Ch.128Wish Upon a Red Star

*Click-clack.*

*Wheeee-*

*Beep beep.*

The four-legged monster emitting red beams made sounds reminiscent of battle scenes from famous classic sci-fi movies.

We, facing these futuristic enemies with Wild West-era firearms, were like barbarians under alien invasion.

Of course, that was merely in appearance; in actual combat, we held the advantage.

“Flame Lance!”

*Fwoosh!*

The spear of flame that burst from Jessica’s fingertips burrowed into the body of the four-legged monster—commonly called a “Dragoon”—causing a small explosion inside.

With flames spewing from the hole in its body and the joints connecting its four legs, the Dragoon collapsed as if sitting down.

*Beep! Beep!*

*Those beam-firing sounds are surprisingly annoying…*

The Dragoons continued firing their beams in response.

It seemed they had learned the properties of the scale shields through repeated engagements. The red beams fired from the heads of three Dragoons flew toward exactly the same spot with slight time differences between them.

*Crack*

Even with beastfolk mana manipulation and destruction resistance formulas, a single scale could only withstand three beam shots at most. This precisely timed attack successfully reduced one copper scale to metal fragments.

If that scale had already taken one or more hits, part of the wooden board forming the shield’s base would have been lost as well.

“Fatum! To the side!”

*Bang!*

Following Phyllis’s instruction, Fatum at the front line moved toward the wall. A glowing red mana bullet was fired from her rifle, and though the fire-attribute bullet caused a smaller explosion than Jessica’s Flame Lance when it penetrated the Dragoon’s body, it was enough to destroy the vital point inside—the golem core.

The two remaining Dragoons finally succeeded in closing the distance with our party by climbing over their comrade’s corpse.

However, those guarding our party’s front line were from two tribes of beastfolk—those with the greatest physical abilities among Gran’tis natives.

“Hyaaah!”

“Hmm!”

*Crunch!*

The Dragoons were helplessly pierced and split apart before they could even bring the sharp transparent saw blades attached to their front legs against Seti and Fatum’s bodies.

“Phew, they just keep crawling out endlessly.”

“Yeah. That makes 31 we’ve taken down so far.”

“Still, the enemy’s momentum has definitely been broken. Let’s use this chance to replace the broken scales.”

“To think one shield could make such a difference… It’s hard to believe we struggled for the past three years.”

Apparently, over the past three years, the Dwarves and Aqua-King tribe had launched several operations to reclaim the mine with their own strength.

But even the mighty Aqua-King tribe had no choice but to retreat helplessly when their equipment was instantly destroyed, and the Dwarves, with neither mages nor gunners, were of no help in the fight against Dragoons.

Even when they repeatedly employed tactics of killing a dozen or so enemies at a time before retreating, there was no meaningful reduction in enemy numbers, and with the battle situation showing little improvement, the Aqua-King tribe’s morale had been steadily declining.

Fatum was confident that the scale shield, a new weapon, would break this vicious cycle and overturn the stagnant battle situation.

“We’re about halfway through the second underground level, right? If we keep going like this, we can clear all the way to the third floor with just the remaining scales…”

“Wait.”

Seti interrupted Mina, who was satisfied with the performance of the scale shield she had designed, and glared at the passage ahead.

The corridor of the Korkas Mine suddenly fell deathly silent.

From far away came the heavy footsteps: thump, thump, thump, thump.

“Something big is coming.”

“Come to think of it, they said there were ones about two or three times the size of the others. Is the boss coming out personally now that all its minions have been defeated?”

“Hmm…? When the Aqua-King tribe came alone, it never left the central smelting room, not even a single step.”

“Maybe it realized that fortifying against enemies with abundant ranged attack methods is pointless. These monsters seem to have better learning abilities than we thought.”

As Jessica said, these Dragoons seemed to learn about our forces and tactics through repeated engagements.

Despite not letting a single attacking enemy escape alive.

This meant the Dragoons likely had the ability to share consciousness or information between individuals, and the large one approaching now might have learned from the data gathered in our previous engagements.

“Phyllis, as soon as the big one appears, hit it with Lightning Bolt immediately. Let’s overwhelm it with firepower in one go, learning ability or not.”

“Got it, Will.”

Phyllis aimed her rifle toward the direction of the approaching thumping sounds, and Jessica also stared down the corridor with flames kindled above her hand.

Seti and Fatum, standing at the front, pressed against the wall to avoid getting caught in the line of fire, while Mina and I also prepared for contingencies as we waited for the giant Dragoon’s approach.

About five seconds later…

Just as Phyllis’s ears twitched, a massive Dragoon appeared around the bend in the corridor.

“Lightning Bolt!”

“Flame Lance!”

*Crackle!*

*Fwoosh!*

With both voices, the Lightning Bolt pierced through the giant Dragoon’s body, and the Flame Lance, arriving a beat later, struck its head.

A perfect clean hit. It was an optimal attack executed before the giant Dragoon could even turn toward us.

“Nice shot!”

“Be careful! It’s not down yet!”

As Jessica warned the cheering Mina, the giant Dragoon began to pivot in place at an unsettling speed, clicking its legs.

It was surprising that it hadn’t fallen after receiving that attack, but the sparks flying from the hole in its body and its half-blown-off head clearly showed that the previous hit had been effective.

With no worry about incoming beams, I thought all that remained was an all-out attack. That’s when it happened.

*Click*

The lower part of the giant Dragoon’s body, a section resembling a crab’s underbelly, opened with a metallic sound.

Everyone slightly tensed at this movement we’d never seen in the smaller Dragoons, and then countless metallic tentacles shot out from the opening.

*Whoosh!*

“Ah!?”

“W-what is this?!”

The tentacles, extending with ferocious momentum, instantly crossed the nearly 20-meter distance and began to constrict Seti and Fatum.

Their momentary surprise at the tentacles wrapping around their arms, legs, and waists quickly turned to expressions of pain as some tentacles began to tighten around their necks.

“Ugh…”

“Grrrr…”

“Seti, Fatum!”

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

*Bang-!*

Mina and I fired mana bullets at the metal tentacles, careful not to hit the two captured people.

The gold-attribute tentacles broke one by one. But the giant Dragoon was pulling back its remaining tentacles while rapidly advancing toward us.

If we let the two be dragged away, it was obvious they would suffer fatal wounds from those transparent saw blades.

Unable to stand by, Phyllis gripped her rifle tightly and rushed toward the two being dragged by the Dragoon.

“Bayonet Phantasm!”

*Slash!*

The first thing Phyllis cut were the tentacle bundles strangling the two’s necks.

An optimal decision to prevent suffocation, but the giant Dragoon was already right in front of us before she could cut the tentacles wrapped around their limbs.

“Will! Skill!”

As Jessica shouted and closed her eyes to activate the Fragment of Omniscience, I felt vast amounts of mana flowing into my body from the crystal mana tank Mina carried.

It was Jessica’s order to maximize the skill’s potential at this moment to save the two from danger.

*!!*

I quickly returned the pistol to the holster at my waist, let go, and concentrated my consciousness. Time around me slowed dramatically.

The need to return to a quick-draw stance each time is something I’ll need to improve, but now is not the time to worry about such minor details.

*Where should I aim?*

Only three mana bullets left in the magazine.

I can’t use the miraculous six-shot that obliterated the Minotaur’s head and half of the Crow’s body.

By simple calculation, I can only output half the power, making the choice of “where to shoot” crucial in this moment.

The most promising candidate would be the front of the giant Dragoon’s underbelly where the tentacle bundles are densely gathered.

But can I cut all of the roughly 20+ metallic tentacles with just three mana bullets?

In the worst case, I might only sever a mere three strands. That would make using the skill pointless.

*The higher probability lies in targeting the giant Dragoon’s weak point.*

Though surprised by it suddenly opening its body and shooting out tentacles, the giant Dragoon’s appearance is more than 90% identical to the smaller ones.

Throughout our battles, I’ve closely observed the smaller Dragoons’ physical structure and clearly identified the location of the “golem core”—the characteristic weakness of golem-type monsters.

Phyllis’s Lightning Bolt slightly missed the golem core because she aimed at the enemy emerging from the corner, but with a fanning shot during skill activation, I can definitely hit exactly where I want.

*The issue is penetration power. A full six shots might pierce through, but this is my first time firing just three, so I can’t be certain.*

This is our first time fighting a giant Dragoon.

How much tougher is that gleaming silver carapace compared to the smaller ones, and how much destructive and penetrative power is needed to pierce through the body and reach the central golem core?

With all that data unclear, is it right to send off three mana bullets with the belief that “my skill will be enough”?

There’s no time.

My right hand gripping the handle had already half-drawn the revolver from its holster, and now I need to move the muzzle toward the target while entering the fanning shot stance.

Through my mind full of conflict and worry flashes a conversation I had with Jessica when contemplating the characteristics of the skill.

*It doesn’t seem like having more mana reduces the burden. Rather, it feels like the ability strengthens as you use all the mana available.*

*That’s right. I couldn’t fully understand Will’s skill either, but it definitely had that structure.*

The feeling of ability strengthening as you use all available mana.

In other words, this means that each performance component constituting the skill has a set mana cost.

Additionally, this skill has a form that selectively chooses from various complex effects according to need.

Then who determines that “need”?

*It’s about choosing. From a skill with infinite possibilities and potential, I directly select what I need most right now!*

The function I want now, the characteristics I need, the effects I deem appropriate.

No matter how I think about it, the one who decides that can only be myself.

Then if I wish to use this vast mana solely to “penetrate the giant Dragoon’s defenses and destroy the golem core”!

“Pierce through!!”

*Bang-bang-bang!*

I wish for three things:

To definitely break through the giant Dragoon’s shell no matter how tough and reach the golem core.

To surely destroy the golem core with the power of three shots.

And to accomplish these two acts faster than anything else present here.

Like making a wish to a genie in a lamp, I rub my hand on the hammer of the revolver instead of a lantern and fire three mana bullets.

The brilliance of the red mana bullets flying as one toward the target is certainly inferior to the past two instances of six-shots, but they fly quietly and swiftly into the giant Dragoon’s body, burrowing inside without any resistance.

There was no sound of the tough carapace colliding with the mana bullets, nor of the carapace breaking or cracking.

As if the carapace never existed in the first place. Or as if it were not a solid material at all, but a meaningless existence that couldn’t offer even as much resistance as air.

The red stars that quietly penetrated into the giant Dragoon’s body faithfully carried out their master’s order to destroy the heart of this worthless body.

*Crack-boom!*

Ignoring the target’s defense, reducing the time to impact to zero, and pouring all condensed power entirely into the golem core.

Then what could await at the end other than the “finale of the battle”?

The giant Dragoon’s two arms, raised high to cut off Seti’s, Fatum’s, and Phyllis’s necks, could never swing down again.

Because a golem whose heart was destroyed the moment the revolver’s trigger was pulled could not possibly remain alive.

In that swift and decisive judgment, there was no room for “learning.”