American Isekai - Chapter 104 (Patreon)

For a time, the odd paranoia continued to eat away at me.

I found my target, and I had several people watching my back. There shouldn’t be anything that would threaten me, let alone something I couldn’t even pinpoint.

On some level, it didn’t even feel like there was a threat to my life. It just felt like if I did something, it would attract unwanted attention.

Like I was being watched, but wasn’t yet found.

Somehow an unknown enemy that didn’t even know I was here was holding me in check. That was my best guess based on the situation. If I were actually being watched, then I’d know it. And although there wasn’t a threat to my life now, that didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be soon.

But it all felt unavoidable, and by now, it felt like the spirit within my dimension was screaming at me to hurry up and grab it.

Through my scope I continued to look around the camp. There were only two structures, both of them tents, that I assumed the Royals were residing in. Both of them emanated powerful Auras, neither of which I could handle.

They said there might be Royals, and definitely didn’t give a number. I couldn’t know how many there were supposed to be, but two tents for two Royals seemed about right, so I didn’t worry about it much.

I would leave those enemies to the soldiers who could handle them. All I needed to do was get rid of a nuisance, the Cyclops Scout.

Despite me being the trigger to this battle, I wasn’t actually a big player. I was just serving what small purpose I could before everything else was taken care of. It was part of the reason why I couldn’t understand my own paranoia.

Nonetheless, the clock continued to tick and I still needed to give the signal.

I shook my head, forcing out distractions for just a moment as I acquired my target.

My jacket flared to life, time slowing, my reticle zeroed to the right approximate distance and my aim adjusted slightly for a small margin of error.

I saw the Cyclops Scout, and I shot it.

*Click*

The recoil kicked my shoulder. On the other end, I could see the head of the Cyclops Scout…

Still intact.

I missed.

The bullet buried itself in the fur of the escort right behind the Scout. I couldn’t actually see where it landed, but all I knew was that the Scout was alive and well.

Both of them reacted fiercely, jumping with alarm and looking around.

My heart pounded as I racked another round, taking aim once more before adjusting.

It felt like the world slowed even further, my hyperawareness taking full control alongside my instincts, as if I was making this shot with my life on the line.

And with another pull of the trigger, I watched as a flower of blood bloomed from the side of its head.

Still slightly off, but at least I hit my mark.

I sighed, unable to hear my own breath, before looking back out toward the camp.

I saw two figures emerge from the two tents, both of them humanoids, and both of them looking around relatively calmly.

I didn’t like how they were so casual, and I wasn’t stupid enough to give away my position by shooting them. That would be useless anyway.

So I found another random target, a running escort with a hide full of fur, and shot it.

The gun kicked my shoulder once more, making for three shots. The target on the other end didn’t go down,, continuing to run like nothing even happened, but that was fine.

Three explosions, marking the start of the battle.

Sure enough, the warlock in charge of bombardment was straight on schedule.

I saw a figure light up in the sky, four massive streams of bright yellow fire coalescing from the ether.

It turned night into day. I had to squint to even see comfortably.

And within a second, those streams had formed into four massive spheres of dense fire, all of them shooting into the camp and exploding with a hellish inferno that rose a few thousand feet high.

Umara did away with the sound barrier, thankfully after the shockwave had passed, leaving only the rampaging winds to sound in our ears.

I shook my head.

“Fucking ridiculous. You could set a city on fire with the wave of a hand. If not for how awesome that was, I’d almost think it was scary.”

“I know. Hard to believe that I can reach that level.”

Umara muttered, watching the blaze with enamor.

I was a bit quicker than her to get over it though. My Aura was quick to remind me that I wasn’t safe, making my anxiety spike.

“We’re not done. Get ready for battle.”

“What? Are we going down there?”

“No. Something’s coming.”

“Shit.”

Umara cursed as we both rose from the vantage point, walking back to our unit.

The Captain nodded to me.

“Good job. We’ll wait here since there’s no possible way for you to provide any support like this.”

“Great…”

I responded a bit harsher than I intended, going back to the truck where I sat myself down.

I looked into my dimension while scratching the back of my head. I didn’t use much Psyka, but by now, I also didn’t have much left.

I let out a sharp breath before diving back in, Projecting in further in search of that weapon.

Like that, a minute or so passed. The feeling gnawing at my mind grew more. Part of me just wanted to take a truck and start running, anything to get away from the constant paranoia.

It only fueled me to push my Projection further. My search for that weapon was almost desperate.

Until the feeling suddenly changed.

“Hm?”

I heard the Captain perk up in confusion, letting out a small sound that rang all too loudly in my ears.

The feeling became directional. There was something approaching us.

I could practically see it through the wall of the truck, my Aura locking onto a being with quite the nefarious smile.

“Found you.”

“Move!”

I yelled, grabbing Umara as I dove out of the truck.

It gave me a small bout of deja vu when a laser beamed through the truck and struck its Crystal, resulting in a small explosion that launched us further away.

“Agh!”

“It’s an attack! Form up!”

The Captain shouted as Umara and I tumbled across the floor.

I immediately jumped to my feet, steering my gaze to find a creature I didn’t recognize.

It had no eyes, only a massive mouth and several flaps on its head that I couldn’t guess the purpose of.

And beside that thing was a humanoid, just one, that walked toward us with a longsword in hand.

A Royal, an intelligent humanoid born of the Scourge.

From first glance, it seemed to be an Authority 7. But it was a lot more threatening than the two knights who were supposed to be at the same level.

My breathing slowed as I watched the creature turn and run off. Shockingly, it was the Royal that had let off that laser.

And feeling it get ready again, I dove toward Umara.

I covered her, letting the laser land on my back, feeling nothing more than a slight warmth where it cooked the coat.

I looked down at her.

“Prepare your Christmas gifts, sweetheart. Shit’s hitting the fan.”

“Right. What should we do?”

“Regroup and get ready to run. Come on!”

I pulled her up when it was safe, sprinting in the opposite direction of the Scout until we found some trees.

We slid behind them, finding that Vetsmon, Feiden, and Tana had done the same thing as us.

“We’re here!”

“Good. We need to stay far away from that thing. Let the others handle it. In the meantime, we’re going to run to the other checkpoint the Chief Commander used.”

“Got it.”

“Then give me a second.”

I spoke while equipping my Springfield, aiming from the tree’s side to find the Scout.

It fell right under my reticle as I pulled the trigger.

With an explosion, the Scout’s head received another gaping hole. One shot, one kill. It was too easy.

But what I saw when looking back wasn’t pretty.

The Captain, his other Authority 7 knight, plus the three Authority 6 warlocks, were all entangled with the Royal.

Well, the knights were anyway. The three warlocks were on the floor, beheaded.

“Fuck, it hasn’t even been a minute!”

It was a chilling sight. These people were supposed to be protecting me, yet three of them had been killed so easily.

As for the two knights doing battle, the Captain seemed to be the only one capable of meeting it head on. The other one was drifting around, defensively absorbing some strikes whenever the Royal tried to kill him.

Yet despite being entangled with two enemies, that Royal still found some time to lock eyes with me.

Whatever it was, it had some bold golden eyes that bore into my soul, its toothy grin particularly threatening.

“You can’t run! Just sit by while I kill these amateurs.”

Its voice echoed into everyone’s ears, the Captain roaring in defiance, increasing the intensity of his attacks. His partner was the same.

Their battle became so fierce that my eyes couldn’t actually keep up. Each strike of the blade let out sounds that attempted to rival the explosions of my guns. And sparks would occasionally fly that reminded me of just how much power was behind every one of their movements.

That thing was right. We couldn’t run. Their battle would end well before we could even get close to the other checkpoint. And it was too fast for any of us to outrun.

I knew first hand what one of these battles entailed, and that was only between two humans. This Royal could fight above its level, not to mention that it fought with suicidal abandon.

“John!”

“...Hang on.”

I ignored Umara, watching the fight.

The Royal already had several wounds across its body, bleeding profusely. Both of the knights were also wounded, and both were breathing so heavily that clouds of vapor would form from the heat of their breaths.

And my Aura was still screaming at me to do something. That something, however, wasn’t running.

I turned and sat against the tree, facing Vetsmon.

“Carry us and run.”

“Alright.”

He nodded, scooping me up while Feiden took Umara.

We immediately started running, the Royal laughing in the distance as if he thought it was funny.

I yelled.

“Tana! Stick around, and expect a battle. Just stay hidden until you’re needed.”

“Got it!”

“John, are we really going to get to the checkpoint?”

“No.”

I shook my head at Vetsmon’s question.

“Like I said, expect a battle. Now run a bit softer. I need to concentrate.”

I focused back on my dimension with those words, following that screaming instinct to find the weapon.

The desire to see what was happening behind me tugged at my mind, but nothing would matter unless I could find that weapon.

At least Vetsmon tried his best to run softly, minimizing distractions.

Like that, I used what I had left of my reserves to charge forward, feeling the spirit get closer until I could practically touch it.

My heart pounded, feeling the power of the battle in the distance as well as the spirit’s beckon.

“I’m coming you filthy summoner!”

I heard the scream of the Royal, ignoring it as I blew past some new weapons.

And then, I found it.

A large metal platform with a short stock and wooden grip, two long barrels shooting out of the front, and a thick pan magazine sitting on top of the receiver.

I recognized it pretty quickly.

The Lewis Automatic Machine Gun, invented by Issac Lewis in America, widely adopted in the United Kingdom, and used extensively in WW1 and WW2.

This particular one in front of me was a variant, one upgraded by America after they adopted the weapon. Chambered in 30-06, the rifle wasn’t equipped with the barrel shroud of the earlier models, had a thicker pan magazine capable of holding 97 rounds, and was equipped with a skeleton stock and bipod.

After staring at it for a second, I immediately made contact with it.

I realized that this variant had some strong memories to give. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of time to appreciate the tale of the original owner.

What I received was a rudimentary understanding of how to operate the rifle, nothing more than small details like operating the bolt and reloading a pan magazine. Everything else though had to be pushed away.

Sure enough, not long after I got the weapon, I felt the Royal barreling toward us.

The only thing that gave me solace was the fact that I didn’t feel like I was going to die.

I shouted.

“Stop running!”

“What?!”

“Get ready to fight!”

I yelled, punching Vetsmon’s armored chest and prompting him to reluctantly come to a halt.

I knew they could all feel the Royal coming. It just didn’t seem feasible to actually fight it. But we didn’t have much of a choice.

Once I was set down, I hoisted the gun, pounding down the pan magazine and racking the bolt.

“Treat this thing like the beast it is. We’re killing it, so act like it! Vetsmon, Feiden, to the front! Umara, prepare your spells!”

“Got it!”

They all yelled, taking up their positions with me at the back.

That’s when it appeared.

The Royal, now haggard and seriously wounded.

It was missing an entire arm, blood still pouring from the wound, while a knife was skewered through its leg.

There were gaping wounds across its body, including one large stab wound through its gut. How it was still standing was beyond me, but clearly it couldn’t completely outclass the two knights.

Despite all that though, I still felt like this thing would kill me in one sweep if I got anywhere near it. Vetsmon and Feiden were the only ones that could go toe to toe with it.

I whispered.

“Time to use that Aura…”

“You actually decided to face me? At least you’re not an idiot.”

The Royal cackled, blood coating its chin as it walked forward.

I responded.

“You apparently think awfully highly of me if you’re willing to go this far.”

“No, my boss thinks highly of you. But she wants you dead, and she gets what she wants. So unless you want your friends to die, I suggest you just give yourself up. I’ll get an extra treat if you’re alive.”

“Fuck, so you’re really nothing more than a dog. Just eat shit then!”

With a clenched jaw, I raised the Lewis Gun, grabbing the barrel and taking aim.

And I taped down the trigger.

*Ratatatatatatata!*

The light machine gun spewed out rounds faster than anything I’ve operated until now, and in far greater volume.

I empowered every round with as much juice as I could give, each bullet landing on the Royal without prejudice.

Vetsmon and Feiden stood back as the Royal was actually suppressed. Bullet holes riddled its body, its remaining energy not enough to completely block them out.

“AGH! What the fuck is that?! Stop doing that!”

After just a few seconds, dozens of rounds had already been fired. The Royal screamed in irritation before bolting off to the side.

My coat lit up as I followed, continuing to pelt it with rounds.

It tried to get closer, but doing so only made things worse. I wasn’t landing every bullet, but getting closer only helped me do so.

It was too weak to take me head on, but only I knew that this couldn’t continue forever.

So when it retreated a bit, I stopped.

“Vetsmon, Feiden, pin it down!”

“Got it!”

The two charged forward with my called, Vetsmon hoisting his shield while charging it, Feiden circling around for a good position.

“Shit! You think you can fight me?! I’ll fucking gut you!”

It screamed while meeting the two knights head on, swinging down its sword at Vetsmon.

*CLANG*

The blade let out a shower of sparks as it sliced into the top of Vetsmon’s shield, the big man buckling under the sheer pressure.

But he could handle that. So he rose back up while driving his sword forward, forcing the Royal to dodge while unlodging its sword.

That’s when Feiden came in, swinging out at its legs.

But it was fast, twisting its body acrobatically and dodging him too before backing away.

That’s when it focused on Feiden, throwing its body toward him while snaking its sword forward.

And like he had seen it coming all along, Feiden deftly dodged while swiping out with the tip of his spear.

*Slice!*

“Ah! Son of a bitch!”

Thee Royal cursed as Feiden sliced across its remaining arm, leaving a long wound before backing away.

That’s when Vetsmon dove back in, but by now, the Royal had been suitably enraged.

“Fuck off, metal pile of shit!”

It raised its leg, kicking Vetsmon’s shield at just the right angle to launch him several yards backwards.

Then it focused on Feiden, engaging in a fierce fight of spear and sword.

Feiden was on the back foot, trying to keep it at a distance to use his spear effectively, but failing due to its sheer strength.

That’s when a figure dove in from behind, Tana deftly shooting her blade forward.

The Royal noticed, but couldn’t quite react before Tana’s sword stabbed straight into its back.

“AHH!”

It let out a scream, but then, used Tana’s momentum against her to abandon its sword, lunge in, and grab her neck.

She didn’t panic, even though I did, and brought out a knife to stab into its arm.

“Shit! Fuck!”

It cursed and had no choice but to let go, but still delivered a fierce kick that drove into her gut and sent her flying.

That’s when Feiden jumped in, stabbing toward the Royal’s neck with his spear.

But it dodged, letting the spear pierce its useless shoulder while grabbing the shaft of the spear with its remaining arm.

Once that happened, Feiden tried to abandon it, but was met with a quick kick to his chest.

It caved his armor in, sending him just as far as Tana, blood bouring from his mouth.

I contacted Umara with my telepathic connection.

(Keep it busy!)

(Got it!)

She responded, blade of air already making their way toward it.

The Royal was bombarded, slashed appearing across its remaining limbs. The occasional blast of pressurized air also knocked it around, not enough to kill it, but more than enough to wound it and keep it busy.

“Stop it! STOP IT! Warlocks are annoying!”

It screamed, disregarding the attacks and charging toward Umara.

I panicked again, but with a light kick, a gust of wind started to carry her around as she kited the Royal.

Unfortunately, the terrain was rough. She couldn’t go far nor do it fast, and she surely wasn’t as agile as the Royal, so it closed the distance quick.

That’s when I finished reloading the gun, raising it to fire.

“Get out of the way!”

*Ratatatatatatata!*

I pulled the trigger when Umara launched herself out of the line of fire, pelting the Royal once more.

Umara joined in by launching the most devastating attacks she could, most of it consisting of pressurized air that blew holes or left gaping wounds behind.

There was hardly a part of this Royal that wasn’t wounded. I could almost see its organs. But it was so incredibly resilient that it continued to try and get one of us.

By now, Vetsmon had recovered and was prepared to dive in again.

Which I had him do once I realized that the Royal was still moving toward Umara, and fast.

“Vetsmon, go!”

“Hah!”

He let out a cry, launching himself on my word right as I let up on the gun.

Umara, who was trying to outmaneuver the Royal between trees, was about to get caught when Vetsmon came flying in.

He tackled the Royal to the floor, taking out a long knife and driving it into its body repeatedly.

Umara ran away as that happened while I shifted my position to get closer.

Vetsmon continued to attack it, but it retaliated quickly.

It drove its hand up, letting the knife stab it before grabbing Vetsmon’s fist around the grip.

“I got you.”

It smiled before opening its wide mouth and chomping forward.

Vetsmon blocked with his other arm, but the Royal’s teeth shredded through that armor and clamped down around his bones.

“AHH!!”

He yelled, blood spraying from the wound, as he tried to back away. But the Royal had him in its grasp.

And yet it let go, tearing away Vetsmon’s flesh before headbutting him, denting the helmet.

Then, as he was dazed, it raised its leg for another kick.

One so devastating that it warped his abdomen and sent him flying off into a nearby boulder that cracked under the impact.

“Vetsmon!”

“Tana, stop!”

I called out as I saw Tana diving in, her bladed snaking in to stab the Royal’s chest all the way through.

It was a solid blow, but the Royal didn’t care and swiped down with its arm.

Tana abandoned her weapon to block, raising her arms. But preoccupied with that, she didn’t notice the knee being driven into her stomach.

That alone raised her into the air, the Royal moving so fast that it was able to abc away and deliver a follow up kick before she could even touch the floor.

I raised my gun, about to take advantage of the opening with nobody around. But that’s when I saw Feiden shooting in with his spear.

“Fuck! Feiden!”

“Finish him!”

Feiden yelled back as he drove his spear into the other side of the Royal’s chest. This time, it seemed to put the Royal on its last legs.

And yet, it still managed to grab Feiden’s leg and start whipping him around.

Like a ragdol, the Royal slammed Feiden into trees and the ground repeatedly, only stopping when some precise blast of pressurized air disrupted it. That and the progressive weakening of its body.

Feiden was thrown, landing a distance away.

That’s when Umara appeared, a massive spell circle in front of her and gathering power.

Before I could even say anything, the spell completed and launched an impossibly dense projectile of air, one that shot toward the Royal at the speed of sound.

*BOOM*

*Splat!*

The Royal couldn’t react before it lost an entire leg. Now, down to two limbs, it seemed almost harmless, especially when it collapsed tot he floor.

But against all odds, it rose back up to its remaining foot, turning its blood soaked face toward me.

It spoke with a blood curdling, guttural voice. It’s golden eyes pierced straight into mine.

“One last mission.”

“Try me, you dog.”

I met it head on, pulling the trigger.

It’s body twitched as dozens of bullets landed across what remained of its body, many of them shooting straight through. Yet it still threw its body toward me like some kind of undying zombie.

“Ahhhh!!!”

I yelled even as the gun continued to fire, punching a massive hole in its chest that left behind nothing but a mess of gore.

Its bounding was slowed to a crawl, and by the time it was in front of me, it could do nothing more than twitch.

*Click*

The familiar sound of an empty magazine hit my ears, my inger still pulling down the trigger.

My rapid breathing let out some fog as I dropped the gun. My Psyka was utterly spent.

Still, I looked down on the Royal, seeing its golden eyes that coninuted to look up at me. It wasn’t quite dead yet.

I smiled a bit, placing my boot on its neck and bending down to speak.

“You know, I could’ve killed you earlier if I had aimed for the head. But I hear that Royals can be made into some good Crowns, and you seemed to have just what I’m looking for. Congratulations, you scum. I’m going to brew you into a nice little treat. You can die knowing that you utterly failed.”

“Graahhh!!!”

The Royal let out one final cry before I brought out my shotgun and paced it against its neck.

Like that, I took off its head. Then, I stashed both the head and the body in my spatial sack.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Time to make up for my mistakes.”