Last Gun Alchemist

As Agnes and Samuel ran forward through the underground cave, the sound of their footsteps mixed with the constant clicking of the Young Ghost Crawlers surrounding them.

The torch flames that Agnes had created threw moving light across the stone walls, revealing webs hanging from the ceiling and the bodies of several dead Young Ghost Crawlers scattered across the ground.

Samuel glanced toward the few Young Ghost Crawlers that were making their way toward Emily and Jeremy.

Before they could get close...

Emily’s Storm Field reacted immediately.

The moment the creatures entered the area covered by her storm, navy-blue lightning flashed across the field.

BOOM!

Thunder struck the Young Ghost Crawlers.

Their bodies jerked violently before collapsing onto the ground.

Samuel watched the scene for a moment.

"Emily’s Storm Alchemy is really useful."

He said it with genuine admiration as he continued running.

Agnes swung her sword while moving beside him.

Slash!

The blade cut through one Young Ghost Crawler.

She immediately changed the direction of her sword and cut through another before either creature could reach them.

"Well, she’s from the rising Viscount House Tempest."

Agnes replied calmly.

Samuel raised his hand.

The veins extending from his Wood Alchemy Circle immediately moved.

Several branches grew outward and formed a shield in front of them.

A web struck the wooden shield.

Splat!

The sticky strands spread across the branches, but Samuel immediately reinforced the shield with more wood.

A stream of venomous saliva followed.

Sssshhh!

It splashed across the wooden surface.

Smoke rose from the branches as the venom began eating through the material.

Samuel continued moving while controlling the branches.

"Her step Elder sister is a top Upperclassman who is one of the Seven Flowers of Britannia, Lady Eleanor Tempest."

Agnes said while looking ahead.

Samuel’s expression changed slightly.

Agnes noticed it.

She turned her eyes toward him with a small smirk.

"Is that why you’ve been trying to get close to Emily, so you could strike favors with the family of Tempest?"

She asked.

Samuel immediately looked away from her.

"It’s not what you think."

He replied, avoiding Agnes’s eyes while continuing to control the branches.

Agnes’s smirk widened slightly.

"Well, to be honest... Emily is just the daughter of a Maid who got lucky with the Viscount of Tempest, so don’t expect much from getting close with her."

She continued while looking ahead.

"Maybe you could get close with her Step Brother. He’s also a first-year like her, and he’s in our Iron Vanguard Faction."

Samuel remained silent.

Before he could reply, a violent gust of wind suddenly swept through the tunnel.

WHOOSH!

The wind struck the Young Ghost Crawlers advancing toward Agnes and Samuel from the front.

Their bodies were thrown backward.

Some rolled across the ground before crashing into the walls.

Agnes’s hair moved with the sudden gust as she raised one arm to shield her face from the dust.

"You two should focus!"

Hugh shouted from farther ahead.

Agnes immediately turned back toward the front.

A slight annoyance appeared on her face.

Samuel covered his mouth for a moment, hiding his laughter before returning his attention to the battle.

Diane, Samuel, Agnes, and Hugh continued moving together.

Their destination was Ezra.

He was still fighting a pack of Young Ghost Crawlers farther ahead.

The sounds of gunshots, explosions, and the clicking cries of the monsters continued echoing through the underground nest.

Then Ezra’s voice rang out from his side of the battlefield.

"Don’t forget the Elder Ghost Crawler!"

His warning echoed across the cave.

Diane and Samuel reacted almost immediately.

Diane was the first to move.

She reached into her Space Bag and pulled out her alchemy materials before immediately performing her Frost Alchemy.

All the glass bottles broke under the influence of Her Frost Alchemy Circle.

Crack!

Water spilled from them.

Light-blue Cognis flowed through the liquid.

Instantly...

The water rapidly froze.

And an ice wall rose from the ground between the group and the approaching Young Ghost Crawlers.

SPLATTER!

A large amount of venomous saliva struck the ice wall.

The acidic liquid spread across its surface.

Sssssss...

Smoke rose from the ice as the venom began melting through it.

Diane didn’t take her eyes off the battlefield.

"Where is the Elder Ghost Crawler?"

Samuel asked as he looked around.

His vein branches continued moving around him, sweeping away the Young Ghost Crawlers gathering near his position.

The branches struck them one after another, keeping them from getting close.

Thud!

Bam!

Crack!

The others finally reached the center of the cave.

All of them turned their attention toward the surrounding area.

Step!

Their movements stopped for a brief moment.

Ezra stood among the battlefield.

"You are here, Ezra."

Diane said.

She didn’t sound surprised.

After everything she had already seen from Ezra during the fight, finding him alive was no longer enough to shock her.

Hugh, however, stared at Ezra with clear amazement.

"I can’t believe you are still alive."

He said.

Ezra plainly looked at his group.

The light from the torches reflected faintly across his dull black eyes, while dust and traces of the earlier battle remained around his clothes.

"The Elder Ghost Crawler is making use of its Illusion to cloud our minds from perceiving its location, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t use illusion clones."

Ezra began explaining everything he had noticed during his fight with the Elder Ghost Crawler.

He spoke while keeping his eyes on the surrounding tunnels.

The Young Ghost Crawlers were still moving around them.

Their clicking noises echoed from the walls and ceiling.

"The biggest note, it’s the main reason why this Ghost Crawler is in the Arcanist threat level."

Ezra raised his index finger.

"The Illusion."

Diane immediately understood what Ezra was getting at.

She nodded slightly.

"What about its strength?"

Agnes asked.

Her hand remained tightly wrapped around the handle of her sword as her eyes moved around the cave.

She didn’t relax for even a moment.

Samuel continued controlling his vein branches, causing them to form a circular shield that constantly rotated around him.

Every time a Young Ghost Crawler tried to approach, the branches struck it away.

"That will be in the Meister Alchemist rank."

Hugh answered.

He had also understood what Ezra was concluding.

Samuel’s breathing had already become heavier.

He continued controlling his branches while looking around at the growing number of Young Ghost Crawlers.

"The issue is how do we catch or kill it cleanly with all these Young Ghost Crawlers attacking all of us?"

He asked.

The number of monsters around them made the situation worse.

Even if they could determine the Elder Ghost Crawler’s location, getting close enough to attack it would not be easy, and they still had to follow their mission detail, which meant to catch the Ghost Crawler neatly.

Agnes tightened her grip around her sword.

"We already planned out our strategy, but it wasn’t for an Elder Ghost Crawler, though."

She said.

The worry was already becoming clear on her face.

Ezra remained calm.

"We just have to do it."

He replied flatly.

Before anyone could say anything else, Diane’s expression changed.

"Everyone move!"

She shouted.

BOOM!

The Elder Ghost Crawler’s enormous leg smashed into the ground.

The impact shook the entire cave.

Cracks spread across the packed stone floor while small rocks jumped from the ground.

Ezra and Diane immediately moved to the left.

Hugh, Samuel, and Agnes moved toward the right.

They separated just as the enormous leg passed between them.

"KRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

The Elder Ghost Crawler roared.

Its eight violet eyes moved across the separated groups.

It was searching for who to attack first.

At the same time, the Young Ghost Crawlers charged.

Their bodies came from the ceiling, the walls, and the ground.

The clicking sounds became louder as the monsters rushed toward the different groups.

Jeremy remained farther behind.

"I’m ready!"

He shouted.

He had finally completed an Illusion Alchemy Circle.

Its effect was meant to break apart the different forms of Illusion surrounding the cave.

It wasn’t something powerful enough to completely affect the Elder Ghost Crawler’s Arcanist-level Illusion.

But it was a Meister-Rank Illusion breaker.

That meant it could still affect the Elder Ghost Crawler’s Illusion to a certain level.

Jeremy had already drunk many bottles of Ese, all of them being in the third grade.

He had forced his body to accept an enormous amount of Cognis.

Emily continued maintaining her Storm Field around them.

"This is really dangerous, Senior."

She said.

Her hands remained extended as she continued pouring Cognis into the storm.

The navy-blue lightning surrounding them flashed repeatedly, while the wind kept circling around the field.

Jeremy wiped his mouth.

"There is no reward without taking risks, Junior."

He replied.

Then his expression suddenly twisted.

"Argh!"

Jeremy grabbed his head.

The veins across his forehead and neck bulged.

Too much Cognis was being generated from his brain and forced into his Mind Realm.

His First Star and Second Star were already in a massive state of being overfed with Cognis.

His Third Star, which was still under construction, was also receiving Cognis from his Second Star.

The energy moved through his Veins.

The flow was so great that the veins around his body became more visible beneath his skin.

But Jeremy wasn’t using this Cognis to construct his Third Star.

He was using it for the Illusion Alchemy he was about to perform.

"ARRRRRRGH! DAMN IT!"

His fist slammed into the ground.

BAM!

The impact echoed through the cave and cracks appeared on the ground.

Pain ran through his body.

His breathing became rough as he forced himself to remain conscious.

"I’m not even a genius or a talent! Why do I have to go through this... damn it."

Jeremy ranted through the pain.

His body felt as if it were being torn apart from the inside.

But he gritted his teeth and forced himself to remember everyone who had put effort into preparing for this mission.

He remembered the preparations they had made before entering the Ghost Crawler nest.

He thought about how trouble Diane and Ezra had gone through fighting to save them when they could have just abandoned them to save their lives.

Jeremy is a Senior.

He is also a proud Illusion Alchemist of his House.

If this was the best he could do when everyone else had already done their part, how could he face them afterward?

Jeremy slowly pushed himself back up.

His hands shook.

His breathing remained heavy.

But he stood.

"I’M NOT GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF YOU, FUCKING PROFESSOR!!!!!!"

CLAP!

Jeremy joined his hands together.

The massive amount of Cognis inside his body immediately surged outward.

It ignited between his palms.

The energy spread across the ground, following the lines he had already prepared.

A large Meister-Rank Illusion Alchemy Circle formed.

Jeremy slammed both hands onto the drawn Alchemy Circle on the floor.

BOOM!

The entire circle lit up.

Dark-purple Cognis flowed through its lines like streams of water moving through channels.

The energy spread outward from the center.

The lines of the Alchemy Circle brightened.

Once the Alchemy Circle became fully linked, the Illusion Alchemy immediately took effect.

The surrounding air seemed to change.

The numerous Young Ghost Crawlers that had filled the cave began disappearing.

Not because they were actually leaving.

Their illusionary copies were being removed.

The number of creatures around them was immediately cut down to their real number.

There were still many.

But there were now only half as many as before.

The overwhelming mass of creatures that had covered the walls, ceiling, and ground suddenly became much easier to distinguish.

And Ezra and Diane finally gained a clear sense of where the Elder Ghost Crawler was.

Its Illusion was still active.

The Arcanist-level Illusion had not been completely broken.

But its influence had been weakened enough.

And Ezra and Diane’s senses were simply that good.

They could finally perceive a little of the Elder Ghost Crawler’s true location.

And that was enough for both them.

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