"It’s a shame we have to meet like this."

Figxin shouted.

"It might have been better for everyone if you hadn’t dodged that bullet." The gunner’s voice was robotic, betraying no emotion.

"Never give up hope of survival—you’re the one who taught me that. Have you forgotten?"

Figxin glanced to the sides. Gelda and Zete Mage were already in position.

’I need to draw his attention. Create an opening for the two mages to cast.’

The spells a Mage could cast instantly were quite limited.

Most powerful Magic required chanting Spells, specific gestures, or casting materials—sometimes one, sometimes all of them.

This could take a long time to prepare.

This was normal. After all, the potential of Magic was immense. If it were easy to prepare powerful spells, then Magic System Professions would be the only ones worthy of being called Professionals.

"After all these years, how did you end up running with trash like this?"

Figxin’s words were a taunt, but she was also genuinely puzzled. Why was a former instructor of the Royal Guard accompanied by two Bone Demons?

The gunner remained unfazed, calmly raising his gun.

Figxin moved first. She shot forward like a cannonball, rushing the enemy at a speed the naked eye could barely follow.

Her Rage and Selfless State activated simultaneously, filling her mind with endless, berserk fury.

The thirst for blood and the thrill of battle drove her to fight with reckless abandon.

"BANG!"

The gun fired. The bullet went slightly wide. The gunner frowned; this wasn’t what he’d anticipated.

But muscle memory from years of combat took over. He instinctively took aim again; his double-barreled gun still held a second round.

He pulled the trigger, but an axe blade struck the barrel, knocking it aside.

A fatal miss.

"Now!" Figxin barked.

A wall of ice instantly materialized, encasing the man and his two demons.

"Law Enforcement Shock!" The Zete Mage’s commanding voice rang out.

The brief stun gave Figxin the opening she needed to strike.

She unleashed Fierce Barbaric Strike.

The sharp axe aimed straight for his carotid artery.

It all came down to this.

She felt the resistance of metal cutting into flesh.

’A hit!’ Figxin’s spirits soared.

In a fair duel, she was no match for her instructor. Her only choice was to take this gamble.

’Looks like the gamble paid off...’

’Something’s wrong!’

Figxin noticed something was amiss.

The feel of the axe was wrong.

Logically, an axe sunk this deep should have hit bone. But there was no resistance, no sense of striking something hard. Instead, the axe head felt mired in thick mud—unable to cut deeper, yet impossible to withdraw.

Stranger still, there was no blood.

Before Figxin could react, the gunner—handaxe still buried in his neck—shattered the wall of ice. He grabbed her by the throat with one hand and lifted her off the ground.

His grip crushed her neck Armor, deforming the metal and making it impossible for Figxin to breathe.

"Why?" she wondered, unable to comprehend. This wasn’t a matter of Professional levels; this was something completely beyond the limits of a Human.

Peeking through his collar, she could see a twisted Rune carved into his chest.

Gelda and the Zete Mage rushed forward, but the two Bone Demons intercepted them.

’Is this the end?’

Figxin closed her eyes in despair. The gap in their strength was so vast, she had no will left for a final struggle.

She could no longer feel the cold of the snowflakes on her face.

She heard the click of a round being chambered.

"Don’t you dare hurt Figxin!"

Figxin’s eyes snapped open. ’That voice... It’s Benny!’

The gunner turned her, his grip still on her throat, forcing her to look at the trembling child.

It was Benny. ’Didn’t he go to the kitchen? Why is he here?’

Benny wore his favorite Snow Mastiff Armor Helmet, his trembling hands clutching a Thunder Shock Axe.

It wasn’t an official piece of merchandise from Zog’s Toy Store, but a wooden replica carved for him by the castle’s stablehand.

The gunner aimed his weapon at Benny.

Figxin was shocked. Whatever she was fighting, it definitely wasn’t the instructor she knew.

’I have to stop him from shooting.’

She activated her last reserve of tenacious rage. A flood of adrenaline made her temporarily forget the agony of suffocation.

She used the last of her strength, trying to pry the hand from her neck.

But it was useless.

She tried kicking at his vitals, but he didn’t even flinch.

’What in the world is this thing?’

’In the years I’ve been away from the Royal City, how much has it changed? Have all the people there been replaced by Devils?’

Even a Devil would have reacted to having its neck half-severed.

She could only watch helplessly as his finger closed around the trigger.

"BANG!"

The muzzle spat fire.

She couldn’t bear to watch what would happen to young Benny.

A bullet with an Enchantment wouldn’t just leave a simple bullet hole.

It would create a massive cavity, causing the target to explode from the inside out.

She couldn’t bear to watch a child she knew get blown to pieces.

"You don’t scare me!"

Benny’s voice hadn’t disappeared.

’What’s going on?’

Figxin was completely baffled. ’Is Benny some kind of unkillable creature too?’

’Or did Humans secretly evolve without anyone telling me?’

She suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and fell to the ground. The pressure on her throat was gone, and she could breathe again.

Someone had teleported her away from the enemy’s grasp.

She looked up quickly. A strange Mage in a Mage Robe now stood between her and the gunner.

’Who saved us?’

Figxin’s gaze fell upon the exquisite Xiao Xiong insignia embroidered on the Mage Robe. That, combined with the sudden teleportation...

’Is it Master Xiao Xiong from the Mage Guild?’

’What’s he doing here?’

Master Xiao Xiong just stood there, making no further moves.

The gunner and the Bone Demons didn’t dare to make a rash move either.

Every member of the Mage Guild’s Round Table Elders was legendary; there was no telling how many tricks he had up his sleeve.

After a standoff of nearly two minutes, the gunner tentatively asked, "Did you deflect my previous two shots?"

Master Xiao Xiong still didn’t answer.

’Maybe he’s a fake,’ Figxin began to suspect. ’Just standing there silently, pretending to be a master to scare them off.’

"This matter has nothing to do with the Mage Guild. Master, you don’t want to start a conflict with the Royal Family, do you?"

The gunner still showed due respect to this Master Xiao Xiong, whether he was real or not, but his words also carried a veiled threat.

If Master Xiao Xiong was acting on his own, and not on behalf of the entire Guild, then even if he was the genuine article, he wasn’t entirely untouchable.

But it was best to avoid a fight if possible.

"HUUFF—"

Master Xiao Xiong took a deep breath.

"Been a while since I chanted a Spell that long. Sorry, that took a minute."

’Chanting a Spell?’

’What Spell was he chanting? Has he been preparing Magic this whole time he was silent?’

Figxin saw a glimmer of hope.

But the Master’s next words sent her spirits plummeting.

"I have no intention of starting a conflict with the Royal Family.

"But"—and after a dramatic pause befitting a man of his station, Master Xiao Xiong turned and smiled at Figxin—"you’ve earned your Platinum Trophy."

’Platinum Trophy?’

Figxin knew it was the reward for completing all achievements in a game, but she hadn’t even started on the final one: the Legion-level Teleportation Array.

’Wait!’

Then, Master Xiao Xiong pulled a small slip of paper from his sleeve. "This is a message he left for you."

Saying so, he unfolded the paper and read from it.

"I’m waiting for the Teleportation Array to activate. What are you waiting for?"

Hearing this, the gunner quickly raised his gun, and both barrels fired in unison.

But it was too late. Master Xiao Xiong vanished in an instant.

The bullets passed through his afterimage and struck the castle’s stone wall.

At the same time as the gunshots rang out, a grand Teleportation Array lit up on the ground, its area of effect covering more than the entire hall.

A powerful pressure emanated from the array, along with a teasing voice.

"I’ve followed the connection to come beat you down."