Overwhelming Firepower

Lucen continued to test his new skill in combination with his other skills. Unfortunately, he could not use Elemental Bullets with Aerial Arsenal.

Still, skills like Ricochet worked; he wanted to see if bullet parry would work as well, but he needed an opponent for that. At the thought of that, Lucen could not help but smile.

’Well, would you look at that perfect timing.’

Lucen turned his head to the entrance of the training hall and saw Alexander and Cael entering.

Alexander stopped the moment he saw Lucen. Relief appeared upon his face, while Cael crossed the remaining distance so quickly that he seemed to vanish from the entrance.

”You are awake.”

Cael examined Lucen from head to toe. His expression remained as calm as usual, but the stiffness in his shoulders disappeared once he confirmed that Lucen was unharmed.

”My head hurts a little, but aside from that, I’m just fine.” Lucen looked at their dirty clothing and the shallow cuts covering their arms.

”More than me, it looks like the two of you are the ones hurting.”

”This is just part of training,” Cael answered coolly.

”So who is teaching you two?”

”The Heavenly Demon is currently teaching me,” Cael responded.

”The Martial God is the one guiding me,” Alexander answered.

Hearing their answers, Lucen nodded his head, as that was what he had expected to happen.

”I see... Then I guess you two must have improved in the several days I have been unconscious.”

”I think we have improved quite a bit from their teachings,” Alexander responded without hesitation.

”How about you, Cael? Do you think the same?” Hearing Lucen’s question, Cael simply nodded his head.

”Then why don’t the two of you show me?”

Alexander tilted his head. ”You want to watch us train?”

”I was thinking of something more direct.” Lucen pointed toward the center of the training hall. ”Spar with me. Both of you at the same time.”

”Kehahaha! As expected, you’re something else, aren’t you, brat?!” The Heavenly Demon suddenly appeared alongside the Martial God.

The Heavenly Demon walked into the training hall with an enormous grin.

”You survived an encounter with that strange being, woke up after several days, and the first thing you want is to fight two people at once. Kehahaha! I knew there was something interesting about you!”

”I just wanted to check a few things,” Lucen responded while shrugging his shoulders.

The Martial God looked at Lucen for several seconds. ”I do not see anything wrong in doing so. Do you need me to get your weapons?”

”There’s no need. I can create everything I require.”

Lucen extended one hand. Mana gathered within his palm before taking the form of a trench gun. The weapon settled into his grasp with a familiar weight.

Cael did not say anything more and simply took out his longsword. Alexander looked at the siblings and decided to join in as well, as he too wanted to test how much his skill had improved. Alexander drew his broadsword and held it with both hands.

”I will give the signal to start the spar.” The Martial God spoke as he looked at the three of them.

The Martial God waited until all three had prepared themselves before walking toward the edge of the training hall alongside the Heavenly Demon.

”Are the three of you ready?”

”Why bother asking them such nonsense? Just tell them to begin already.” The Heavenly Demon commented on the side.

The Martial God ignored the Heavenly Demon and looked toward the three fighters. None of them voiced any objections.

He lowered his raised hand. ”Begin.”

Cael moved the instant the signal was given. The stone beneath his feet cracked as he crossed half the training hall. Alexander moved toward Lucen’s left at the same time, forcing Lucen to divide his attention between them.

Lucen activated Aerial Arsenal, and several rifles appeared above his head and were aimed at Cael and Alexander.

Despite seeing this skill for the first time, the two of them had a better understanding of firearms than others, so instead of retreating, they simply sped up their charge towards Lucen.

The floating rifles fired. Cael swung his longsword through the first mana-formed round. Frost erupted from the edge of his blade, knocking the bullet into the floor without slowing his charge.

Alexander raised his broadsword and allowed two rounds to strike its wide surface. The impacts produced sharp metallic sounds, but they did little more than push the heavy blade backward.

The remaining bullets struck the aura reinforcing their bodies. Neither Cael nor Alexander was injured.

The power of each rifle was only comparable to an ordinary military firearm. Against two swordsmen who could reinforce their bodies and weapons with aura, a single shot was hardly threatening.

Of course, Lucen already knew this; he just wanted to test the speed and power of each round against moving targets.

’The accuracy is better than that of an ordinary rifle, and the rounds are slightly stronger as well. A single shot probably wouldn’t pierce the aura of a skilled Second Mantle user, but it would still hurt. Enough shots should eventually wear their defenses down.’

While Lucen was thinking he dodged the combined attacks of the two, whose movements had become sharper. He then used Aerial Arsenal again, coupled with another skill, Ricochet.

Unlike with the Elemental Bullet, this time it actually worked as the bullet fired from Aerial Arsenal bounced from the walls.

The rounds struck the surrounding walls before returning toward Alexander and Cael from entirely different directions.

Cael heard the impacts behind him and immediately twisted his body. His longsword swept through two of the rebounding bullets, but a third struck his shoulder before he could complete the movement.

The round failed to penetrate his aura. However, the impact was enough to make his upper body shift.

Alexander raised his broadsword behind himself and blocked the bullets approaching his back. Its broad blade provided excellent protection from one direction, but more rounds bounced from the floor and walls beside him.

He stepped through the narrow spaces between their trajectories. His movements remained calm and precise, yet the approaching gunfire continued to multiply. He could barely evade most and decided to take a few hits.

’I see, they had improved greatly from last time. I guess it’s about time to see the full extent of this skill.’

The second Lucen thought that, several dozen rifles appeared surrounding him, nearly filling the training hall, each gun pointing at Cael and Alexander. Even for Cael, this was something new.

Alexander was once again amazed by Lucen’s unique magic as the room filled with floating rifles made from blue light.

A few rifles were little more than an inconvenience to an aura user, but this many were a genuine threat. He could not help but tighten his grip on his weapon as he looked around. It was at that moment that the rifles fired at once.

Alexander raised his broadsword, but the barrage did not come from only one direction. Rounds descended from above, crossed from both sides, and struck the floor before rebounding toward him through Ricochet.

He allowed his body to relax. Instead of attempting to withstand every impact, Alexander angled his broadsword and redirected the bullets away from himself. His movements were smaller than before.

There were no unnecessary swings, and he only moved whenever a round was about to strike him.

Cael responded differently. Frost gathered around his longsword before being compressed along its edge. He swung once, releasing a pale crescent that tore through several mana rifles before they could fire.

As Cael was about to unleash another strike, Lucen summoned two more rifles with Aerial Arsenal.

The instant Cael swung, both rifles fired, allowing Lucen to parry the incoming strike with their rounds. Lucen nodded in satisfaction.

’I see, so Bullet Parry works as well.’

After testing a few more times with other skills, Lucen learned that skills involving increasing the power of the bullets fired will not work with Aerial Arsenal.

That limitation did not disappoint him. Aerial Arsenal was not meant to strengthen a single bullet. Its true purpose was to replace quality with an absurd quantity.

Lucen raised his hand. More rifles materialized along the walls, across the ceiling, and behind Alexander and Cael until blue barrels surrounded them from every possible direction. Lucen lowered his hand, and then the training hall erupted.

Alexander placed his broadsword before himself and advanced through the first volley. Bullets hammered against the wide blade without pause, forcing him backward.

Cael moved beside him. His longsword swept through the air, cutting through the bullets and even the rifles, but unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. The gunfire continued to overwhelm him and Alexander.

Every rifle disappeared after firing, only for Lucen to summon another before its echo faded.

Alexander and Cael continued advancing. Together, they blocked and destroyed most of the bullets, but even they could not defend against everything.

Rounds struck their shoulders, legs, and sides. None penetrated, yet every impact weakened their aura. More rifles appeared as they approached Lucen.

Cael surged forward and destroyed three rifles with a sweeping slash. Alexander followed through the opening, his broadsword turning aside the next volley as both swordsmen advanced several more steps toward Lucen.

Soon, there was no longer any room to evade. Alexander planted his broadsword against the floor and used its surface as a shield. Cael stood behind him, cutting down anything approaching from the sides.

’Heh, they’re doing pretty well. I wonder if they could handle this.’

Lucen raised his hand, and hundreds of rifles appeared in rows behind him, aimed at Cael and Alexander. Surprisingly, doing this was not enough to drain his mana supply. Lucen then made a finger gun and spoke a single word.

”Bang.”