Last Gun Alchemist

Monsters.

Since the founding era of Britannia, the battle for survival against beasts that threatened their survival in the land had always been ruthless and soaked with blood.

In those early years, before the awakening of Cognis, the people of Britannia stood almost powerless against them.

Villages vanished overnight.

Travel routes became graveyards.

Entire families disappeared into the forests, leaving only scattered bones and broken wagons behind.

The monsters possessed terrifying strength and strange mythical abilities that the people at that time could neither explain nor counter.

And so, many people died.

Not dozens, not hundreds.

But thousands.

The land of Britannia only began to change when Cognis awakened within their ranks.

The moment the people learned to harness that hidden force; the balance of power slowly shifted.

It did not happen overnight, but step by step, they began fighting back.

Monsters were pushed away from cities.

Hunting squads were formed.

Borders were fortified.

Eventually, the great Duke families of Bergwyn and Drakes became the guardians of Britannia’s outer territories, their role being to constantly fight and suppress the monsters that still roamed the lands near their domains. Yet even now...

It was never perfect, because monsters still existed and they were still dangerous.

Now the question that historians and scholars had asked for centuries remained unanswered by many ordinary citizens.

Where did these monsters come from?

Just like all living things, monsters had an origin.

But the truth behind their birth was darker than most people realized.

Many of the creatures that now roamed Britannia were not born naturally.

They were the result of a terrible secret.

An abomination created by the Demis of Paris.

That forbidden act had led to the creation of countless monstrous species that soon escaped control and spread across the Central Continent.

Some of them even crossed seas and appeared in other continents.

Their existence eventually triggered the first great condemnation war...

The Second World War of the Central Continent.

The war was led by the Holy Empire of Rome of the Central Continent and supported by the Jade Empire of the Eastern Continent.

At the time, many humans believed that Demis and monsters were the same, the only difference being that Demis possessed intelligence.

And so began the Purge War.

Kingdoms and nations from across the world joined the crusade.

Meanwhile, the Demi Kingdoms from different places in the world were forced to unite in order to survive the extermination.

The war lasted many long years.

Entire kingdoms of different continents burned.

Only when a group of powerful figures intervened did the war finally come to an end, establishing the difference between monsters, Demis, and domestic animals.

Even after peace returned, the spread of monsters continued to affect many nations.

Britannia suffered greatly because of its proximity to Paris, the birthplace of many monster species.

But over time, monsters became something else as well.

A threat, a resource and a reason for warriors to keep fighting.

***

Back at the castle battlefield, the fight had already reached its most brutal stage.

Veda listened carefully as several defenders shouted that their ammunition was running low.

Without hesitation, he signaled to one of the reserve weapon carriers standing behind the formation.

”Go!”

The boy nodded and sprinted toward the stairs that led down into the castle.

His boots echoed loudly as he ran.

Below the wall, several people had been stationed to guard the entrance and continuously create new ammunition through joint alchemy while the battle continued above.

Veda turned his attention back toward the battlefield.

”Keep firing!” he ordered.

The shooters obeyed immediately.

The storm of bullets continued.

From the wall, Veda could see the battlefield stretching far across the plains.

From this distance, the wolves looked almost like ants flooding toward the castle.

”How many are there...” Veda muttered under his breath.

A cold sweat slid down the side of his face.

The battle had lasted far longer than expected.

Many of the defenders were already showing signs of exhaustion.

Their breathing had grown heavier.

Their Cognis reserves were slowly draining.

And worst of all...

The sky was already turning darker.

Evening was approaching.

They had been fighting for nearly an entire day.

”Veda,” Nickolas said as he quickly moved toward him through the line of defenders, the sound of gunfire echoing constantly behind them while the wolves continued rushing across the battlefield like a living tide of fur and teeth.

”We have to take down the Morvarg,” he said, gripping the heavy sword tightly in his hand while glancing toward the massive wolf that commanded the pack from behind the charging Alphas before he placed it back into his space bag. ”If we kill it, the Silverback Dire Wolves will lose the fighting spirit driving them forward.”

Veda already knew that.

He had been thinking about it from the moment the Morvarg appeared.

”I know that,” Veda replied quietly before letting out a slow breath, his eyes fixed on the battlefield while the roar of the AK-47 rifles continued shaking the castle walls.

Around them, the defenders kept firing relentlessly.

More people began arriving from the lower levels of the castle carrying fresh ammunition created through joint alchemy.

They moved quickly along the wall, handing magazines to the shooters whose rifles had already begun clicking empty.

The sound of empty magazines dropping echoed repeatedly.

Click, Click, Click.

Almost at the same time, fresh magazines were slammed into place, the defenders quickly pulling back the charging handles before returning to firing again as the Alpha wolves and their leader began closing the distance.

However, another complication soon appeared among the defenders.

The people assigned to use the Kalthoff Repeaters did not have the same advantage as the AK-47 shooters.

Unlike modern rifles, the Kalthoff Repeater did not use detachable magazines.

Instead, the bullets and powder were stored inside the body of the weapon itself.

A clever lever-driven feeding mechanism hidden beneath the trigger guard pushed ammunition into the chamber every time the trigger was operated.

Because of that design, the weapon required preparation.

For this battle, they had already prepared at least three Kalthoff Repeaters for every user, each created earlier through joint alchemy, so that when one ran dry the user could immediately switch to another.

Suddenly...

An Alpha Chaser burst forward from the pack.

The beast moved like a streak of shadow across the battlefield.

It sprinted past its fellow wolves, ignoring the ones that collapsed under the storm of bullets raining from the castle walls.

The Alpha Chaser twisted its body through the rain of bullets with frightening speed.

Then...

It slammed its entire body into the iron gate of the castle.

BOOM!

The entire entrance shook violently.

Dust fell from the cracks between the castle stones.

The massive gate groaned under the impact.

”Sir Veda!” a boy shouted from below, his voice filled with urgency as he looked up toward the wall.

”The anchors holding the door are loosening!”

Veda stepped forward immediately.

His gaze turned sharp.

”Alright.”

He moved into the center of the group holding the Kalthoff Repeaters.

”Switch,” he ordered calmly.

The defenders reacted instantly.

In one smooth movement they stored the Kalthoff Repeaters inside their space bags, their hands already reaching for another weapon.

Moments later...

Every one of them held an Acu-Vector Mk.I.

”Aim.” Veda raised his hand slightly.

”Fire.”

The moment the command was given...

A storm of needles burst into the air.

More than one thousand thin steel needles shot upward like a swarm of metallic insects before raining down toward the battlefield below.

The projectiles fell like deadly rain.

Wolf after wolf was pierced where they ran.

Some collapsed instantly.

Others rolled across the ground screaming before going still.

The needle storm was about to strike the Morvarg itself, but two Alpha Flankers suddenly jumped forward.

They placed themselves directly in front of their leader.

The needles slammed into their bodies instead.

The two massive wolves absorbed the attack, their bodies riddled with hundreds of steel needles as they shielded the Morvarg.

Meanwhile the Alpha Chaser that had attacked the gate was completely shredded under the concentrated fire of the AK-47 shooters, who focused their rifles on it before returning their attention to the rest of the wolves still charging across the field.

Veda smirked slightly.

”Do you think we aren’t prepared?”

He waved his hand.

The defenders holding the Acu-Vector Mk.I. moved with practiced speed.

In one fluid motion they removed the empty shells from their weapons and replaced them with new ones taken from their space bags.

Then they fired again.

Another storm of needles rose into the air before crashing down on the battlefield.

Dozens of wolves were struck and dropped instantly.

With the pack thinning out, the AK-47 shooters began eliminating the remaining wolves much more easily.

The number of enemies slowly started to decrease.

Morvarg saw it.

Its massive body stood still for a moment before it lifted its head and released another deep howl.

The terrible sound rolled across the battlefield.

It was the same howl that had caused hesitation earlier in the fight.

But this time...

The defenders were ready.

Many enhanced their hearing with Cognis, strengthening their senses to resist the confusion caused by the sound.

Some still flinched, but none of them stopped firing.

They saw the battlefield clearly now.

The wolves were dying.

If they pushed harder...

They could finish the first wave.

”AHHHHH!!!”

Several defenders screamed as they forced themselves to keep fighting.

Their fingers squeezed the triggers again and again.

Bullets rained down.

Blood splashed across the stone walls of the castle.

Below them, the ground had already turned red.

The Morvarg watched everything.

Then it growled deeply.

Its massive muscles tightened.

Finally...It moved.

The Alpha wolves followed immediately behind it, but before they could get to the castle walls...

Nickolas and Tracy had already begun their own preparation.

Seven steel bars were placed onto a drawn alchemy circle.

They clapped their hands together.

Cognis surged outward from both of them.

Then they slammed their palms onto the circle.

The steel bars melted instantly.

The metal twisted and reshaped in midair.

Moments later...

An AA-12 shotgun, Third Grade, formed from the molten steel.

Nickolas grabbed it and immediately threw the weapon toward Veda.

Veda caught it.

At the same time, the defenders holding the Acu-Vector Mk.I. switched to Big-4 Barrel Revolvers.

They stepped forward behind Veda, forming another firing line.

”Aim,” Veda ordered while raising the AA-12.

Nickolas stepped beside him, gripping the Baske 1945.

One of the Alpha Flankers finally reached the pile of wolf corpses at the base of the wall.

”Fire!”

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A massive explosion of gunfire echoed across the castle walls.

The Big-4 revolvers and Nickolas’s Baske 1945 fired at the same moment.

The Alpha Flanker’s body exploded into pieces the moment the combined gunfire struck it, chunks of flesh and bone scattering across the pile of corpses beneath the castle walls as blood sprayed violently into the air.

But even such a brutal death did not slow the remaining Alpha wolves.

The second Alpha Flanker immediately reacted.

With a powerful push of its hind legs, the massive wolf leapt high into the air, its claws scraping violently against the stone surface of the castle wall as it began climbing upward.

Behind it, several ordinary wolves followed the same path, scrambling over the pile of bodies like a living tide.

Among them...

An Alpha Scouter joined the charge.

The defenders reacted instantly.

The AK-47 shooters intensified their fire, their rifles barking louder as they poured bullets toward the wolves climbing the wall.

At the same time, the defenders holding the Big-4barrel revolvers swiftly replaced their empty cylinders, their fingers moving quickly despite the numbness in their hands.

On Veda’s command...They fired.

Every shot focused on the Alpha Flanker and the Alpha Scouter.

The two Alphas tried to twist their bodies and weave through the incoming bullets, their instincts screaming at them to avoid the deadly barrage.

But there were simply too many projectiles.

The air was filled with metal.

The Alpha Flanker’s shoulder exploded first.

Then another bullet tore through the Scouter’s chest.

The two monsters were ripped apart by the storm of fire and thrown backward into the pile of wolves below, their massive bodies collapsing among the already fallen beasts.

At that moment...

The Morvarg moved.

Using the falling bodies of its fallen Alphas as cover, the massive wolf surged forward with terrifying speed.

Its body blurred as it rushed across the battlefield.

But Veda and Nickolas reacted immediately.

Both of them raised their weapons at the same time.

The AA-12 roared first.

BOOM!

The shotgun blast struck the stone wall beside the Morvarg, shattering the rock and sending fragments flying into the air as the monster twisted its body to avoid the attack.

Nickolas fired next.

The Baske 1945 thundered.

The recoil shook his entire arm.

Both projectiles struck the ground near the Morvarg at almost the same moment.

The explosions collided.

Dust and debris erupted into the air, forming a thick cloud that completely swallowed the giant wolf.

For a moment...

The Morvarg vanished from sight.

Then...

In the blink of an eye...

It burst out of the smoke.

The enormous wolf leapt straight toward Veda. Its claws cut through the air like blades.

Veda reacted instantly.

He raised the AA-12 to block the strike.

The Morvarg’s claws slammed against the weapon.

The steel screamed under the force.

Four deep claw marks sliced across the shotgun’s body, nearly tearing the weapon apart.

Veda was thrown backward by the impact.

He rolled across the ground before stopping on one knee.

Nickolas turned sharply.

His arms trembled violently from the recoil of the Baske 1945, yet he still forced his fingers to tighten around the grip.

He raised the gun again and fired toward the Morvarg, which had just landed beside the tower.

The last round of the Baske fired.

The gun shattered immediately after the shot, the internal structure collapsing under the enormous force.

The broken weapon nearly pulled Nickolas off the castle wall.

Two defenders at the end of the formation grabbed him quickly before he could fall.

Meanwhile...

The Morvarg twisted its body in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the shot.

It landed on the stone floor inside the wall.

A girl standing nearby stepped forward.

Her hands trembled as she held a spear.

The wolf was enormous.

Now that it stood only a few meters away, everyone could clearly see its true size.

It was far larger than any of the other wolves.

Its shoulders alone passed the height of a grown man, but the girl forced herself to act.

”AHHH!”

She thrust the spear forward.

The Morvarg barely moved.

With a casual swipe of its paw, it knocked the spear aside and pushed the weapon off course.

Then it bit the shaft of the spear.

With a violent shake of its head...It flung the girl into the air.

Luckily a boy behind her jumped forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

”Don’t break your formation!” Veda shouted loudly as he stood up.

”Focus on the remaining wolves!”

Cognis surged around him.

During the moment when Nickolas fired earlier, Veda had already taken out two steel bars.

He clapped his hands together.

An alchemy circle appeared between his palms.

When he slammed his hands onto the steel...

The metal melted instantly.

Moments later...

Two Big-4barrel revolvers formed in his hands. Without hesitation...

Veda charged forward.

There was no fear in his eyes.

It looked as if he had already faced a monster like this before.

Morvarg responded instantly.

The giant wolf lunged toward him as well.

Its left claw swept across the air.

Then its right claw followed immediately after.

Veda jumped backward.

He could clearly see the moment the Morvarg’s claws sliced through the air.

Even the wind itself seemed to split.

Nearby defenders who were not part of the AK-47 firing line quickly pulled out their own revolvers.

They fired at the giant wolf, but none of the bullets pierced its hide.

”Tsk... its skin is too tough,” one boy muttered in frustration.

The Morvarg almost looked amused.

A strange grin appeared in its eyes as it turned toward the group that had fired the most shots.

Then it charged straight toward them.

”Get out of the way!” Veda shouted immediately.

He raised both revolvers and aimed toward the wolf’s stomach.

BANG! BANG!

The two shots exploded toward the Morvarg.

The wolf jumped backward instantly.

It had already recognized its weak point.

It growled angrily at Veda.

But when it looked again...

Veda was gone.

The Morvarg sensed something above it.

It looked up quickly.

Veda was already descending from the air with a long sword aimed toward its body.

The Morvarg jumped backward immediately.

Its claws swung toward him.

Veda raised the sword and blocked the strike.

The wolf snapped its jaws toward him, but Veda rolled away smoothly.

Then he swung the sword toward Morvarg’s side.

CLANG!

The blade struck the wolf’s body, but the sword bounced off its hide.

Veda didn’t stop. He continued attacking.

The two clashed again and again.

Each collision shook the castle.

Stone cracked beneath their feet. Sparks flashed as claws met steel. Dust and fragments of stone scattered across the battlefield. Blood splashed across the ground.

Veda suffered several small cuts, but the Morvarg was taking more damage.

Veda kept targeting the same weak points...

The stomach and the earlier wound he had created.

The defenders watched from behind.

Many of them began shouting.

Cheering for their leader.

The Morvarg struck again.

Its claw collided with the sword.

This time...The blade shattered.

The wolf immediately lunged forward, its jaws aiming to bite off Veda’s arm.

But Veda planted his foot firmly into the ground.

Cognis surged through his body.

With explosive force...

He punched the Morvarg directly in the mouth.

The impact sent the massive wolf flying upward.

At that moment...

Linda threw a Baske 1945 toward him. Veda caught it.

His hand was already bleeding heavily, but he tightened his grip around the weapon.

His eyes locked onto the Morvarg.

”You die now.”

He fired.

The gunshot echoed across the castle.

The Morvarg sensed the incoming death.

It twisted its body desperately.

The bullet tore away a large chunk of its flesh instead of killing it.

The wolf landed on the tower.

Then it leapt away toward the back of the castle.

”It’s running!” Nickolas shouted while forcing himself to stand.

But Veda only waved his hand casually.

”It’s fine,” he said as he finally collapsed into a sitting position.

He smiled slightly.

”Don’t forget who is there.”

He looked toward his group.

Most of the Silverback Dire Wolves were already killed.

The first wave was nearly over.