A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Chapter 207: Combination Bearing Fruit

*BAM!*

Forced to slide a foot from the initial impact caused by this new arrival, the Werewolf let loose a growl as it snapped its fangs angrily at any part of the creature that he could get.

Nyx evaded and struck her head against its chest to knock it even further back but the creature was prepared now. It locked on its knees and avoided being moved even an inch before taking a powerful swipe that connected with Nyx's neck.

She let out a long whinny as the wicked sharp claws dug through her flesh and created five lacerations while she was lifted off the ground and sent flying a few feet away to hit the ground hard.

[Nyx has lost 85 Hit Points]

[Nyx's Hit Points: 130/215]

Having gotten the horse away from itself and while still reeling at the creature's speed, the Werewolf turned its sight on its previous target but Henry no longer stood where he was before.

Nyx's intervention had been unexpected and although Henry was elated, he acted <Quick Thinking> all the same. Except that he activated it after Nyx had made contact with the Werewolf and forced it to move a foot away.

He spent the five seconds he had in that time-stopped state to metaphorically catch his breath and when time resumed, he moved and tried to get himself a good view of the enemy's vulnerable spot.

The altercation between Nyx and the Werewolf had lasted two seconds at most and by the time it was searching for him, Henry slid over with 'The Hydra's Sting' in hand and aimed at that vulnerable spot.

The Werewolf's ears twitched and it made to move. Henry knew it would turn faster than he could pull his gun's trigger but luckily, he had a card to play and was just within range to play it.

[Activating <Abominable Curse>…]

The ribcage hugging the sides of his vest glowed green and the nightmare struck the Werewolf, freezing it in mid-motion. Its upper body was almost completely turned around but its vulnerable side remained very much in view and Henry fired a shot right into the hole that had been created by Andor's spear.

The Acidic green bullet left the gun and stabbed through the hole to travel deeper into the creature's body than any previously fired shot ever could.

It cut through organs, corroding them on the way and further damaged bones already made brittle by Louis' lightning before stopping before it could puncture a hole to travel clean through the Werewolf's body.

Cracks spread all over the surface of the Werewolf's midsection but they were dull cracks. Merely mirroring the ones forming inside its body and then…

*Bang!*

… A muffled explosion sounded within and pulled the Werewolf out of its nightmarish hallucinations. Its knees wobbled and it appeared it might succumb and fall to the ground but Nyx interrupted that by galloping over and striking out with her hooves against its head.

*BAM!*

*BAM!*

The first two stomps, which hardly dented its wickedly thick skull, sent the Werewolf slamming into a mountainside and Nyx followed up to continue stomping.

Six more stomps from Nyx and the Werewolf finally regained enough strength to grab both her hooves and pull her down to the ground to deliver a headbutt that knocked her back multiple steps.

[Nyx has lost 55 Hit Points]

[Nyx's Hit Points: 75/215]

Nyx let out a cry of pain that was almost rivaled in volume by the sound of her cracking skull. There was no mistaking it —especially since it had been proven ever since the first clawed strike she suffered—, that the Werewolf was stronger than she was. Its attacks inflicted far more damage on her than she ever could have inflicted on it. Hell, all her stomps had done nothing more than annoy it.

Speaking of which, the Werewolf pushed itself off the mountainside and grabbed its midsection. The bone structure within seemed to struggle to keep his weight.

He doubled over and wretched, spitting out multiple litters of blood all tinged with green Acid that still sizzled wickedly.

And then its ears twitched and it moved just as Henry fired a shot having managed to come at him from the side again.

Alas, moving to dodge could only possibly help when the bullet traveled in a forward trajectory. When the bullet was following the homing signal preemptively placed by the previous successfully connecting shot, then dodging was useless. The Werewolf discovered this after a second acidic bullet sunk into his insides to corrode it and cause another explosion that would further an already ongoing deterioration.

"ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!" It yelled in a pained growl as the Acidic cracks began to spread, but rather than stay in place and suffer the damage while its attacker smiled in elation, the Werewolf kicked its limbs into motion.

It fell on all fours and charged forward before Henry had the time to blink.

Fortunately, Henry had expected such a move. He had 'Cudgel' in his hand the moment after he shot the Werewolf and managed to cross the weapon across his chest just in time to intercept the coming blow.

*BAM!!!*

The impact erupted mini sonic booms and while 'Cudgel' was not bent or at all damaged by the blow, the impact still forced Henry's arms back so hard that they popped out of his shoulders.

Henry gritted his teeth at the pain while he was sliding back and receiving the alert of the sustained damage from the System.

[You have lost 42 Hit Points]

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[You have lost 42 Hit Points]

[Hit Points: 131/270]

One notification for each dislocated arm.

Henry swung his upper body so hard that he flexed his arms and even as pain wracked through him, he managed to pop them back into their sockets.

Thanks to how the System calculated damage, the pain quickly dulled or at least was negligible enough that he could keep one hand around 'Cudgel' while he summoned 'The Hydra's Sting' and fired a shot at nowhere in particular because, of course, he had made sure his last shot had been backed by <Guiding Shot>.

Before this happened and while Henry had been sliding, the Werewolf had tried to follow up but Nyx galloped over to slam into it as she had done twice already.

However, this time the Black horse did not catch the Werewolf by surprise. Its nose sniffed and, groaning due to every move worsening its pain, the creature swung its arm in a clawed-fist strike it was convinced would surely be the end of the annoying horse.

Its red eyes widened in shock when, right before its clawed fist made contact, Nyx vanished into Shadow and leaped out the very next second to connect her head with its jaw and send it about two feet into the air.

It was at this moment that Henry's shot hit and the cracks spread across the Werewolf's midsection right when its legs hit the ground again.

The cracks glowed bright.

"ARRGGH— Again! You just won't stop—" the Werewolf started to say and then its eyes widened in horror because the explosion it was expecting and was slightly confident it would survive did not come.

At least not yet.

Instead, the glow of the cracks continued to get brighter.

This was different. The Werewolf could tell and so could Nyx as she trotted away from it and watched from a distance as the creature fell to its knees with its claws scratching at the glow as though to snuff it.

A combination of multiple attacks was finally bearing fruit;

Louis' lightning had worn down the tough exterior which Andor had taken advantage of to create a hole deep enough to grant access to far more damageable interiors and finally, Henry's shots —three deadly corrosive shots packing the maximum firepower 'The Hydra's Sting' was capable of—, had worn that interior down for this result.

"OF ALL THE—" the Werewolf started to say before the glow shone out from the insides of its mouth and it lost its voice as the cracks spread even further with the main concentration still centered at its midsection.

And then…

*BOOOOOOMMMM!!!*

… It erupted in a green cloud that completely covered whatever was left of the Werewolf from view. Out of the cloud flung out tiny bits all sizzling with acidity. The bits splattered on corpses lying around and against the walls of a cage but Louis and Andor, lying unconscious much farther away, were safe from it.

And then, when the green cloud had fizzled out, Henry saw the Werewolf laid out, spread-eagled with its midsection completely ruptured. Its eyes were still open and were still red but were no longer bright having been dulled with lifelessness.

[Quest Completed!]

[You have received 6000 Exp]

[For your contributions to the kill and delivering the killing shot, You have received a Bonus of 2000 Exp]

[Nyx has received 1500 Exp for her contributions to the kill.]

[Level Up!]

[You are now Level 28]

[Hit Point Maximum increased to 280]

[Mana Point Maximum increased to 390]

[You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate]

[For your successful hunt of a Werewolf, You have received the Title 'Hunter']