The Deceitful One

The last two bullets fired had the Penetration Effect and the Explosion Effect that were a result of the runes inscribed on the barrel of the Hand Cannon.

Bryan threw the Hand Cannon to the floor, as its bullets were now all used up. He then dashed towards Anthony who was still grimacing in pain as he stared intently at his missing arm, shock etched all over his face.

Before Anthony could recover from the pain, Bryan had already tackled him and smashed through the wooden railing as the duo fell off the second floor.

Anthony felt as if a steam train had hit him and he found it difficult to breathe because of Bryan's strong grip on his torso.

Just as he had found some room to breathe, the duo fell flat on the ground. Both of them grunted in pain as they separated. Anthony, already had the wind knocked out of him after landing on his back.

He clutched his neck with his left hand and attempted to take large mouthfuls of air as he struggled to breathe.

Meanwhile, after Bryan separated from Anthony, he felt the pain course through his body because of the fall. At the same time, he had a splitting headache since he had now completely depleted his spiritual force after the last two enchanted bullets he fired.

"Ughh." All of a sudden, Bryan heard a grunt from beside him. But it wasn't from Anthony.

Alarmed, he turned to look at the source of the sound and found one of the two Apprentices who were earlier paralyzed from the electricity now beginning to wake up.

'Fuck! I forgot about them!' Bryan cursed in his heart as he rolled towards the person and got on top of him.

He then took out two throwing knives from his bracers with the flick of his wrist and stabbed them accurately in the person's eyes, instantly killing him.

Bryan then took the person's pistol and aimed it at Anthony who had just recovered.

BANG BANG BANG!

Sensing the impending danger, Anthony got up to his feet and rolled behind the other Blood Path Apprentice who was lying unconscious beside him.

He then grabbed the person's collar and used him as a shield to effectively block the incoming bullets.

"Fuck!" Bryan cursed in rage as he missed his chance to kill Anthony once and for all. The bullets hit the Apprentice's torso, however, this hadn't killed him.

Blood Path Apprentices had high regenerative abilities; Bryan could see clearly that the bullets that had been lodged in the person's chest and stomach had been pushed out and the wounds were now quickly healing.

'Fuck it! Might as well kill you first.' Bryan aimed the pistol at the person's head with great difficulty and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The bullet accurately hit the person right in between his eyebrows, effectively sending him to the afterlife.

No matter how great an Apprentice's regenerative abilities were if they were shot in the brain or were decapitated, they were guaranteed to die.

As that was the last bullet in the chamber, Bryan threw the pistol to the ground and walked towards Anthony, "It's just me and you now. Let's finish this!"

Anthony knew that there were no more reinforcements in the house. And he wasn't sure if his grandfather would be able to arrive on time since the latter was usually away for days on end when he had to work for his Master.

In his current condition, he couldn't escape either. It finally began to dawn on Anthony that he had to duke it out with Bryan right now in order to survive. Only one of them could leave this place alive!

Very soon, the last traces of fear and panic in his heart were replaced by sheer madness as he started to laugh, "Very well. I will fucking eat you alive!"

Anthony threw away the body he was holding as a shield and cast what would be his final spell for the night. Because he too was almost out of spiritual force.

​ He constructed the spell structure in his mind and coldly muttered in Ancient Hymmnos, "Blood Claw!"

A red sinister aura swirled around Anthony's left forearm. The muscles shriveled and tightened, taking on a bloody red color. Meanwhile, the nails on his fingers turned black and pointy. His left hand had now turned into a claw!

Bryan saw the red aura surrounding Anthony's hand as his eyes narrowed, 'Poison!'

He didn't have any more time to think of countermeasures as Anthony had already rushed towards him with a deranged look as he swiped his left claw at him diagonally.

Bryan sidestepped as he took his left foot slightly behind and efficiently dodged Anthony's attack. He then raised his left elbow and aimed it toward the latter's face.

With his already built-up momentum, Anthony ran into Bryan's elbow as the former's nose instantly cracked open and blood spewed out. He fell on his back as his head smashed against the ground.

Bryan took this opportunity and threw three throwing knives at Anthony's head. However, the latter nimbly evaded this attack as he rolled and got back up to his feet.

At this point, Bryan was almost on the verge of losing consciousness from having his spiritual force depleted. Tonight, he had already crossed his physical and mental limits.

'I have to end this quick!' He thought groggily in his head.

With a flick of his wrists. He took out two more throwing knives from underneath his bracers, as he dashed toward Anthony.

Bryan put everything on the line for this next attack. This would be his final attack!

Anthony raised his left hand and stabbed towards Bryan's chest. However, much to his bewilderment, the latter seemed as if he couldn't evade his attack at all! Anthony grinned arrogantly as he increased the ferocity of his attack.

Bryan only slightly repositioned himself so that Anthony's claw stabbed his shoulder joint instead of his chest.

Splash!

Blood spewed out as Anthony stabbed Bryan in his left shoulder. The former's hand penetrated all the way until it came out from the latter's back.

Bryan clenched his muscles as he moved forward step by step, allowing Anthony's claw to penetrate even deeper.

"Uggh!" He grunted in pain and agony. A ruthless gleam glinted in his eyes as Bryan raised both his hand at lightning speed and simultaneously stabbed Anthony's head from both sides.

Anthony's smile froze on his face as his eyes instantly dimmed. He had died!