Gacha System: Reborn In The Hardest World
Chapter 44: Outlanders Strive

Chapter 44: Outlanders Strive

Against the unending assault of the Venator Captain, Gael pushed his body to the max; each fiber of muscle was strained to his limit, drawing its complete strength to keep up. The same was used for his eyes, remaining unblinking as he watched the elusive figure.

Amadeus moved like a dancing shadow, flickering from one end of the cave to the other. Even if he tried following the Venator with his eyes, he felt his presence suddenly arrive behind him. He nimbly spun himself around, swinging the dagger as it clashed right against the blade extending from the hunter’s gauntlet.

’I can keep up...I can, but it’s not easy,’ he thought.

The man behind the mask spoke drearily, "Can’t you just die already? It’s tiresome fighting like this. You understand you don’t have any chance of making it out of here, right? So, if you would be so kind–die."

Though the words were said with a complete lack of haste, Gael found the masked figure coming for him at a blinding speed. A shot of air came for him, forcing him to move his head before being greeted by an onslaught of slashes from the Venator’s blade.

The dagger guided his hand, deflecting the blades, however–

"Ghh!" Gael winced.

–With such a pair of aggressiveness and finesse, one slipped through as the hunter spun around, briefly lowering to a knee as the hidden blade swept across his leg. He immediately countered, plunging the dagger towards the hunter’s head, though the man already retreated like a shadow pushed away by sunlight.

’Shit–he’s way too damn nimble,’ he thought.

Not a glance was spared to the slash on his leg, forcing the wound shut as he clenched the muscles around it.

Amadeus paced around the mine as if drifting on ice, always watching him behind the pearlescent mask, "It’s a cruel task you place upon me. It’s saddening. I do not wish to make you suffer. Oh, won’t you just accept death, Outlander?"

He ignored the vexing advice, commanding his system, "Sum–"

–At least, he attempted to invoke a summon, though finding the necessary breath in his lungs gone.

"Oh, dear. It seems you’re finally realizing it, aren’t you?" Amadeus asked with a plastic concern lacing his words. "You haven’t taken a breath since we began clashing."

Gael clutched his chest, gripping the fabric covering it as he gasped out, struggling to fill his lungs with air.

’What is this...? I can’t breathe–my body, it doesn’t even know how to breathe...?!’

He backed away, fighting for breath as he couldn’t spare any attention to defending himself. All he could do was weakly swing his dagger as the Venator slowly approached.

"This is my gift," Amadeus calmly explained. "It’s a rather cruel one. There is nothing you can do but suffocate until the life leaves your body. As an act of kindness, allow me to end your misery swiftly."

As he waved his blade around, it was casually rejected by a half-hearted swing of the Venator’s own, forcing him to stumble back.

The man behind the mask pointed the barrel attached to his gauntlet at the Outlander, aiming it right between his eyes, "It will be painless. Let your suffering end here."

’--Now,’ he thought.

Before the blade could sever his life, the Venator paused for a moment, though it was a second too late–

From behind, a hammer swung, catching the masked man off guard as it smashed right into his right arm.

The armor-clad warrior committed her entire strength to the swing, tossing the hunter to the side, "Nice try!"

"Ghh–?!" Amadeus winced, catching himself on his feet as his boots slid across the mineral-ridden ground. "--The reports were true, I suppose. Rouge noted that the new Outlander used a sort of summoning power. You hid it until now though–curious."

It was vexing to witness the elusive Venator remain on his feet, simply patting his arm as if the massive hammer’s impact left a mere bruise. None of it helped Gael though, still finding himself unable to draw a single breath.

"Master! Are you alright?!" Florentine asked, rushing over to his side as he grabbed his shoulder.

He didn’t have the air in his lungs to answer her, only able to lightly shake his head as he clutched his own throat. It was a challenge to remain calm, feeling the spotlight of the glowing stones embedded in the walls of the cave, casting their azure shine.

’Feel it...Pump it manually, carefully, at the natural pace...’ He thought.

Keeping his hand on his chest, he manipulated his stagnant lungs, constricting and pumping them as slowly but surely, oxygen was guided into his body. "Total Body Manipulation"--he was thankful for the unnatural ability, granting him the luxury of breathing again.

Amadeus brushed himself off, reaching up as he removed the mask from his face, revealing his pale face. An angular jawline with hooded eyes, glazed over as if the gift of sight was not one the Venator possessed.

"You...You still draw breath? Curious...It should be impossible for you to breathe right now," Amadeus remarked calmly, seeming to hear the faint sounds.

Gael refilled his lungs with air, looking over as Florentine seemed to realize the very fact that she could not breathe as she grabbed at her own neck.

’Thanks for the assist, but go back for now,’ he thought, relinquishing his familiar.

As the warrior faded away into the unseen inventory, he turned his focus back to the blind hunter, finally having the breath in his lungs to speak.

"That was a cheap trick, but if that’s your trump card, then I guess things are looking good for me," Gael called out, rubbing his throat.

["I finally have purpose in my life. In this second chance, I’ve found something I can do–something I want to do. I want to wipe out Mastorn, so I can finally be welcomed into this world."]

--

Deep within the reaches of the exuberant Sevaraid mansion, the nobleman who owned it all, made a prisoner in his own home, sat bound in his own bedchambers. The middle-aged man shivered, hugging his own body as he watched frost creep over the windows.

Frederick groaned through chattering teeth, "...I suppose this means they’ve come to help, at last. I’m sorry...They forced me to write that letter–I couldn’t mention that one of the Impervious Seven was here..." The nobleman apologized by himself, accepting the bitter frost.

Outside of the lavish home, the courtyard erupted as spikes of ice pierced upward, attempting to catch the Outlander who moved as fleeting light.

Jae-Seong slipped back, using his fists to punch away the pillars of sharpened frost that attempted to skewer him, "--Getting a bit too chilly for a summer night, dontcha think?!"

There wasn’t any response from the young man who unleashed the hellish blizzard, only leaping through the air as an arsenal of ice-forged weapons manifested alongside him.

"Be quiet and die," Quintus quietly muttered, waving his arm to common the array of cold projectiles.

As the onslaught of frost blades, spears, and arrows rained down, Jae-Seong shifted his entire body; the sensation of weight was absent as he became a construct of light. He slipped through the downfall of ice, leaping right over the gates leading into the courtyard.

The guards watching the entrance reacted, "Hey–!"

There was no chance for either of the soldiers to even draw their blades before the ferocious wave of ice washed over their bodies. Jae-Seong watched it as he continued sliding back; the frost expanded, turning the comrades of Quintus into glacial statues.

"You’re freezing your own men, isn’t that a bit cruel?!" Jae-Seong shouted out to get the attention of the wielder of ice.

In mere moments, he found the estate of Sevaraid becoming a winter hellscape as snowflakes trickled in the air. The breath that left his lips was expelled as frost, feeling that cold inhabiting his lungs.

Atop a pillar of ice that formed in an instant, the member of the Impervious Seven stood atop it, looking down at the Outlander, "I don’t have the energy to exempt others from the reach of my magic. It’s regrettable that they were in the way, but that’s the way it is."

Jae-Seong continued moving in the opposite direction of the mansion, finding the waves of frost chasing after him.

’This guy is completely reckless with his magic. In any case, I can’t let him freeze Frederick to death–that would ruin the entire mission,’ he thought, glancing back.

A tidal wave of ice loomed over him; a disastrous, bitter tsunami that crashed through the once luscious fields of grass. He breathed in the cold air, squeezing his fist as his bicep swelled with abundant vigor.

Across his forearm, encasing his limb, a radiance engulfed the fist he clenched before he sent it forward. The motion was quick, almost instantaneous as his shoulder fired like a piston. From his knuckles, a projection of his fist was carried as light; a shooting star pierced the wave of frost, parting it.

"Haah?"

Quintus’ snowy hair was brushed aside, blinded by the bludgeoning light before it crashed right into the wielder of frost. The impact roared through the frost-held plains, throwing icy winds in every direction.

Jae-Seong breathed out, finding the singular punch enough to annihilate his enemy’s body, though he didn’t relax his guard in the slightest.

["The Impervious Seven are the pride of Mastorn and their greatest military force. Each of the seven is said to be equivalent to a nation’s entire fighting force–it’s the main reason why Mastorn is as feared as it is.

Quintus is no exception, of course–I’ve done my homework. An anomalous mage of nigh infinite mana, but that’s not even his most dangerous aspect."]

The sound of ice cracking; the shattering of frost, like crushed glass. It drew his attention to the spot ahead, just a few meters, witnessing the translucent ice rise and take shape. Bit by bit, piece by piece, it took the form of a man, rebuilding the veins that carried the cold blood, spreading the nervous system like persistent vines.

As the head was reformed, the translucent sculpture of ice burst into flesh and blood, regaining color as the reborn man breathed out, adjusting his jaw.

"...Aaaaah...I didn’t expect you to annihilate my body in a single blow like that," Quintus tiredly remarked with a sigh.

Jae-Seong dashed in, closing the distance within a single moment as he cocked his fist back, sending it forward just as the glacial eyes of Quintus met his own. He punched right through the fluffy-haired man’s head, casting it away in a single blow.

Just as he pulled his fist away, that same noise met his ears; the formation of frost, cracking like glass panes.

As he turned to the left, he witnessed another recreation of Quintus born of ice take form, once more being restored to life as the man groaned.

"You can punch me all you like. I admit, you have tremendous strength–in terms of punching power, you’re likely second only to Aelius. Still..." Quintus lingered his words with a yawn.

The lack of worry shown by the Impervious member brought Jae-Seong meeting him again, leaping up before crashing down fist-first. He slammed his knuckles down with a burst of light casting through the soil, ripping through it with visceral radiance.

Almost seamlessly, the ice reformed Quintus within a moment as the man already had his hands tucked into his pockets, standing right behind the Outlander.

"--You can’t hope to overcome me with all brawn and no brains. You’re wasting your effort," Quintus taunted with a dejected sigh.

Jae-Seong swung around, slamming his fist right through the man’s head, casting him away into frost carried away by the wind. Again, the figure was rebuilt by the unending frost, not gaining a single semblance of haste.

"It’s tiring just watching you try so hard. Give it a rest, would you? It’d be a lot easier if you just laid down and accepted it’s hopeless," Quintus advised, rubbing his head tiredly.

["...Quintus is generally regarded as the least powerful of the Impervious Seven when it comes to destructive power. Though that’s not what makes him dangerous–it’s the nightmare ability he possesses: "Unending Winter."

He is able to rebuild his body from his own frost, from any wound–including death itself. Paired with his freakish mana, he becomes practically immortal. Well, this is going to be a long night."]