The floating city was quiet, eerily so, save for the occasional crackle of distant skills still lingering in the air. Inside the mirror world, Max crouched near one of the shimmering mirrors, his gaze focused on Alaric and his team, who had withdrawn far from the chaos.
"First things first," Max muttered, leveling his shotgun.
Through the fractured image in the mirror, Alaric stood with his group, his dark robes swirling in the breeze. His glowing red eyes surveyed his surroundings uneasily, his unease visible in the rigid set of his shoulders. It was clear he was unnerved, though the others around him remained unaware.
Max wouldn't let Alaric go just because his passive had an effect on him, or because he wasn't a good person.
Max's finger tightened on the trigger.
Bang.
The sound didn't echo in the floating city; instead, Alaric's head jerked forward violently before his lifeless body crumpled to the ground.
As a summoner he was more vulnerable to assassination then pet Masters.
The adventurers near him froze, staring in shock as blood pooled beneath their fallen leader. Panic swept through them, their shouts and frantic movements making them easy targets.
Max smirked. "One down."
.....
Near the ruined building where Max had disappeared, Lira and Caden regrouped, oblivious to Alaric's demise.
Lira clenched her teeth, her remaining hand trembling. "He's gone. Escaped like a coward," she spat, though her voice lacked the usual confidence.
Caden remained silent, his massive frame tense as he scanned their surroundings as he spoke "It's for the best,"
Lira continued, trying to mask her unease. "With Alaric leaving the fight, we can finish him ourselves. That shotgun of his won't save him forever."
Caden grunted, his gaze narrowing. "We've already lost too many. Are you sure about this?"
Lira glared at him, her frustration clear. "You think I'm going to let him walk away with what he's taken? No. We pursue him. End of discussion."
Caden sighed but didn't argue, after all Max did kill a good number of his group and it can't be left unanswered.
Through the fractured mirrors, Max targeted the remaining members of Alaric's team. The first fell with a clean shot to the head, their body collapsing without warning.
The second tried to summon a barrier, but Max's bullet bypassed it entirely, striking with deadly precision.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!.
One by one, Alaric's followers fell, their fear growing with each death. They scrambled for cover, but Max's vantage point made escape impossible.
....
With Alaric's team decimated, Max shifted his focus to Lira and Caden's groups.
The first victim was a healer, a woman weaving restorative skills to keep the group alive. Max's bullet struck her between the eyes, the light of her skill extinguished in an instant.
The others faltered, their formation breaking as fear took hold.
"Where is he?!" someone screamed, their voice tinged with desperation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lira's confidence began to waver as her team dwindled. Her commands grew sharper, more frantic, as she tried to rally them. "Stay together! He's just one man, he can't kill us all!"
But her words felt hollow, even to her.
Bang.
Another adventurer fell, their body crumpling lifelessly.
Lira's hypocrisy became evident as her frustration mounted. "You're all useless!" she shouted, her voice cracking. "Fight back!"
Yet, in her heart, regret began to bloom. She had underestimated Max, Now, her decisions had led her team to ruin.
Caden, still unscathed, gritted his teeth as he fought to protect those remaining. His towering frame and indomitable defenses made him an imposing figure, but even he couldn't stop the chaos unfolding around him.
.....
Max smirked as he continued to fire, his shots cutting through Lira's team with ruthless efficiency. He avoided Caden for now, knowing the man's defenses were too strong to waste ammunition on.
Lira's panic reached its peak when she saw her last capable ally fall, her once commanding voice reduced to shaky breaths.
Then she noticed it.
Caden's hair stood on end, as if electrified, a faint glow surrounding his massive form.
"Wait!... " she started to warn, her voice strangled with fear.
BOOM!.
A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, striking Caden with devastating force. The ground beneath him cracked and smoldered as his lifeless body crumpled to the ground, smoke rising from his charred remains.
Lira stood frozen, her mind racing to comprehend what had just happened. Her once formidable allies were gone, their bodies littering the battlefield.
....
Inside the mirror world, Max chuckled darkly, watching the scene unfold through the floating mirrors.
"Predictable."
With a final glance at his shotgun, he stepped through the nearest mirror, his figure reappearing in the ruined city.
Lira turned to face him, her face a mask of rage and despair. She opened her mouth to speak, but Max didn't give her the chance.
In one fluid motion, he raised his pistol, aiming squarely at her head.
Bang.
Her body crumpled to the ground, her expression Frozen in disbelief.
Max fired a few more bullets from his twin pistols at the surrounding survivors before they could react just three people or three bodies now.
He run out of shotgun shots since he missed some in the earlier fight, and using [thunderous gaze] X4, while under the side effect of using [world of mirrors] exhausted his spirituality to the point he couldn't use it again for now.
Max exhaled swinging the pistol lazily.
"hmm, a few C-ranks and a bunch of D-ranks...
Sigh I could of done better."
Max could name a few mistakes he made, for example we didn't use [mirror prison] to seal the attacks and reflect among them.
But he was simply not confident in pulling offthe timing, it can't be helped he didn't have the time to practice it, and he was just not that experienced in fighting, he had done his best.
'hmm that VR thing should be out soon.'.
Thought Max to himself as he flew around collecting all storage equipment and whatever seemed valuable.