Triple Kill

Rosen picked up his brush and began sketching in the top right corner of the paper, swiftly drawing a crimson bullet composed of three parts: a hollow-point bullet tip and two sections of casing.

Next, he divided the paper into three sections and meticulously drew the internal structure of each part of the red bullet.

Although the bullet was only the size of a finger, its interior was incredibly intricate, resembling a miniature rocket. The design enabled two-stage acceleration, ultimately tripling the bullet's initial speed.

In addition to structural acceleration, the bullet tip was anything but simple. The needle-like hollow point contained intricately carved alchemy runes, and when embedded with space-attributed spiritual crystals, the bullet gained significant space-piercing and armor-penetrating capabilities.

This particular supernatural bullet was part of the Alchemy Bullet series, known as the Space Piercing Bullet.

However, the bullet had been discontinued after extensive testing revealed a significant drawback: the recoil was too strong. The recoil was so severe that it became nearly impossible to aim the first shot accurately.

The two-stage acceleration didn't occur mid-flight but within the gun barrel. The sudden dual-stage impact created overwhelming recoil, making it difficult for even a Sequence 8 hunter to control the weapon.

Lower-sequence hunters often ended up firing shots wildly into the sky, and high-sequence hunters had superior options, leading to this bullet's obsolescence. Its production methods were no longer classified, making it easier for Rosen to acquire the blueprint.

Rosen had obtained the Space Piercing Bullet blueprint with the idea that its auto-tracking feature would synergize with his Godslayer Crossbow.

However, after analyzing its parameters, Rosen realized that even with auto-tracking, controlling such a bullet would be impossible with his current spiritual mastery.

The Godslayer Crossbow manipulated the bullet's trajectory by distorting it with spiritual Nen, but the Space Piercing Bullet moved too fast for Rosen to manage its path with his current abilities.

After advancing his Hunter Sequence, though, Rosen discovered he might now be able to handle the bullet's recoil.

By sharing Nen energy with the Nightmare Slime through the Nightmare Shackles, Rosen could boost his spiritual energy tenfold, greatly enhancing the crossbow's stability. What was once uncontrollable recoil now became manageable.

It was a classic case of using brute force to solve a problem—overcoming the recoil with enhanced Nen energy.

It took Rosen over half an hour to complete the complex structural drawing of the Space Piercing Bullet. He quickly loaded the drawing into his Artist's Magazine, which then transformed the drawing into a real, tangible object.

With the bullet now chambered, Rosen was ready to fire.

Satisfied with his success, he spent several more hours drawing five more Space Piercing Bullets.

He then released the Hunter's Eye, which flew out of the window, invisible, and focused on the suspicious hideout in the swamp.

Simultaneously, Rosen activated the Nightmare Shackles, binding himself to the Nightmare Slime. Through the link, the vast reserves of spiritual Nen from the Nightmare Slime flowed into him.

The Nen energy coursing through Rosen's hands was so densely compressed that it began to glow.

Though the light from the compressed energy was visible, Rosen remained safely hidden inside the Mysterious Study Room, unseen by those outside.

With a mere thought, the Godslayer Crossbow fired nine bolts, each one packed with max-level compressed Nen energy.

The bolts tore through the air, passing through the window and detonating like high-explosive grenades, creating a chain of violent explosions where the hidden assailants lurked.

Three individuals, hiding beneath the swamp, reacted immediately as their cover was blown. They activated defensive skills and tried to evade the incoming damage, rushing out of their hiding place.

Once outside, they formed a tight group, standing back-to-back, fully alert for any follow-up attacks.

The hunter among them activated an Eagle Eye spell, scanning the direction the bolts had come from.

Seeing nothing—perhaps the enemy was invisible or had already relocated—he hesitated.

Just then, a flicker of red light appeared. By the time his eyes registered it, the bullet had already crossed hundreds of meters, and before he could react, it struck.

He activated all his protective artifacts and skills instantly, but before they could take effect, he felt a sharp pain in his forehead as the bullet pierced his skull.

"So fast..." he thought before losing consciousness.

Two more red lights flashed, this time aimed at the beast knight, who had already transformed his lower body into that of a feline. Shield in hand, sword raised, the beast knight managed to deflect the first Space Piercing Bullet.

Though the bullet didn't break the shield, it left visible cracks across its surface.

Then, the second bullet followed, shattering the already-weakened shield and striking the knight. The bullet pierced his heart, leaving a gaping hole the size of a bowl, but his battle-hardened body temporarily sealed the wound. Bone and muscle instinctively wrapped around the injury, preventing immediate death.

The beast knight, ignoring his grievous injury, sprinted away at full speed.

The third member, a witch, witnessing the scene, crushed a short-range teleportation scroll, vanishing in an instant.

Neither escape attempt succeeded.

The Hunter's Eye locked onto the fleeing beast knight and teleporting witch, feeding precise targeting information back to the Godslayer Crossbow, which fired again.

A bullet decapitated the beast knight mid-sprint, and another pierced the witch's elemental shield, killing her with a single shot to the head.

As the two fell, a blade suddenly slashed through the air, striking the Hunter's Eye from behind. The blade belonged to a stealthy assassin who had slipped past the eye's detection.

However, the strike did no actual damage. The Hunter's Eye, like the Godslayer Crossbow, was merely a Nen construct, capable of turning back into pure energy.

Though the assassin's blade shattered the eye, it only caused Rosen to lose a small amount of Nen.

The area within a radius of ten meters was now completely enveloped by the assassin's blade aura, but he found himself slashing at nothing but empty air.

This Sequence 8 stalker, named Yunus, immediately realized his enemy was likely attacking from another dimension or spatial rift.

There was no other way to explain how the target could evade his perfectly timed stealth strike.

Recognizing his failure, Yunus turned and tried to escape, knowing that a missed strike meant retreat was his only option.

But just as Yunus began to flee, he felt something under his foot. Looking down, he saw a black slime—the Nightmare Slime.

He kicked it away and resumed his escape, getting farther and farther, but not far enough to avoid the sudden flash of red light behind him.

End of Chapter