Jack didn't stop. The shotgun, still smoking from the last blast, was a brutal extension of him.
Another group of pirates surged from a narrow alleyway. Desperate and disorganized. They were mostly armed with cutlasses and rusty pistols. Their eyes were blazing with frenzy and a fleeting hunger for loot.
"Clear the way!" Jack rumbled. His voice was a low growl that carried over the din of battle.
He didn't wait for them to respond. BANG! The Steamrune Shotgun barked again. A focused slug of burning lead and arcane energy that tore through the chest of the lead pirate. Sending him sprawling into his comrades. The impact was sickeningly final.
Two more tried to fan out. One raising a blunderbuss. Jack shifted his weight. Surprisingly agile for his bulk. And drew a handgun with his left hand.
Bang! The shot cracked. Precise and swift. Striking the blunderbuss-wielding pirate in the knee. He screamed, dropping down. And... Bang! He got silenced with a headshot.
The other pirate, mid-swing with a cutlass, found a volley of shimmering bullets. The purple-tinged [Fog Missiles] from Reina slamming into him.
They weren't just impact. They bloomed into a suffocating, disorienting mist that choked his senses. He stumbled. Gasping. Hands clawing at unseen air.
Jack moved in. His right hand, still gripping the shotgun, swung it like a club. The stock crunched against the disoriented pirate's temple. He fell. Unmoving.
The last pirate in the group saw his comrades fall with such brutal efficiency. He dropped his cutlass and raised his hands. A whimper escaping his throat.
Jack stopped, the shotgun barrel inches from the man's face. He assessed. A teenage. Fear. Not malice. No threat. His [Eyes of Judgement] flared. Neutral karma.
Sighing, Jack holstered the handgun. "Get out of here!" He commanded. His voice devoid of mercy or compassion. Just cold authority. "Run! If you want to live."
The young pirate didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled backward. Then turned and bolted into the night. Disappearing into the chaotic streets.
Jack didn't watch him go. His gaze swept the area.
The Town Defenders were emboldened by their support. They were now pressing their advantage against the remaining scattered pirates.
Reina had already glided past him. A wraith in the swirling fog. Engaging another small cluster of raiders. The ones attempting to breach a defensible position near the town's main square.
She was fluid. A dancer of death. Her illusions flickered. Drawing pirate blades into thin air. Leaving their wielder open for a swift... precise strike from her dagger. Or a burst of [Fog Missiles] that left them writhing in a haze of confusion. Before Jack, or a desperate Town Defender, finished them.
Jack followed, reloading the shotgun with practiced ease. These skirmishes were almost... tedious.
The pirates were numerous. But none of them so far was a transcendent individual. In fact, for normal fighters, their combat tactics were relatively crude. They were scavengers, not warriors.
"Love, keep your head up!" Jack called out. As he was reloading.
Reina didn't look back. But a faint, almost imperceptible nod was her only response. She was already casting another illusion. A phantom version of herself that sprinted towards a group attempting to scale a low wall.
The pirates, distracted, fired their pistols at the phantom. The real Reina flowed like smoke around their flank. Her dagger was glinting in the pale moonlight.
Jack engaged the pirates directly. He was like a human battering ram. He used the shotgun not just as a firearm. But as a blunt instrument. A swing to break a collarbone. A jab to shatter a kneecap.
His left hand, when free from guiding the heavy shotgun, expertly wielded one of his backup handguns. Firing controlled bursts whenever his shotguns were out of bullets.
He conserved his energy. Knowing that the real threats would eventually emerge. He had seen enough of this world to know there were always bigger fish. Always more powerful villains hiding in the shadows.
He was right.
A sudden, earth-shaking thump echoed from ahead. Louder than any explosion. Followed by a roar that ripped through the air. Guttural and enraged. The ground trembled.
Dust and debris rained down from a nearby three-story building. As a massive hole erupted in its side.
Two hulking figures burst through the newly made aperture. They were easily twice the height of a normal man. They were monstrous.
Their skin was a mottled green. Thick, corded muscles rippling beneath tough hides. Their heads were broad. Brutish. With tusks protruding from their lower jaws. And small, malevolent eyes.
They clutched crudely fashioned clubs. Each was studded with jagged shards of metal. These were no ordinary pirates. These were trolls. No. They were shapeshifting humans. Transcendent individuals.
"Transcendent threats!" Reina's voice, usually calm, held a rare edge of urgency.
She abandoned her current engagement. Flowing back towards Jack. Her illusionary magic swirling around her. Anticipating a need for heavier defense.
Jack's eyes narrowed. He felt the familiar pull of his own transcendent power. These trolls radiated an aura of raw, untamed strength. And if they were trolls, they definitely had hyper-regeneration.
He also had that characteristic. [Hyper Regeneration]. However, as Jack Night, his regeneration was penalized by 20%.
He could still get hurt and heal. But not as fast as these things were likely to recover. This would require more than simple blunt force.
The two trolls were moving with surprising speed for their bulk. Charging directly at Jack and Reina. Their roars shook the very cobblestones.
The first one was a male with a particularly nasty scar across its snout. It swung its club in a wide, sweeping arc. Jack didn't bother dodging.
He met the blow head-on. Raising his sturdy shotgun to block. The impact vibrated up his arms. Jarring his teeth. But the Steamrune Shotgun's reinforced casing held. The troll snarled. Pulling back for another swing.
Jack didn't give it the chance. After completing the near instant reload, he fired.
BANG! The slug tore into the troll's shoulder. Ripping a fist-sized chunk of flesh away. Green blood spurted. But even as Jack tracked the next shot, the wound was already knitting. Closing. A sickeningly rapid process.
In seconds, only a faint pink scar remained.
"Tenacious bastards!" Jack muttered. Shifting the shotgun.
Reina was a whirlwind of mist and light. The second troll lunged at her. A slightly smaller but equally ferocious female.
Reina conjured a dazzling array of illusory doubles. The troll swiped wildly. Its club smashed through the shimmering phantoms.
But Reina was already elsewhere. A volley of [Fog Missiles] erupted as she cast the spell from her grimoire.
They struck the troll's face. Not causing significant damage. But creating a suffocating cloud of purple fog that disoriented it. Making it stumble blindly.
Jack pressed the attack on the first troll. He fired again. A double-shot to the chest. The troll roared in pain. But its regeneration was immediate. The holes closed almost as fast as they appeared.
Jack ducked under a wild swipe from its club. He then used the butt of the shotgun to deliver a brutal uppercut to its jaw. A sickening crunch. Bone fractured.
But before the troll could even fall, the jaw reset itself. The dislocated bone snapping back into place. With a wet, grotesque sound.
This was a problem. Direct damage wasn't working.
The second troll was still disoriented by Reina's fog. It was now flailing its club aimlessly. Reina, with her practical mind, didn't waste time on more missiles.
She teleported behind the troll and did her past signature move. Backstab.
The second troll also screeched in pain. But again, its regeneration was immediate. The stab wound had recovered very quickly.
Jack took a calculated risk. He holstered his shotgun. And pulling out both his spare handguns. Bang! Bang! He fired. Not for damage. But for precise targeting.
One of his bullets found the first troll's eye. Blinding it for a moment. Another tracked the second troll's forehead. Instantly piercing its forehead.
But the trolls simply roared. Turning their regeneration, they recovered even the damage for their eyes or brains. .
One troll lunged. Its club descending in a crushing arc. Jack rolled. Letting the club impact the ground where he had been a split second before. Shattering the cobblestones.
He sprang back. Firing both handguns. Headshots. Rapid and continuous. But the monstrous tissue healed as fast as it was damaged.
This was a war of attrition where he was losing. They could take endless damage. He needed a definitive solution. It seemed like he needed to use his trump card combo.
"Enough of this!" Jack decided. He reached out with his will. Activating his artifact. From the ground, thick, dark, and fiery chains materialized. His [Chains of Vengeance].
He unleashed them. The chains shot to the targets. Guided by his determined will. The chains wrapped around the trolls' body, arm, and legs.
The troll roared. Struggling. Its immense strength straining against the magical restraints. But the chains held.
Then, more chains erupted. A torrent of dark iron. They wrapped around the two trolls even more tightly. Both trolls were now fully ensnared. Struggling furiously.
Their roars echoing with frustration and impotent rage. Their hyper-regeneration didn't aid them against being physically restrained.
"Love!" Jack commanded.
Reina unleashed a new spell from her grimoire. The dark smoke cloud appeared above the grimoire, then shot forward. Merging with the flaming [Chains of Vengeance]. It was Reina's [Dark Fog Enhancement].
The chains was already strong. Yet, it became impossibly so now. Powered by Reina's mystical dark fog.
The trolls' struggles intensified. But the enhanced chains held fast. Digging into their regenerating flesh. Preventing them from moving more than an inch.
Jack strode towards the struggling trolls. He sheathed his handguns and pulled his Steamrune Shotgun again. Gripping it with both hands.
He didn't fire. Instead, he manipulated a hidden dial on the stock. Gears whirred. Internal mechanisms shifted with a series of sharp clicks.
The muzzle of the shotgun retracted. Then expanded. A series of vents opening along the barrel. The air around it began to shimmer with intense heat.
"Let's see how you fare against my [Steamrune Flamethrower]." Jack announced. His voice was devoid of emotion. A pronouncement of death.