Chapter 55: Helpless

The situation was grim.

Even with reinforcements flooding in, nothing changed.

The city guard knights—bronze rank, a handful barely silver—were little more than cannon fodder. Their blades bounced off Eldric’s hide like twigs thrown at a fortress wall.

The protagonist party pushed harder than anyone else, but even they were faltering.

Kael’s divine-touched sword—the weapon meant to slay calamities—left nothing more than shallow scratches across the demonized flesh.

Eldric—now fused with an actual demon—could no longer be harmed by mortal weapons.

There were only two ways:

Crush it with absolute power— which none of us had.

Or use divine energy— the one thing demons couldn’t withstand.

I gritted my teeth.

"I don’t have divine power," I muttered under my breath, "but let’s see how far this goes..."

I loaded a piercing round into the Winchester.

Steady breath.

Firm stance.

Bang!

The round fired like a streak of white light, straight and deadly.

But Eldric—monster that he was—simply lifted his hand and caught it between his fingers. The bullet bent against his grip with a faint metallic whine.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."

He could react to

that

? If he could catch it, he could’ve dodged it too. There was no opening—no moment of vulnerability. He was the kind of opponent you couldn’t reach unless you created the chance yourself.

Fine.

Then I would create it.

Steeling myself, I sprinted forward.

"Cadet Lucien!"

"Lucien, stop!"

Voices called from behind—Kael, Celestia, Elisha, maybe even Ariana—but I shut everything out. I aimed my scattershot at point-blank range and pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

The blast burst at Eldric’s chest, the recoil numbing my shoulder. Dust and flames scattered. But when the smoke cleared—

He hadn’t even staggered.

Not even an inch.

And worse—he moved.

In the blink of an eye, Eldric closed the distance. His massive, warped figure towered over me. Dozens of eyes focused on me with cold amusement.

Is this all, worm?

The voice echoed directly in my skull.

A flick—just a flick—hit my abdomen.

"Guh—!"

Agony ripped through me. My body flew backward, crashing into what was left of the lab’s outer wall.

[Warning: Critical state. Two ribs fractured.]

Only two.

If not for the enchanted academy uniform, that simple flick would have blown a hole straight through me.

My vision flashed white. The world spun. I tasted blood.

Somehow, I forced my fingers to tighten around the shotgun’s grip. I dragged myself upright, leaning against the shattered wall.

Eldric’s shadow loomed before me.

Worthless creature. Die.

He raised his fist—massive, pulsing with corrupt mana—ready to crush me like an insect.

My instincts screamed.

This was death.

This was the end.

’I’m going to die...’

My pulse spiked.

My thoughts burned.

And with the last sliver of clarity, I forced out a silent scream inside my mind.

’System—if you want to keep working with me...

give me something.

Anything useful.

Otherwise I—

I’m done.’

I didn’t expect an answer.

I didn’t even believe there

was

one.

But then—

For the first time since I arrived in this cursed world,

a mechanical voice whispered directly into my skull.

〈Consumed 500 Points〉

〈Purchase Confirmed〉

〈First Order DIVINE BULLET has been loaded.〉

I fired without hesitation.

—Fwoom.

There was no gunshot.

No recoil.

No sound.

Only a blinding white flash that swallowed my vision whole, consuming everything around me in divine radiance. Heat washed across my face, burning my skin—not painfully, but with a scorching purity that felt like standing before a holy flame.

When the light finally faded, my sight returned in fragments.

The first thing I saw—

—was the shotgun’s barrel.

Glowing bright red. Warping.

Melting.

The barrel sagged like molten wax, sizzling as it collapsed into shapeless metal. The divine energy had utterly destroyed it.

My gaze then shifted to the far wall.

Eldric’s grotesque body was embedded deep into the stone, half-crushed into the masonry like a giant insect swatted by a god. Smoke rose from the crater around him. His chest—where the divine bullet struck—was dented inward, blackened, and steaming.

He wasn’t moving.

My breath tore free in ragged gasps.

"Huff... huff...!"

Did I... succeed?

My body finally gave in.

My legs buckled, and I slid down the shattered wall until I hit the ground.

Voices reached me—distant, disbelieving.

"Unbelievable..."

"What did Cadet Lucien just do?"

"Did... did he defeat Eldric?"

Their shock felt surreal.

It was over.

At least for now.

Eldric’s regeneration couldn’t immediately undo divine damage.

We had a few precious moments until reinforcements arrived—

[Impressive...]

"—!"

His voice slithered into my ears like poison.

I grabbed my rifle on reflex—

Only to remember it was nothing more than a melted chunk of metal now.

Utterly useless.

Eldric moved.

Slowly, painfully... but he moved.

He pulled himself free from the wall with a sickening

crunch

, chunks of stone falling with him. His many eyes flickered open, their glow dim but full of hate.

[How did you hide such an artifact...?]

His voice reverberated through the air, layered and monstrous.

[A weapon wielded only by Saints, Popes, and Holy Assassins of the Holy Empire...]

His gaze narrowed.

[What trick of fate allowed

you

to possess such a thing?]

I stared at the dent in his chest.

The divine bullet had struck cleanly—

But it wasn’t enough.

He was weakened.

Injured.

But horrifyingly... still alive.

[No matter.]

He lifted one massive arm, mana surging.

[I will eliminate you before you create any more variables.]

"Lucien!!"

"Mariella, now!"

[Grow! Surging Waves of Seas—Water Tempest!]

Mariella chanted desperately, her voice cracking.

A storm of water spiraled forward—an entire torrent that roared like the sea unleashed.

Eldric didn’t even blink.

The water struck him and dispersed harmlessly into mist.

"Hah!"

Elisha, eyes blazing, fired a fully drawn mana arrow. It whistled through the air—

—and shattered against Eldric’s hide as if hitting steel.

"No way..."

"It didn’t even pierce...!"

I glanced toward the protagonist’s party.

Their faces were pale, despair creeping into every expression.

But one person stood out.

Kael.

They weren’t despairing.

They were... hesitating.

Kael—Mr. Heaven’s Favorite.

The walking cheat code.

The protagonist who "accidentally" stumbled on relics, divine blessings, mythical loot, and hidden legacies every time he took a casual stroll.

There was no way he didn’t have something—

some hidden treasure or trump card that could deal with abomination.

Yet—

He hesitated.

In a moment like this?

When a demon was about to slaughter everyone?

I almost laughed.

How pathetic.