CHAPTER 23: EITHER THEM OR HIM

"Equip all the available defense equipment," Allen said as he stood up.

As soon as those words left Allen’s mouth, in addition to the kevlar vest he was wearing, the tactical elbow pads materialized onto his body. He now had one more layer of protection.

Allen looked at his left hand, clutching it into a fist as he cast his gaze upon the people whose bodies he had just filled with lead.

He kept staring at them for a few moments, completely taking in the scene before him.

It was a mess. In front of him lay a pile of ruined men. Not like in the games, where bodies just ragdolled and disappeared, or the webnovels where their existence was forgotten in the next paragraph.

This was real.

At his feet was a tangled heap of metal and ripped flesh.

The burst of bullets had torn their armor to shreds, ripping it open like thin tin.

Under the destroyed steel, their bodies were in shambles, with their guts pouring out onto the ground in a wet, red and gray mound.

He could see shards of white bone interspersed with the torn muscle.

Thick pools of blood were already seeping into the ground, coloring the earth to a dark and sticky mud.

One of the bodies jerked in a final yet futile movement before finally coming to a still for all eternity. It was the work of a butcher, a heap of meat that once were men.

Allen internalized everything he saw, each and every detail.

He needed to do this because this scene was something he was going to be seeing a lot in the future, probably even worse than this.

But it was do or die. Either them or him. And it has been them for far too long, therefore this time he was going to choose a different option.

No matter how many times he would have to water the soil with blood for that.

He let out a long sigh of relief, having come to terms with what was going to be his reality from now on.

He’d done this before too, back when he killed those assassins, but that was different. It was self-defense. And he had not been thrown into the middle of a war yet.

Once he was done, he turned around, with a neutral expression on his face.

"Let’s go level up a little," he said, his lips curling upward a little as he looked at the MP5 in his hands.

"I have to get some CP too. I’ve used all I had on the bullets. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to buy more once I run out," he mumbled to himself.

Allen was beginning to warm up his body when he heard someone call out to him from behind.

"Get this one first, he’s alone," a man screamed from his side.

Allen’s eyes followed the way the voice came from and saw that there was a large group of knights and mages gathered around.

Well, that’s a platoon at least, Allen thought to himself, analyzing their numbers.

And that’s if we’re being generous. Can’t really see till the back but I shouldn’t be surprised if there are a few more of them.

Not bad. There don’t seem to be any of those half-dead zombies either, so I won’t really need to aim for headshots.

After all, even though all the information and experience have been forced into my brain, it still takes quite a lot of effort to land a headshot every single time.

"All the knights get into formation!" the leader of the platoon said out loud.

The knights around him followed his instructions immediately, getting into a defensive formation that protected the mages behind them.

"I see, so you’re still being careful even though I’m just a single person," Allen said, looking at them with curiosity.

His voice was loud enough to reach everyone on the other side, and they weren’t that far off to begin with.

"Of course we are. There’s no telling how dirty you Luminarian parasites can get. Your brains are too fragile to understand the concept of ethics, after all," the leader of the knights replied.

"And with those bodies behind you I can already tell you have something nasty up your sleeve," he added, raising his sword and pointing at the corpses behind Allen.

"Well, what can I say. Maybe you are right. I did play dirty, and I do have a trick up my sleeve. Actually, you have come at just the perfect time."

"I was starting to get worried that I wouldn’t be able to get the most out of this EXP farming event since I would be too busy wandering around and trying to find you."

"So, with the deepest depth of my heart," Allen’s voice rose as he spoke, a smile appearing on his face.

"Thank you very much for coming here yourself!" he said out loudly, bowing down as if he was addressing a royal princess.

"Fucker! What nonsense is he speaking?! Enough of this, there is no use trying to reason with you monkeys," the leader said with a hint of frustration.

"Mages, rain hell on him!" he commanded.

Upon his order, the number of mages behind them all raised their hands up in the air, a ball of fire forming between their palms.

Yeah, this is the only thing that’s a little troublesome. They’re basically tossing grenades at me, Allen thought, thinking up ways to defend himself against their magic.

Too bad I’m under no obligation to wait for them.

He raised the MP5 in his hands, looking through the iron sight at the mages that held balls of fire in their hands, ready to hurl them at him.

A deafening roar of gunfire shattered the air. A stream of 9mm bullets tore through the space between them, each one leaving a sharp crack as it broke the sound barrier.

Before the mages could even register the noise, the bullets slammed into them.

They drilled through cloth and flesh. Chest. Throat. Neck.

Their eyes went wide with shock, with their mouths open in silent screams as their lives were snuffed out.

As the mages fell, so did the fireballs they were casting.

Having no one to control them anymore, the second they hit the grass, they all exploded simultaneously.

A tremendous rolling blast detonated in the center of the knights.

A fire and force wave ripped outward. Men screamed as they were incinerated by the explosion.

The nearest knights were simply gone, torn into pieces of blood and flesh.

Those at a greater distance were flung through the air, their armor glowing red-hot as they were burned alive.

A small mushroom cloud of black smoke and scarlet embers ascended into the air. The lovely flames colored the field of battle red and black.

Well, that was kind of unexpected. Allen thought, lowering his smoking gun.

But I’m not complaining. Hell, I ended up using fewer bullets. Best possible result, really.