Chapter 76: This Is Merely a Shooting Exercise

“Don’t panic. Aim before you shoot,” Su Yi said gently.

Ryoko Hashimoto took a deep breath, gripped the pistol with both hands, and fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A string of gunshots echoed through the corridor.

Thanks to Ryoko Hashimoto’s physical strength as an Evolver, her grip barely shifted despite the recoil. Still, it was too much to expect an inexperienced girl to have any real accuracy.

The corridor was nearly filled with charging ghouls—her marksmanship might be poor, but it was impossible to miss the targets entirely. With every shot, foul black blood sprayed from the ghouls' bodies. She hit various parts—arms, legs, abdomens—but only once did a bullet strike a ghoul in the chest.

The barrage slowed their advance, but without hitting their vital spots, the ghouls staggered forward, relentless.

As Ryoko’s palms grew sweaty from nerves, Su Yi moved into action. He raised both hands, muzzles flaring with fire.

Amid the ceaseless gunfire, the onrushing ghouls were struck one after another. Compared to Ryoko, Su Yi—though also a novice with pistols—was far superior. After only a few shots, he grasped the knack of firing. While he couldn’t yet hit exactly where he aimed, the dense pack of ghouls made his marksmanship more than adequate.

Blood spurted continuously from the ghouls as their legs were shattered, leaving them to crawl desperately along the floor. Some were shot in the head, their skulls blasting apart. Flesh and blood splattered the walls, painting the corridor a dark, sinister red—a passageway of gore.

Bullets soon ran dry. Su Yi tossed his pistols aside.

Ryoko thought he was about to charge in and finish the ghouls off with brute force, but in the next instant, she witnessed once more the extent of Su Yi’s extraordinary power.

He extended his right hand. A point of light formed before him, swelling into a sphere.

The girl’s mouth formed a perfect “O” of astonishment.

The next moment, the blazing orb shot forward—

Arcane Missile!

Arcane Missile!

Arcane Missile!

One after another, spheres of light materialized in Su Yi’s hand, flying out at a rate of two per second.

Whether the ghouls had lost the use of their legs or merely suffered injuries to their torsos, none could withstand the explosions of the arcane missiles. Limbs were blown off entirely, torsos left with gaping holes, heads bursting, splattering viscous fluids everywhere.

Nothing resembling a human form remained in the corridor—only fragments of flesh and blood.

“Incredible! Lord Su Yi, banzai!” Ryoko, trembling with excitement despite the hellish carnage, could barely contain herself.

After hurling more than a hundred arcane missiles, Su Yi felt a touch of fatigue. Yet the results spoke for themselves—combining his earlier gunfire, at least forty ghouls had been utterly destroyed.

The crowded corridor ahead was swept clean; no more ghouls appeared from the stairwell bends. He had cleared several floors with this single assault.

Such long-range power was formidable indeed. Su Yi was thoroughly satisfied with the arcane missile’s performance. While a single missile wasn’t overwhelmingly powerful, in the right environment, it could produce astonishing results.

No wonder, he thought with a wry smile, that in nearly every fantasy story, the mage is king—wiping out walls and legions with a flick of the wrist, hair still perfectly in place.

Gazing at the carnage, Su Yi frowned slightly. Many of the vanquished ghouls had once carried sidearms, but now their holsters were soaked with filth.

Su Yi didn’t mind, but Ryoko’s face was etched with disgust—she clearly had no intention of touching them.

“Let’s go. There are bound to be more elsewhere.”

Su Yi took the girl’s arm and easily vaulted over the bloody corridor, leading them onward to the next floor.

Upon reaching the fifth floor, they encountered another group of ghouls.

With Su Yi’s overwhelming strength, the ghouls stood no chance. After seizing a large supply of firearms and hundreds of magazines, Su Yi and Ryoko resumed their shooting practice.

The renewed gunfire attracted even more ghouls, but Ryoko no longer panicked in the face of their relentless advance. With Su Yi’s protection, her marksmanship improved rapidly. As a strength-type Evolver, she held a clear advantage over ordinary humans.

Yet compared to Ryoko’s steady progress, Su Yi’s improvement was nothing short of miraculous. His accuracy increased visibly with every shot, soon placing each bullet either in the ghoul’s head or its chest.

Wielding a gun in each hand, every pull of the trigger meant another ghoul fell for good.

Although Ryoko’s shooting was still somewhat lacking, their advantageous position and crossfire meant the ghouls rarely got close.

Any that did slip through were sent to oblivion by Su Yi’s arcane missiles.

The bloody feast continued as they descended.

On one floor, they suddenly heard gunshots and the crash of shattering glass.

At the first sound, Su Yi surged forward like a whirlwind, Ryoko hurrying after him.

He slammed open a door. As expected, a man in a gray trench coat was sprinting down the corridor, firing backward as five ghouls pursued him.

Though the stranger’s shooting was competent, these ghouls could only be killed by shots to the heart or head, and there were too many. Instead of widening, the gap between them was shrinking.

“Damn it!” the man muttered, abandoning his shooting to run for his life.

The appearance of Su Yi startled him. With all the earlier gunfire and the ghouls’ dying howls, he’d assumed a large group of survivors had arrived—not a solitary figure.

A complicated expression flickered across his face, tinged with regret for having risked exposure and caught the ghouls’ attention.

“Get behind me!” Su Yi ordered, striding forward.

The man in the trench coat hurried past, baffled. Was this guy trying to get himself killed?

He glanced back and saw Su Yi raise both hands, pistols at the ready.

“Idiot!” the man cursed inwardly. What good was accurate shooting against so many ghouls? They’d be on top of him in seconds—and besides, this floor held more than just these five.

Gritting his teeth, he turned, ready to join the fight.

The next second, his eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

Su Yi’s marksmanship was godly—like a master of the martial arts of war. Not a single bullet was wasted; every shot struck a ghoul right between the eyes.

With their brains destroyed, the ghouls slowed almost instantly.

Five bullets, five ghouls crippled. Unhurried, Su Yi picked them off one by one before they could close the distance.