CHAPTER 68: WEAPONS TRUE FORM

Crunch!

A colossal serpent head bit through a soldier. The rare-grade armor seemed useless before the glistening jagged teeth of the monster, as they penetrated through the poor officer as easily as tofu.

Unlike others of its kind, this serpent had teeth — and so naturally, it chewed. Slowly. Its eyes fervent, its elongated figure shuddering from pleasure, it took its time savoring the long-forgotten taste of fresh ether-soaked blood and flesh. Blood dripped from the edges of its mouth as the cries of the miserable soldier quickly came to a halt.

"Ahhh... How long has it been? Decades? Centuries? Since I had a good meal, that is." The serpent’s raspy voice rang out with nostalgia.

Meanwhile, in the distance, the rest of the squad ran as if their lives depended on it — faces filled with terror, hearts filled with despair. They knew deep down that no matter how far or fast they ran, there was no escaping that abomination.

Their only hope was their squad leader, Captain Layla.

She had ventured far away from them to deal with the looming Thousand-Faced Soul-Stealing Wraiths, and she hadn’t been back since...

She was their only hope for survival. They knew their place, and they knew there was nothing they could do before a Finger of Gluttony — whatever that was.

Suddenly, a familiar tremor reverberated through the ground once more. That thing was coming for one of them again.

"Ahhh no! I don’t want to die!!!" The soldier at the very back seemed to realize he was next, screaming in a vain attempt to seek help.

The ghastly green slits of the monster glowed ominously as it dived for him. His legs went weak, his veins flooded with paralyzing dread as he froze — eyes going dull. This was it. This was his end...

The massive, blood-dripping maws of the serpent went wide. Its full set of eye-prickling sharp, arm-long teeth glinted in full display as it speedily encroached upon the poor soldier.

And just when the creature was inches away from having another sumptuous meal—

A glowing projectile rammed into the side of its head with such overwhelming force that its head swung sideways uncontrollably.

Creating a brief momentary gap for escape.

"What are you waiting for, fool!" A lady’s voice barked harshly.

The soldier’s eyes lit up, revitalized with long-lost hope. "C-Captain... Layla?"

Layla’s beautiful but cold visage came into view from the distance. "What, I saved you — now I have to be the one to take you to safety?! Moron!"

The soldier quickly scrambled to his feet, bursting into a full sprint — not even daring to look back.

It was safe to say that after such a traumatic experience, this poor guy would be paying very special attention to the Agility stat from here on out.

After seeing the soldier get far enough, Layla finally moved her gaze to the recovering massive creature.

[Finger of Gluttony: 9th Finger — Asmodeus]

[Quest: Defeat Asmodeus, the 9th Finger, in order to complete your part of the Territory Quest.]

Layla held out her hand, and the golden projectile that blasted into the creature shuddered before rising and blitzing back into her grasp.

It was a rare-ranked spear — one she had attained in a great stroke of fortune before joining under Roy’s banner.

Gripping it tight, she was prepared to engage the monster when suddenly it spoke — its ear-irritating raspy voice whispering through the area.

"I sssseee ssso you are my target... Oh, my shaman really was right. There issss divinity in this land, even though it’sss barely a trickle. Thisss isss wonderful!" The recovered monster inspected its attacker with interest.

Layla could feel the pressure of power the monster radiated just by standing before her. It was smothering.

The INP-9 molten lava SMG appeared in Layla’s right hand as she began readying for the worst.

"Ahh, sssuch fighting ssspirit. Thisss is definitely going to be fun." The creature grinned as it cheered, its devious slits glinting amusedly.

Huuuu... A misty breath exhaled from her mouth, her icy blue armor brimming with cadence as she entered full battle mode.

Her winter frost eyes shone unnaturally — and at their depths, a flickering ember of gold.

The serpent was crazed with joy. "Ah... Master, I’m sorry, but I might end up eating this one." These words barely resounded when its figure struck.

Sudden, speedy, and flexible like a whip, its head cackled through the whistling wind — howling with intensity.

And before Layla could even blink — merely a fraction of a nanosecond — it was already upon her, its maws wide open.

Tch! Why did I believe facing a Finger could be easy? she lamented as she swerved out of the path of attack with equally stunning reflexes.

The back of her neck prickled as she avoided the sinister head. She spun around quickly in reaction, gathering as much force as she could to fling the spear.

The monster had used its head as a decoy — its real attack had been the piercing trajectory of its metal-like scaled tail.

The spear met true to its mark as the two tips of the attacks collided — the tremor of the surroundings ran violent as cracks spread through the crusted soil, shifting its mass.

The two attacks canceled each other out, and before the monster could regain its bearing, her gun glinted with molten ferocity.

And with a massive loud torrent, the SMG fired at full force — showcasing its staggering high fire rate.

The scalding hot bullets bounced off the snake’s scales, leaving it both undented and unharmed.

Layla’s position wasn’t good. At this point, she didn’t have a functioning weapon she could use to harm the beast.

Unfortunately, the same wasn’t true for the monster — its flexible but mighty physique used to its fullest.

The tail might have been resisted, but its head was already back at it — arcing in a sinister motion, maws extended to proportions meant to be impossible for its size.

Its jaws widened so much they covered all immediate escape paths. No matter which direction Layla took, she wouldn’t make it fast enough to escape being devoured.

But despite this distressingly alarming situation, Layla remained cold — her mind bolstered by unearned amounts of confidence and peace.

The golden spark in the depths of her gaze burned more furiously. In this split-second attack, her mind drifted into a tranquil state.

Her mind dulled, but her skill — the mostly passive one Weapons Handsman — flared into life from the depths of her soul.

She gazed at her SMG in her grasp as its full potential was unearthed before her. She could hear the weapon wailing. She could hear all weapons wailing across the battlefield unpleasantly — they were upset, embarrassed at their owners for failing to use them to their true capabilities.

She realized this weapon wasn’t as simple as a construct like those of Earth. Viewing it as such was the primary mistake they all made. It wasn’t just pull-trigger-and-spit-out-bullets — Arcana weapons carried mystical ether-charged abilities. Why couldn’t guns have them too?

In fact, theirs were even more exaggeratedly overpowered.

Her heavy torrent of knowledge spread awash into her mind during this fraction of a second.

Her ether thrummed and flowed — cascading into the molten rock-shaped gun in her grasp. The weapon shivered in excitement. Finally, it was truly showing its true form. Finally, it was casting away the constraints of its base form.

The molten rock melted away, revealing the night-dark plain metal weapon. If anything, it looked as though it had cast away all its mysticism — reverting to being a plain gun.

But it hadn’t. Its stats now echoed a different story. Its damage skyrocketed, and not only that — the weapon now had two abilities attached to its very existence. A frightening set, to say the least.

[Lava Eruption: Each bullet holds within it a blistering torrent of lava, ready to be unleashed on impact.]

[Molten Penetration: Each bullet stomachs a wave of soul-searing heat, ready to be released on impact in a controlled penetration — sinking into the enemy’s innards, combusting them from the inside out.]

She was the first. Not even Roy had this accomplishment, despite being the origin of these weapons. She was the very first to unlock their true potential — shedding their true forms to the light.

Her eyes shone as the first ability lit up. Her delicate finger squeezed the trigger without hesitation. The beast’s maws were already upon her by this point, and because of bone-deep complacency, it never bothered to close its mouth — nor gave any thought to the bullets flying straight into its gaping jaws.

Each bullet held in its belly an unnatural amount of lava — not just any lava, but ether-based lava with heat that might be hotter than those in the volcanoes of Earth.

The beast felt nothing until the bullets made impact at the rear end of its mouth...

A brief moment of silence passed, before each bullet erupted into strong torrents of lava.

The scalding liquid burned its way through to its belly, the excess pouring out from its mouth in waves.

The monster’s head jerked back in agony as its massive frame writhed across the scape in blinding pain, crushing any and everything in its path.

Layla, who had long distanced herself, gazed at this sight with a sense of glee. Now she had a means to fight back. All she needed now was a good defense.

And as though in tune with this mental request of hers, a message chimed in:

[Legendary Coupon: Five Hero Summon has been used!

All five class heroes have been distributed to help against the Finger of Gluttony!

You have been assigned Hero: The Indestructible Wall — Bo the Invincible Tank!]

A bulky figure plummeted from the heavens, landing with a crater-deepening weight.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Bold metal steps rang out as a humanoid encased in full heavy medieval onyx-cold armor emerged. In his hands, a massive great shield; on his back, a wide broadsword.

Layla’s eyes flickered with delight. With such an ally, winning this battle would be too easy.