7: Gaelion 1

Warning Take does get eaten

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As we walked to Mirso Village, I had drones out camouflaged to spot Takt if he shows up, as I just don't want to waste time with the spoiled brat. The drone video feeding through an addition I merged into my glasses with transmutation given that I don't know much about biology to safely just modify my body with transmutation.

I'd need to visit a place that's got cyborgs or just a cyberpunk style to it to see what I could do there. Just I wish people would have better timing, as once I reached the village, Takt decided to show his face. The reincarnated prince was running like a rabid dog searching for me as he used stolen Vassal Weapons to hunt for me.

However, the weapons looked almost comatose in his grasps, as their gems were dull and almost lifeless, with hints of blood of still on them, which did make me sick.

Cardinal and Vassal weapons are alive, and just seeing the sentient weapons, likely reliving the recent deaths of their new wielders. I moved without much thought, my agility making me appear before Takt like a ghost, as I looked into his eyes and only saw depraved madness and greed for worship and power.

Takt looked startled at my sudden appearance, when he moved I moved faster, hand wrapping around his face as I for the first time used my one skill that'd let me transform. My gun reacting to the form shifting as I felt it disappear physically from my body and felt it more agreeing with my now skull masked face and tail that I had gained.

//\\ Takt POV \\//

I had abandoned my companions and plans when I heard of the new Cardinal Weapon, hearing about it, I HAD TO HAVE IT. If I had it, I would be the greatest hero king of this world, no questions asked, as I would be far more superior to the other Heroes combined then! For what good can a bunch of useless weapons like a Carriage or Sword do when one has a gun and can kill those pests without them knowing how they died.

So I used the Vassal Weapons I had liberated from their new users to hunt down the Marksman Hero, although the Vassal Weapons in my possession were absolute trash. They didn't feel as if they were doing much of anything, like they were instead traumatized by how I killed their users.

Hmph which is a load of shit, they're just weapons with picky equip requirements, they're not alive after all, so I don't comprehend why they wouldn't just work right. For I don't need to worry about those silly equip requirements when I just need to touch them to steal them and use them better than their last user.

Yet even with that skill granted to me by the Goddess who reincarnated me here, the weapons looked dull and lifeless compared to the vibrancy they once had. It irked me something fierce that because of that, they didn't work much when I was their new master.

However, searching for the Marksman Hero has been an absolute chore as the man seemed to be elusive, yet I had managed to find him when it felt like the Vassal Weapons cried out in his direction. Ha! These picky weapons really think they're alive! Once I get the Cardinal Gun, I'll gladly toss these weapons into the vault at Faubrey Castle until I need them again.

My thoughts derailed there, however, as a man appeared before my eyes. His eyes cold and dead with a promise of my slow death, reaching to draw the Vassal Whip, I was interrupted when a hand, that quickly became clawed and matted in black fur, held on to my face.

"Kid, break every last bone and organ in his body. He reeks like those bastards, and those weapons on him aren't responsive like yours. He broke their spirits, break him like he breaks others, like people broke me…."

Looking towards the sudden voice, I saw an orange fox, with black lips and eye masks, sitting on the turned man's shoulder. The fox reminded me of something, but before I could remember what, I violently slammed about into the ground. The force behind the slams wasn't anything to scoff at, I felt several bones break on each impact.

Trying to call forth one of the Vassal Weapons to my hands, I grasped at air when the click of a gun sounded. The weapons I had oh so painstakingly gathered from their users left me eagerly.

The whip, the projectile, the hammer, the axe left me so suddenly after all my hard work. That I momentarily forgot my situation as I reached for them. Yet, the weapons seemed to avoid me like the plague as they attached themselves to the man who became a monster. The man's matted black fur that hugged his now emaciated frame seemed to shield the weapons from me as a strange red sludge crawled over them.

Growling into the bastard's hand, I tried to channel magic to cast a sloppy no-chant spell in the heat of the moment when something pierced my stomach. Looking down, I saw the outline of a bony tail with skin melded and stuck to it, metallic bone and regular bone sticking out at times along the tail.

The bastard impaled me with his tail. THE BASTARD IMPALED ME WITH HIS FILTHY TAIL! THIS DEMONIC LOOKING LOW LIFE WHO SHOULD BOW TO ME AND BEG FOR MERCY OF THE GREATEST HERO AND KING, TAKT FOR HIS ACTIONS.

Glaring into the eye sockets of the skull mask on the bastard's head, and I, for some reason, felt PRIMAL FEAR.

Crimson eyes with dilated diamond slits looked back into my own eyes, invoking fear from my very soul for some ungodly reason. That's when I heard him chuckle softly before he discarded me like a piece of trash. His tail ripping out of my stomach as he threw me to the ground violently, the air in my lungs being forced out. The now gaping hole in my stomach bleeding profusely as I looked up at the one who dare defy me of my rights promised by the Goddess.

"You think you can get away with this?! I am the prince and future king of Faubrey, one of the chosen to help the Goddess! You're just some worthless stepping stone for my greatness! You'll rue the daaaaaaaarrgghhg!!"

//\\ Lockheart POV \\//

Growing disinterested with the yapping reincarnated, I summoned my Wendigo's and well… We got to put him through extreme pain as we ate him alive. My bone mask covered in his blood and entrails as I devoured his intestines, an armored Wendigo that had Mald's old armor fused into its body at sections devoured sections of his face carefully to prolong his life and pain. I could feel my weapon also using its… devouring form to feed off the dying reincarnated and unlock or upgrade certain gun forms while stealing stat points from him to empower me.

By the time Takt had died, we had eaten more than sixty percent of his body before eating the rest. When I transformed back to normal, I didn't look as if I had eaten a person alive, I looked clean and free of blood and gore. My gun at my waist with not a hint of blood as the now unclaimed Vassal Weapons hung around my sash, lifeless but a little healthier looking. However, I also looked at my new gun forms, and the additions to my stats, along with a new skill slash title I had gotten.

『Name: Kaiser Lockheart

Age: 24, Race: Human

Titles: Marksman Hero, Hitman Hero, Wendigo Elder, Insane, Vassal Smith

Level: 136, EXP: 125/13,600

Str: 34180(+40), Agi: 100710(+50)

Int: 45855(+10), Wis: 50550(+10)

Def: 148230(+100), Aim: 600500(+100)

Skills: Transmutation, Demi-God Mana Regeneration, Extreme Regeneration, Familiar Summoning, Marksman Hero, Dead Eye, Night Vision, Material Knowledge, Enchantment, Legendary Assassin, Cartographer, Father of Kings, Daredevil, Wendigo Summon, Mobile Weapons Platform, Vassal Smith』

『 Vassal Smith: For taking revenge in the name of a world's Vassal Weapons, they find comfort with your presence and a forgotten Hero Ability unlocks. You now have the authority to create Vassal Weapons from mundane or personally crafted items, to do so you must be willing to sacrifice a certain amount of experience and have a gem of at least RARE quality to create a Vassal Weapon. You can also edit an existing Vassal Weapons statistics and abilities due to your new authority, along with dismissing them from their users at will if they are unworthy.』

『 Human Gun I->V: This gun form provides a boost to experience points gained by slaughtering Humanoids and a +15 stat point gain for consumption of Humanoid corpses. Ability: Corpse Explosion - Deal 150% explosive damage and the debuff trait Traumatized for Humanoids caught in the explosion.』

『 Corpse Gun I->V: This gun form provides a +15 stat point gain for each corpse consumed. Ability: Talk With Dead - Have a casual conversation with the dead like a Necromancer.』

『 Sacrifice Variant I->V: Each corpse consumed provides a 15% boost in firepower to all gun forms unlocked and +10 stat points from the consumed corpse.』

『 Organ Gun I->V: Each organ consumed provides a 1.6x boost to bodily strength. Ability: Organ Printing - Create copies of fully functional organs that will assimilate to the DNA of its new host upon insertion.』

『 Bone Gun I->X: Each bone consumed provides a 2.0x boost to bone density and strength. Ability: Bone Shaker - Cause the bones in a target to explode at random with agonizing explosive strength that can be non-lethal depending on which bone explodes.』

『 Due to Sacrifice reacting to the consumption of a corpse, all gun forms gain a +2 enhancement, making them tier two or higher weapons if they had already been enhanced.』

Something else also updated, and I could only scoff at it, but I also felt slightly pleased with myself as well for taking another one out.

[Contract for Shield Hero World Updated!

Main threat 0/1, Sub-threats: 2/4

For taking out these primary threats, you shall be removed from the world with incident. 

Reward: Cardinal Weapon - Gun Spirit, The location of the six targets in real time in the next world]

After that series of distractions, I forgo going into Mirso Village and hunted down Gaelion specifically, as I was done with the bull shit for now. When we entered his domain, my mood and companions must've made all his hybrid and pure-blooded children avoid me as they didn't act on their Draconian instincts, they just ran or hid. With no interruptions, we eventually found Gaelion waiting for us patiently in a clearing with clear interest on his reptilian face.

"It has been sometime since I felt a presence like yours and that of your companions. Tell me why have you come here? Why do you have most of the Seven-Star Weapons with you as well?"

Hearing the booming yet quiet and curious voice of the dragon before us, I didn't bother with fancy formalities, I just got down to business as I really wasn't desiring anything annoying.

"I have some of them because I ate the fuck-wit who murdered half, if not a majority, of the Seven-Star Heroes, and I'm here to stop you from dying a pointless death due to the Sword Hero who got deceived by some greedy asshats wanting your gold and daughter."

This caught his attention and so discussions began on everything I knew, Gaelion being a rather spiteful bastard at certain points regarding things that happen to his daughter in the original timeline and a few fan fictions which would also be their own timelines.