A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

*Whum!*

*Boom!*

Still desiring to keep the Subjugated Warlocks alive, Maude Aleric cast a non-lethal concussive force spell that flowed with the thrumming of a sonic boom and pushed them away from him as he kept his eyes on Angus who was now gripping the reins of a horse.

"You think I'll just let you leave?!" Maude asked in a loud voice and with a blur of hand movement, he created seals and cast a spell circle that shot out a chain of interlocking Arcane symbols.

The chain gripped Angus' wrist and with a tugging motion, it pulled at him with enough force to wrench his arm out of its socket.

"Ah!" Angus let out in pain and conjured a crackling spear to strike the chain with, shattering the link.

But even as the bulk of the chain fizzled out into harmless magical mist, the part that had wrapped around Angus' wrist melted and imprinted against his skin. He probably would have paid more attention to it if Maude Aleric hadn't raised a hand to cast a spell circle that started shooting out conjured blades.

To avoid his horse getting stabbed by the blades, Angus leaped away from it while conjuring shields all of which were getting shattered by the blades and forced him to create more.

*Skich!*

Unable to keep up, two blades pierced Angus's body and he spat out blood while his body looked to be getting weaker with every exertion.

"Shit!" Henry said and he grabbed Angus' saddlebag filled with explosives but it was as though his exclamation had called Maude's attention to him because the Lord of the Black Manor decided to turn some of his blade spells on him.

Luckily, Nyx was at the ready with <Shadow Dash>.

With her Speed now at 70, a thirty percent increase made her very capable of leaping about and keeping Henry from getting stabbed.

Maude furrowed his brow at the dark mist Nyx was exuding as she avoided his attacks and he cracked a smile despite himself,

"A magical beast," he said and let out a cackle, "You lot never cease to amaze me."

When the danger of the magical blades had passed somewhat, Henry focused on lighting the fuse of at least one bundle of dynamites. It took a few flicks of his lighter but he got it lit.

"Nyx, we're going to do a ride-by!"

"-What's a Ride-by!-" Nyx asked and it dawned on Henry that he had no idea how that word came to mind. It just fit what he had in mind.

"Now!" He yelled out and spiked Nyx's reins once.

The horse reared on her hind legs and galloped toward Maude Aleric who raised a brow at the approach and then smirked,

"Fool," he said.

He raised his hand but Henry was already firing a shot of <Acidic Combustion>.

The shot seemed to have interrupted whatever attacking spell Maude Aleric was casting but a shield shimmered into appearance all the same and the bullet hit it losing all of its magic and all of its kinetic energy in one go.

The shield seemed to have absorbed everything harmful about the bullet and it just fell to the ground, ordinary and useless.

Henry blinked.

This was the most effective use of a shield against <Acidic Combustion> that he had ever seen. No penetration, no cracks. Nothing.

Maude didn't even flinch and as his shield melted away, Henry saw him continue casting whatever attacking spell had been interrupted.

Gripping the leather strap of Angus' saddle bags as tight as he could, Henry made sure he was very close to Maude and then he tossed with every bit of strength he had in his body.

The moment the strap left his hand, Henry yelled out,

"Run!"

Nyx was still confused about what he meant by Ride-by but 'Run' was a simple command she understood easily and immediately. She even used <Shadow Dash> to push her speed even further and not a moment too soon because the other explosives detonated the very next second.

*BANGGGG!!!*

The explosives' sound was powerful and its impact was even more so because Henry felt it slam his back with a *whoosh* even though Nyx had already put some distance between them and the explosion itself.

"Angus, let's go," Henry said as he pulled on Nyx's reins when they arrived next to an injured Angus.

Angus shook his head,

"Not yet."

Henry's eyes widened at his stubbornness,

"What? Why not?"

"Because an explosion like that won't keep him down. Take a look, it didn't even move him an inch."

Henry looked and indeed, Maude was floating out of the cloud the exploding dynamites had caused with a spell circle at his feet. His cocoon of Mana had shielded him from the worst of the blast and now he had spell circles revolving around his body just priming for activation.

The look in his grey eyes was deep with rage and it was clear, that his next attack was going to kill. There would be no dodging. There would be no blocking it.

A magic circle appeared at Nyx's feet and out of it shot out tendrils that wrapped around her and held her down.

"What the—" Henry started to say while his eyes bugged in horror of being trapped.

Angus sighed,

"Yeah, he's never letting us go."

"Should have left when we had the chance," Henry said through gritted teeth as Nyx tried to pull free of the tendrils holding her down.

Angus shook his head,

"Not the time to play the blame game, Henry."

"Oh, I beg to differ," Henry said with a frown,

"What are we going to do now?"

"Relax and give me time," Angus said as he closed his eyes and the glow of the Vinculum became mild and subdued.

In contrast, the magic within Maude Aleric's spell circles continued to rise in their aggressive glows, ready to fire his killing strikes.

And then, suddenly, the Subjugated Warlocks were walking toward him,

"Master?" One of them said as the purple glow in his eyes dimmed and they returned to their normal unimpressive hue.

"Lord… Aleric?" Said the other, staggering closer.

Maude's brows furrowed and he made to keep his eyes on Angus but his attention slipped.

His protégées looked freed.

Was this surrender?

That brief moment he spent wondering allowed the Warlocks to get close enough to touch some part of his body with the agitated hands of two people who had barely made it out of an ordeal and did not want to return.

'Is this how you beg for mercy, Angus Dionisio?' Maude asked in his head,

'By releasing them from your control, you mean to curry favor?

Oh, but it hardly matters. I want my item and you need to die for me to get it back.'

Maude Aleric looked up and saw Angus's eyes slowly open with a mournful expression and he could have sworn he saw him mouth the word 'Goodbye'.

And then, the glow of Vinculum that had dimmed brightened up again and along with it returned the purple color in the Subjugated Warlocks' eyes but no longer were they dull. Now they glowed so bright they were blinding… They glowed in unison with the Vinculum on Angus' chest.

The glow continued to rise and in a second, the bodies of the two Warlocks were glowing as well.

Maude's eyes widened in realization of the trickery. But as he made to move and pull out of the Warlocks' grips, he found he could not. There was an uncanny bond that kept him linked to the two.

The purple energy of the Vinculum flowed through the two into him and even though his Mana battled it and tried to stave it off, the energy fought almost as hard to stay inside his body.

The skins of the Subjugated Warlocks began to crack all over and every crack just showed that they were filled with the Magical Item's glow from the inside out. Illuminating them unnaturally.

"This—" Maude said as his danger instincts told him what was coming and he stopped fighting against the energy holding him down to amass his Mana and create his protective cocoon even as he yelled,

"ANGUS DIONISIO, I WILL KILL—"

The rest of those words were lost in a brilliant explosion that rocked the Black Manor's compound and created a massive purple mushroom cloud that many could see hundreds of kilometers away.

*BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!*