Here's an Opportunity-Chapter 221: The Duels (3)

Kim Ki-Rok's preparations for the duels went far beyond simply acquiring Pastera weapons and collecting Gate rewards. Having boldly declared that this would be the end of Mammon, he began to draw on his mana.

"Light," Kim Ki-Rok muttered, channeling a heavy surge of mana into an artifact to unleash a blinding Light Spell.

However, Mammon had already felt the shift in Kim Ki-Rok's mana and shut his eyes before the spell was even released. Holding his demonic sword in his right hand, he thrust his left forward blindly, striking straight at his opponent.

Unfortunately for him, Kim Ki-Rok reacted just as fast. Reading the attack through the mana spread in the air, he dropped to one knee and leaned back, narrowly dodging the demon's crushing blow. In the same instant, he triggered another artifact.

"Psychokinesis."

Channeling telekinetic force, Kim Ki-Rok pulled a glass vial from the leather pouch at his waist and flicked it into the air. Though the vial was completely sealed, the divine power of the holy water inside was impossible to hide from the demon's senses. Rather than let it land on him, Mammon quickly jerked his head aside, evading its path.

"Soichi!" Kim Ki-Rok called out.

Nakasone Soichi broke stealth to snatch the vial from the air. He popped it open and hurled it back at Mammon. The unsealed vial spun downward, flinging holy water in all directions. Even so, only a few drops remained, which was far too little to do any real harm to Mammon.

"But that doesn't matter, now does it?" Kim Ki-Rok asked with a grin.

"That's right. It doesn't matter," Mammon replied with a chuckle, pulling on his mana to form an Aura Shield overhead. "Divine power from holy water destabilizes our magic even if it only comes close, because all our spells draw mana from the Demon Realm."

"Exactly," Kim Ki-Rok agreed, stowing his mace and drawing another vial from the pouch.

He uncorked this one, wedged it between his fingers, and swept his arm through the air, splashing holy water toward Mammon.

Kim Ki-Rok's array of tricks forced the Greater Demon to divide his attention. He not only had to defend against weapons capable of breaching even his mana barriers, but also had to worry about the effects of holy water on the battlefield. Mammon's smile slightly faded as he summoned a new Aura Shield in front of himself to block the second spray.

A menacing hiss echoed from the shields around him.

"How bothersome," Mammon muttered, stepping back to put some distance between them. He paused and eyed his opponent. "Hm?"

As Kim Ki-Rok rose from his knee, he reached into his subspace pocket for yet another weapon.

"A gun, right? That's from your world," Mammon remarked.

"Oh! So you've heard of them? Actually, it seems you've seen one before," Kim Ki-Rok realized.

"We've witnessed a few Hunters using them on the battlefield."

"So that's it. But this isn't just any gun."

"Not an ordinary...?"

"That's right." Kim Ki-Rok nodded with a calm smile, loading his weapon. "This one is called a water gun."

"Hm?" Mammon looked momentarily confused.

Kim Ki-Rok's water gun hardly looked like an ordinary toy, though the water inside was anything but. With both hands on the weapon, Kim Ki-Rok surged forward and squeezed the trigger.

Mammon leaped back warily, keeping his distance as he clicked his tongue. "To think you'd come prepared with a tool that fires holy water..."

***

Water guns were once simple toys for children to play with friends in pools, at the beach, or on playgrounds. But since the advent of Gates, monsters, mana, and the Awakened, their purpose had shifted.

The first Hunter to bring a water gun into a Gate clear wasn't anyone special. He'd been shopping for toys with his younger cousin when he happened to notice one and thought of a use for it. With a few modifications, he figured it could spray venom at monsters. For creatures weak to liquids, a water gun could turn from a toy into a surprisingly effective weapon.

He followed through on the idea. After buying his cousin a toy, he went back to his guild and proposed it to the Guildmaster. The Guildmaster laughed at first, but later reconsidered and brought it to the guild's crafting Hunter, asking for a water gun that could hold strong poison, fire it in a steady stream at the pull of a trigger, and resist corrosion.

The crafter was puzzled at first, but soon saw the potential and began work on a prototype. He took apart the toy to study its design, then rebuilt it using parts from a monster corpse resistant to poison. The result was a weapon born from a child's toy.

Still, very few actually used it, Kim Ki-Rok admitted to himself.

Even in a world of Gates, monsters, and mana, a water gun was still just a water gun. Hardly any Hunter would rely on it as a primary weapon.

"As expected of Kim Ki-Rok," one of the Hunters battling Mammon murmured in awe.

Only Kim Ki-Rok would face Mammon with a water gun, his expression grimly confident, as if the word "embarrassment" didn't exist in his dictionary. And his attacks weren't ineffective, either.

The real problem was the sound. Each squeeze of the trigger sent holy water bursting out with a hollow plastic click, absurdly out of place in a battle that would decide the fate of the Yuashiel Dimension.

"Water Machine Gun!" Kim Ki-Rok said dramatically, producing a large, toy-like water gun shaped like a machine gun from his subspace pocket. He pulled the trigger, sending out a stream of holy water. This model was clearly customized for demon-slaying and made an impressive firing noise with each shot.

"Well, that's Kim Ki-Rok for you... he'd definitely order something flashy like that..." the Hunter muttered, loosing another Pastera arrow at Mammon from the rear.

There was a saying among Hunters: Kim Ki-Rok treated every Gate attack as if it were just a game.

"Hmph! Next up... Water Panzer!" Kim Ki-Rok crowed, unveiling an even bigger water gun, this one modeled after a German Panzerfaust[1]. He pointed it skyward and pulled the trigger.

A "water bomb" shot into the air and exploded with a bang. Holy water rained down, soaking the ground and forcing Mammon to scramble for shelter.

"This is my version of a priest's holy ground ability!" Kim Ki-Rok proudly proclaimed.

Even the other Hunters halted their attacks, staring at him in disbelief.

—Now, let me explain what we do next. With the ground soaked in holy water, we'll be fighting on consecrated terrain. From here on, Mammon can only move using Aura Shields as footholds.

Kim Ki-Rok's calm explanation echoed in their earpieces as the Hunters glanced back at the Greater Demon in question. Meanwhile, Mammon himself was staring at the drenched earth, formulating his next moves. With his eyes fixed on Kim Ki-Rok, he conjured a flat Aura Shield and climbed atop it.

—While we stay within this holy ground, we'll attack Mammon with our water guns.

Us too? the Hunters thought in unison.

The ax and spear-wielders hesitated, picturing how ridiculous they'd look.

—You've seen for yourselves how effective these water guns are.

No one could argue against that. Following a brief moment of embarrassment, the Hunters sheathed their main weapons, drew water guns, and started pumping them. Faces flushed, they took aim at Mammon.

"We should've taken his offer..." the ax-wielder muttered.

The others nodded, regretting their decision not to accept the other option Kim Ki-Rok had given them right before the demons had appeared.

"I've got some really cool-looking water guns... big, powerful, flashy ones. Raise your hand if you want one."

None had responded. They'd assumed their Pastera weapons and holy edict scrolls were enough.

"Haaah, Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok!" the bow-wielding Hunter finally sighed, calling out.

"Would you like one of the big, flashy water guns?" he immediately asked.

"Yes," the Hunter replied, face still red.

"I've got a variety. Want a sniper rifle? A machine gun? Or maybe just a pistol?"

***

Kim Ki-Rok's team wasn't the only one to brandish water guns.

At first, the Hunters had been reluctant. It felt absurd to pull out water guns in such a critical fight. Yet even Mammon, one of the strongest Greater Demons, couldn't find a good way to counter Kim Ki-Rok's watery assault. The Hunters had no choice but to set their pride aside.

While they could have continued with their standard tactics and eventually worn down their demonic foes, the demons had already grown wary of Pastera weapons after their surprise attacks earlier. They fought more cautiously, focusing on evasion, which dragged the battles out far longer than planned.

And the longer the duel, the higher the chance of a fatal mistake, especially against opponents with superior stats. Concentration was everything in a duel. All it took was a moment's lapse, the tiniest mistake, and the enemy would seize the opening.

And if I get hit by a demon, it won't just be a scratch, Yoo Seh-Eun thought, shaking off the distraction.

She aimed her AK-47-style water gun, pulling the trigger in rapid bursts.

"Ah, that's right!" she suddenly said as thought struck her. "Before we started, they definitely said—ah!"

Yoo Seh-Eun glanced up at the camera drone hovering overhead and groaned, a mix of emotions surging through her.

"This is definitely going online..." she mumbled.

Her duel would be livestreamed on the DG Guild's channel. And, since this involved Kim Ki-Rok, she could already imagine how he'd edit even a scene of a Hunter with a water gun into something spectacular, full of CGI and clever cuts.

The image of herself unleashing a wild spray of holy water set to upbeat music flashed through her mind. No doubt, there'd be shots of demons dodging, highlighting the effectiveness of her "attacks."

Snapping back to focus, she tracked the demon's movements and kept firing. Then she glanced at her toy-like rifle and gave another long, heavy sigh. It was far too late to stop the recording.

"I guess I'll just have to let it go."

***

In the middle of combat, Mammon suddenly ground to a halt as he came to a realization. He extended his hand and conjured an Aura Shield in front of his palm. The shield sizzled and began to dissolve as holy water struck it, but the demon paid it no mind.

He'd realized he could simply block the water gun attacks with an Aura Shield. With all six opponents using water guns, the mana drain would be substantial, but better than constantly dodging and being unable to counterattack.

Mammon cast his eyes downward, inspecting the battlefield. The waterlogged ground presented another problem. Kim Ki-Rok had half of his team attacking while the other half soaked the earth with holy water to keep him at bay.

"Four should do the trick..." he muttered.

The first shield would block the attacks, the second would act as a foothold to cross the consecrated ground, and the third and fourth would guard his flanks.

"Really now..." Mammon sighed as he jumped onto one of his Aura Shields, glaring at Kim Ki-Rok. After a brief pause, he surged into motion, leaping from shield to shield and closing the gap.

"Scatter!" Kim Ki-Rok shouted, preparing for the next exchange.

At his command, the five Hunters near him broke away in all directions, leaving Kim Ki-Rok standing alone, water gun still trained on Mammon.

1. A type of single-shot, anti-tank rifle used in World War II. ☜