Chapter 8 Sage Beheading

It seemed that sensing Russell's resolve, the Spiritual Energy Weapon known as "Sage Beheading" suddenly began to flicker with a faint light.

Russell felt some kind of damp sensation. He subconsciously reached for his neck.

His hand came away covered in fresh blood.

A faint pain made him fully aware—he had a strange wound on his neck.

Although it was such a dangerous spot, where he could have easily hit the carotid artery, it hadn't taken Russell's life.

Instinctively, he smeared the blood in his hand onto the short sword.

As the blood covered the original white part of the short sword, a bright red, translucent Light Blade was slowly drawn out by Russell.

It was no longer the short sword that was too short for cutting a watermelon.

Instead, it was the blade length that Russell himself had determined to be most comfortable.

It was as if the hilt of this long sword was Russell's blood-soaked left hand.

With the thought of testing the sword, he slashed it at the lock area of the silent captain's chamber's door!

Instead of the sharp noise of a keen blade striking metal or the sound of springs when a heavy object chops through a lock,

it was a violent and piercing noise that completely surprised Russell—

Like sliding a sheet of metal into a high-speed circular saw, emitting a screeching sound while sparking bits of light.

This even startled Russell himself.

He immediately realized that the person inside would surely be aware of his presence just outside the door.

At that moment, the airship conveniently began to sway to the other side.

So Russell immediately followed the swinging motion, pressing up against the opposite wall.

Practically the next instant after he moved, a series of loud gunshots came from the room.

Boom—boom!

A swarm of metal Bullets poured down like iron rain, warping the sturdy metal door in an instant.

Smaller Bullets pierced through the door, leaving deep scratches on the floor, the ceiling, and the walls on either side.

If Russell hadn't dodged, by now he probably would have been riddled with holes.

The second shot, fired almost immediately, blew the deformed heavy metal door right off its hinges.

Russell was right in the L-shaped corner beside the door and avoided this attack.

It must have been Bullets piercing through the linkage between the metal door and the wall. As the door flew out and landed on the floor, it made a sharp, loud clanging sound, dragging on the ground with a piercing metallic noise—the noise would undoubtedly be heard by other passengers on the airship.

Russell held his breath for a moment.

If the passengers heard such a loud noise, they might come out of their rooms to check what was happening. If taken by surprise, they could be injured or even killed by the powerful Bullets.

Russell saw very clearly that the Bullets could penetrate a thick metal door and continue flying out for more than ten meters, embedding in the wall opposite.

Even such a heavy door could be blown away—

If he were merely grazed by them, he would likely lose his fighting capability instantly.

Could it even be reasonable to have such power in a continuous burst? Was this really a hand-held shotgun and not some kind of cluster cannon?

Russell wasn't even sure how many bullets the other person had left.

If the other person's gun had only two bullets, then this would be the safest time; but if there were more than four or even eight bullets, and the ability to only fire two shots at a time, then it would be very dangerous for Russell to charge in now.

—But he couldn't delay any longer.

If people heard the noise and gathered, the probability of accidentally injuring innocent passengers and crew would greatly increase.

Or rather, the probability was one hundred percent—whoever came would die.

At least he had to turn the direction of the gun barrel, so it would no longer aim down the hallway...

While his fear and heartbeat intensified, making his heart thump violently, Russell's body became even more agile and flexible.

His thoughts raced in the blink of an eye.

While the smoke from the door being blown off and hitting the ground had not yet cleared, Russell bent his waist and darted in against the wind, immediately rolling to one side the moment he entered the room.

The person had just finished shooting two bullets and was reloading. Just as the first Bullet was loaded, at the instant he saw someone enter, he immediately pulled the Trigger toward the door.

But clearly, Russell's small stature and agility caught the opposition by surprise. Moreover, the sharp noise of the iron gate dragging on the ground had masked the sound of Russell's footsteps as he rushed in.

He rolled into the room, bowing his body, only a couple of handspans from the ground.

The bullets poured mostly over Russell's head, with only one grazing his back.

His clothes were torn and the blood did not even have time to seep out immediately.

However, almost didn't feel the pain.

At the moment of injury, his green pupils suddenly constricted into vertical slits like those of a feline.

The world before him seemed to dim and slow down.

After tumbling to the ground in a very awkward position, he landed on three limbs, dragging himself on the floor.

With the help of his long tail adjusting the angle of his spine, his extremely flexible body found balance once again.

During his roll, the bright red Light Blade he held trailed on the ground, sparking off showers of Mars. The bullets that struck the blade burst into blinding flashes of light, yet Russell hardly felt the impact.

This split-second phenomenon gave Russell a new idea.

In just a moment, he completed his observation of the thug.

The guy, like the other three mercenaries, wore a mask covering even his ears inside protective gear. Merely by observation, it was impossible to discern his spiritual roots. He was close to two meters tall, with arms so muscular they were twice as thick as Russell's thighs, and there weren't many signs of prosthetic modifications—aside from his left arm being prosthetic, the only other thing was a peculiar metal belt tied around his waist.

And the shotgun in his hand was almost identical to the Bad Day one had pulled out before. The only difference was an added thick tube in front... seemingly to concentrate the bullets more.

And because of that—it failed to seriously wound Russell.

The assailant realized he missed with his shot, but he didn't attempt to reload forcibly.

Instead, he carried the shotgun in his right hand and opened his left hand toward Russell.

Seeing the glowing black hole in the palm of his left hand, Russell suddenly felt an immense sense of crisis.

He immediately held the knife blade horizontally and tilted it to block in front of him.

The moment the hot red bullet was fired, Russell clearly saw its trajectory.

It was half reaction, half anticipation.

Aiming at the high-speed trajectory of the bullet, his pupils stretched to the limit.

A distorted afterimage became extremely clear in his dimmed vision.

Russell pulled the blade sideways and made a fierce chop—

The "Bullet" suddenly burst into a brilliant flash of light.

A bad premonition suddenly rose in Russell's heart.

The next moment, it exploded with a roar.

While it didn't explode right next to him, the blast wave from such proximity forcefully threw Russell backward, causing him to stagger and slam into the wall.

The area on his back, which had been scratched by the Bullet, was hit hard again, causing his chest to feel stuffy.

Under the severe pain, Russell could only see a blank before his eyes, his arms went numb, and it took all his strength to hold onto the weapon in his hand... even so, his brain nearly came to a complete halt.

It was only because Russell had cut it in half in advance that the blast's power was greatly reduced.

If it had hit him directly, he probably would have been blown to smithereens.

But fortunately, the explosion was fair—

The blast swept through, shattering the table between the two men.

The floor of the captain's room shook, and cups and plates instantly shattered. The middle-aged man with feather-like decorations at his temples, tied to the captain's chair, quietly pressed a hidden button amidst the chaos.

And at that moment, the Elf elder who had been tied up in the corner hit his head hard against the wall. He groaned softly and woke up.

The moment he woke up and opened his eyes,

He happened to see a masked bandit holding a shotgun, his head flying high into the air. Blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering behind him.

The elder's pupils immediately constricted slightly.

He didn't shout right away—turning his head, he saw the cat-eared boy holding the bloody Light Blade, thrown against the wall by the shockwave.

Quickly, he focused on the Light Blade in the boy's hands.

"…Sage Beheading?"

He murmured doubtfully under his breath.