He reached for the pistol and the golden key.
"This key... easier to find than I expected."
With one swift motion, he slipped it into his pocket.
He studied the pistol in his hand.
"This pistol..."
With a sharp click, he cocked the hammer.
"Still intact... even though it looks ancient."
He stepped back three paces and aimed at the iron safe ahead.
Bang!
The safe exploded, splintering apart as the bullet tore through it.
He raised his eyebrows.
""Incredible... What is this pistol?"
The pistol's sleek black body was adorned with vibrant red lines that seemed to pulse with energy.
He knew he could take down any monster in this dimension with this weapon.
"I'll keep this for myself."
He pocketed the pistol and left the room.
THRUMP! THRUMP! THRUMP!
Suddenly, he heard footsteps as he was about to leave the room.
"What's this? Did a monster appear?"
He dove under the table, hiding in its shadow.
Despite the power of the pistol in his hands, he wasn't foolish enough to face a large monster head-on.
His body was weak; he couldn't move nimbly.
He would be trampled or eaten by a larger monster.
If there was only one, it might not be a problem.
But if there were two or more, it would be the end of him.
The room vibrated; the footsteps grew closer.
He swallowed hard, his body trembling despite his best efforts to stay still.
DOOOM!
A single blow shattered the wall, its crash booming like thunder ripping through the earth.
He peeked from under the table.
"!!!"
His eyes widened, muscles freezing in place as ten four-meter-tall humanoids loomed before him.
Their skin was blue, their eyes glowed red, and they had sharp fangs.
'Vuldari?' he thought.
Bloodthirsty fiends—madmen of battle.
They sparked chaos for fun, killing just to ease their boredom.
Their physiques were also strong, stronger than other humanoids.
He had to be careful; he couldn't be discovered by them.
One slip... and he was dead.
The Vuldari entered the room.
Their steps were firm and heavy.
They destroyed the surrounding objects with their weapons.
The room was in ruins, leaving only the table where he hid.
'I hope they don't destroy this one too,' he thought.
Just as he thought that, one of them approached, wielding a large sword.
The Vuldari looked at the table with a sharp gaze.
This was bad.
Very bad.
It was his only hiding place.
If it was destroyed, then...
The Vuldari raised its large sword high.
Hastora quickly dodged as the Vuldari smashed the table where he was hiding with its sword.
'Damn!'
There was no other choice.
He pulled out the pistol he'd taken from his pocket and aimed at the Vuldari's head.
Bam!
The Vuldari fell, fresh blood flowing from its head as Hastora pulled the trigger.
As their comrade crumpled to the floor, the remaining Vuldari charged, their fury instant and overwhelming.
He was cornered.
There was no escape.
No other way.
He shot the window in front of him and leaped from the third floor of the building.
He created a shadow parachute and landed safely on an abandoned old car.
Bam!
He shot another Vuldari from below before finally running to find a hiding place.
The sound of his gunshot attracted other monsters in the surrounding buildings.
Red eyes appeared in every building he passed.
"Damn it! Screw everything!"
He shot all the red eyes staring at him from the buildings.
However, he'd already made a mistake.
All the monsters in the buildings came out and attacked him simultaneously.
While running, he shot the monsters.
One by one, they died.
But they kept coming.
For every one that fell, two more rose.
Their numbers were too many.
He was in danger.
This was truly bad.
He extended his left hand toward the monsters and created a medium-sized shadow ball.
"Take this!"
The shadow ball shot out, moving horizontally toward the monsters.
THUD!
Several monsters were thrown backward after the shadow ball hit them with force.
However, it wasn't enough.
His attack didn't change anything.
Suddenly, twenty Vuldari ran toward him from the front.
"!!!"
His eyes widened; he stopped running.
This was bad.
He was tired.
His breath grew heavy.
He was surrounded from the front and back.
"Damn it! Am I going to die here?"
Now he remembered.
He had taken a special key to go to the astral dimension where the grimoire he was looking for was located.
This was the only way to escape.
To escape the monsters' pursuit, he had to leap into the astral dimension.
Without thinking, he immediately used the key.
He spun it once.
A green-black gate bloomed open.
He immediately entered the gate just as the monsters leaped toward him.
"I... I survived."
He collapsed, breath ragged.
Every muscle burned.
His strength had run dry.
He couldn't move any further.
"What was that just now?"
The monsters appeared suddenly.
Previously, there weren't any monsters visible there.
It was fortunate that he wasn't caught.
It seemed that luck was still on his side.
After resting for a few minutes, he stood up, clutching his chest.
His breath was still slightly heavy, but he didn't want to stay here for long.
He looked around.
Dim light bathed the space.
A staircase rose, winding into the sky.
"This must be the path."
Clutching his chest, he climbed the stairs one by one.
Although he was a little tired, it didn't take him long to reach the top.
A round green iron table was visible there.
He approached it with a faint smile.
"Finally...."
To be continued in the next chapter…
A/N:
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Over and out, Zalario