Sir Galahar and Servius had been preparing for this day ever since they heard about the Flame Demon sighting outside Avondale. The city’s guard towers had been repaired, and the walls fortified with magic. But the threat marching toward the capital was much larger than they had anticipated.What made things worse was the appearance of the Eye of Doom over the city, which caused widespread panic among the masses. People scurried out of the Arcadium like insects, and those out on the streets rushed homeward to seek shelter within the safety of their houses.Ten squads of City Guards were immediately dispatched to man the walls, and the sirens were sounded from the garrison, spurring the snipers into action.The Mech Defenders were ordered to clear the streets and reinforce the gates while the adventurers were tasked with protecting the guild houses.Servius surveyed the undead army through the magic windows and quickly understood their strategy.“This is not a skirmish. They are going
Azure crystal lamps flickered in the distance, hovering overhead like curious fireflies as a throng of impatient onlookers watched on. In the middle of a circular training arena, a young boy with a frown on his face tightened his trembling grip on a smoking revolver. He looked lean and weak and his cheeks were flushed like dying roses. Despite wearing a furry red cloak over his jacket, he could feel the biting cold wind chilling his bones as it swept the arena from the east. A spectral white wolf flickered behind him like an enormous shadow. It loomed over his head for a few seconds before dissipating into thin air. “Get lost, you pathetic cripple!” “Enough of this shit show!” “He’s just a useless loser!” The disappointed booing from the flock of eager onlookers pierced his chest amidst shouts of mockery. And it was all due to his failure to hit the floating targets. "Magic talent level E, magic power: 29%!" a loud voice sounded as if taunting him. "Shooting score 2/10,
Ezra lay awake all night, unable to get his failure out of his head. Every single time he tried to sleep, he heard those mocking voices and the cackling faces flashed before his eyes. Recalling all the humiliation and mockery only made him more anxious and uneasy. He tossed and turned in his bed, cursing his fate.He could have never imagined the prospect of his bright future would be snatched away by one freak accident. “What good is this reincarnation if I am destined to live and die as a cripple?” Ezra questioned as he sat up straight on his bed and threw off his quilt. In his previous life, Ezra had been a young schoolboy whose grades were consistently low and who was as athletic as a lazy mule. However, he had always been a good friend to the ones he valued, and would always help those in need even if it was at his own expense. Ezra faintly recalled his past life, and the scene of his death only flashed in his mind in blurry fragments. He remembered getting hit by a truc
The appearance of a human eye on someone’s hand was a shocking phenomenon even in this magical world. Ezra looked shell-shocked by the incident. “What the hell is this?” he gasped, grabbing his trembling right hand with his left. The eye that had suddenly popped open had a pale blue iris and coral-red blood vessels, which darkened as it throbbed spasmodically. Ezra could feel a sharp pain in his hand, but he gritted his teeth to suppress his urge to scream. People around him already treated him like a freak, and he did not want to attract any more attention to himself. Keeping his calm, Ezra walked up to his study table and got hold of a compass. Curling his fingers around its cold, steely legs, he prepared to pierce the eye.But just as he was about to stab his hand, the eye disappeared. Beads of cold sweat rolled down Ezra’s neck as he looked at his hand. Dropping the compass, he brought his right hand close to his face. The eye was no longer there, and his hand had stopp
Lord Sebastian was absolutely furious to hear the Elder’s proposal, but he knew he didn’t have the strongest cards to play. A freak accident had reduced his gifted son into a cripple, and his middle child wasn’t the most responsible man. The Elder was quick to notice the missing family member and grinned slightly. Looking around with a discerning air, he spoke in a tone expressing mock concern. “I see Sir Ramel isn’t here. I had heard many great things about him. Wasn’t he anointed as an honorary knight last year?” “I believe it was for winning a tournament, not fighting a war,” Lady Lillian sniped. Although Aurelia wasn’t too keen on siding with Ramel and could care less about how people chose to think of him, this time the matter was different. By insulting Ramel, Lady Lillian and the Elder were trying to humiliate the Romanov household, and she wasn’t going to stand by and watch like a silent spectator. “Not all boys need to die on the battlefield. In fact, I don’t think your
Ezra felt a tingling sensation in his right hand, and his thoughts immediately went back to that peculiar incident in his room. He quickly hid his right hand behind his back and then turned to Aurelia.Normally, whenever a system panel flickered into life, it would be visible to all in the nearby area. But strangely enough, no one seemed to be bothered by Ezra’s Gunsmithing screen.After staring at those present around him for a while, Ezra realized that they could not see his Gunsmithing system display, and the information floating in front of his eyes was only visible to him.Suddenly, Ezra felt an unbearable pain shooting up his right arm, and he could tell something was squirming under his skin. “Not again,” Ezra mumbled under his breath, his hands turning cold and his face rapidly losing color.Aurelia wanted to talk to Ezra and comfort him, but he hurried back to his room without a single word.Although Ezra was quite used to being ridiculed by those around him, things had gone
Ezra wasn’t too keen on trusting strangers, but since he was scraping the bottom of the barrel here, his desperation made him seek out every light no matter how faint.Though initially, Ezra had been blaming the eye for his condition, as he remembered the incident with the cursed hammer everything became clear.Ezra's arm was already crippled when he visited the museum, and the eye only manifested after he touched the cursed item. Everything added up, clearing all his doubts.While it was true that the eye had been feeding on his blood and consuming the healing herbs and potions to awaken from its dormant state, it no longer had any need to feed on Ezra’s life force.However, the eye and the mouth still continued absorbing a small fraction of Ezra's magic power to remain awake. Instead of hiding the truth, Gremory explained everything to Ezra and awaited his decision.“If I can’t get rid of you, I might as well use your knowledge to my advantage,” Ezra replied after a good deal of thin
A year sounded like a long time, but Ezra knew he would not be the only one training for the duel. If what Cecilia had said was true and Jasenki had indeed reached level E, Ezra would have a tall task before him.Even though Ezra himself was at level E, he hadn’t been able to awaken two of his most powerful skills due to his crippled hands. And he desperately needed them to survive a duel with another shooter of his level.“I will do my best to improve. I promise I won’t let you all down,” Ezra whispered to himself as his recent humiliation flashed before his eyes, strengthening his resolve to prove his worth to all those who doubted him.Ezra had read about training dungeons. But he had never been inside one. These were secret magical locations infested with different kinds of magical beasts and monsters and some of them were even filled with myriads of traps.Most would have expected a crippled boy to turn back when asked to train in such a dangerous place, but Ezra was excited to fi
Sir Galahar and Servius had been preparing for this day ever since they heard about the Flame Demon sighting outside Avondale. The city’s guard towers had been repaired, and the walls fortified with magic. But the threat marching toward the capital was much larger than they had anticipated.What made things worse was the appearance of the Eye of Doom over the city, which caused widespread panic among the masses. People scurried out of the Arcadium like insects, and those out on the streets rushed homeward to seek shelter within the safety of their houses.Ten squads of City Guards were immediately dispatched to man the walls, and the sirens were sounded from the garrison, spurring the snipers into action.The Mech Defenders were ordered to clear the streets and reinforce the gates while the adventurers were tasked with protecting the guild houses.Servius surveyed the undead army through the magic windows and quickly understood their strategy.“This is not a skirmish. They are going
Shocked gasps escaped from the people in the crowd as Ezra revealed who he actually was. The news of the brutal massacre in Aranor had made its way to the capital many weeks ago, and it was common knowledge that the Romanov family had been wiped out.But seeing Ezra standing there as the living proof of his bloodline subverted all past notions.This white-haired boy had once been hailed as a prodigy across Valaria, but his name had quickly faded from their memory after his tragic accident. But it seemed fate still had one last die to throw, and with the final toss, it had restored his fortunes.The only ones in the Arcadium who knew about the masked devil’s identity beforehand were Tanya and her father. Ezra had revealed his secret to them just last night, but it was a complete shocker for everyone else.Even Queen Guinevere and Princess Aleena had been completely clueless about Ezra’s identity up until now, and this unexpected revelation left him speechless.“So…the dragon still lives
The Duke’s shocking confession turned the whole narrative on its head, spreading further panic among the crowd. Not even Ezra had suspected him to be allied with the necromancers.“Is this another trick of yours?” Tanya questioned, still struggling to make sense of the whole situation. It seemed absurd that a high and mighty noble like Duke Carrington would willingly worship Zepheroth and kneel before the necromancers.But the Duke was quick to clear her confusion. “There is no trick in what I say. I do not worship any Gods, but I understand Zepheroth’s powers cannot be matched by mere mortals. We must kneel before him if we are to survive his reign,” he replied.“So you lied to all of us?” Marquis Desmond’s voice boomed from the distance as he marched into the arena, ready to confront the Duke. “We thought you wanted to protect the king and help the people of Magaravia fight this darkness.”“Fight? How can anyone fight a God?” Duke Carrington retorted in a mocking tone. “Are you even
The spectators who had once eagerly supported Ezra now seemed to regard him as the greatest enemy of the kingdom. The sudden change in their behavior shocked him.“How did they believe him so easily?” Ezra asked, unable to believe what had just happened. “Something is not right.”While it was common for the gullible commoners to be duped by the cunning words of the influential nobles, the change seemed to be too drastic this time. The same crowd that had been cheering for Ezra had suddenly changed sides, almost on a whim, and even the other nobles seemed to be siding with the Duke.Marlin was also surprised by this twist. It was as if Duke Carrington had bought their allegiance with a snap of his fingers.Queen Guinevere stood up to reason with the spectators. “Listen to me, good people of Magaravia. Your beloved Duke is lying to you. King Reginald never intended to sell you to the Lord of Decay. While I agree he may not be the bravest, he is certainly not a traitor.”The Queen though
The Spectral Phoenix let out a piercing shriek that carried its voice across the city, dispersing the gray clouds and illuminating the sky with a brilliant golden radiance.Ezra channeled his magic energy outward and boosted his flying speed, breaking away from the phoenix as it surged toward him.“I have never seen a Spectral Phoenix before. These spirits are primal manifestations of the fire element and are regarded as the most challenging ones to tame. Their flames are undying, and if you get touched by its feathers, it will burn you to ash in the blink of an eye,” Marlin cautioned.Ezra continued flying backward, keeping the phoenix in his sights. But he was so focused on the spectral bird that he forgot all about its owner.Duke Carrington took advantage of this distraction and replenished his magic power with a couple of Superior Magic Restoration Potions before warming himself with the phoenix’s Thermal Radiance ability.Finally free from the numbing effects of the frost, Duke C
Duke Carrington fired a round into the sky to celebrate his victory and turned to the crowd expecting a thunderous applause. But instead of being greeted with cheers and shouts of joy, he was met with a stern silence.“What’s wrong with you all? Are you not happy I vanquished that rookie and offered you a glimpse of my true powers?” he yelled at the top of his voice, staring at the mute spectators. “I am the Champion of Valaria, and I promise Magaravia will be safe in my care.”“So, what are we celebrating?” A voice questioned from behind, wiping the smile from Duke Carrington’s face.“Over there!”“He is alive!”The crowd went berserk with shouts and howls as they spied their favorite Gunner flying near the clouds, holding a sniper in his hand.Duke Carrington clenched his fist, digging his nails into his palms, and turned around to face his opponent.“How did you survive that?” He muttered, trying his best to restrain his rage.“I have been stabbed in the back plenty of times before
Duke Carrington’s eyes widened as he heard the accusation. He could already tell his plans had been leaked, but he could not understand how a stranger could know about his ambitions.“Who are you?” he demanded, staring daggers at Ezra. “The dragon of Aranor,” Ezra replied, staring right back.Before either could speak again, a set of stone slabs and pillars shot up from the ground, redecorating the arena with obstacles and separating the two contestants.The crowd erupted with wild cheers as the brass bell was hammered in the commentary tower, declaring the start of the round.“I don’t care who you are, but that mask is coming off today!” Duke Carrington shouted with full-throated fury, unleashing a devastating volley of Disintegration Rounds from his Rapid-Firing Six-shooter.Ezra ran across the arena, moving from cover to cover as the stone slabs in front of him were punched full of holes. “There is no point running from me. You can’t survive!”Duke Carrington reloaded his second g
The next day, Ezra put on his new attire: a fiery red coat with golden yellow stripes and two split tails. His old demonic mask was replaced with a new one sporting two large black horns and blazing red eyes. To complete the look, Ezra added a black bowtie over a clean white shirt and a pair of red trousers trimmed at the bottom, hanging taut over his jet-black boots.Although Ezra hadn’t cared much about his appearance during the other rounds, this time, he combed his hair back, put on a pair of spotless white gloves, and pinned the dragon brooch to his pocket.Holstering his single-shot flintlock on his right hip, Ezra walked up to the mirror and gazed at his reflection.Ezra still remembered staring at his trembling hands in the mirror in the Romanov Mansion. He was treated like a cripple back then and could not even shoot a target lying straight in front of him. But a lot had changed since then.Magaravia knew Ezra as the Red Devil: a formidable sharpshooter who had defeated the b
Back at the Blackwell Mansion, Ezra was busy at his workbench, trying to craft a new kind of enchanted ammunition for his sniper rifle.So far, Ezra had experimented with all the common metal ingots and alloys and even tried infusing magic crystal shards and dragon scales into them, but to no avail.Each time Ezra tried to craft a new enchanted bullet for his weapon, he would end up with something so brittle and volatile that it would disintegrate as soon as he loaded it into the sniper rifle.“The Celestial Avenger is a Legendary weapon. You cannot load such low-quality ammunition in it and expect it to work just fine,” Marlin barked once more, grinding his teeth in frustration. “I already told you that you need rare metals to craft your round. Try titanium or refined zirconium.”Ezra loaded another newly crafted round into his weapon and watched it explode with a loud bang before finally relenting.“Damn it! I don’t have any rare metals at hand!”“Then perhaps you can ask your careta