A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Angus' eyes were wide as he rocked back and forth on his feet like he was trying his hardest to resist some external force that wanted to push him to the ground. The hole in his head that was gushing with blood did not look to have had the immediate effect of death that Henry had seen Headshots make all his life.

"I—" Angus started to say and then choked as blood started to fill his mouth.

Henry would have shot him again but there were no more bullets in the Revolver. So he walked over to Angus and watched as the 'light' dimmed in his eyes but it still glowed a dull purple.

And then, Henry understood;

For all intent and purposes, Angus was dead but due to his intensive assimilation with the Vinculum, the object was keeping his body standing— Keeping him 'alive' and doing a horrible job at it.

Henry grabbed the handle of 'The Hydra's Sting' and pulled it out of Angus' holster before sending it into his Inventory. Next, he grabbed the Vinculum and pulled at it as hard as he could to get it off Angus' chest.

With Angus physically incapable of maintaining his bond with the item, the silver tentacles that had dug into his body began to retract until the item finally pulled free of his chest.

The purple glow in Angus' eyes finally dimmed to return them to their natural hue as he keeled over backward and hit the ground with a heavy thud.

[Quest 'Exterminate the Hive' Completed!]

[Kill-Reward: 450 Exp]

[Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Strength]

[Strength: 30 ———> 31]

[You have received 1000 Bonus Exp]

*[Nyx has received 500 Exp]

[You have Leveled up!]

[You are now Level 13]

[Hit Point Maximum increased to 130]

[Mana Point Maximum increased to 140]

[You now have 6 Stat Points to Allocate]

[You have killed Angus Dionisio and have thus, disbanded the Dionisio Gang]

[You have lost the Title 'Gangbanger']

Henry hardly paid attention to the notifications. He looked from the dull glow of the purple gem of the Vinculum to Yelena whose head was now bowed as cracks began to appear all over her skin as she continued to release powerful thrums of Magical energy at the expense of her life.

*Clip* *Clop* *Clip* *Clop*

With the Hadron Mansion as damaged as it was, the hallways were more than 'large' enough to accommodate Nyx who trotted over through the archway of the once-medical bay with her eyes falling on Angus first.

"-You did it!-" she said and then her eyes went to Yelena,

"-What's wrong with her?-"

"She's dying," Henry said and glanced at Nyx to see her body splayed with blood and some bullet wounds where the Subjugated Newbies had managed to shoot her after he left.

Thanks to the System's way of calculating injuries, she wasn't bleeding out and Henry knew she had left no Subjugated Newbie alive. It was her kills that continued the 'Eliminate the Hive' Hunting Quest and gave Henry the Exp required for another Level up.

"-What are you going to do?-" Nyx asked as she saw Henry walk toward Yelena.

"I need to try and help -Ah!"

Letting out a cry of pain, Henry recoiled a step with an arm across his face. The energy thrumming from Yelena's body was no longer just a forceful force of unseen psychic burning effect.

The violent mana was starting to take the form of flames that burned sporadically every few seconds and carried a wave of burring heat that burnt everything it touched.

With <Insight>, Henry watched Yelena's Health level and Mana Overload level;

[Health: 29]

[Mana: 2300 (Overload)]

"Henry?" Yelena's voice came out weakly and she raised her head slowly to look up into Henry's face.

"I'm here," Henry told her in a gentle voice, and with a steeling of his nerves, he picked his moment and leaped the rest of the distance that separated them so he could go on one knee in front of her.

He held out the hand holding the Vinculum and said with conviction,

"I'll help you."

Yelena raised a hand, her green eyes tearing up and she raised it to his face,

"You're burning," she said.

She was right. Being so close to her, Henry's skin was getting scorched. His clothes were already getting reduced to cinders.

"I'm doing this to you?" Yelena asked. She almost didn't sound sure. Like she was refusing to believe she was capable of such uncontrollable destructive magic.

"It's alright," Henry told her.

"No, it's not," Yelena let out in a choked-up voice,

"You should get away. I'll burn you if you don't."

"I'm fine," Henry insisted with a hard look into her green eyes.

"No, you're not," Yelena said as tears streamed down her face. She raised her other hand now and with both her hands touching his face, she tried to find the nourishing energy she had once been capable of exuding.

But it was gone.

She was no longer immortal and the little Health she now had was falling too fast to be shared and would likely not even keep up with the destruction of his body.

"No, no, no," Yelena let out in despair as she shook her head,

"Henry please, go," she said, "I can't— Argh! I can't stop it!"

[Health: 20]

[Mana: 3200 (Overload)]

Henry said nothing. He just pursed his lips and dropped his eyes to the Vinculum. He clenched and unclenched the item's gem as it pulsed with an almost eager rhythm.

Henry had seen Angus use the item enough times and had investigated the use with <Insight> enough to know what it wanted was another vessel.

Wincing as the tongues of magical, almost hellish flames licked at his body, Henry raised the Vinculum and placed it against his chest. Instantly, the item let out its tentacles and dug into Henry's body creating an instant bond but Henry was far from satisfied.

"That's it?" He asked in a loud voice,

"Come on, I know that's not all you have. Give it here!"

The Vinculum seemed to pause and then it pulsed with even greater intensity as its tentacles dug even deeper into Henry's body to create the level of assimilation Angus once enjoyed.

Turning him from human to Hybrid and granting him the disgusting and ostentatious title of ~Hive King~.

As the item's purple energy thrummed through him, Henry made to get started on stabilizing Yelena's condition when he suddenly felt the Vinculum's 'sense of self' nudging him.

It filled his head with grand dreams of epic proportions. Entire cities and kingdoms and nations— subjugated to 'them'. Allowing 'them' to sit at the very top of the ladder of power with no one to dare oppose them.

'Together,' The Vinculum seemed to say. If Henry was to imagine its tone, he would have likened it to that of a lover and the unnaturalness of it caused his body to tremble.

"What a load of horseshit!" He eventually said and managed a smile despite the situation before he added,

"No offense, Nyx."

"-Why would I be offended?-" the Horse asked, confused.

"You don't really want a partner. You want a tool," Henry said to the Vinculum,

"And I don't really want any of that. Not the way you do it anyway. Your '~Hive~' robs people of their individuality and with Angus steering your power, I saw what you almost did to her (gestures at Yelena) so now shut up and let me use you to fix the mess you made!"

The Vinculum's sense of self shrunk back as though bitten but it made no more nudges. Leaving Henry's mind clear enough to think.

As the wielder of the Vinculum, Henry understood the mechanics of Bond Making well enough. It just came with the job, so to speak. The problem, however, was that any attempt to create a bond between Yelena and the Hadron Mansion was met with a sizzling heat that burnt away the connection and struck him with powerful psychic feedback.

A minute of trials and failures later, Henry was faced with the uncomfortable truth that he was attempting the impossible and that he and Yelena were running out of time for him to come up with a workaround.

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