Ch.289Forbidden Strike

“You lasted 10 minutes. As a sign of respect for your skill, I’ll tell you about the ‘talents’ of the Third Eye clan.”

The Regulator, who had been attacking with black lightning-like energy while flying through the sky, began speaking while suspended in mid-air.

Of course, the assault on the ground hadn’t subsided, so we had to listen to his story while dealing with the shadow beasts’ attacks, with Seti and Ancestor at the center of our defense.

“We of the Third Eye clan are all born with unique ‘talents.’ It could be an aptitude for a specific profession, or something that falls into the category of special abilities.”

“The talent I was born with is ‘Assimilation.’ It’s the ability to adapt seamlessly to unfamiliar environments, incompatible magical energies, or even other creatures’ bodily organs. It was thanks to this ‘Assimilation’ talent that I was able to defeat this dungeon’s boss and take its place.”

“Ul=Ga=Han’s talent was ‘Mana Carrier.’ It’s the ability to contain enormous amounts of magical energy that would normally be too much for the body to handle, as long as it’s for the purpose of transferring it from one place to another.”

“Using that talent, Ul=Ga=Han was assigned the task of preparing something in a canyon area far to the east… but as you know, the result was a failure.”

To summarize the Regulator’s explanation, Ul=Ga=Han, or the Gentleman, was a specialized mana delivery person, and the Regulator himself was a super-organism capable of adapting to any environment.

So when the Gentleman created a dungeon in Korkas Canyon, it wasn’t due to his own creative ability, but rather he delivered magical energy to complete a dungeon foundation that had already been prepared.

“…I see. So that’s how it was.”

“Did you figure something out?”

“It’s still in the realm of speculation, but I think the Gentleman was trying to establish a new base for the Third Eye clan in Korkas Canyon.”

Does the Third Eye clan possess the ability or means to create dungeons?

That’s something we currently have no way to verify.

However, the dungeon that appeared in Korkas Canyon was specifically designed for operating the Stone House, an S-class artifact, and the Stone House provides an ideal living environment for many people to hide, assuming someone takes responsibility for managing it.

In other words, if the Regulator were to defeat the dungeon boss, the “Lady of the Manor,” and take her place…

“They’d gain a secure hideout where only those permitted by the Regulator could enter, without exposing the core room, which is essentially the heart of the dungeon.”

“Then that dungeon…”

“Yes, it was a prime piece of real estate meant to be the new home sweet home for the Third Eye clan.”

I don’t know how many Third Eye clan members reside in this dungeon, but if they’re hiding in the core room, the Stone House should be more than sufficient to accommodate them.

The troublesome petrification curse could be eliminated once the Regulator became the master of the Stone House, and the servant dolls managing the mansion would provide the Third Eye clan with a luxurious living environment.

However, unlike this place, the mansion dungeon has the disadvantage of not being able to grow crops or obtain useful materials from monsters.

Perhaps the Gentleman had planned to solve this problem by using the Blackheart Gang.

Of course, now that the gang has been wiped out and both the Gentleman and Ul=Ga=Han are dead, there’s no way to confirm this.

After I explained this to everyone in the most concise way possible, the Regulator, listening from the sky, nodded with satisfaction.

“You’re a clever human. I can’t confirm whether you’re correct or not, but I will say it was logical reasoning.”

“Well, that’s just so touching I could cry!”

*Thud!*

“Grrrk!?”

As I dodged the shadow beast’s claws and kicked its side to drive it back, Seti immediately jumped in front of me and slashed at the beasts’ legs with her spear.

Normally, my kick wouldn’t have made a shadow beast flinch, but it was possible thanks to the strength-enhancing potion I’d made with the Cup of Glory.

One thing we’d discovered during our ten-minute skirmish was that not all of our means were rendered unusable.

What caused the runaway phenomenon in response to the surrounding magical energy were long-range attacks like magic guns and offensive spells, as well as magic that affected an area rather than individuals.

This meant we could still use magical tools, potions, healing techniques that worked through physical contact like Heal Touch and Clean Up, the Yabyou clan’s combat techniques that channeled magical energy through handheld weapons, and similarly, Bayonet Phantasm cast on weapons through contact—all functioned properly, albeit somewhat unstably.

“Haah!”

*Thunk*

Thanks to this, Phyllis was able to join Seti and Ancestor on the front line, making a 3:3 man-to-man defense possible, which was a positive development.

Of course, even so, the enemy outnumbered us, and we had to watch out for the Regulator’s black lightning attacks, which inevitably created gaps in our man-to-man defense.

“I appreciate the lecture on talents. But that alone doesn’t explain why the Gentleman had to die here.”

“Aren’t you experiencing the reason firsthand? The massive magical energy interfering with your guns and magic is the power Ul=Ga=Han left behind.”

“So you sacrificed the Gentleman to trap us?”

“Of course! Settlers who can’t use magic or guns can’t attack me in the sky, so as the protector of my clan, why wouldn’t I take measures to improve my chances of victory?”

*Crackle-!*

With those words, another black lightning bolt came flying from the Regulator.

It was slower and more predictable than real lightning, or even the thunderbolts used by the lich of Evernight Mountain, but because of this attack, we always had to keep our eyes on the Regulator in the sky.

“Hah!”

*Pang!*

Seti tried to attack the Regulator by launching a wind blade at the moment of vulnerability after he fired his lightning, but the wind that should have shot from the tip of her swung spear dispersed with a popping sound.

“That doesn’t work either.”

“Damn, is there really no way to deal with this?”

“I could hit him if I threw my spear. But…”

“If you don’t take him down with one hit, we’d just lose our means of keeping the beasts at bay. It’s not a tactic we can rashly employ.”

If our defense line formed by Seti, Ancestor, and Phyllis broke down, the battle situation would clearly turn against us.

If we were to throw the spear, it would need to either take down the Regulator in one shot or at least knock him to the ground.

As I was thinking about how to maintain this unfavorable stalemate until we could seize that opportunity…

“Seti. Could you try that thing from earlier one more time?”

“It won’t succeed.”

“There’s something I want to check. Just once is enough. Please?”

“Alright.”

*Pang!*

Seti attempted the wind blade again as Mina requested.

This attempt failed just like before, but I noticed Mina’s fist clench as she observed the scene through her Magiascope.

“Looks like you found something?”

“Shh. Come here and let me whisper in your ear.”

I approached her and lowered myself so she could whisper, and Mina spoke in a voice too quiet for the Regulator to hear.

‘When it bursts in reaction to the magical energy, the magical concentration in that area drops sharply for a moment. If we aim for that moment, I think we can shoot.’

‘How brief is that moment?’

‘About 0.2 seconds? But you could do it, right, Will?’

‘I could, but my revolver…’

If the magical energy causing the overreaction disappears for a moment, it wouldn’t be difficult to time a shot.

The problem is that my single-action revolver is unusable after the earlier overreaction.

Repairing it would not only take time but also require proper repair tools, which I left in the camping wagon.

Such damage rarely occurs, and the tools aren’t something convenient to carry around for emergencies.

‘Damn. If only I’d made my first attack with the Wolvesbane instead of the revolver… wait?’

As my thoughts turned to the anti-lycanthrope weapon holstered on my left leg, an idea flashed through my mind like lightning.

“…Mina. You said if I tried ‘that’ with the Wolvesbane, it would definitely explode, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“When exactly does it explode? Before the magic bullet is fired, or right after?”

“The latter. The magical bullet becomes too densely packed with power and explodes because it can’t escape through the barrel… why do you ask?”

“OK, so that’s how it works.”

I handed my disabled revolver to Mina and moved the Wolvesbane from my left holster to the empty right one.

Mina, realizing what this meant, frantically grabbed my pant leg to stop me.

“Whaaat!? What are you thinking, Will? Stop it!”

“No, listen, Mina. You said it explodes right after firing, right?”

“Yes, and at that moment the gun can’t withstand it and explodes! This has nothing to do with how fast Will can shoot!”

“That might not be the case.”

The principle behind my skill to accelerate magic bullets is to reduce the time from firing to impact to zero.

If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be possible to hit the Regulator with the overheated magic bullet ‘before’ the Wolvesbane itself explodes?

When I explained this to Mina in a low voice, her eyes widened dramatically.

“I-is that so? Well, theoretically that might be right, but…”

“Great. Now that I have expert verification, there’s no need to hesitate further.”

“No, no, no! Even if your theory is correct, the Wolvesbane will still explode! And with much more force than if it had just failed!”

“…In that case, Jessica. I’ll need your healing.”

I flexed my right hand demonstratively, and Jessica looked at me with concerned eyes before letting out a light sigh.

“…You know I can’t heal fractures or missing body parts, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve already thought of countermeasures in my head.”

“Then I won’t lecture you anymore. But just this once, okay?”

“OK.”

Hypothesis presented, technique verified.

And my wife’s permission granted.

“Aaah, really~~~!! Phyllis! Prepare a shockwave instead of Seti! Seti, you’re in charge of the finishing blow!”

“Leave it to me.”

“I’m ready too.”

“Got it, Will? I’ll tell you the timing, so don’t mess up!”

“…Yeah, thanks Mina.”

Seti, Mina, and Phyllis were each assigned their roles and prepared in their positions.

The timing would be the moment the Regulator paused his movement, right after firing his black lightning attack.

“Here it comes!”

“Phyllis! Counteract!”

“Shockwave Splasher!”

*BOOM-!!*

Sensing something amiss, the Regulator fired black lightning at Mina, but Phyllis’s Shockwave Splasher detonated all the surrounding magical energy, swallowing and neutralizing the black lightning.

“Will! Sh—-!”

I didn’t need to hear the complete “Shoot!” command.

With my right hand extending toward the holster, time around me came to a perfect stop.

The blue explosion from the Shockwave Splasher completely blocked the view between us and the enemy, but I remembered the position from which he had fired the lightning, so not seeing the target wasn’t a problem.

*Whoosh*

I take that back.

As soon as I poured magical energy into the Wolvesbane in my right hand, I could see the Regulator beyond the blue explosion.

It seemed to be thanks to the “power that transcends space,” allowing bullets to reach their target regardless of obstacles.

If that’s the case, then next I would transcend time, ignoring the result of the gun exploding and firing a lethal magic bullet at the Regulator.

*BANG!*

The moment I pulled the trigger, a heavy impact traveled through my wrist.

As expected of the Wolvesbane, which fires spreading penetration bullets, the recoil was on a completely different scale from the single-action revolver.

A cluster of meteors fired from the muzzle was already embedded all over the Regulator’s body, who had been suspended in mid-air.

*Crack…*

And in the next moment, the silver barrel of the Wolvesbane began to crumble like a cookie, with hot heat starting to leak out.

If the gun exploded here and now, my right hand would be completely obliterated.

“Just hold on a little longer-!”

My left hand extended toward the back of the Wolvesbane, just like in a fanning shot.

Although I couldn’t use fanning shots with the single-shot Wolvesbane, my left hand’s role this time wasn’t to pull back and release the hammer.

It was to push the Wolvesbane forward and throw it away while simultaneously releasing the grip with my right hand.

If I could just succeed in this, even if the Wolvesbane exploded, I’d suffer no damage or just a light burn-

*Screech—*

“Ah, I’m fucked.”

Was I a bit too late…?

I managed to pull my right hand back, but the Wolvesbane had only been pushed forward a tiny bit by my left hand.

*KABOOM~~~!*

Ah~ah…

I’m going to worry everyone again.

I could only smile bitterly as the massive explosion engulfed me.