A Gunslinger's System in a World of Magic-Chapter 268: Clearing A Path (1)

They were about 20 meters away from the enemy army ahead when Henry's Perception picked up on a powerful projectile charging at them.

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"-Nyx!-" He yelled in a way only she could hear.

"-Got it!-" Nyx let out and made a wide swerve right before a gigantic orb of red mana struck the ground where they had been just a second ago.

*BANG!!!*

The impact was so great, that the wave that spread out from it struck Nyx and would have knocked her off course had she not been such a sturdy beast.

"-More incoming!-" Henry cautioned and Nyx's eyes seemed to narrow as the dark mist of <Shadow Dash> began to ooze from her body to increase her speed and aid her in avoiding the multiple projectiles that came striking the ground from then on.

*BANG!*

*BANG!*

*BANG!*

*BOOOOOMMMM!!!*

The last projectile was a different sort and hit the ground before expanding like an explosive bomb. Its forceful wave struck Nyx but she intelligently turned herself in such a way that she was able to ride the force like it was a wave that helped her complete her journey.

And then they came upon the clearing and despite their incredibly large numbers, Henry paid very little attention to the Army of Orcs. His eyes were on the very end where a figure was cross-legged and floating about five feet above the ground. Its eyes were closed and its hands formed into a seal.

Even with the wide distance between them —a distance that was filled by the large army—, Henry could feel the creature's aura and it was intense. Space itself rippled and distorted around its body.

The creature was undoubtedly the Dungeon Boss and the reason for the current time crunch.

It was dressed in a cloak that draped down to the ground and was thicker than that of the Orc Priest Henry and his group had faced earlier. It was thicker than those of the Orc Priests that stood close to it.

Speaking of which, there were seven Orc Priests standing close to the Dungeon Boss and they were all adorned with accessories that the only other Orc Priest Henry had seen so far lacked. Like they were showing off their position in some Orc council.

While the Dungeon Boss had its eyes closed, the Orc Priests all had theirs open and they had those eyes trained on Henry and Nyx as they got closer but none raised their hands to cast spells. Their grips on their staffs were as natural as ever. They didn't seem to care.

And really, just purely by the optics, why should they?

Henry was only one person and with Nyx, they were only two against a massive Army which must have made the Orc Priests feel it would be far beneath them to act first or even show even the slightest bit of concern.

Eventually, Henry tore his eyes away from the back line to focus on the ones closer to him and Nyx. The ones they were very close to making contact with.

The Army's Orc Warriors created a barricade to await Nyx's charge. They were so dense in number that, despite her incredible running speed, leaping would still not have been enough to help Nyx sail clear over them.

Of course, she never planned to leap. She and Henry were the Vanguards and their task was to clear a path and that meant meeting the barricade head-on.

She activated her <Dread Horn> and Henry cocked 'Cudgel' and 'Violent Retort' so when Nyx reared on her hind legs and came down kicking at the enemy's Ax-wielding arm to knock it to the side, he was there to strike a bullet into its skull.

[You have received 1200 Exp]

[Nyx has received 600 Exp for her contribution to the kill]

After Henry's kill, Nyx lowered her head to spear the kill with her horn and tossed it at a group of Orc Warriors hard enough to destabilize their formation which she took advantage of with a powerful charge to spear through one, two, three of them before galloping away before any of their surviving brethren could swing their weapons and make contact with her hide.

[Nyx has received 1250 Exp]

[Nyx has received 1250 Exp]

[Nyx has received 1250 Exp]

While she smartly retreated, Henry fired shots at the enemies. Only one of his targets had the sense and agility to use its Ax as a shield just in time to survive. The other four fell fairly easily with the force of the mana-infused slugs fired from 'Violent Retort' shattering their skulls.

[Kill-Reward: 1200 Exp]

[Nyx has received 600 Exp for her contribution to the kill]

[Kill-Reward: 1200 Exp]

[Nyx has received 600 Exp for her contribution to the kill]

[Kill-Reward: 1200 Exp]

[Nyx has received 600 Exp for her contribution to the kill]

[Kill-Reward: 1200 Exp]

[Nyx has received 600 Exp for her contribution to the kill]

It of course didn't take long for Henry to note that the system was rewarding Nyx for her contribution to every one of his kills. This was not the first time Nyx would ferry him in a fight but he wasn't sure this reward system was all that common. All in all, he didn't mind. Nyx was certainly assisting him by ferrying him.

At his current level of agility, she was moving faster than he could possibly think to move, and seated on her back, the worry of movement and positioning was gone. The moment she stopped moving and his eyes were able to adjust, he'd pick off kills of his own.

Of course, this partnership hinged a lot on Nyx's own ability to make split-second decisions because she was too fast for Henry's eyes to follow and guide. She had to know when to retreat, when to charge, and do all this with an awareness that she had him on her back.

So far, Nyx has been doing so well at this task.

But then, the Orc Archers targeted Henry for the very reason he just noted in his thoughts; Nyx was fast and was dodging attacks well but Henry was not as in control of his movement and positioning as she was which meant if their attacks were timed well, they could knock him off.

It was a solid plan and it might have worked if Henry didn't have Precognition.

Before they let their arrows fly, Henry had already been alerted and he leaned far back enough so all arrows simply flew right past his front. Also, thanks to Precognition, he could trace the arrows' paths back to their shooters. So before the arrows were even completely past his front, he had 'Cudgel' pointed, pulling the trigger hold after every shot to manually cycle another round to be fired. He had three archers down before Nyx reacted and got him away from there.

And then came the spells.

The Army was complete with all classes of Orcs present in the Dungeon so of course, there were Orc Casters but they stood at the back line just a few feet in front of the Orc Priests.

Nyx had to make quick gallops and quick changes in her movements to avoid getting hit by the spells but when Henry made to retaliate, the casters, of course, blocked his shots with their translucent shields formed of red mana.

Henry only fired two shots before he narrowed his eyes.

"-Nyx!-" he called and the horse made a particularly purposeful charge before leaning hard against her front limbs to direct every bit of her strength into sending Henry flying into the air.

There, Henry sent his guns into his Inventory…

Kroa's Bolt!

… And cast a spell.

It sounded like he only yelled it once but at the cost of double the cost of a single bolt, he technically cast the spell twice because it crackled out of both his hands which he directed down below.

"What—?" The Orc Casters said almost in unison. The next second, the bolts hit the shields of the two most unlucky their group and they shattered on impact.

Henry already had both his hands in the motion of firing shots and he summoned both his guns from his Inventory to almost instantly fire and pick off the two whose shields he just destroyed.

[Kill-Reward: 1200 Exp]

[Kill-Reward: 1200 Exp]

[Nyx has received 700 Exp for her contribution to the Kills]

Henry began to plummet and arrows were fired with most missing him on account of his fall and his almost constant change in direction. A few did manage to graze him though and the system calculated all the losses into a single notification.

[You have lost 40 Hit Points]

[Hit Points: 350/390]

Henry didn't care about the injuries. His Precognition warned him about them but there was very little he could do to avoid them while in free fall and seeing as none were aiming at a vital spot on his body anyway, he directed his attention to his survival of the fall.