A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

While the accurate numerical value was not privy to anyone but Henry, it was clear to everyone on the scene that this was an enemy for Boyle to face.

Henry seemed especially faced with this fact after the System informed him that, just like Boyle, the Orc priest was unkillable. His analyzing of the Orc priest took three seconds at most but it was more than enough for an Orc warrior on the ground to seek to take advantage by tossing its Ax at him in a powerful throw that was almost too destined to knock Henry off the tree while splitting his head in two.

Henry's perception caught the Ax the moment it touched within the field he had spread out. He leaned to the side to avoid it so that it spun away with the blade an inch or so from his face. Without righting his body on the tree branch? Henry pointed 'Cudgel' to kill his Orc attacker.

Before he clenched the trigger though, a dark shadow had crept closer to the Orc and Nyx leaped out of it to strike her hooves at its chest in a surprise attack.

The Quick-fire stomps were so heavy that they caused the Ord to topple and hit the ground where Nyx went further with delivering stomps to its head until she broke its hard skull.

[Nyx has received 600 Exp]

Following her Kill, Nyx shook her mane and let out a delighted whinny as she leaped forward and began to gallop around the field, striking Orcs with her hooves faster than they could react to her.

"Well done," Henry said following her first kill, and turned his fun toward another Orc.

The Orx warriors were numerous. As Eloise had announced before, their numbers were greater than what they had faced already. The Clerics hung as far back as they could from the heat of the action while remaining close enough to dispatch emergency healing should it be needed.

Only now had Andor separated from the female Cleric and he charged into battle with the Former Slaves. The most energetic of those bunch was Aaron who wielded Gareth's sword.

Although Henry looted Gareth for whatever Gold he had on his body, he had not cared enough to grab the Mercenary's weapon from where it had fallen. Aaron had claimed possession of it but he didn't use it alone. He wielded it along with a dagger.

Aaron wielded both weapons with reverse grips and with his eyes narrowed in intense focus, he charged at an Orc and slid on the ground to avoid the Ax swing coming at him. He swung the sword in his hand to the side to cut across one of the enemy's legs.

While he couldn't cut through the leg and leave it a useless stump, the wound Aaron caused made the Orc stumble and fall to the ground on one knee. At this point, Aaron was behind the Orc and he leaped off the ground to stab both his sword and dagger into the creature's back right as it managed to return to its feet.

"ARRGGHHHH!!!" The Orc yelled and reached back but there wasn't a point to that. Taking advantage of gravity, Aaron cut down across the enemy's back in deep gashes that practically split it open.

Its blood spilled in the liters and after another pained yell, it fell to the ground with a dull thud, never to move again. Aaron was already on the move again. He somehow launched himself from the kill to stab his sword at another Orc who reacted faster and smarter to slam him away with the handle of its Ax.

"Hngh!" Aaron let out as he hit the ground.

The Orc let out a yell and struck its Ax down in a powerful cleave. Aaron was very ready to roll away but Andor was suddenly there, intercepting the Ax blade with the shaft of his Spear.

"Ah!" He yelled as he used every bit of his strength to force the Ax to the side before taking a step closer to the Orc to stab his spear through its arm and cut open a gash that caused it to yell in pain and also caused its grip on its Ax to loosen.

While still yelling at the pain in his arm, the Orc stretched its other hand to grab at Andor but a flash of steel later and its fingers were all sliced off. As blood spilled from the stumps left behind and before the pain even registered, the slice continued to its wrist. Tendons were cut through… Bone beaneth were exposed and all of this pain came crashing onto the Orc all at once.

"Thanks but I didn't need your help," Andor told Aaron whose sword and dagger were dripping with the Orc's blood.

"I wasn't helping you. I was fighting it first," Aaron retorted.

"Huh," Andor said with his head cocked slightly to the side, "I suppose you were."

This little exchange interrupted nothing in the ongoing attack against the Orc which had, at this point, turned a little unfair. Without its weapon and with the pain caused by all the cuts all over its arm and the loss of its digits, there was very little more it could do.

With the combined efforts of Andor and Aaron, it hit the ground and stopped breathing soon enough.

The two separated after that and sought other enemies to battle either on their own or, much more commonly, with briefly formed partnerships all over the battlefield.

Henry was still picking out Orcs to shoot at. Besides the one daredevil that tossed its Ax at him from down before, there was very little to worry about atop the tree branch. The battle was so chaotic that the warrior Orcs had more to worry about.

Now, of course, Henry was a threat. He had killed Ten of them already but down there, with no range options, there was very little the Orcs could do against him. Even the accurate throwers would be foolish to lose their weapon when an armed Knight could come charging at them the very second after.

Or, even more likely, a black incredibly magical horse could blitz through them, taking advantage of their lack of awareness and lack of an offensive weapon. Fists were not cutting it against that beast.

Anyway, Henry was having a grand old time but things changed after he claimed his Eleventh kill.

"Priest!!!" an Orc yelled after having just pushed back against a Knight who was forcing a stalemate,

"BY KROA, KILL THAT LITTLE BASTARD!!!"

This yell did what it was intended to do. It attracted the attention of the Orc priest who, for the second time that day, paid attention to Henry but this time it didn't let itself get distracted by the looming danger of Sir Boyle who was getting closer and closer despite the assault he was under from multiple Orcs.

The Orc Priest nailed Henry with its red eyes and chanted in a hoarse voice to create a red circle of violent Mana made up of symbols very much unlike what was cast by humans outside the Dungeon.

A bolt of red lightning struck out and crackled its way toward Henry. Henry's eyes were wide the moment the red magical circle appeared and when the sound first hit his ears, all the hair on the body stood on end. So, driven mostly by instinct, his body moved.

He leaped away from the branch he was standing on and toward another but the bolt of red lightning was faster than him. It struck the branch right after his feet left it and caused it to erupt like an implosion.

*BANG!!!*

"Ah!" Henry let out as he was hit by the force of the blast but even though it interrupted his leap, somehow it had also assisted him with it. With it as a boost, he got close enough to the next branch he had been targeting just so he could grip it with one hand and avoid falling.

Henry sent 'Cudgel' into his Inventory to free his other hand so he could reach up and strengthen his hold on the branch before hoisting himself up onto it. Alas, before he could summon the upper body strength, another bolt of red lightning was charged and came crackling at him.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

He transitioned his attempt to pull himself onto the tree branch by swinging instead to the next branch. This time, he swung away before the bolt of lightning arrived to blast the branch he had just been hanging off of, into tiny bits.

The Orc Priest's red eyes narrowed seemingly in annoyance at Henry's continuous survival of its attacks but it didn't seem all that bothered. Why would it be? It was only a matter of time before Henry's luck ran out and he got hit by a bolt. Also, the swings to avoid the bolts had made it impossible for him to pick out enemies and snipe them from above.

Henry had a similar thought.

'Why bother swinging from branch to branch?' He asked himself.

He wanted to retain the advantage of a vantage point but that was making him so clear to attack. Dropping to the ground might take away that advantage and make sniping much more complicated because of trees and a more obstructed view but it would also make avoiding the Orc Priest's attacks easier.

As the next bolt of lightning primed, Henry began to loosen his grip on the branch to fall to the ground when a yell called the attention of everyone.

"AHH!!!"

With his body exuding the aura of his Mana surge and after a powerful discharge, Sir Boyle broke free from the bombardment of Orc attacks and launched himself at the Orc Priest.