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[Quick Draw].

[Successful Preemptive Strike].

[Speed of your gun attack has been increased by 50%].

The log of the skill usage scrolled down at the corner of his vision the same way as in the game.

Lanpeach felt nostalgic at the log shown, a faint smile appearing in his face as he pulled the trigger of the G1 Assault Rifle.

The stance of Lanpeach was adjusted by Gunmanship Level 2, and reached the level of a veteran.

He was on one knee, and the bullet was shot with suppressed recoil and without shaking.

He pulled the trigger 3 times with the semi-auto. 9 bullets drew trails of wind.

All those shots landed on the chest of Jakots who was in shock from this surprise attack and was standing like a scarecrow…or at least that’s what it looked like.

But just before they landed on Jakots, the bullets were repelled just a few centimeters away, and flew about in random directions, only leaving sparks behind.

“…! Nicely done. But a gun of that level has no effect against this Spirit Barrier.” (Jakots)

Jakots opened his eyes a bit widely and was surprised by how unexpectedly fast Lanpeach shot, but he directed both hands at him with a confident smile.

“[Shadow Fang].” (Jakots)

It looked as if nothing happened, but Lanpeach jumped back, and shot again.

Small shadow snakes approached him from below his feet, but they disappeared after Lanpeach avoided them.

It is shadow magic.

It is truly a magic attack that assaults you with shadows.

But Lanpeach knows this magic and shadow magic is slow, so it is easy to avoid if you know about it.

The bullets were landing on Jakots with precision, but they really were repelled right before landing.

[Soldier, that’s a Spirit Barrier! It is a shield from the Spirit Armor, so the attacks are not working!] (Libra)

(I know. And also how stupid my opponent is.) (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach ran towards the chair he left, put a foot onto the backrest, jumped, and touched the ceiling.

“A run down building is not that bad!” (Lanpeach)

There was a big hole on the ceiling.

Lanpeach put strength in both arms, got his body up in one go, and moved to the room above.

He was thinking about an escape route to begin with and purposely placed that chair right below it.

“Parkour is pretty interesting, Jakots-san. Can you catch up?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach provoked him with a crooked smile and shot again.

Jakots couldn’t match the speed of the bullets, so they landed, and were repelled once again by the Spirit Barrier.

“It would be troubling to look down on me. I shall show you the power of this Spirit Armor. Wake up, [Shadow Viper]!” (Jakots)

Dark mana gushed out from the body of Jakots. Both of his arms degenerated and stretched all the way to the floor.

The human joints were gone, changing into 2 snakes with black scales, and the hands transformed into snake heads.

It is the power of an Artificial Spirit.

Humanity crushed the Spirits and turned them into powder, and then produced this as replacements for Spirits.

They use spirit crystals and mana as energy. They are born from a special matter not from this world, were constructed like machines, and are loyal like ones. They provide power that surpasses human limitations.

Spirit Armor is one of the most prominent examples of this. They imbue an Artificial Spirit into the armor, deploy a Spirit Barrier that protects the wearer, grant physical capabilities beyond the limits, and give special abilities depending on the type of Artificial Spirit.

Jakots is wearing a Shadow Snake Spirit Armor. Its ability is to control shadows and change a part of his body into snakes.

“I won’t let you escape, Lanpeach. I will kill you before you regroup with those rabbits!” (Jakots)

He shot up his arms transformed into snakes, biting onto the big hole opened on the ceiling that Lanpeach climbed up from. He pulled up his body in one go and headed to the ceiling.

He picked his body up and got through the big hole, and bullets were repelled right in front of him once again.

He searched for Lanpeach and he saw his back as he left the room.

“You are just going to run away, Lanpeach? Won’t your sponsor abandon you with such a lousy display?” (Jakots)

“That personage wouldn’t mind! It is my first campaign after all!” (Lanpeach)

He chased after Lanpeach who was running through the corridor. Lanpeach jumped into a crumbling big hole and entered a different room.

Jakots took seriously the lies that Lanpeach spouted out like breathing and clicked his tongue.

He wanted to make him feel impatient by saying he is useless, instill reckless attacks, and kill him in that opening, but it doesn’t seem to be having any effect.

(He seems to be throwing sneaky attacks like the crook he is… But it should be safe to assume there won’t be assistance from the rabbits. It seems like the Underground District is trying to confirm just how useful Lanpeach is.) (Jakots)

Jakots assumed that they must have just picked him by coincidence, and showed a mocking smile, but he changed into a serious face soon after.

(The energy of the Spirit Armor has been consumed quite a lot… Why? The gun Lanpeach has is a G1 Assault Rifle. There’s no way something like that would eat away at my energy… Is it only a G1 Assault Rifle in appearance and is actually another weapon that has been modified? He is just making it not stand out? It is possible. In other words, I have to kill him before my energy runs out.) (Jakots)

There’s a variety of info displayed on the retina of Jakots. It is the Heat Sensor of a snake, the remaining energy, a measurement of the enemy’s mana amount, the state of the Spirit Armor, etc.

He felt something was really off at one of the displays that could be considered his lifeline: the remaining energy of the Spirit Barrier.

(With this amount of consumption, I will run out of energy with 4-5 more hits from those shots. I don’t want to create an opening when changing energy packs. I must wrap this up at once… It is a bit dangerous, but it can’t be helped.) (Jakots)

“Go, my arms!” (Jakots)

[Shadow Viper].

The shoulders of Jakots made a cracking sound, and his arms tore off from the shoulder down.

His arms turned completely into snakes. Their bodies also swelled up to the point of being able to swallow a child whole.

They sliddered through the floor and entered the room Lanpeach jumped into.

The certain victory pattern of Jakots, which is to detach his own arms. Artificial Spirits mitigate physical attacks greatly after all.

The attacks of the Shadow Vibers are powerful and have high stealth ability.

“Now then, I will just watch inside the shadows until the Snake Vipers kill Lanpeach.” (Jakots)

Jakots has killed countless targets with this technique, so he showed a confident smile, sunk into the shadows, and slowly chased after Lanpeach.

Lanpeach sighed at the vipers that slid into the room and shot them.

It hit the heads of the vipers, but the bullets were repelled as if they just hit a lump of iron.

“This time it is not a Spirit Barrier but their pure defensive power huh!” (Lanpeach)

[They are Artificial Spirits, Soldier! Physical attacks are mitigated!] (Libra)

“I know. Who knows how many times I have fought them. I have defeated more of them than the times I have eaten bread.” (Lanpeach)

Libra told Lanpeach the identity of the enemy while waving her silver twin tails.

But Lanpeach expected this so he didn’t panic.

“A mere gun, a mere gun; the people who have Spirit Armors mock guns.” (Lanpeach)

It is true that swords, spears, and bows are affected by the Strength stat; magic power if it is magic. But guns don’t receive the benefits of stats. That’s why the stronger you are, the less you use them.

Speaking of which, there were no bosses in the game that had guns -is what he remembered and a scornful laugh came out.

“But you have to go over level 6 to call yourself strong. Guns are stronger when you are below that!” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach jumped and went by the vipers.

“You…!” (Lanpeach)

[Parry].

They chased after Lanpeach, and one of them attacked him with its fangs.

He put his hand to the front, placed his hand on the side of the approaching viper’s head, and deviated its trajectory.

Its mouth dug into the concrete wall and crunched, leaving a bite mark as if it just bit through ice cream.

“What unbelievable power. I knew about it, but it makes me cry—gahah!” (Lanpeach)

His lips warped at the fearsome power that left a bite mark on concrete, but the viper that he evaded at first loosened its tail and wriggled it like a whip.

The tail pushed through the wind and this tail that was as thick as a log landed straight onto his chest.

“Guh! Kuhah!”

Lanpeach was sent flying like a ball and he was smashed onto the wall. Intense pain ran through his body and oxygen escaped from his lungs with the impact, changing his complexion into a pale white one.

“Damn beast. This snake is not bad.” (Lanpeach)

[Snakes are reptiles, so they are not beasts, Soldier!] (Libra)

“Is there a need for such a retort right now? Woah there.” (Lanpeach)

He was in tears at the oh-so-great words of Libra who is losing her cool here, and hurriedly ducked. A viper went past him from above. Its body slammed the wall and opened a hole.

[Chance! Soldier, attack its mug!] (Libra)

“Don’t have the time for that!” (Lanpeach)

[Parry].

They must have targeted him from above on purpose, the second viper rushed towards Lanpeach who had lowered his waist and had no way of escaping.

He slapped the side of its face to forcefully deviate it.

His hand slid and the palm of his hand was grinded by the scales of the viper. His skin tore, his meat was scraped, and blood spurted out.

“Guh! …Guess that’s how it is.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach showed a pained expression at this stabbing sensation while forcing a smile.

It is a boss battle while having Physical Combat Level 1, and Gunmanship Level 2. If it were in the game, there would be almost no chance of winning.

The consecutive attacks of the vipers are vicious and have high attack power.

No, they originally wouldn’t deal that much damage. It is just that Lanpeach is weak.

It is exactly because he is weak that he is being cornered.

Blood trickled down from his hand, his breathing was rough, and his forehead was burning.

Lanpeach was already in critical state with just a single attack.

HP: 6.

He would have thrown the towel if it were in the game. He would load his save file, and would redo it after getting party members to join.

But…

“This game…is a bit different…from before!” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach squeezed that out and the tail swung again.

Physical Combat activated and he unconsciously crossed his arms and jumped back.

He couldn’t avoid the tail completely just as he thought.

Lanpeach was smashed onto the ground and brought out a groan from him.

But he still continued smiling.

—He could see with his overhead view. He saw it. He purposely got himself knocked back to the point he wanted.

(Libra!) (Lanpeach)

[Yes sir! Ultra Libra Kick!] (Libra)

Libra showed up, did a front spin, and unleashed a kick.

Her shrine maiden clothes fluttered, and this beautiful silver twin tailed shrine maiden smiled as she thrusted her leg onto the floor.

—Towards the small shadow.

“W-Wa?!”

Jakots jumped out from the shadow.

He showed up with a shocked expression and flustered voice.

“Didn’t expect that, right?! [Shadow Move] is invincible against physical attacks, but is weak against magic. Also, all the attacks of the Artificial Spirits -that are masses of mana- are magic!” (Lanpeach)

“Kuh, you know that much about shadow magic?!” (Jakots)

Shadow magic has high stealth capabilities.

It is an overpowered ability that allows you to hide inside shadows. But there’s a big downside to this. The weak point is that it will get undone by a magic attack even if the damage is 1.

All stats of Libra are 1, but Artificial Spirits are a gathering of Spirit Energy. Even if the damage is low, it can still undo the Shadow Move.

Attacks through remote control from long range are not precise. There’s the need to control this by himself, so Lanpeach was sure Jakots would be approaching in his shadow state.

Lanpeach readies his G1 Assault Rifle.

The armless Jakots didn’t show his unrest. He was shocked by the unexpected plan of Lanpeach, but he still had wiggle room.

“You can’t defeat me with that gun. The vipers will tear you apart in that time!” (Jakots)

The Spirit Barrier can still endure the shots. Jakots thought this, so he believed in his own advantage, but…

“I see. But did you think I haven’t been calculating the durability of your Spirit Barrier?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach grinned and moved his left hand.

[Instant].

[Telekinesis].

A piece of rubble the size of a fist that was at the corner of the room landed on Jakots.

Jakots couldn’t understand what was going on. It is because time stopped and only the result remained.

“Kua?! Wa, a piece of rubble?!” (Jakots)

“Have seconds. How’s the taste of an attack that’s of a different mass to a bullet?” (Lanpeach)

[Telekinesis].

Rubble flies towards the staggered Jakots.

It is not like it was thrown normally. It had speed as if it were shot by a ballista, and had weight that a bullet couldn’t hope to compare to.

Telekinesis can control weight that the user can carry using telekinetic force, and can throw it with power like a cannon.

He threw the rubble and iron pipes laying around with telekinetic powers. It is the technique that deals the most damage early game to defeat enemies.

A room full of debris is like a bonus room where powerful bullets are just laying around for Lanpeach.

“T-This is bad. The Spirit Armor… R-Return, vipers.” (Jakots)

The Spirit Armor ran out of energy because it was getting hit by the rubble, and it disappeared with an electrical discharge.

Jakots looked at this in terror and hurriedly called the vipers back, but it was too late.

“See ya, Jakots-san. Please spread the name of Lanpeach in hell.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach dashed in and pushed the muzzle onto the face of Jakots.

This is when Jakots realized he had been cornered like a game of chess, but everything was already too late.

“I evaluated you wrongly, Lanpeach.” (Jakots)

“Right? I am told that often. Being a minor villain is rough.” (Lanpeach)

The trigger was pulled, a bullet bursted in the face of Jakots, and his life was no more.

The transformation of the vipers was undone, returning to just normal human arms.

This denoted the end of the battle.

Lanpeach lost strength in his legs and sat down on the floor in relief.

“Somehow managed to win.” (Lanpeach)

“Don’t you think now that it is good that you have a life where rubble is lying around, Soldier?” (Libra)

“It is too rough for an interior though.” (Lanpeach)

He laughed together with Libra and threw himself down.

[Successful defense of the Lanpeach Complex. You have obtained 10,000 EXP.]

[You have defeated the Boss, Jakots. You have obtained 1,000 EXP.]

(Looks like I have survived and obtained quite a hefty reward.) (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach thought this as he slowly closed his eyes.

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