Versatile: Alternate World

1005  Weapon of Envy

"I applaud you for getting one of my guns just like that but that doesn't mean you have won. Taking both is what I should count as the win condition that I give to you."

"I knew you would say that, old man. But that doesn't explain why you are here. I know you developed the Alternate World but how come you are here and is posing as the Ancient Blacksmith?"

"Posing? Huh, I never thought someone would doubt my credibility as the Ancient Blacksmith but I guess your doubt is unavoidable. But that is where you are wrong. Since the beginning and today, the Ancient Blacksmith is my title and I have forged the weapon before."

"Then why did you make the Alternate World? If you didn't make it, perhaps the trouble brewing the Earth and this world wouldn't happen."

"That's where you are wrong. The Goddess of Life has already set her sights on making something like this to ensure that she will have her entertainment while she is recovering from the wounds that she received during the Primordial Wars and also to monitor the situation happening in the Alternate World and see the time where the Tree of Life will appear."

"So even without you, this would still eventually happen?" I frowned as I gripped the pistol harder while still aiming it at him.

"Indeed. So to counter her plan, I decided to mess with the plan, however, she decided to make a new loop which resulted in the first world regression."

"Wait... first...world regression?"

"You didn't know? The world has been regressed a few times now and your case is the final case of the regression. As the world regresses, my plans are also reset to the beginning. And if not for me, the Devourer would also not be in your hands as well."

"Huh? Then..."

"Yes. I was part of the people who were supposed to develop something that would make you controllable by Nobuhiko in case you betrayed his plans. However, I sabotaged it and used my formula that I swapped from the original allowing you to get the Versatile Weapon in the beginning as a gift."

He then begins to put the muzzle of the gun closer to my head. "But before answering these questions and explaining myself, how about we continue?"

"No. Let's end this."

BANG!

Gunshots rang in the surroundings as bullets whizzed past me. Of course, I managed to dodge it a few seconds earlier before he fired the gun. One second late and my head would have been destroyed. I opened fire as well by firing the gun in my hand and as I fired them, my vision blurred a few times. I don't know what is happening but maybe this is the aftereffect of the weapon of Envy? Perhaps it is indeed part of its debuffs. But I have to do this if I want to win.

I hid in another rock and checked the magazine of the weapon. If this gun does have infinite bullets, then there must be something that causes that. As I removed the magazine from the gun, I realized that the gun had no bullets. Not one, or two, not a single bullet is inside.

"Did I just run out of bullets?" I frowned as I returned the magazine inside the gun. I peeked at the rock and I was welcomed by bullets again, making me hide behind the rock once more. I know the gun has no bullets inside but I decided to aim and pull the trigger again.

BANG BANG BANG!

My head hurts after the three shots, but I am quite sure that was a gunshot. I didn't hit Tojiro in the process but I did hit a rock that was blown to pieces so it is an indication that the attack did happen. Still, this is not an ideal weapon. If I keep getting pain in my head every time I fire the gun, this is going to be more of a problem than a solution.

After a bit of contemplation, I emerged from where I was hiding and rushed forward to Tojiro. It seemed he had already anticipated me emerging and he fired his gun multiple times. Some of the bullets graze my skin and some of them are even so close to hitting my head. However, I didn't stop. I don't have the element of surprise and I am in a disadvantageous situation so instead of trying to surprise him, facing him head-on is the only option and I needed to end this as soon as possible or else, my body would kill me faster than the bullets would kill me.

As I charged through and went full run to him, he thought I would tackle him again so he was ready to brace himself to grapple against me but I didn't do that. Instead, I pulled out the gun while running and aimed it at his right hand I was holding the remaining gun the moment I got really near him and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The pain in my head triggers once again but because the gun that he was holding fell from his hands, I immediately kicked it away from his direction and straight to me. Gritting the pain in my head, I grab the other gun, pair it with its partner, and aim both of them at his head with both fingers on the trigger.

"The game is over, Tojiro."

Tojiro chuckled as he raised both his hands and shook his head. "Fine, fine. I know you are still a weak guy but even though that was a very risky move, I must say that it takes a lot of guts to charge straight to a gunfire and live without getting his skull blown off in the process."

I sighed deeply as I fell to the ground and lay down. My legs were killing me and the injuries that I still feel pain started to increase the intensity of the pain it was inflicting on me.

"Hah, guess I overstretched your injuries after our battle, I apologize for that..."

"Don't be. If I needed to suffer just to make sure that I get these weapons, then I would have to do so."

"That's a good conviction but that is also a poor way of doing things. You don't have to suffer just to get it, if your effort is more than enough, then that is much better than suffering."

"Yes, the Agartha's passage will now allow you to enter its place. Find the Excalibur though it is much better if you grabbed the Rhongomyniad instead. After all, that weapon is one of the only weapons capable to slay one of the divine beings. With that weapon, taking down a divine god will not be as hard as before."

09:32

"It doesn't matter. With these, the Devourer will be complete, and facing against the Goddess of Life will be much easier now."

Tojiro chuckled. "As if that would be as easy as counting numbers from zero to ten. Just because the Devourer is now complete doesn't mean you will have an easier time now. It will indeed aid you from the battle, but that will not make her totally vulnerable. In fact, she will still be as troublesome as before but you will have a smoother experience compared to before."

"Then, she can still defeat me if I mess up?"

"Indeed, she can. If she could be easily defeated by the Devourer, she would have died a long time ago since the Devourer was used before it was divided into multiple pieces. But if you really want to fight against her and deal with her, then I guess I can give you a chance, Manato. After all, I also wanted her to disappear in this world and give up on her role."

"What do you mean?"

"I bet you have already heard of the weapon called Excalibur and Rhongomyniad, yes?"

"Indeed. What about those weapons?"

"Although they were weapons that were wielded by the guy named Arthur and became a king due to those weapons, what he wielded are weapons that are just mere replicas of the original. What I am tasking you to do is find a way to head into the Agartha and retrieve the weapons in their respective places, let the devourer devour both of them and perhaps the battle will become much easier in the process."

Agartha? Wait...isn't that the place where we found ourselves underground where Almira wanted to enter but she couldn't and none of us could even access it due to the fact that it needed some sort of necessary reason?

"From the looks on your face, it seems you have already gotten an inkling of this place I am talking about," he rubs his beard after observing my face.

"Yeah, I didn't expect it but I do know where this Agartha place you were talking about but it stopped us from entering saying that we are not worthy of entering the place."

"Now you guys can enter it. The only reason you guys have not gained access to it is because it detects whether you have stepped into the domain of the Tree of Life. If you have set foot in the place, that must mean the Tree of Life acknowledges you and that also means the Agartha's barrier will also acknowledge your worth now."

"Then..."

"Yes, the Agartha's passage will now allow you to enter its place. Find the Excalibur though it is much better if you grabbed the Rhongomyniad instead. After all, that weapon is one of the only weapons capable to slay one of the divine beings. With that weapon, taking down a divine god will not be as hard as before."