Chapter 130 - Under Gunfire

Rynold stared openly over the gaping hole in the wall. The castle itself was located on top of a hill, making the elevation of the dungeon a little higher than the residential district.

Staring at the chaos in the middle of the residential area, he was appalled.

'Shit, I can't believe I forgot about this.'

He stood silently as the sound of screams and gunshots echoed in his ears. Rynold couldn't believe that he screwed up so badly and forgot that this wasn't a fantasy world.

It was a gigantic piece of information that he had forgotten because he didn't experience anything that reminded him that machinery and modern weapons still existed. Not until this point.

So far in his arduous journey, Rynold had relied on Mana and the weapons that were dropped by the monsters he faced. What's more, his experience in armed weaponry came only from Chris. Which, as it stands, was barely enough to cover anything.

"You okay, man?"

Leo patted Rynold's back with an open palm and great force, snapping him back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little surprised."

Rynold was more than a little surprised, to be perfectly honest. But, obviously, he wasn't going to mention that to people risking their lives. Now was not the time for him to hesitate.

"I'm gonna go on ahead," Leo said as he stood one foot off the ledge.

"Right," Rynold nodded and smiled, "Make it fast and easy. These people don't really know how to use Mana. Use that to your advantage."

"Gotcha."

Thunder started to ramp up from the soles of Leo's feet. In a matter of seconds, he immediately jumped down the ledge and ran towards the residential district, a clear streak of light following his wake.

"Be careful."

Rynold turned around and gave a small warning to Lissa. It wasn't a stretch to assume that Rynold was worried about the young Princess. But, at the same time, Lissa shouldn't think into it too much either.

With a slight nod, Rynold floated down on his Miniature Floating Platform and descended onto the battlefield. All the while, X took the time to catch up on foot.

Lissa, on the other hand, went with Prominence Alpha to find a better spot. The two went off in the opposite direction and headed to the regular exit, which normal people actually used.

As the Miniature Floating Platform hovered over the heads of the people, Rynold was soon under gunfire.

'Are you shitting me?'

Rynold gritted his teeth as he tried his best to avoid the gunshots coming his way. The sound of rifles consistently releasing volley after volley of bullets. He, admittedly, had a hard time trying to cope with the number of shots coming his way.

Having no other choice, Rynold made full use of the Accord Spheres. Axiom predicted the trajectory of the bullet fire, making it significantly easier for Rynold to navigate. Dictum blocked the shots that Rynold failed to dodge on time. All the while, Maxim shot back.

Having needed to dodge the gunshots, Rynold was considerably slowed down. However, that didn't stop him from pursuing his destination.

In the process, Rynold indirectly saved some lives down on the ground. It was the result of grabbing the troops' fire. It made it so that the people would slip past the troops and run away.

So, in hindsight, "save" might not be the best word to describe it.

Regardless, though, Rynold managed to "save" people in passing. But, what surprised him is that Maxim only needed a single shot to take the guards down. Rynold was surprised at how weak the soldiers actually were. The lack of Mana in their bodies made for easy picking.

"What the hell is that thing?"

One of the soldiers on the ground had that specific thought as he saw one of his comrades got shot down. In a single, accurate shot, no less. The soldier instinctively let his guard down in awe.

It was an undeniable grave mistake.

Suddenly, the sound of rustling grass appeared behind him. The soldier responsively turned around to see what came up to him from behind. A massive shadow greeted him as he rotated.

His instincts were telling, no, screaming at him to run. Run with all the might that his legs could pull out. But, naturally, human curiosity got the better of him as he looked up.

Two gleaming eyes were looking directly at him. What's worse, he couldn't see the face of the warrior that was covered in metal. What the soldier did see was a gigantic longsword that the metal knight held in its hand.

"Oh, shit..."

A small pool of yellow liquid appeared at the bottom of the soldier's feet. It was a terrifying experience for the small-time soldier that didn't know what he was looking at. All he knew was that his legs were too scared to move.

"AHHHH!"

Rynold abruptly stopped and looked back at the source of the scream. It was directly the same path that Rynold had taken only that it was on foot.

'X seems to be having his fun, now.'

Facing the hilltop that the troops seemed to have originated from, Rynold continued. He didn't really mind if X decided to go on a rampage and start killing people. He knew full well that he would only hurt those who are causing harm.

Rynold was sure of it. The Mech Knight's experiences with human interaction (especially Eileen) developed a sense of righteousness in X's mind.

So, with that, Rynold could proceed without worrying. As Rynold continued to hover toward his destination, he wondered how the others were doing.

'Cut me some slack.'

Leo was facing a very particular situation. A situation wherein if Rynold, Oliver, or anyone for that matter, were in his place, they would undoubtedly be hesitant. Terrified, even.

However, Leo wasn't feeling anything of the sort.

He can stare down the barrel of a gun and not even flinch. Which, in this case, was exactly what was happening.

Leo had been careless. He mistakenly killed one of the soldiers that were harassing one of the citizens. He did it in front of a lot of the other soldiers that were taking a rest.

No matter how fast he was, Leo could kill one or two people in close proximity to one another. Getting to another one that was five meters away would take a few more seconds than he'd like. Cast in point, it was a few seconds the soldiers would need to gun him down.

This situation was not in Leo's favor.

But, for some reason, Leo wasn't scared. In fact, he might be a little too hopped up on adrenaline that he might not even understand the situation he was in. However, he knew full well that, if and when he moved a muscle, he'd get shot.

At the same time, though, it appeared that the soldiers felt the same way. That was because...

They knew that Leo was the Prince.

"Psst. What's the plan here?" One of the soldiers whispered.

"I don't fucking know. Shouldn't we wait for a real command?"

"Dude, you're the one next in command. The Prince just killed the Captain. So, technically, you're the next one by rank!"

Eyeing the situation, Leo noticed that the soldiers seemed reluctant. They weren't gunning him down as openly as Leo thought they would. The two parties stared at each other. It was as if they were in some stand-off.

Seeing as how the situation was getting nowhere, Leo sighed. He planted his blade on the ground and looked at the soldiers' confused faces. They were clueless as to what Leo was up to.

'Can't believe I'm going to do this now of all times. Eight? No, nine people? Well, I guess now is a good a time as any.'

The sound of cracking thunder suddenly appeared with Leo at the center. The air around him was starting to electrify and gradually increased in voltage. The soldiers reflexively stepped back, trembling now more than before.

"Shit! Open fire!"

One of the soldiers commanded, and the rest followed without question. Bullets started to rain at Leo but, once the smoke cleared, turned out to be of no effect. The crackles of thunder and lightning surrounding Leo protected him. No.

They embraced him.

"Thunderclap's Exit!"

Within two seconds after the gunfire that the soldiers released, they were electrified. Zapped with the Thunder spell that Leo so easily charged up and used. It took Leo a few seconds to charge the spell up and, based on how long he charged it, the bigger the range of it would be.

Right now, within 8 seconds, Leo managed to release a radius of 10 meters, enough to cover up the soldiers that were in front of him. The downsides of the spell, however, were its high Mana and Stamina cost, as well as its indiscrimination of targets.

That meant anyone inside the kill zone would get zapped. Which, for clarification purposes, included his allies in the shot as well.

As for right now, though, the spell was pretty damn effective. The soldiers collapsed from the amount of voltage that so easily passed through their veins. Well, it wasn't much of a surprise to Leo, either, seeing as how it was the only Cast-type magic he could use.

At the same time, Leo was worse for wear too.

With his sword planted on the ground, Leo unwillingly collapsed on one knee. Using [Thunderclap's Exit] has drained a small chunk of his strength. That particular chunk managed to tip the scales from having fun to being a little tired.

Leo had been fighting nonstop. Granted, it wasn't enough to take him down or have him lose consciousness, but it was enough for him to feel tired.

'Damn. I could use a drink right about now. I wonder how my little sis is doing, though. Hope she doesn't get into trouble.'

That, unfortunately, wasn't the case.

"Stand down!"

Lissa ordered the soldiers of the castle. They were at arms and carried spears, swords, and shields. Weapons that were allowed by her parents to be used by the palace guards. It was, admittedly, a pretty dumb decree.

"No offense, Your Highness, but I know a monster when I see one. And... That is definitely one."

The captain responded as the guards all similarly bore their weapons against Prominence Alpha. The Spirit of Fire crudely grunted as it stared down on the lowly humans with the pointy sticks. It was funny to a Spirit that had lived for a few millennia now.

The guards, however, weren't really in the mood to be amused. They were visibly tired because of the number of monsters they fought against. It was clear that the initial mob that Rynold and the group had first interacted with was following the exit. Which, inevitably, led to the guards.

"Calm down!" Lissa clearly didn't want any of the guards' nonsense. "This here is my pet. And, I am the Princess of this castle! You will do as I say!"

'What?'

The guards were visibly confused as they slowly lowered their weapons. It was an odd experience for the young Princess to order them like that. But, it was even more confusing for them to consider the giant flaming monster a pet.

'That thing?'

'The orange thing with the half-lion, half-human look?'

'That's a pet?'

Questions filled the minds of the soldiers. They really didn't know how to react to Lissa's sudden announcement. And, it was a completely confusing and weird one at that.

"Alright! Enough is enough. When I say that it is my pet, then you should not be questioning it!" Lissa yelled out once more. "Where are my parents?"

"In the throne room. We currently have the entire army protecting the King and Queen from any sudden attacks."

"You're joking, right?" Lissa couldn't believe what the captain was spouting, "You have the ENTIRE army protecting two people?!"