Catato Patch 

“That’s...the Crimson Reaper?!” Turning to look at the familiar revolver, Han Zhishi promptly lept backwards, hands still clutching his wound.

 

Turning around myself, I found myself staring down the distant barrel of a crimson revolver etched with engravings that could only be described as ominous…

 

‘That gun! There’s something up with that gun!’

 

All around me, I could hear my instincts screaming at me to run and that it was dangerous. However, a second later…

 

*Bang!* Came the signature explosion of a revolver. Unlike the blue revolver however, it was slightly slower. In fact, even its bullet seemed noticeably slower and yet my instincts told me that, if I were to underestimate this bullet…

 

I would die!

 

For the first time ever in this battle...I felt an uncontrollable fear well within me, a fear of death…

 

‘Now’s not the time to hold back!’

 

[Bone Shield]![Bone Shield]![Bone Shield]!

 

I immediately refocused my mana into building up the defenses around my flanks. Within mere moments, a rounded barrier of bones formed around me that grew thicker by the second.

 

And yet...I still didn’t feel safe at all!

 

Then...the bullet struck my bone fort.

 

*BANG!* The bullet shattered into pieces on impact and ignited a massive ball of flames that instantly blew apart my bone shield!

 

*Crack crack crack crack* Layer by layer, I could hear my bone fort crumble as death rapidly encroached on me. What looked like an impenetrable fortress of white seemed almost like paper in front of this overwhelming explosion!

 

However, even if I knew that it wasn’t enough, all I could do was channel more mana into my crumbling defenses in hopes that it would hold!

 

Shield! Shield! Shield! Shield!

 

‘Even if it’s a paper thin wall, that doesn’t matter! I just need to reduce the damage as much as possible!’

 

‘No matter what, as long as I survive this explosion, it’s my win!’

 

‘No matter what...I mustn’t lose! No matter how dire the situation is, as long as I endure it, it’s my victory! This is the conviction of the strongest player!’

 

*Boom!* Following a thunderous explosion, a blinding burst of fiery burst scattered before my very eyes…

 

A distance away, a noticeably anxious Wu Junze watched the fiery light explode with bated breath. He knew that this shot was his last hope…

 

If it failed to defeat the evil dragon, then all they could do was let it slaughter them!

 

Crimson Reaper was the strongest trump card he had. To be exact, it was a weapon handed down to him by his master. It had been modified by an ancestor from the era of Unification and was able to fire off explosive rounds fuelled by mana.

 

However, in exchange for that much firepower, this revolver could only be fired once by his current self!

 

The gun fed on large quantities of vitality, energy and mana. For Wu Junze right now, it took all he could muster just to fire off one shot. Should he try to push himself further, he would immediately be reduced to dust!

 

Even so, there were still people before him who tried to push their limits with this gun. However, all of them, with no exceptions at all, were drained to nothingness by the gun. Because of that, this revolver ended up having a giant store of energy sourced from a variety of past users.

 

Truly, it was a deal with the devil. In order to command this weapon, one had to pay with his life…

 

The Crimson Reaper was the devil’s gun!

 

Yet, as devilish this gun was for its opponents, it was just evil towards its users!

 

“Please, please, please…” Wu Junze endured the overwhelming desire to collapse within him and continued dodging the attacks of the cerulean girl. “This’d better work or else we’re done for…”

 

“Sh---my body won’t listen.” Finally, his energy was spent and he collapsed to the ground. All he saw before the darkness consumed him was the sight of Slime-chan bearing down upon him with her corrosive palm!

 

“Junze!” Han Zhishi sprinted off towards his partner in a bid to try and shield him. “Not good, he’s too far away!”

 

However, Wu Junze showed neither panic nor fear as he used his last bit of consciousness to smile at his frantic companion.

 

“Run, my brother…”

 

Having resolved himself to the inevitable fate of dissipation, the impending danger mattered naught. He knew that this was the end of the road for him thus he only thought about to help Han Zhishi escape.

 

‘I wonder who else ended up in the Abyss?’ Wu Junze weakly thought to himself.

 

“Stop! STOP!” Han Zhishi yelled at the top of his lungs. Once more, he was struck by how powerless his strength was when he needed it the most.

 

Laugh not at a drunkard’s demise, for often does a warrior return?

 

(TL: The usage here is kind of weird, since it’s not really supposed to be a poem about anti-war sentiment or even a tragic poem. Rather, it’s about being bold, unrestrained, exuberant. Something along the lines of ‘So what if we get drunk? We’ll just end up unconscious in a ditch somewhere! ’)

 

Just like that, Wu Junze closed his eyes and quietly awaited his death...