Chapter 23 - Hunter's Vestige Part II

{23} - Evans Smith: Hunter's Vestige Part II

The giant bullet soared towards his chest, followed by a twisted cone of air.

Evans grinned. Reared his arm back. And with flames coiled around his wrist he twisted and punched.

His fist struck the bullet's side. Broke through the bullet's shell. Light filled his eyes as the two explosions smashed against one another. Fires twisted into the air, and the smell of rotten blood filled his nostrils.

It didn't stop him. He charged out of the dust cloud, the flames enveloping his body further pushing him along. The monster leveled its arms at him, and the shotguns that stood as its hands fired. Over a dozen shells came flying at him, each the size of bowling balls and burning with corrosive blood.

He swerved around them. But the monster was relentless. Its shotguns fired with no delay, swarming the air with shells that were more than capable at caving his ribs in. And all the while its musket-like head began glowing once more, building heat as it readied another bullet.

He frowned as he ducked beneath a volley of shells. This wouldn't do, he realized. Those shotguns were relentless, and deadly. They weren't all that accurate, but the spread it had covered too large of an area. 

Well, that just meant he had to play it smart.

His palm was washed with light, and suddenly he was holding a can. He bit his thumb, adjusted his grip, and as he swerved to the left, he threw the can at an angle. It spun as it flew, heading straight for the ground. Except the moment it made contact, the can's shape caused it to ricochet back up instead.

He leapt over a few shells aimed at his legs, and with a grin he snapped his fingers.

The can smacked harmlessly onto one of the monster's shotguns. And then suddenly a small spark appeared, lit by the small patch of blood on the can. The flames melted through the soft aluminum body and made contact with the gasses held within.

And then the methane caught aflame, expanding into a large fireball. He held out his hand. Took a deep breath. And with the control granted by the System, he shoved the flames up the shotgun's barrel.

The barrel turned bright red. Seconds later, it melted down in a tremendous explosion. The monster roared in agony, before it turned its head towards him. The musket on its skull turned bright white, and the world shook as another giant bullet was fired. Right after, its one functioning shotgun fired, letting loose another volley of shells.

He dug his foot into the ground and spun. His heel smashed into the giant bullet, and another explosion rang out. The shells that were following behind it were immediately displaced, firing off in random directions.

Suddenly, another can was launched from the resulting dust cloud. It bounced off the ground, headed straight for its other shotgun. But the monster was quick to react. It raised its arm, and the shotgun fired.

A snap sounded.

A spark was lit. The can was melted through. And the methane within caught aflame before the shells could ever destroy the can. The fire surged forward, twisting harmlessly around the shells. Like before, the flames rose right into the shotgun's barrel, and it wasn't long before the shotgun exploded from the inside.

The monster roared in pain. The dust cloud cleared, and Evans stepped out, his smile filled with amusement.

"Bullet spam in a Souls-like?" He scoffed. "If you're going to play dirty, then so am I."

The monster growled back. He grinned back, as if his hand and foot weren't hurting like hell.

He took a breath. That musket was the true danger. He could destroy the bullets, but the insane amount of force they were fired with wasn't easy to endure. Each of his limbs could maybe tank a single hit without getting overly injured. 

And it wasn't as if he could evade those bullets anyway. He didn't know how fast those bullets were firing, but the way they blurred reminded him of the way Izumi would blur when she was using her Mark 85. And that Suit of hers could go up to mach 12.

But, at least he'd taken out those shotguns. 

Of course, the moment he thought that, flesh erupted from the broken shotguns, wrapping over one another to form giant claws. 

His smile turned wry. "Oh boy."

The monster roared, corrosive gasses puffing from its jaws before it began running towards him.

He leapt aside as its claw smashed into the ground, and grimaced. The ground was sizzling, turning into gas as the corrosive blood burnt through the odd material this entire arena was made of. The monster turned to him, growling as the musket began glowing once more.

His hands shimmered. And in each palm appeared a can filled with methane. He crushed them and immediately created a spark from his fingers. All the methane burnt, and a giant wall of fire rose between him and the monster.

The monster wasn't deterred. It stalked forward, the musket on its head continuing to grow brighter as-

It stopped when an unholy screech sounded from behind the wall of flames. It wasn't like anything it'd ever heard before. Loud, shrill, and decidedly inhuman. 

Its caution rose. Something had happened.

It growled as it knelt down, aiming its head straight at where he had last stood. The musket's barrel turned nearly white, and the world trembled as another giant bullet soared through the air. It plowed right through the wall of flames, and the winds it carried blew away all the remaining fire.

Except the bullet had hit nothing. And the dispersed flames revealed nothing but…an mp3 player.

The monster didn't know what the strange metal plaque was, but it knew that it was something important. It roared then, raised its claw. Corrosive blood dripped onto the ground as its claw struck the ground.

The mp3 player broke. The unholy screeching disappeared.

And then the monster roared as something smashed into its back.

"This rifle's gotta go." Evans said, clinging onto the monster's back as he gripped onto the musket's barrel. The monster quickly raised its claws to strike, but it was too late.

Fire rose from his fingers. The air twisted from the heat, and the musket's barrel broke.

It screamed, and he leapt into the air before its claws could get him. And above the now-unarmed monster, he twisted as the air before him shimmered. Another can appeared, and steam rushed out from his grit teeth as he kicked the can right into the monster's jaws.

The can exploded on impact. The methane caught aflame from the lingering heat. And the monster screamed as the fires rushed down into its throat.

He landed back onto the ground, and winced. His foot was beginning to really hurt now. Thankfully, he'd used his heel to strike that giant bullet down. He could still move, even if it caused him pain.

He glanced at the flames coiling around him, and sighed. He really needed to get a ranged Skill of some kind. Maybe try and see if Louis could teach him those Fireballs he used during their first meeting. Being unable to extend his flames out without outside interference was becoming a serious issue. Especially if other Vestiges carried monsters like this one.

But those were worries for later. Because now,

It was unarmed. He could see flesh winding around the broken musket barrel, but the musket was still dead. The monster had no more ranged attacks.

He leapt forward. The monster charged at him.

The monster swung its claws at him. He hopped over them, landing on the carrion flesh before leaping once more. He came face to face with the monster's still damaged skull. The flesh had yet to finish coiling around the broken musket.

He grinned, and lit by flames, his fist struck the monster's skull. The damaged barrel crumpled beneath his Strength, and the flesh that was desperately trying to cover the damaged wound was burnt away.

But he didn't relent. Inspired by Io's explosive Strength, he pushed even more power into his fist. Flames erupted from the soles of his shoes, keeping him afloat as his fist dug deeper into the monster's skull.

He grit his teeth. Called for the blood flowing in his veins to come to his aid. To burn with even more power.

It obliged.

Power exploded through his arm, and his vision was enveloped by red as an intense flame rose from his hand. The heat rose even more, the propulsion on his feet grew, and his ears rang as his fist drilled into the monster's skull.

And then, something cracked, and the world exploded in red as the fire blew out from the back of the monster's head.

The monster swayed. And then the ground shook as it fell. It didn't get back up.

He touched back down onto the ground, and winced. His hand hurt. A lot. That thing's skull was hard, and punching a hole straight through it wasn't easy.

Still, he did. The monster was dead, and he stood victorious.

"You did it." A voice sounded in his mind. It was the same voice he'd heard earlier. But it no longer grated against his ears. It was soft, like fading lullabies. "I…ha, to think I'd ever see someone as strong as you."

Slowly, the monster began to melt away, and in its place was a young man. He was…ordinary. Dressed in rags, with his face covered by a gas mask, and a musket held in his hands. He looked like every other Revenant struggling to live. Another nameless face in the crowd.

"I've never felt so free." He said, and his gas mask fell to reveal a small, tired smile. "Thank you. Truly."

He huffed. "No need. You should've been able to rest a long time ago." He grinned. "I'm just putting things back to how they're supposed to be."

The young man laughed. "If you say so." His body began fading, crumbling into motes of light. But the young man didn't fear. His smile remained at peace even as his arms crumbled away. "Good luck, Scorned One."

The young Revenant faded, and the world began to tremble.

[The Special Event has been Cleared!]

[The -Special (Uncommon) Skill- has been received. Unzipping files…]

[Files received. -Wild Hunt- Skill has been Achieved!]

Evans took a tired breath. The ground began to tear. And he closed his eyes and sighed as he fell into the gaping abyss.