Death Guns In Another World

Chapter 2056: Shadows in Velria

The great guildhall of Velria was never quiet, not even in the late hours of the evening. Lanterns burned with a steady golden glow, illuminating the stone pillars and marble floors that gave the hall its imposing grandeur. Normally, the air was filled with laughter, the clatter of mugs, and the hustle of adventurers negotiating contracts. Tonight, however, the atmosphere was tense, brittle as glass. The reports had arrived earlier that day: Ouroboros agents were no longer operating in the shadows—they had directly engaged Alex, the newly risen Black Rank Adventurer, on the roads near Avila.

The vice guild leader of Velria, Lorian Veyra, stood at the central table. His hair was slicked back, his eyes sharp as obsidian, and every movement carried the weight of command. Around him sat a dozen high-ranking officers, each flipping through scrolls filled with scribbled accounts of the ambush.

”...So they dared move openly.” Lorianʼs voice was quiet, but it carried to every corner of the chamber. ”Our scouts confirmed traces of hybrid beasts—their handiwork. If Ouroboros is truly extending its influence into the mountain ranges, Velria itself may already be compromised.”

Whispers followed his words, but all eyes eventually turned when the heavy doors creaked open. Alex and Serah entered side by side. Alex wore his usual calm smirk, though fatigue lingered in his gaze after the brutal encounters of recent days. Serahʼs stride was steadier, her jaw set, her armor carrying fresh marks from combat.

”Speak of the devil,” one officer muttered.

Alex ignored the looks, walking straight to the table. ”I hear youʼve been gossiping about me instead of acting. Not very fitting of a guild that claims to be the strongest in Velria.” His tone was casual, but the jab landed with precision.

Lorian narrowed his eyes but allowed a small, almost amused smile. ”Always bold, Alex. Perhaps thatʼs why you survived where others would have perished.” He leaned forward, tapping the reports. ”The council has decided. You and Serah will lead a special investigation into the Ouroboros presence in Velria. Not the mountains, not the outskirts—here in the city itself.”

The room fell silent. Even Serah blinked, caught off guard. ”Inside Velria?” she asked.

”Yes.” Lorianʼs voice grew hard. ”We have reason to believe Ouroboros already has agents embedded here—informants, assassins, maybe even adventurers under their payroll. If we let them spread unchecked, Velria could fall from within before the outside ever breaches our walls.”

Alex tilted his head, intrigued. ”So youʼre asking me to cut out the rot before it poisons the tree.”

”Exactly.”

The decision was final. Within the hour, Alex and Serah left the guildhall under cover of night, the mission sealed in their hands. No official announcement would be made—the fewer who knew, the safer the city would be.

Velria by night was beautiful in a way that reminded Alex of another life. The main streets glowed with lamplight, taverns alive with drunken cheer, merchants shouting last calls for their wares. Yet beneath that beauty lurked shadows—the narrow alleys, the crumbling districts of the undercity, where law and guild authority stretched thin.

”Thatʼs where we start,” Serah said, tightening her cloak as they descended into the poorer quarter. ”If Ouroboros is planting roots, itʼs here. Where people are desperate enough to sell their loyalty.”

Alex gave a soft chuckle. ”And here I thought youʼd prefer a more straightforward approach. Kick in a door, demand answers.”

Serah shot him a sharp look. ”Weʼre not butchers. Information first. Then we strike.”

They spent hours moving through taverns and back alleys, speaking with informants, bribing local fixers, and quietly observing suspicious movements. Alexʼs reputation made people nervous—his Black Rank was known, and even the criminal underbelly hesitated to cross someone with that kind of power. But Serahʼs presence balanced it; she knew how to draw out whispers where intimidation failed.

By midnight, they had a lead: an abandoned warehouse by the river, where cloaked figures had been seen delivering crates under heavy guard. Some said it was smuggled goods. Others swore they saw beasts in cages.

Alexʼs grin widened. ”A warehouse, suspicious crates, cloaks—how delightfully cliché. Shall we pay them a visit?”

Serah didnʼt smile, but her eyes gleamed with the same fire. ”Careful, Alex. Cliché or not, this could be their nest.”

The moon was high when they approached. The warehouse loomed like a hulking shadow, its windows boarded, its doors reinforced with iron bands. Around it, a dozen figures patrolled in silence, their movements too precise for common thugs.

Alex crouched behind a stack of crates, examining the patterns. ”Well-organized. Ouroboros, no doubt.”

Serah drew her blade, the steel whispering as it left its sheath. ”We take them out quietly?”

Alex shook his head, smirking. ”You take the left. Iʼll take the right. Letʼs make a mess of their night.”

And then he was gone, his form blurring as he dashed forward. The first guard didnʼt even realize what happened before a mana bullet pierced his skull, dropping him instantly. Alex pivoted mid-air, his other hand drawing his sword, flames licking along its edge. He spun, slashing through the next guard, the body falling with a hiss of burning flesh.

On the other side, Serah moved like a shadow. Her blade cut with clean precision, dropping two foes before their comrades even noticed. By the time the alarm was raised, half the patrol was already gone.

”Enemies!” one shouted, but his cry was cut short as Alexʼs ice bullet froze his chest solid.

The warehouse doors burst open. From inside poured a wave of robed figures and—worse—twisted beasts. Wolves with too many eyes, lizard-like creatures with bloated limbs, grotesque hybrids of man and monster.

Alexʼs grin sharpened. ”Ah. I was hoping for something interesting.”

The battle erupted in a flash. Alex leaped into the fray, his gun blazing with elemental bullets—fire, ice, pure mana. Each shot exploded with devastating force, freezing beasts mid-charge or igniting them in roaring flames. He spun with acrobatic precision, chaining shots with slashes of his sword, creating a deadly rhythm of steel and sorcery.

Serah matched him step for step. Her strikes were elegant, deliberate, weaving through the chaos. She cut down hybrids with sweeping arcs, her movements guided by focus and discipline. Where Alex was a storm, unpredictable and overwhelming, Serah was the steady tide—unyielding, unstoppable.

But the enemy was not ordinary. From the warehouse emerged cloaked figures whose movements were sharper, faster. Their blades gleamed with poisoned edges, their eyes glowing faintly red. Ouroboros assassins.

One lunged at Serah, twin daggers flashing. She parried with a sharp clang, twisting her body to kick him backward before slicing through another who came at her flank.

Another assassin rushed Alex, his blade aiming for the gun arm. Alex caught it with his sword, sparks flying, then fired a mana bullet point-blank into the assassinʼs chest. The man convulsed, thrown back in a spray of blood and smoke.

Still, they kept coming. Dozens of them, perfectly coordinated, moving as if guided by one will.

”This is no ordinary cell,” Serah panted, cutting down another beast. ”This is a regiment.”

Alexʼs eyes gleamed dangerously. ”Good. Letʼs see how long they last.”

Minutes stretched into an eternity of flashing steel and explosive bullets. Bodies littered the ground, smoke rose from burning hybrids, and the warehouse itself began to crack under the chaos. But for every enemy that fell, more seemed to take their place.

Then came the roar.

The warehouse doors shattered, and from within lumbered a hulking monstrosity—a hybrid giant, stitched together from ogre and beast, its veins glowing with a sickly green light. Chains still clung to its wrists, broken as it smashed through the entry.

”Lovely,” Alex muttered. ”They brought a pet.”

The creature charged, each step shaking the earth. Alex fired a volley of bullets, ice and flame exploding against its hide—but the beast roared through the pain, swatting aside debris like toys.

Serah darted forward, her blade flashing as she carved into its leg. The monster bellowed, swinging a massive arm, but Alex intercepted—his sword blazing with fire as he slashed, the impact echoing like thunder.

They fought as one, back-to-back, Alexʼs acrobatics weaving with Serahʼs precision. He fired shots between her strikes, she opened gaps for his devastating slashes. It was chaos, but it was also beautiful—a deadly dance written in blood and flame.

Finally, Alex leaped high, channeling mana into his gun. A glowing sphere formed at the muzzle, pulsing with raw energy. He aimed down.

”Burn.”

The mana shell exploded as he fired, a blazing comet crashing into the giantʼs chest. The blast tore it apart in a spray of fire and gore, the shockwave flattening what remained of the warehouse.

Silence fell, broken only by the crackle of fire and the groans of dying beasts. The survivors fled into the night, leaving only ruin behind.

Serah lowered her blade, breathing heavily. ”That... was too organized. Too prepared.”

Alex holstered his gun, smirk fading into something sharper. He bent down, picking up a fragment of cloth from one of the fallen assassins. Stitched into it was a mark—an ouroboros serpent, but with a twist. Its eye glowed faintly red.

”Different from the usual,” Alex muttered.

Serah frowned. ”A splinter group?”

”Or a higher branch,” Alex said, gaze hardening. ”Whichever it is, theyʼre already deeper in Velria than anyone thought.”

As the flames consumed the last of the warehouse, Alex looked out over the city, the lamplight flickering in the distance. Ouroboros was not hiding in the shadows anymore. They were here.

And Velria had no idea.