The wristbands glowed bright.
Squad 21 Contribution Skyrocketed On the big screen outside, their squad's name shot up the rankings, overtaking teams one after another.
It was obvious that the squad that killed the main boss would get far more numbers at once.
The haughty guy and his friends were staring at Ash and Jessie with mocking looks.
"I thought you were brave. I didn't expect a noble to fall so low that you would attack two defenseless people," Ash tried to play his way out with words.
"You know what the difference is between common people and those who are on top?" the man asked amusingly, as if curious to hear the answer.
[Quest: Survive]
[Rewards: ???]
Ash seeing the quest squinted his eyes then shifted the gaze.
Ash knew very well how the powerful manipulated morals to suit themselves. He had once been in contact with those kinds of people in his previous world. Worlds may change, but humans were humans.
But he wanted to hear what this guy had to say.
"Powerful people tell others that doing wrong and rising is not correct—but that's exactly how they reached the top. I asked you to join me, and your attitude told me you never would. That leaves me with no choice. I don't want to compete with a person like you," he said, his hand reaching for the sword to attack.
But then he stopped.
"I don't want to get my hands dirty. I want these two dead—I don't care what you have to do," he ordered his squad members, who were all too eager to please the noble.
Ash and Jessie looked at each other. Jessie was agitated, but Ash wore a calm face as if nothing was beyond his control.
Jessie had used almost all her MP on the last spell. She was level eight, and her profession allowed her to choose a spell every two levels. Despite having four different spells, she couldn't use them without MP.
Her MP cap was already close to 300, but the stronger the spell, the more MP it consumed. She barely had enough to cast one last spell—and it wouldn't do anything significant.
Her physical strength was just above that of a normal male, so competing physically was out of the question.
Ash stood up, gathering the last of his strength.
His enemies halted, laughing mockingly at his antics.
In his hands was a strange weapon. Ash raised his gun, pointing toward his enemies.
"What's that?"
"Oh, some toy he wants to use."
One of them had already cast a shield, despite the mocking tone.
"Oh, are you afraid?" Ash asked, seeing the shield around them.
"No, no. Just safety measures. Who knows what you're hiding as a trump card," the man using the shield said.
One of the guys behind the shield raised his staff and prepared to attack.
But at that moment Jessie cast a spell, using the last of her MP points.
"Devourer."
It was a semi-defensive spell that created a circle around her, covering a meter radius.
The mage instantly recognized it. Every mage wanted it, but very few had it. The spell consumed incoming attacks and replenished mana to sustain itself. It was a perfect defensive spell against other mages.
"Haha, you foolish girl, you think I wouldn't recognize this spell? Let's see how long you can keep it up if we don't give it any mana to consume," the mage laughed, lowering his staff.
"Ash, I can't keep this up," Jessie said—just as Ash clicked the trigger.
Boom.
The bullet hit the invisible sphere around the group.
It collided with the shield, spinning on contact, drilling hard to break through. Everyone tensed as it dug in, but eventually the momentum stopped. The bullet clattered to the ground.
Ash was surprised; he expected it to break through the invisible barrier.
But he knew how that defensive skill worked: the higher the damage, the more MP it consumed. So, if not one, then two—and if not two, then three—would eventually break it.
There was a falter on the tank's face, but then renewed confidence.
"I can take hundreds of those attacks head-on. I barely spent any MP to defend."
Ash smiled mockingly. "Oh really? How about you just take another of these?"
He didn't lower his gun, savoring the moment.
The tank's face paled in shock. "No way you can shoot another," he muttered.
He knew his MP had almost hit zero with that shot, but he was boasting. The reason was simple—this kind of attack could only be considered a trump card, and people usually had only one.
Boom.
Boom.
Ash shot two bullets consecutively.
One of them broke the invisible shield, though its momentum faltered and it barely scraped the mage's hand.
But the other was directly aimed at his head—it pierced through, blasting his skull apart.
Ash's plan was clear: eliminate the long-range fighter first. He couldn't aim at the tank, who had a physical shield that could cover him. Breaking through a physical shield with bullets was difficult, but Ash hoped that the mana infused in his bullets would play some role.
The tank guy was still hiding behind his shield.
"I think you're done. You used that weapon three times, and I don't think you can use it so easily. It must've cost you something important."
Despite the confidence in his voice, he didn't come out from cover. The other members, however, had ashen faces. They didn't have shields like the tank, and their lives depended on whether this strange weapon could fire again.
With no way out, they all rushed forward, while the noble hid behind the tank's shield, too afraid to say a word.
"You guys are no fun—fighting for a noble who doesn't even care about your lives." Ash fired again.
The bullet hit another man in the head, blood spraying in every direction.
Seeing the bizarre scene, the last ranker halted, dropping to his knees in panic.
"Spare us! I don't want to fight! If you want my points, you can have them!"
"Too late," Ash said coldly. Another shot—another kill.