Last Gun Alchemist

Veda slowly released his grip on the trigger and let the GPMG fall silent, the echo of the last gunshot fading into the night as he stepped forward, his boots scraping lightly against the stone floor while he walked closer to the barricade, his eyes lowering as he stared down at the massive body of the Colossal Ground Ape lying motionless below.

”Finally...” he muttered under his breath, his voice low, almost carried away by the wind.

His gaze shifted from the fallen giant to the battlefield, the remaining Ground Apes that were alive were few.

Most of them lay crying, screaming in pain, unable to move, their bodies twitching weakly or dragging themselves across the ground with no real strength left.

He lifted his head and looked up toward the tower, at the window where Ezra had been shooting from, then he turned looking at his team.

Some were pushing themselves up slowly, their movements stiff and unsteady, groaning as they tried to stand while some didn’t move at all, they just stayed lying flat on the ground completely drained, others had already fainted, their bodies still, their weapons lying beside them.

Veda clapped his hands once, the sound was sharp enough to pull attention.

”Alright, people.”

His voice carried across the group.

”The rest of you who can still shoot...”

He pointed toward the remaining Ground Apes struggling in the distance.

”Let’s finish this. Kill them all and end this second wave once and for all.”

They nodded in unison and returned to their positions, raising their weapons again, finishing off the remaining Ground Apes one by one, the final sounds of their cries fading gradually.

Veda turned back to the GPMG, lifted it and joined firing.

Targeting the last of the Giant and Larger Ground Apes still barely alive in the far distance, making sure none of them remained.

Behind him movement increased.

Bobby and several others rushed upstairs, their footsteps quick as Tracy led them, her eyes scanning the injured immediately.

They moved fast, kneeling beside those who couldn’t move their bodies but hadn’t fainted yet, checking their bodies for swollen parts and treating all their injuries.

Tracy made Bobby’s attention shift quickly toward Linda and Nickolas, who were both lying flat on the ground, unable to move properly after the impact from earlier.

Linda coughed out blood once, then again.

Blood spilled from her mouth, staining her lips as her hands trembled slightly, red from the force of the hit she had taken, the shield she used cracked badly, its surface showing clear signs of damage.

Nickolas lay beside her, his breathing was uneven and heavy as blood trickled slowly from his nose and the corner of his mouth as his chest rose and fell.

After the Colossal Ground Ape had fallen, Tracy had immediately rushed down to call the medic team led by Bobby, which was why they had arrived so quickly.

Time passed slowly as the others continued firing at the remaining Apes.

Then...

Silence, the last cries of the Ground Apes disappeared on the battlefield and the second wave was finally over for Veda’s group.

Only the distant sounds of battle from other castles could still be heard, faint but constant, reminding them that the trial was not yet finished everywhere.

”Bobby,” Veda called as he walked over, stopping beside where he was treating Linda and Nickolas.

”Yes, Sir Veda.”

Bobby turned quickly; his movements sharper than before.

”When you’re done here, go check on Ezra in the tower control room.”

Veda pointed upward.

”Okay.”

Bobby nodded without hesitation, his expression steady, his usual timid nature now slightly replaced by something firm, something a bit confident.

”Sir Veda!”

Mariam ran toward him, slowing only when she reached him, her breath uneven as she tried to catch it.

”Oh, Mariam.”

Veda turned, smiling brightly.

”You did really well.”

His tone carried genuine approval.

”Forget that,” she waved her hand quickly, brushing it aside. ”How’s your leg?”

She pointed directly at his right leg, her brows tightening.

”My leg?”

Veda tilted his head slightly, confused.

”I saw what you did,” she said, stepping closer, her hands moving as she tried to mimic the action. ”You used your leg to break that tree the Colossal Ground Ape swung at us... like this...”

She demonstrated again, more exaggerated this time.

”That must have hurt a lot.”

Her voice softened slightly, she looked really worried.

Veda watched her for a moment, then laughed softly.

”Don’t worry.”

He lifted his right leg slightly, moving it up and down.

”I’m fine.”

He smiled, calm and glad she was worried about him.

Mariam froze for a second, then took a step back, raising her hands slightly to cover part of her face.

”Oh... you’re fine...”

She turned away quickly; her face faintly flushed pink.

”That’s... fine.”

Veda blinked once feeling a bit awkward from her sudden reaction.

Nearby, voices rose again.

”But seriously... how did all those Apes get taken down that fast?” a boy asked, sitting as someone from the medic team treated the friction burns on his palm, gently rubbing his shoulder to ease the tension.

”I really thought we were done for after that attack from the Colossal Ground Ape,” another boy said beside him, groaning slightly as his arm was lifted for treatment. ”Like... I thought that was it...”

”Yeah,” the first boy replied, nodding. ”I thought the rest would rush the walls while we were down...”

He shook his head slowly.

”But when we looked up... they were already down. Injured or dead. Just like that.”

He paused.

”How?”

”That’s because of the guy with the sniper rifle in the tower,” a boy walking past them said, cracking his shoulder joints one after another.

”That’s unbelievable.”

Both of them spoke at the same time.

”I’m serious,” the standing boy replied, his tone firm. ”When we were still down, I tried to get back up... and I saw them dropping one after another. The Lesser ones. The Giant ones. Even the Larger ones. Every Ground Apes, was just dropping like dead flies.”

He paused, even though he looked unsure about what he was saying, but because he saw it with his own eyes, he knew he wasn’t saying rubbish.

”Then I traced where the shots were coming from...” He pointed toward the tower. ”And it was from there.”

”Wow...” one of them said quietly.

”That must have been really hard for that person... I wonder how they’re feeling now...”

”You mean you’re wondering who the hell that person is,” the other boy cut in, narrowing his eyes. ”Because honestly... aside from Sir Veda or Nickolas... I don’t think anyone else here can do something like that.”

”Well...” the girl treating them spoke up, raising a finger slightly. ”There is one person in mind.”

They looked at her, curious on who she was talking about.

”The new guy.”

”You mean Ezra?” the standing boy asked, folding his arms.

”Yeah.”

The air around them fell into quick silence, then the three boys looked at the girl, then at themselves and burst out laughing.

”Nahhhhhh!”

The girl narrowed her eyes, clearly embarrassed.

Meanwhile inside the tower control room, Ezra lay on the floor still, his chest rose and fell, each breath heavy and slow.

Blood streamed from his eyes, staining the sides of his face, the white of his eyes now tinted red, while more blood trickled from his ears and nose.

His body trembled from pain especially in his shoulders.

Ahh...

He sighed in his mind.

I feel like fainting...

The thought drifted through Ezra’s mind slowly, as if even thinking had become heavy, his vision already completely blurred, shapes losing form, light blending into shadows, making it impossible for him to see anything clearly anymore, but that wasn’t the worst part.

His ears were worse, much worse.

A constant ringing filled them, sharp and uneven, as if sounds from every corner of the castle were being forced into his head all at once, but not as clear voices or footsteps or movements.

No, they came in broken waves, distorted sounds like the echo of a bell being struck again and again.

It didn’t let him think properly, even his own thoughts felt interrupted every time he tried to focus. A sharp sting followed, a heavy headache pressed like something was drilling into his head from the inside.

Arghhhh...

Thank God... I placed the Barrett M107 and the sack bag back inside my space bag...

Argh...I really want to faint...

He turned his head slightly to the left, pain followed immediately.

His muscles tightened, breath hitching for a moment.

I really overexerted myself in this wave... His thoughts slowed, but then they shifted back to what had just happened.

The moment the Colossal Ground Ape jumped into the forest and began advancing from that side he had understood immediately, Veda would turn and the shooters would pause and that would create a big lag.

A dangerous one, so he had no choice. He had to push further, forcing his body to move faster to its limit.

He pushed his Cognis almost to its last percent ignoring the warning signs and strains he was putting on his body.

Ezra began shooting, moving his body faster.

The Barrett M107 shifted angle after angle, degree upon degree, his movements no longer smooth but still controlled, driven by instinct more than sight as he continued firing.

Bang!

A Lesser Ground Ape dropped.

Bang!

Another followed.

Bang!

A Larger one staggered, then fell.

He kept going, killing, crippling. Stopping them one after another, the ones that got too close to the walls. He took them down first every step they took forward, he answered with a shot.

The appearance of the Colossal Ground Ape had caused chaos across the battlefield, crushing several Giant, Larger, and Lesser Ground Apes beneath its movement and Ezra used that.

He used that moment because he knew he couldn’t rely on his sight anymore; his body was already breaking down so he adjusted.

He didn’t try to aim perfectly, instead he aimed to cripple, stopping their movement completely.

Some he killed instantly while some he left unable to move.

By the time the Colossal Ground Ape burst out from the forest, swinging that massive tree toward the group, Ezra had already taken down almost everything else on the battlefield and when he fired that final shot, the one that stopped the Colossal’s arm from reaching Veda...

That was it, his body gave out completely.

The strength left him all at once and he fell dropping onto the floor in the exact position he now lay, unable to move.

The door creaked open soft.

Bobby stepped into the control room; his eyes moved slowly taking everything in.

Bullet casings scattered everywhere, reflecting faint light as they lay piled near the window where Ezra had been shooting.

Bobby let out a slow breath.

”You really are something...” He muttered quietly ”And scary...”

His gaze settled on Ezra who didn’t move even though he knew someone had entered.

”Alright...”

Bobby spoke again, rolling his shoulders slightly as he cracked his fingers one by one.

”Let’s return the favor... for healing me in the fourth trial.”

He knelt down, pulled out a wooden bowl, then a bottle of water.

He opened it carefully, poured the water in.

Then...

Clap!

His hands came together.

Cognis flowed between his palms, visible for a brief moment as an alchemy circle formed, glowing faintly before stabilizing.

He lowered his hand placing it over the surface of the water.

The reaction began immediately, the water started to boil violently.

Bubbles surged upward, bursting rapidly at the surface, steam rising as the liquid shifted under the influence of his Cognis, then he stopped.

The reaction ended, the water had changed giving out an alcoholic smell, from ordinary to disinfectant.

Bobby reached into his space bag again and took out cotton and bandages.

He moved carefully, cleaning the blood from Ezra’s face, from his hands wiping slowly, making sure not to apply too much pressure, then he brought out more items.

Cream, powder and herbs.

He mixed them together in the wooden bowl, performed alchemy again.

The mixture changed, thickened into a lotion.

He applied it gently.

Rubbing the herbal concoction onto Ezra’s swollen shoulders, his fingers pressing carefully along the muscles before wrapping bandages around them, securing the treatment in place, then he dipped cotton into the disinfectant water again and cleaned Ezra’s eyes again.

Carefully and slowly.

Ezra groaned.

A low sound escaping him as his veins became visible, his body tensing as he tried to hold himself back from making any louder noise.

He endured it, didn’t shout nor move.

After a while...Bobby paused letting the treatment settle, then he leaned closer, opened Ezra’s eyes one at a time dropping a small amount of clean water into them, after that he prepared another bandage, applied the herbal mixture onto it and wrapped it gently over Ezra’s eyes.

Securing it in place.

Finally, he leaned back, let out a breath.

Finished.

He sat down on the floor beside him quietly, waiting for Ezra to regain even a little of his strength.