cast aside its veil of concealment.
Know-It-All (Lv 3) analyzed the power held by the Rosary of Grace!
Knowledge flooded in instantly.
‘This is…!’
Hundreds of thoughts combined, and a plan was formed in an instant.
[You gunslinger, I’ll capture you and extract information. But first… let’s deal with the annoying archer!]
The demon tore through space and moved in front of Elisha.
Elisha, pale from the Maki filling the space, couldn’t move.
‘Flash!’
I appeared between the demon and Elisha.
[If you want to die first… no, that’s!]
Clear shock and disbelief crossed the high-ranking demon’s face.
The Rosary of Grace hung around my neck, fluttering.
[Why does a holy relic…!]
Facing a demon, the Rosary of Grace unleashed its true power!
First condition: The opponent must be ‘evil.’
Second condition: Possess the ‘belief in protection’ to protect others.
Third condition: You must be able to wield ‘Stellar Force’ yourself.
All conditions met! The Rosary of Grace, one of the three sacred relics of the Cosmos Church, is unleashed!
Stellar Force is imbued in your body and equipment! Unlimited Stellar Force is supplied! A temporary sanctuary is declared!
Achievement unlocked! ‘Owner of the Rosary of Grace’ achieved! Stellar Force usage gains a bonus as a reward!
The Stellar Force from the Rosary burned away the ruins’ Maki.
Not stopping there, it filled the entire ruins with Stellar Force, turning it into a sanctuary.
[Argh…!]
The Maki covering the high-ranking demon’s body shrank, and its sturdy horns and armor lost their luster.
Its wings shriveled and shattered.
Yet it didn’t retreat.
The high-ranking demon reached for me with a resolve to die.
[You!]
I aimed my gun at the demon.
A white light flashed.
[Ah?]
The finest holy diamond bullet pierced the darkness.
It struck the high-ranking demon’s upper body at point-blank range.
The diamond bullet, lodged in the softened armor under the Rosary’s Stellar Force, pierced through and exited the other side.
[Kuh…!]
The demon, with a gaping hole in its upper body, collapsed.
The sight was so futile it felt anticlimactic.
‘Ha, really.’
I looked at the Rosary around my neck.
‘A demon hunter through and through.’
No wonder they mistook me for a Peacemaker.
I lifted my foot and stomped on the demon’s head.
With Stellar Force-infused kicks, I crushed, crushed, and crushed until its head burst like a watermelon.
The extra effort was because the barrel overheated from firing the finest holy diamond bullet.
I couldn’t let my guard down until the system confirmed it.
You defeated Nelson, blinded by jealousy and tempted by a demon! A high-ranking demon descended, but you successfully executed it using the holy relics you acquired!
Faris will never forget this day for many reasons.
Elisha overcame her trauma, and her perception of you has greatly improved.
You earned 5,000 points.
It was truly over.
I sighed and holstered my shotgun.
‘Still, it’s a pity.’
I looked at the demon, Nelson’s corpse.
I’d planned to take the wrist guard he had.
A treasure of the Quesharow family that aided shooting…
‘It got destroyed during demonization. Tch.’
What a shame.
It wasn’t exactly necessary.
Martin’s character traits gave him a shooting buff, and with Firearm Proficiency Lv 1, plus support from Know-It-All, Wild Instinct, and Movement, it was just… a bit regrettable.
A peerless powerhouse confirmed the unleashed Rosary of Grace. He will come to find you.