FPS 230

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From the Flyhigh venue, Prince Khan, Prince Ark, and Chancellor Zephanel were to escape in the armored personnel carrier Typhoon-K, while I stayed behind to cover Sir Crude’s group which attempted to escape underground. Duke Barga’s exclusive escort, Vee, also stayed behind.

The smoke grenade that was rolled at our feet enveloped me and Vee in an instant. The gigantic box that suddenly appeared in the venue began to move, carrying the assassination target away from the venue. The assailant――Reiner, who was supposedly a member of “Rafflesia”――was unable to correctly perceive the situation.

“Tch, what’s going on? What’s with that carrier that moves without a horse? And where did this smoke come from?”

And the Central Knights, who were in charge of security at the venue, were also unable to grasp the situation――.

“What’s that? Where did the Crown Prince go?!”

Amid the chaos of the venue, further upheaval descended. Jumping out of the billowing smoke, I tossed the newly summoned melee weapon――the sledgehammer, at one of the Demon Steel Soldiers. The Winchester M94 could not do enough damage to the Demon Steel Soldiers. It’s not that the M94 is underpowered, it’s that the Demon Steel Soldier is too hard. In order to break through that cyborg-like armor, I decided that I needed a simpler power.

The sledgehammer hit the demon steel soldier who stood by his side as if to protect Reiner. The simple but overwhelming mass of violence blew the Demon Steel Soldier away and buried it in the wall of the venue. And then when I landed from the jump――I landed right in front of Reiner, and from the moment he saw me, he could see through his ferocious eyes that were overflowing with bloodlust and passion.

“Wh, why are you here!! Black Mask Shaft!!”

That’s right――just before I jumped out of the smoke screen, I changed my avatar customization costume set, wearing an overcoat, a German SS black uniform, and a black tactical Kevlar mask――I changed from Schwarz to Shaft.

“That’s Shaft…”

“Black Mask!”

“Is that the “Black Mask Shaft”?”

The Central Knights and the visitors leaving the venue were also surprised by the sudden appearance of Shaft. 

“Your black outfit looks familiar――”Cactus” isn’t it?”

Hearing those words, I could see the eyes of Reiner, who hid his face with a black hood, distorted. And his line of sight moves left and right, trying to see what’s behind me――

“I see, so that’s what it is… You’re such an annoying bastard, map seller――no, the black mask Shaft.”

This man is certainly no fool. Despite me changing appearance while hidden behind the smokescreen, if Schwartz made no further move and a masked man suddenly appeared instead, it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. 

“It just means that we both have something to hide.”

“Looks like you managed to let the Crown Prince escape, but you’re just delaying the inevitable. Their death is set on stone.”

“What do you think? Do you really think that you can harm anyone under my protection…? ‘Magebane’, the magic armor ‘Terror Chaos’, the six clowns… no matter what you tried, none of them worked against me, did they?”

“Ahh, yeah, you’re right――both Will and Galak failed and died――”

Eh? Did I really kill a ‘Will’ or ‘Galak’ before? Even though I pretended to be calm, under my Kevlar mask I was ruminating on Reiner’s words. Trying to recall those names. Will was the light warrior in charge of drawing maps for the “Rafflesia”, while Galak was a heavy warrior who acted as the party’s tank. Also a member of the same clan. Then, I tried to make a connection between those two and the “Cactus” assassins I’ve encountered so far――.

I see. Will was most likely one of the assassins during the “Magebane” incident. Meanwhile, Galak must’ve been the magic armor-wearing black knight who challenged me to a duel… At the end of the battle, both of them had reached an end where their true faces could not be confirmed. However, looking back on that hair and body build, there were many features that matched.

Don’t tell me that ‘Rafflesia’ under the Second Prince is actually one of the dark guilds operating under the ‘Cactus’…

It’s not that hard now to connect the dots, but I still hoped that I was wrong. I shouldn’t jump right to a conclusion.

“――however, you’ll be sorely mistaken to think that I’ll be as easy to deal with. Since we failed to kill you back at King’s festival, Felix decided to postpone the assassination order. But, who knows that I would run into you here of all places.”

Even the Vice-Master of Rafflesia is connected to it――is it really true that ‘Rafflesia’ and ‘Cactus’ are actually two sides of the same coin…?

While sorting out the information, I looked at the map and focused my hearing on the sound collecting sensor. Taking note of the locations of the five demon steel soldiers, the movements of the merchants and nobles escaping from the venue, and the movements of the reinforcements that were surrounding the outside.

“I can go after the Crown Prince later. I should settle the score with you first――you, who can only obey that female fox, is not needed for our supremacy!”

At the same time as Reiner let out an angry roar, he pulled out a dagger from behind his waist with his left hand and stepped in to cut my neck. Along with that movement, I also take a step forward, punching Reiner’s left arm from the outside to the inside with a right palm strike, and blowing his chest with a flowing elbow strike――.

Having been struck on his chest, Reiner choked, using the recoil from the elbow strikes to fly backwards. But, it was intentional on my part. The moment our distance widened, I reached into my coat to hide my hand, all the while accessing my inventory with my will.

I instantly summoned a handgun with a silvery metallic silhouette――Desert Eagle.

A handgun with a history of being designed and produced by multiple firearm manufacturers in multiple countries, including the United States and Israel. Its greatest feature is that in the semi automatic pistol category, it can handle heavy-duty bullets focused on offensive power――that is, magnum bullets. Magnum bullets have the highest class of power for handgun bullets, and were selected at the same time as the bullets to be loaded into the Desert Eagle. The 50AE bullet was the pistol bullet with the highest attack power in the VMB.

There are also disadvantages instead. When the 50AE bullet is selected, the number of bullets is limited to 7, and the recoil and reticle spread value when firing become very large. If you don’t pay attention to the firing interval, the bullet will not fly accurately at the target.

There were two reasons for me to pick Desert Eagle. One is to avoid friendly fire, and second, because the demon steel soldier’s durability is greater than expected. Certainly, I have many other firearms that could probably shred through their armor, like the RPG-7 or M134 Minigun. But I’m gonna need extreme caution since there are also allies around.

I pulled my hand out of my overcoat――Reiner seemed to understand what it was the moment he saw the Desert Eagle.

“Demon Steel Soldier, protect me!”

Both Schwartz and Shaft used firearms. And I used the M94 earlier.  They certainly have collected information about the weapon Shaft uses. Naturally, they know the danger of firearms――even if it should be the first time they see it with their own eyes. 

I aligned my crosshair to Reiner’s right shoulder and pulled the trigger. At the same time as the heavy low-pitched gunshot sound, a fire-like muzzle flash graphic was displayed on the muzzle――Fresh blood and screams erupted beyond.