A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

While the extra reward was all well and good, he had a reward already waiting courtesy of a Quest the System had delivered the moment his eyes fell on the Undead Knights and he witnessed their brutality through sheer martial might.

[Grand Quest Updated!

Main Quest: Secure an Audience.

- Survive the onslaught of the Undead Knights Guarding the doorway and secure an Audience with the Dungeon Boss once they\'ve been vanquished.

Reward: 2000 Exp]

Along with this Quest, Henry had taken a wide look around the Hall and observed a circular door made of thick metal. Like the door of a vault and it even had so many designs emblazoned on it that it might as well have been hiding riches.

Henry knew, behind that door was the Boss and based on every such checkpoint he had seen since being in this Dungeon, he was sure the door was locked until the Undead Knights were all defeated.

Besides that, what good would it even do to head for the door when enemies still roamed in the hall?

Now of course, even if Henry wished to stay out of all fights entirely, whether or not he got to receive this reward would still be conditional on if those in the Hall could defeat the Undead Knights.

All in all, Henry was proud to see Louis and Andor excel at playing to each other\'s strengths and combining for the win.

Speaking of which, both Andor and Louis had wide grins on their faces as they turned around to face Henry who was still on the ground.

Henry smiled back at them and stood off the ground when he felt a pressure bearing down on him from behind.

Time seemed to slow down then and Henry wasn\'t even using <Quick Thinking>. He just happened to observe his surroundings better even if his body did not yet react to those observations.

He saw the looks on Andor and Louis\' faces go from proud to scared as they began to move almost as one. Andor began to run. Louis began to cast but Henry knew they wouldn\'t make it.

Hell, he couldn\'t make it. He had Violent Retort in hand but didn\'t think he\'d get enough time to turn and fire it. He also highly doubted he had enough time to run far enough away to avoid the coming strike.

He was just about to actually activate <Quick Thinking> and give himself time to think when he heard Nyx\'s voice in his head.

"-Grab on!-"

Her head was already peeking out of the dark circle she had made out of Henry\'s shadow and without thinking, Henry gripped her reins and was instantly wrenched away from the spot he had been standing. Leaving his attacker to slam its weapon against the ground.

"Thank you," Henry told Nyx solemnly and as he pulled himself into her saddle he pulled two Healing Potions from his Inventory.

As he downed the contents of the potion bottles, Henry realized grimly that had Nyx not leaped out of his shadow to ferry him to safety, any hit he sustained would killed him instantly.

[You have Recovered 120 Hit Points]

[Hit Points: 144/230]

Nyx had slowed down now. Riding about the Hall and catching the attention of another Undead Knight might just make things worse. And besides, as she saw it, they were safe.

"Here," Henry said and placed a Potion bottle at her lips remembering she was in need of Hit Points herself.

Nyx grabbed the bottle between her teeth and throwing back her head, the potion flowed down her throat.

[Nyx has Recovered 60 Hit Points]

[Nyx\'s Hit Points: 90/155]

As the notification flashed in front of his eyes, Henry considered handing Nyx another potion when she let out a distressed sound as her body became shrouded with the dark mist of <Shadow Dash>.

Just as Nyx took action, Henry\'s perception picked up the coming attack but it was only because Nyx was so fast and moved out of the way of the attack that Henry was able to sense the attack. Otherwise, he\'d likely have been cut in two already. His Perception had reacted much too slowly to save his life.

*BANG!*

Once again, the missed attack struck the ground and as Henry considered the distance Nyx had covered to take him to safety, he was damn sure the only way the Undead Knight —now rising off the ground— could have gotten to them so fast, was if it flew.

But it had jumped.

It just had such a powerful leap ability that it might just match Nyx\'s speed by sheer jump power.

Of course, Henry only allowed these thoughts for a second as he pointed \'Violent Retort\' and fired before groaning when the Mana-infused slugs struck the ground wasted.

The Undead Knight had gotten away just in time and when it was visible again, its body exuded an aura so clear it gave off the sickly glow of the Mana that empowered every damn creature within this Dungeon.

And then, it swung its… weapons?

Only now did Henry catch good enough of a glimpse of the Undead Knight and he saw it was wielding two Scimitars. But more importantly, when the weapons were swung —so fast that they blurred in Henry\'s sight—, they unleashed arches of energy focused on Henry and Nyx but covering such a wide distance Henry knew Nyx couldn\'t outrun it.

The arches had been fired too close to them and moved too fast for the horse to outrun.

Henry confirmed this with <Quick Thinking> and in the time-stopped state, he had five precious seconds to think, and he decided what best to do.

When time resumed, he yelled at Nyx through their telepathy,

"-Nyx, <ShadowScape>!"

Whether due to overconfidence or an instinctive reaction, Nyx had been about to attempt to outrun the arches which would have doomed her to likely have her legs sliced up but when she heard Henry\'s yell in her head, she didn\'t think, she just acted.

There was of course an alternative. Nyx could have jumped. She might have made it but Henry had a feeling the Arches would come again and in the air, Nyx would have lesser control of her body and be at risk of suffering what she had barely survived.

Thus, thanks to his five seconds of calm thinking through <Quick Thinking>, Henry decided <ShadowScape> was the way to go.

It was a fast skill to activate. Henry had seen this when Nyx used it to avoid slamming into him after she was tossed at him and sure enough, by the time the arches arrived, the shadow had swallowed Nyx up.

As for Henry, he was unsure if he could follow Nyx into the shadow, and really, he had never planned to. Although he\'d decided jumping won\'t be good for Nyx, he\'d also decided it would be good for him.

Henry kicked off Nyx\'s back at the same time she sunk into the Shadow and he yelled at her just as the arches sailed through the space they had created between them,

"-Extend the Shadow!-"

Again, Nyx obeyed but this time, she had more understanding of what Henry had planned. The dark circle of <ShadowScape> extended until it connected with the Shadow the Undead Knight cast.

When Henry fell back to the ground, he had his normal revolver in one hand and \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' in the other.

The Undead Knight already had its scimitars charged and was about to fire more arches to slice Henry up when Nyx let out a whinny and rose out of the Shadow right behind it.

Nyx kicked out her front legs at the Undead Knight and it turned away from Henry to deal with the immediate threat she presented by striking its arches at her instead.

But Nyx had only been the distraction and promptly vanished back into the Shadow just as Henry cocked the hammer and fired six shots. Emptying the Revolver\'s cylinder on his enemy.

The Undead Knight realized the rouse a bit late but reacted well enough that only one of the six fired bullets struck its arm.

The bullet, made of normal lead, didn\'t even make a dent in the Undead Knight\'s Magical steel armor, and its decaying mouth turned into a smirk.

Henry was unbothered and fired a shot from \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' next.

The Undead Knight dodged as it had done for the other bullets but the magical Acidic-green bullet followed and struck the very spot the normal lead bullet had struck barely a second before and exploded in a cloud of green mist and acidic sizzle while blasting the Undead many feet away…

… With an explosive Bang!