Chapter 40: Just Desserts

Raive survived being shot six times out of sheer luck.

However, once the cowboy finished reloading his revolver, the inevitable attack would come next. Meaning, Raive only had a few seconds before he’d be in grave danger.

"HAZEL!"

Thus, he could only ask for help.

To reload, the enemy needed to sit still first. Either in the open, or behind cover.

And maybe out of panic, or maybe pride as a gunman, he just stood in place as he grabbed a new cartridge from his waist holster.

It was an auto-loader—it could fully reload the revolver in one second flat, or faster. They couldn’t let him finish, no matter what!

But even if Hazel fired her rifle, with the woman standing beside the cowboy providing a barrier, the bullet would just bounce off. As such, Raive’s command wasn’t really for Hazel to shoot, but rather...

"S-Stay away...!"

To send the "zombie" forward, slamming right into the barrier.

With its body riddled with injuries, bleeding profusely, and its face twisted beyond anything it should’ve been capable of... the zombie was nothing short of nightmare fuel by then.

And just as Raive expected, the cowboy’s body froze, even fumbling his cartridge of bullets in the process.

But that wasn’t all.

By pure coincidence, the zombie blocked the woman’s line of sight, hiding Raive from view for a brief moment.

Just a fraction of a second, but the instant her gaze left him, his foot regained mobility.

"...!"

Raive moved fast without hesitation. There was no time to spare.

He ran behind the zombie, using it as a springboard to vault over it, landing "behind" the two of them. Back during his earlier gunfight with the cowboy, he’d noticed the wall fragments kicked up by their ricocheting bullets had actually reached this pair.

In short.

’Their backs aren’t covered by the barrier!’

The moment he landed, the woman spun around in panic.

She raised her hand, about to "grab" Raive’s body with her barrier again, but...

"Too slow!"

Raive had already closed two steps, swinging his sword and separating her head from her body. A literal split-second kill.

And as soon as she fell, the barrier vanished, letting the "zombie" finally reach the cowboy.

"GYAAAAH!"

He screeched, trying to crawl away.

But Raive wasn’t naïve enough to let that happen.

"Hap!"

A few quick slashes, and both of the man’s arms were gone below the elbow, both legs below the knee—completely immobilized.

"—!"

A silent scream escaped his lips as his eyes filled with tears.

His bloodshot eyes stared at his missing limbs, looking on the verge of breaking down.

"Phew..."

Raive wiped the sweat from his forehead before stabbing his wooden sword into the concrete ground. He sat down right on top of the crawling cowboy, asserting his dominance.

"You guys really put us through the wringer." He sighed. "You know how many times I died just for this? Nine times. Nine fucking times!"

Right.

This wasn’t Raive’s first loop—it was his ninth.

He’d already died multiple times over.

After his first death, he’d worked out how to approach the enemy properly. He tried sprinting in and failed instantly. Shields the next time around also failed, since the phantom bullet could "pass through" obstacles at will.

It took five loops before the zombie strategy finally took shape. The cowboy’s fear of zombies turned out to be an unexpected bonus.

On top of that, there was the problem of ten more interlopers joining halfway through. Seeing them appear, Raive genuinely felt both anger and despair at once.

He spent the rest of his loops figuring out the perfect way to neutralize them one by one, leading to right where they stood now.

"I really thought I’d need a tenth loop... Thankfully, you finally croaked!"

THUD!

"AAAAAAGH!"

Raive raised his boot and stomped down hard on the wound at the cowboy’s right leg. Blood spurted like a fountain as his whole body shook with pain. His screams, if anything, only widened Raive’s smile.

It felt good, watching him squirm now, after nine loops of the man sneering and laughing like a maniac.

So good, in fact, that Raive’s sadistic side started slipping out.

He made him squirm, scream, and nearly beg for mercy—beg for release through death.

But of course, Raive didn’t stop.

He kept tormenting him until the star of the show finally showed up.

"Bryan..."

Hazel whispered as she reached them, still clutching her wounded arm, the rifle slung over her other shoulder.

"How ironic, isn’t it? I told you I’d make you pay." She scoffed. "So, who’s left standing now, and who’s crawling on the ground?"

"H-Hazel...!"

Bryan, the cowboy, cried out in a strained voice.

He flailed his limbs, as if trying to grab her foot and beg, but couldn’t even turn over with Raive pinning his back like an immovable boulder.

He looked pitiful... but neither Raive nor Hazel showed him even a hint of pity.

She strode forward until she stood over him, leveling the rifle right at his face.

"Now, tell us." She said. "Where are you keeping all the loot from farming that green dungeon over and over? Tell us, and we’ll set you free."

"I-I’ll tell...! I’ll tell...!"

The moment "freedom" was mentioned, the man folded instantly.

He was literally bleeding out, after all. Left untreated, he’d probably die within minutes. There was no way he’d choose death! He was so young, so talented!

After squeezing every detail out of him, Hazel nodded firmly.

"Good. You answered everything truthfully." She said flatly... before her lips curled into an eerie, yet beautiful smile. "So now, my friend here will set you free."

He’d finally be freed!

Bryan’s expression brightened at that, and he bowed in gratitude.

"T-Thank you...! Thank—!"

But he never finished the sentence.

Raive’s sword had already driven straight through his skullcap and down through his chin. With a casual twist, Raive shattered his skull, scrambled his brain, and cut off his tongue in the process.

A clean kill.

"..."

Hazel said nothing, simply watching as the man breathed his last, his eyes filled with confusion and regret.

"Let’s go."

But it barely took her a minute before she turned and walked on down the hallway.

"My parents still need saving." She said, her voice as calm as ever.