The cold air pierced his lungs at dawn.
"Huff, huff."
Oscar ran through the herb field without stopping.
BANG—! BAAANG—!
Every time Jack's muzzle spat fire, the ground shook and the air tore apart.
'Now!'
Oscar threw himself aside, narrowly evading the vicious hail of bullets, and rolled across the dirt.
"......Ptooey!"
After spitting out the dirt that had flooded his mouth, he lay flat against the herb field and caught his breath for a moment.
'Huff, huff. What a sorry sight for a former Tower Master.'
Fighting a proper gunman was trickier than he'd expected.
The greatest nuisance was that the bastard's bullets were faster than his magic.
'It's not as if I can't attack from a distance...... but I'm at a disadvantage in a head-on fight.'
Destructive power and speed.
His opponent held the advantage in both.
'If he has one opening...... is it his reload time?'
By the nature of a gun, it had to be reloaded after firing, and that gun held two bullets at a time.
In other words, his attacks had to stop after two shots.
'It takes that guy an average of 1.24 seconds to reload.'
Only during that fleeting instant would the initiative pass to Oscar.
Whether he seized that chance would decide the outcome of this fight.
'I've gathered all the information I need......'
It was time to move.
His stamina had already been drained considerably by the constant harassment, and he had only half his mana left.
If he didn't change the course of the battle now, he would be the one fertilizing the herb field tonight.
"Hup!"
Oscar kicked off the ground and burst forward, charging toward the back of the gunman searching for him.
"So you're over there?!"
Jack spun around and burst into laughter despite himself.
"Heh, kahahaha! After doing nothing but scurrying away like a rat, the best you came up with was close combat?"
Of course, closing the distance to make the gunman miss was close to standard practice against one.
Unfortunately for Oscar, Jack was a veteran who had faced countless formidable opponents.
'A young brat like you is easy to read.'
First of all, he was slow.
Jack was confident he could hit him even if he became more than twice as fast.
Swoosh. The muzzle calmly calculated both Oscar's direction and speed, then took aim between the young mage's brows.
"That was a fairly spirited charge, but......"
Rather than sorrow over the deaths of his two subordinates, the thrill of winning a battle enveloped his entire body.
This stimulation. This dopamine.
It was the greatest reason he couldn't stop murdering people.
Jack stretched his lips into a wide grin and pulled the trigger without a hint of hesitation.
"It's about time you died!"
BAAANG—!
The bullet burst from the barrel with a violent crack through the air.
"......!?"
It grazed the black hair of the charging mage.
At the same time, cracks appeared in Jack's laughing expression.
'I made a mistake? Impossible.'
It wasn't a pathetic excuse, nor was he being stubborn because he refused to admit it.
Just as Oscar had faith in his magic, Jack simply had faith in his marksmanship.
'If I'm not the problem...... then that guy is the one who changed.'
Having reached that conclusion, Jack became certain.
His opponent had momentarily used the 『Acceleration』 spell.
'......Remarkably impressive.'
Though they had met as enemies, the boy's nerve was strong enough to send a chill down his spine.
To think he could use Acceleration with a bullet flying at his head.
'But that's as far as you go.'
Unfortunately for the brat, Jack had met monsters far faster than that.
'Still, there's always a chance of the unexpected, so I'll aim for his torso instead of his head to improve my accuracy.'
That would eliminate every variable.
There was no reason to choose a risky option when he already held the advantage.
"Sorry my gun loads two rounds at a time."
One bullet still remained in the chamber.
The distance between them was 30 meters.
He savored the fleeting sensation of time slowing as he slowly pulled the trigger.
"Young mage! I'll remember your courage forever!"
BAAAANG—!
The single gunshot pierced the pitch-black herb field.
SPURT—!
Blood erupted like a fountain.
***
The 『Acceleration』 forcibly imposed on an incomplete body immediately caused side effects.
"Ugh......"
He was gasping for breath, and his heart pounded as though it might burst at any moment.
Yet even then, his reason remained as cold as if it had been doused with ice water.
'30 meters left.'
His opponent had already finished preparing to pull the trigger.
Judging by the muzzle lowered slightly from before, he was aiming not for Oscar's head but for his abdomen or heart.
'So he'd rather secure a certain victory than make a clumsy gamble?'
He was a guy who knew how to win decisively without indulging in pointless pride.
To be honest, Oscar wasn't confident he could dodge a bullet fired from this distance.
'I could if I stacked Acceleration about three times......'
The problem was that he had not yet completed a body capable of enduring that degree of overload.
If he applied Acceleration three times now, every muscle in his body would immediately tear to shreds.
Every condition screamed that he was at a disadvantage, that he couldn't win, but Oscar kept running.
'20 meters.'
The bastard was suspicious enough to make him curse.
He still hadn't pulled the trigger even after Oscar had come this close.
'But.'
That very suspicion was precisely what Oscar needed right now.
The bastard probably believed he would win as long as he didn't make some absurd mistake.
He must have thought the only variable Oscar could use to overturn this situation was the 'Acceleration spell.'
'15 meters.'
With some exaggeration, they were close enough to hear each other breathe.
Every one of Oscar's nerves focused on his eyes.
'Read him.'
His opponent's finger rested on the trigger.
The minute twitch of the tendon that would inevitably occur when that finger moved.
Even the man's tiny habit of creasing the corner of his left eye just before he fired.
After reading it all, Oscar became certain.
'Now.'
Creak. The instant his opponent's finger pulled the trigger.
At a moment close enough to be called simultaneous, Oscar cast his magic.
And it wasn't the 『Acceleration』 his opponent had been guarding against so fiercely.
『Durability Enhancement』
『Friction Reduction』
One spell enhanced the durability of its target, while the other reduced its friction.
The two spells had been cast on one particular target.
"......A shield?"
Jack's pupils dilated.
The bullet fired like a ray of light scraped across the tilted shield and flew toward a star it could never reach.
'D-Damn it! Reload. Hurry and reload......!'
Jack's hands moved frantically as he hastily backed away.
But his average reload time was 1.24 seconds.
'Whereas the time it'll take me to reach you.'
With two layers of 『Acceleration』 stacked, it was only 1.08 seconds.
"Ugh!"
Oscar endured pain as though his leg muscles were tearing apart and closed the distance in an instant.
Then he extended two fingers and aimed beneath Jack's chin.
"N-No......!"
Jack's terrified eyes widened like saucers as mana gathered at Oscar's fingertips.
『Wind Bullet』
THOOM—! SPURT—!
Blood then erupted like a fountain, embroidering the air.
"Ghk...... Grrk."
Jack staggered backward like a newborn fawn, then collapsed limply.
"......Phew."
Oscar wasn't in particularly good condition either as he looked down at the corpse.
'I won't be able to use Acceleration for a while.'
The side effects of overloading his incomplete body by stacking Acceleration twice were quite severe.
The blood vessels in his lower body had torn strand by strand, enough that he would need to focus solely on recovery for at least fifteen days.
'I'll probably barely manage a slow walk during that time, let alone run.'
Even so, he couldn't afford to lose consciousness and collapse here.
The battle wasn't over yet.
'I sensed exactly four presences at first.'
But only three enemies had come to this cabin, and he could sense no other presence nearby.
That meant only one thing.
"......Please hold out."
The last one was pursuing Fran and Ivan.
***
"Huff, huff!"
Ragged breaths spilled from Fran's mouth as he climbed the hill.
Even then, he kept an eye on Ivan running beside him.
"Don't, huff, worry too much. I'll protect you."
"......"
Ivan replied with a thoroughly dubious expression.
"I'm fine. At least when it comes to stamina, I'm confident...... Are you sure you're all right?"
"Huff, huff. Truthfully, my stamina...... isn't all that good......"
As he desperately longed for a cool glass of water, Fran abruptly stopped.
Ivan halted behind him and asked.
"If you're tired, shall we rest for a moment before continuing?"
"......No. I didn't stop because I'm tired."
After taking a deep breath, Fran spoke with a grave expression.
"Sir. From this moment on, sprint down the side path on the right. Don't look back under any circumstances."
"What do you mean......?"
"Wow, you're more perceptive than you look, huh?"
A slender man trudged out from behind a large tree up ahead.
He looked Fran up and down, then smirked.
"Honestly, I'm surprised. You look so weak that I thought you wouldn't even sense me."
"......"
Fran silently glared at him, then glanced at Ivan, who couldn't bring himself to leave.
"Go."
"But...... what about you?"
"I'm pretty strong. More importantly, I can't fight freely with you here."
At the cold statement that he would only get in the way, Ivan nodded heavily.
"If that's the reason...... very well. Don't die."
Ivan quickly disappeared down the side path, but the man remained standing there instead of chasing him.
Fran narrowed his eyes at the man's perfectly composed appearance and asked.
"Did you come here specifically for me, bastard?"
"Huh? What an amusing bastard. Who do you think you are?"
The man snorted and glanced in the direction Ivan had fled.
"That old man is my target. It's just that I've never killed a mage from one of the Four Great Magic Towers before."
His curious gaze fixed on Fran as its target.
"I've always wondered. What makes mages from the Four Great Magic Towers so special that everyone fears them?"
"......"
"So I'll kill you first, then take my time chasing down that old man and kill him afterward."
After explaining his plan, the man grinned and wet his lips with his tongue.
"That should be...... enough of an explanation, shouldn't it?"
With those words, the man's figure stretched like pulled taffy.
Fran calmly cast a spell as his opponent closed the distance without warning.
『Wind Cutter』
Two blades hurtled forward.
CLANG—! CLAAANG—!
The swordsman deflected the attacks while charging and arrived before Fran in the blink of an eye.
Savoring the way his opponent's face twisted, he thrust his sword toward the defenseless heart.
The blade shot out like a flash of light and pierced straight through Fran's heart.
'......What?'
The swordsman's expression stiffened.
Having already killed dozens of people, he knew with certainty.
The sensation of a sword digging into a human heart was never this light.
'This feels like......'
A ghost.
Yes, it felt as hollow as stabbing a ghost-type monster.
'Something's wrong.'
Realizing instinctively that the situation had gone awry, the swordsman tried to retreat at once.
WHOOSH—!
Fran extended one hand, seized the back of the swordsman's head, and pulled him close before slashing his throat with Wind Cutter.
"Ghk! Kuhk......!"
The swordsman's eyes opened wide, red and bloodshot.
Why? How? Those were the only questions in his eyes.
"Sorry about this."
Fran spoke in a calm voice.
It was a sincere apology without the slightest mockery.
"Why......?"
The swordsman was about to ask why Fran was apologizing when he abruptly clamped his mouth shut.
Only after staggering several steps backward did he finally understand the reason.
'That bastard's...... body?'
Only wind swirled serenely through the gaping hole in his opponent's chest.
It went without saying that the hole had not been made by the sword.
"Heh, heheh."
The swordsman suddenly laughed like a madman.
He had realized why he had lost this fight and why his opponent had apologized.
'This bastard...... was he a damn Unique System mage?'
And one with the incredible ability to turn parts of his body into wind.
He must have transformed that area into wind the instant the sword pierced his heart.
"......"
It wasn't that he lacked talent or had failed to work hard.
It was simply luck.
The sole reason for his death tonight was that he had encountered a Unique System mage.
'Damn Four Great Magic Towers......'
Advice he had once half-ignored in a tavern suddenly flashed through his mind.
-If you want to live long in this line of work, never get involved with bastards from the Four Great Magic Towers.
A place where all manner of talents and mysterious beings gathered as if drawn by fate.
That was the den of monsters known as the Four Great Magic Towers.
The light faded from the swordsman's eyes along with a surging sense of profound emptiness.
***
"......I didn't expect this."
Behind a tree on the shadowed hill, the muzzle secretly trained on the swordsman slowly lowered.
A strange look entered Oscar's eyes as he held the gun.
'I never imagined that guy Fran would be a Unique System mage.'
No Unique System magic in the world was remotely ordinary.
But even among those, that guy's magic was exceptionally special.
'I can't believe I'm seeing that spell in person.'
It was a spell that even Oscar, a former Tower Master, had only seen in ancient books.
One of the spells whose very existence in this world he had always doubted.
Probably no one in this world other than him knew.
"......Wind Lord."
That it was the unique magic of the seventh Tower Master, who had possessed a Unique System.