The Demon Hunting Method of the Regressed Inquisitor

Chapter 44

My ■■■ (3)

There is much to say.

My initial goal is to achieve a conversation.

So, even if the other party goes wild, I have to stop them and hold on until we can talk.

It’s simple in words, but…

“Hehehehe.”

It’s extremely difficult to put into practice.

Don’t die, don’t kill.

In a state where those two conditions are met, I have to endure until the other party’s strength wanes and their burning anger is temporarily subdued.

“You really, really came to find me. Are you crazy? Do you want to die?”

They stagger towards me.

As if they were a drunkard, intoxicated by their own power.

It’s extremely dangerous, but it can also be seen as a golden opportunity.

When power runs rampant, its usage becomes monotonous.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

“Talk? What talk?”

“I could understand enough from the brief explanation you gave last time about why you hate me. But I still don’t know the exact internal circumstances.”

I desire a conversation above all else. I make my intentions clear.

Even if we enter into battle later, I need to ensure that my words remain in a corner of his mind.

“So?”

“I want to hear the reason why you had to hate me. Of course, I know well that this is like rubbing salt into your wounds. But to die without knowing the exact reason… it feels a bit unfair.”

“Heh, hehehehe… Unfair? You dare to say such a thing? Are you crazy? Do you have no shame?”

“Because I can’t even know that. Let’s resolve this through conversation. Maybe over a warm cup of tea…”

I set the stage for a conversation. I made my intentions clear.

“Dieeeee!!”

The answer came back with a kick.

It was a reaction I had anticipated, so I easily dodged it.

The attacks continued.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was hard to even stand firm under the continuous onslaught.

Before considering erosion or poison, the sheer physical force was overwhelming.

The chances of winning were extremely low.

After all, isn’t he the monster who single-handedly destroyed countless hunters, including Kurud and Titan?

Even if I give it my all, it’s impossible for someone weaker than Kurud to overpower him.

As proof, he has been pressuring me with just his kicks since earlier.

He’s toying with me.

“If you have the leisure to play around like that… then let’s have a conversation… What will change if you kill me like this?”

“Shut uuup!!”

I barely managed to complete my sentence while dodging the swinging and plunging kicks.

Of course, he didn’t listen at all. He’s probably similar to Titan.

He has a barbaric mindset that thinks the words of someone weaker than himself are not worth listening to.

In that case, I need to take appropriate measures.

Click!

I pulled out my revolver and pulled the trigger once towards him.

I heard the sound of the hammer hitting an empty chamber and the cylinder rotating.

I didn’t load a bullet in the first shot. Even by mistake, it could fire and hit an innocent person.

And this is also a test.

“Huh?”

A series of processes.

I intuitively understand by looking at the puzzled expression on his face.

Lilia doesn’t know what a gun is.

It’s not that she’s surprised it didn’t fire, but rather she’s puzzled because she doesn’t know what I pulled out.

“Heehee!”

The following kick shakes the ground greatly. Of course, the construction of the territory wasn’t done carelessly, so the floor was safe this time as well.

However, it’s impossible to completely block the vibration. For a moment, the vibration spreads like an earthquake, and even though I avoided the kick, my body shakes.

I lose my balance. I stagger backward and fall.

Then she rushes at me.

Believing that my fall was entirely due to her ability.

She reaches out. In my hand is the same weapon as before.

She doesn’t know the true value of this weapon. Of course, she might be suspicious.

But the scene imprinted in her mind covers her doubts and hesitation.

That’s enough.

Bang!

This time, the fired bullet.

The metal bullet lodges in her forehead.

“Ugh?!”

The bullet penetrates.

But it doesn’t mean it caused that much of a wound. In the first place, shooting a bullet at a monster that can turn into mist, the result is predetermined.

Of course, if turning into mist is a phenomenon she has to control.

The situation becomes a bit interesting.

“You little…!”

Blood flows from the forehead of the damned brat. It’s an achievement beyond imagination.

Was she caught off guard that much?

If I had known this, I would have used a bolder move. But it’s already too late.

There’s no time to think. When you seize the opportunity, you push as hard as you can.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three more shots fired. This time, they all pierced through without even grazing.

As expected, knowing the state, I can’t exert proper force with a gun.

Then, the next measure.

Clang!

I block the attack that I had been dodging all along.

I swing my master’s sword, boasting an unimaginable strength with a body enhanced by holy magic.

Though I can’t imbue it with holy power, it’s sturdy enough on its own.

Clang!

Once, twice. I block the kicks with my sword and retreat.

I don’t use my master’s swordsmanship. I focus solely on defense with basic skills and retreat.

A tiresome war of attrition.

And at the point when it becomes familiar, the gap in the consciousness that assumes the next attack will also be blocked and immediately prepares for the next.

Bang!

I pull the trigger once more.

At the moment the opponent throws a kick, the bullet aimed at the blind spot grazes the thigh, drawing a red line.

He couldn’t avoid it by turning into mist. Not only was it invisible due to the posture, but I had been blocking his attacks with the sword to the point of tedium.

That monotonous task temporarily halted his thoughts.

In the first place, a kick is an attack with many gaps.

How big a risk is it to lift one of the two legs that support the body? I didn’t give up defense to attack. In the first place, if it succeeds, there’s no need for defense.

“Ugh!”

The opponent who was swinging his foot at me loses his balance.

He is not accustomed to pain.

That was already confirmed in the previous fight.

The kick, with a distorted expression and shaky balance, barely grazed my bangs.

I had revealed my swordsmanship, and the revolver’s cylinder was out of bullets.

Instead, a big gap appeared.

“Hoo…”

Enhancement of the body through holy magic. I focus it on defense.

I take a proper stance, throw the revolver into the air, grab the sword with both hands, and steady my breath.

For a moment, Lilia’s gaze turns towards the revolver that succeeded in the surprise attack.

When he realized that it was also a trap, he turned his gaze again.

Horizon.

The season that the master taught unfolds. There are three weaknesses in his power of mist transformation.

One is that he cannot transform his entire body into mist.

The second is that it takes a little time to activate the power.

The last is that he cannot avoid attacks through aura.

Therefore, he cannot help but get injured by sudden attacks. That’s why he couldn’t completely avoid the attacks of the hunters flying from the blind spot.

Then what if it was an attack at a speed that he couldn’t react to even if he knew?

The hunters’ attacks wounded him but could not lead to a fatal injury. Because his senses are sharp, he can transform into mist the moment a bullet or knife is embedded in his body.

The reason he could barely get away with just a scratch on his forehead from the bullet attack earlier is the same context.

Skkak!

This time, it definitely cuts off a part of his flesh.

I didn’t aim for the neck. Because I don’t intend to kill him.

So I aimed for the arm.

I cut it off cleanly.

“Ahhh!!”

With a scream, the concentration of hatred and murderous intent pouring towards me thickens.

This is it. It had to be like this.

If it’s anger to the point where he doesn’t want to talk, it’s better to amplify and exhaust that emotion.

Emotions, by nature, the more intense they are, the faster they are consumed.

The guy who had been playing with me like a cat with a mouse all along reaches out his hand to grab my neck for the first time.

The severed arm seemed to turn into mist, but soon it attached to the cut surface.

I didn’t feel particularly desperate or absurd.

According to his words, he was originally a demon. Even if his neck is cut, he is still alive, so he won’t be in a state of irrecoverable.

I take a step back.

His hand doesn’t stop and reaches out towards me. If he catches me, my neck will be torn off entirely.

Nevertheless, I stop at one step.

Thud.

The revolver I threw up earlier falls on Lilia’s head.

“Ugh?!”

The guy recoiled in shock, having been caught off guard.

In that brief moment, he had sustained a gunshot wound to his thigh and lost an arm.

Naturally, he couldn’t help but be startled by such an unexpected situation.

He was so blinded by rage that he forgot I had thrown the revolver into the air.

I had orchestrated this, leading to this outcome.

Thunk.

I picked up the fallen revolver and immediately moved away with all my strength. Then, I rummaged through my coat and pulled out a set of six bullets.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

Reload complete.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I fired four shots in quick succession.

The shots were aimed at his arms and legs. If his mist form had a specific center, he would have dodged.

“With this kind of thing!”

But he didn’t dodge. His mist form wasn’t activated based on a specific center point. He could change his position as much as he wanted.

Unfortunately, it seemed his power wasn’t something that could be easily exploited.

Bang! Bang!

I fired the remaining two shots.

He still didn’t care and charged at me.

This time, I used holy magic not just for physical enhancement but for attack.

The holy power I borrowed was the lightning of Jupiter, the god of the sky.

Crackle!

It felt like it blended well with the environment, perhaps because it was a rainy city.

I threw it at the beast charging at me.

Whoosh!

This time, he dodged.

This led me to assume that holy magic couldn’t be dodged with mist form.

In fact, he had been wounded by Kurud’s aura, so it wasn’t an impossible theory. He was unstable.

He was not the ＜Devourer＞.

He was an opponent I could definitely defeat.

Clang!

Once again, I block his attack with my sword. However, this time, I didn’t block it with full strength.

His attacks are fierce, but he is still blinded by rage.

I block his wildly swung arm and bounce back.

I widen the distance again.

Check the second magazine.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

After loading it into the revolver, I immediately aim at him.

A smile appears on his face. The function of ‘thinking’ returns to him, who had lost his reason due to anger.

Surprisingly, he recovers quickly.

“Do you think you can keep running away like this forever?”

“Have you finally decided to talk? Since it’s come to this, let’s have a proper conversation. I want to hear why you hate the Pantheon so much.”

“And if I tell you, can you solve it?”

“There’s nothing I can’t do. Everyone can at least try, right?”

“If you want to solve it, die here. There’s no other way.”

“People can’t always get the best results. I’d like you to come up with an alternative.”

“An alternative? Hmm… then.”

Bang!

In the middle of speaking, he charges at me with unbelievable momentum.

It was expected.

When a smile appeared on his face, I already realized he was up to something.

A child throwing a tantrum.

It’s not wrong. His way of thinking is already at the level of a child.

Do you think I would fall for that?

Bang!

This time, I pour all the bullets stored in the revolver’s magazine.

Bang!

But I take my time.

I need to find the gap in his power. I confirmed that there is no central part and how far it can change.

Bang!

Now it’s a matter of the duration of his power. It’s impossible to check multiple places at once, so I keep shooting the same place with a time difference.

Bang!

A finger grazes the nape of my neck.

Even with just that, I, Lost, who is as fragile as can be, bleed.

Bang!

Though it’s for the purpose of verifying through time-lag attacks, this is quite painful.

I realized how difficult it is to take time to deal with him when the third bullet was fired.

I want to pour all the bullets and distance myself from him right away.

It’s incredibly hard to resist such temptation.

Bang!

The sixth bullet.

The revolver I have can load six bullets, so until I reload, it’s now a useless object.

And he knows that too.