A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

"That's enough of that," Angus said and the way his purple eyes flared, Henry thought he was about to be gripped by Spellbinding.

Instead, Angus just head-butted him so hard, that Henry's head rang and his vision became blurry.

"Resistance is useless," Angus said as he wrenched the Repeater out of Henry's hand to smack him with it and send him to the ground.

Angus raised a hand and Mana crackled around it to take the shape of an Arcane tendril that sputtered weakly into appearance.

"Hmm?" Angus said, taking note of the Spell's weak magic,

"It should be stronger than this, shouldn't it? Oh right, I haven't reinitiated the bond. Forgot she's useless without it."

Angus reached down and grabbed Henry's shoulder, passing the purple energy of the Vinculum into his body and locking his muscles in place with a temporary subjugation bond pending a true one he hoped to initiate after bringing Yelena back to her Magical peak.

When Henry's body went limp, his grip on his revolver loosened so that it dropped uselessly to the ground with a clatter sound. Angus picked it up and stuck it into his second holster with 'The Hydra's Sting' already occupying one.

Angus also slung Henry's repeater across his back and patted Henry down for any more weapons.

Once Angus had ascertained that Henry was weaponless, he grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him along as he walked back to where Yelena was sitting atop a mound of bricks. Her dull purple eyes were open and staring into nothing.

"You see that Henry? Her bond with the Mansion was broken but she still breathes. A transfer to the Black Manor is very much possible.

Now just sit tight while I re-initiate her bond."

Angus released Henry's shirt and with the Vinculum pulsing on his chest, he began the process of Bond-making.

'Something's strange,' Henry noted as he watched the process limply from the ground.

He had seen subjugation happen before and had faced a horde of the Subjugated until just a minute ago and the energy Yelena was giving off was quite different. Her skin had grown pale and was starting to wither and her heartbeats were slowing but something was raging stronger than ever inside her.

Fortunately, being paralyzed by the Vinculum did not prevent Henry from bringing magical energy up to his eyes;

[Activating <Insight Lv.2>]

——————

[Name: Yelena Hadron]

[Race: Human (Infernal Spawn)]

[Class: Witch]

[Health: 50]

[Mana: 200 (Overload)]

[Strength: 15]

[Agility: 20]

[Stamina: 15]

[Intelligence: 1500]

*[Remarks: Cursed to an early death but her life was extended through Infernal Energy that has doomed her to a pitiful existence bound to end all the same. Beauty that ranges from Angelic to Frosty but is consistently outstanding. She CAN be killed but would you even want to?

- With her earthly bond broken, Yelena Hadron's Soul is falling into the control of her Demonic Patron and without the ability to control the magic she has been bestowed, it will continue to swell as her health steadily drops and will likely build to an explosive crescendo.

You should RUN!]

——————

Henry's eyes widened which was a testament to his shock because the sheer might to resist the Vinculum's paralysis and accomplish that was not at all negligible.

As Henry stared at the Status screen, he watched Yelena's Health drop point by point;

[Health: 50]

[Health: 49]

[Health: 48]

On the other hand, her Mana increased.

[Mana: 200 (Overload)]

[Mana: 300 (Overload)]

[Mana: 400 (Overload)]

For every point Yelena lost in Health, she gained a hundred in Mana with the (Overload) sign flashing a threatening red while her body grew hotter with energy that felt beyond the mortal plane.

Angus didn't seem to take notice or maybe he did and just decided to continue the bond re-initiation.

'It's probably for the best,' Henry thought,

'If he gets the bond back in place, maybe she doesn't blow up. But that'll only trap her here for who knows how many more centuries. Plus, with how destroyed the Mansion is, who knows how long it can stand… Re-initiating the bond might just be delaying the inevitable.

And let's not forget she's under the influence of the Vinculum. That's almost the worst fate of all.'

Henry's chest clenched at the dilemma and the System must have that was the right time to pile on because;

[Grand Quest Updated!]

['Follow Up Quest: Eliminate the Infernal Spawn' has been moved up in priority]

[Main Quest: Kill the Infernal Spawn.

As a being with the potential to serve as a conduit for a Demon, Yelena Hadron cannot be allowed to remain in the Mortal Plane.

You now have your chance. She is mortal but also very volatile. However, if you kill her before her Health drops to zero, you will avoid a catastrophe you cannot possibly outrun.

Reward: 15,000 Exp]

'To increase the reward by 10,000, you must really want to tempt me,' Henry thought with his lips pursed as his eyes read through the Quest details.

"Ahh!" Angus yelled out suddenly and Henry saw the ~Hive King~ recoil a few steps, his brows scrunched up and his mouth gaping in the shape it had taken when he howled out his pain.

"What in hell?" Angus yelled out and he would likely never know how accurate that phrase was.

When Angus brought Yelena into the Hive, it was a hectic process that exposed him to just how much she outclassed him.

Her capacity to understand Arcane knowledge was immense. Far more than Angus had ever sensed or felt in anyone else but a dying and weakened body made it impossible for her to mount a mental defense, and yet, somehow, he had felt something during that process.

Some recess of power that did not seem to be coming exactly from Yelena's body. Like a pair of eyes staring at Angus from some deep abyss.

That gaze— That power, repelled Angus right after he was done bringing Yelena into the Hive, and was why Henry had seen him yell out and recoil when he first arrived at the damaged medical bay.

And that gaze— That power, seemed to have returned in even greater strength. Angus tried to re-create the bond he had broken but the energy, sizzling like the flames of hell, burnt right through it and hit him with a recoil that reverberated throughout his body but hit his mind the hardest.

As Angus yelled out his cuss and grabbed his head, Henry felt the grip of the Vinculum loosen, allowing him to finally move his body. This was his chance and he would be damned if he didn't take it.

Whatever Angus just suffered only lasted a second but a second was all Henry truly needed. Out of his Inventory, Henry pulled a Revolver. A normal, ordinary-looking weapon that was the first gun he ever held in this world, and with a cock of its hammer he fired a shot into Angus' side.

"Ack!" Angus let out as he looked at Henry with wide eyes.

He had felt his hold on Henry's body with the Vinculum loosen but the only guns that were in this room were on him so where did that one come from?

"Where—" he started to say and even let out his Spellbinding.

What orders to disarm him could possibly start with 'where', Henry had no idea. He assumed Angus was just about to ask him where he got his gun, and the Spellbinding just came off like a defense mechanism.

All in all, it hardly mattered.

Angus had barely got out that first word that Henry shot four bullets into his chest, just inches away from the Vinculum and with one aimed specifically for his heart, before topping it all off with a bullet to his forehead…

Bang!

… Just as he had 'vowed' to himself that he would do.