Blood Princess, Kill them All

Gun Salutes

Calaria recognized that although she was skilled in wielding the gatling guns, they were not exactly meant for up-close encounters. The true threat lay in the powerful and high-speed bullets fired from a distance. Thus, Mary, aware of this fact, chose to engage in close-quarters combat.

Leveraging her regenerative power, Mary shrugged off the wounds like they were nothing more than tiny scratches. Cheeks, shoulders, abdomen, legs were getting sliced away, but she charged forward with a fearless grin.

“You monster,” Calaria muttered under her breath, deflecting Mary’s scythe with the barrel of her gun. Then, with a precise aim, she pointed the other barrel straight at Mary.

“Did you really think you could win in close quarters?” Calaria scoffed, opening fire from point-blank range.

“Yes, that’s precisely what I believed!” Mary countered, her confidence unwavering.

Skeletal arms sprouted from her back, latching onto nearby pillars and catapulting her closer. Bullets flew past, wreaking havoc on the surroundings and shattering the second-floor hallway.

Calaria didn’t back down. She relentlessly unleashed a torrent of gatling gunfire, trying to mow her opponent down. But Mary evaded the onslaught by leaping into the air.

Utilizing her enhanced physical abilities and protruding bones from her heels, she kicked off the ground and the ceiling, closing the distance with Calaria with dynamic movements.

Calaria continued her assault, unleashing a storm of bullets from both gatling guns, but Mary’s speed proved too much for her to handle.

As Mary closed in once more, Calaria couldn’t hide her frustration. “Tsk, you’re so darn slippery!”

“You seem to struggle with multitasking—firing and swinging those guns,” Mary remarked.

The scythe’s blade swished dangerously close, but Calaria managed a quick backstep to avoid it. Just when she thought she had dodged the attack, a surprise arm extended from Mary’s back, attempting to grab Calaria.

Thinking on her feet, Calaria used the gatling gun as a makeshift shield, but it wasn’t for defense. It was merely a diversion.

Mary seized the opportunity, snatching her weapon away and hurling it into the distance. Calaria caught a glimpse of the gatling gun crashing into the floor. But she quickly regained her composure, gripping the remaining gun with both hands, and taking aim at Mary.

“Just one left!” Mary declared.

“You’re one troublesome lady.”

Once again, Mary managed to put some distance between herself and Calaria. She glanced to see if Calaria would make a move to retrieve her discarded weapon, but there was no sign of it.

Calaria, holding the remaining gun, took careful aim at Mary. The barrel grew red-hot as bursts of concentrated magical energy shot out from the revolving magitech gun.

Mary continued to evade, buying time and hoping to drain Calaria’s mana and gain the upper hand. However, Calaria’s unwavering demeanor made it clear that relying on that strategy would be a mistake.

How much mana does she even have? She’s not an Arcana user, but her strength feels beyond the Hermit.

From the beginning, the Hermit Arcana excelled in assassinations. Going head-to-head against the overwhelming Death Arcana, their compatibility was the worst. But this situation was something entirely different.

“Don’t think you can keep evading forever!” Calaria remarked, now her controlling one gatling gun, it became more accurate and maneuverable.

Mary attempted her usual aerial approach, darting around with agility, but this time, she couldn’t even get close. As Calaria took aim, she systematically chipped away at the mansion’s pillars while targeting Mary.

“Now that’s a nice spot, Mary.”

“What… the pillars?!”

Just as Mary leaped up, the bottom portion of the pillars crumbled away. They leaned directly toward the spot where Mary was supposed to land. In an instant, Mary instinctively extended the bones on her back, using her sharp claws to hook onto the wall and avoid the collapsing pillars.

“Just as I expected.” Calaria had anticipated her move, and the moment Mary clung to the wall, a barrage of bullets struck her.

Actions taken in moments of panic were easier to predict. Calaria’s combat experience gave her the advantage, and Mary fell right into the trap.

“No way to evade… ugh!” Once again, Mary used her bones as a shield. But this time, there was no cover—she faced the full impact of the high-powered rapid fire, and her bones shattered mercilessly. Countless bullets pierced through her exposed dress, body, and flesh.

“Ugh… aaahhhh!” Amidst the blazing muzzle flash, flesh scattered, blood splattered, and the princess’s agonizing cries echoed. Gradually, Mary’s figure disappeared from view, enveloped by rising smoke.

Calaria ceased her attack. “Did I… finally succeed? There’s no way she could survive being showered with that many bullets.”

However, she remained vigilant. She picked up the discarded gatling gun thrown by Mary and aimed both barrels toward the debris, where Mary should be lying. She cautiously approached to confirm whether Mary was alive or dead.

As she closed about half the distance, the piled-up debris suddenly rose, revealing a silhouette crawling out from within, reminiscent of a resurrecting zombie emerging from its grave.

“…This is why I despise dealing with Arcana users,” Calaria sighed, her voice filled with exasperation.

Mary’s body was ravaged with wounds, drenched in blood, and with flesh exposed in a way that seemed impossible for a human to survive. Watching the wounds slowly regenerate before her eyes, Calaria felt as if she were facing an immortal monster.

“Hey, Fidelis, when did I become an exorcist for evil spirits?”

Mary responded, “It’s unfair to label me as an evil spirit. In terms of wickedness, humans can be far more monstrous, don’t you think?”

“Why don’t you say that while looking in the mirror?”

“You can’t judge solely based on appearances… Even a gentle heart can harbor darkness.”

Simultaneously with those words, Mary’s arms burst apart and transformed. Amidst the debris and blood-soaked dress, what emerged on her right arm was a revolving machine gun made of bones.

“Even the feeling of loving someone!” Mary proclaimed, her left arm also bursting forth, transforming into a grotesque and violent gatling gun. With a demonic twist to her mouth and a sinister smile on her face, she aimed both arm barrels at Calaria.

“Hah… Quite the performer!”

“I had a good role model! Hundred Corpses Gatling Guns!” As Mary’s guns released bone fragments…

“I’ll counter with maximum firepower!” Calaria’s guns simultaneously unleashed a burst of energy.

The gun barrels spun rapidly, continuously firing bullets. Countless magical projectiles collided in mid-air, generating intense sound and light. Amidst this, Mary steadily closed the distance with Calaria, her gatling arms extended forward.

“Kuh… Even with full power like this…”

“If strategic maneuvering won’t lead to victory, then a simple answer is needed—adopt the same tactics and overpower with sheer firepower!”

“That’s foolish reasoning!”

“Hahahaha, but it seems to have worked, Calaria!”

“Don’t address me so casually!”

No matter how much Calaria shouted, the gatling guns remained nothing more than a man-made object. There was no convenient development where they would respond to the user’s intentions and increase their output. The nature of such weapons sacrificed accuracy for the rate of fire. In other words, it was impossible for all the bullets to cancel each other out completely.

As an incalculable number of bullets collided in the air, numerous stray shots grazed the skin of both Mary and Calaria. While Mary quickly regenerated from minor scratches, Calaria had no wounds on her skin. Although her simple maid outfit suffered some damage, her skin remained unblemished.

Mary’s bone bullets possessed enough power to make flesh burst upon contact. However, despite being hit, Calaria not only remained unharmed but also deflected the bullets without sustaining any damage.

The exchange of blows, which seemed far from a human-vs-human confrontation, was nearing its end as Mary closed in. Even Calaria wouldn’t emerge unscathed from being hit by these bullets at point-blank range.

“Hey Calaria, it’s over if I get closer like this, right?”

“Kuh…”

“Calaria, you have that frustrated expression, that pained voice… You seem cornered.”

“Shut up! I… I…!”

“But to me, it looks like you’re just pretending.”

At that moment, something fell from within Calaria’s skirt, catching Mary’s attention. With a swift kick, Calaria sent the rod-shaped object flying towards Mary.

“See, just as I thought,” Mary said, trying to dodge and retreat. However, before she could react, Calaria let go of the gatling guns, half-opening her mouth and closing her eyes, covering her ears.

What is this?

Unbeknownst to Mary, the stun grenade detonated right before her eyes, producing a deafening sound and a blinding flash.

“Nngghh?!” Mary grunted, taken aback by the sudden assault on her senses. She didn’t know how to defend against the overwhelming sound and light. Although the burns caused by the heat quickly regenerated, she lost her hearing and vision.

Meanwhile, Calaria swiftly took advantage of the situation. She retrieved the gatling guns, her hands gripping them firmly as she aimed at the struggling Mary, her face covered. “You can relax. It seems you’re an amateur on the inside.”

And just as she was about to deliver the finishing blow from close range…

“Ugh… Uuu… Ugh, uaaahhhhh!” Suddenly, the ground beneath them surged upward, and bones protruding like the roots of a tree, shattering the stone floor and tearing through the air. A bone whip, with numerous joints, came into view, reaching out like a coiled serpent.

Calaria realized that it was impossible to remain in this place any longer. “She’s going berserk? No… intentional indiscriminate destruction, how tasteless!”

“I can’t deal with this with what I currently have. I have no choice but to retreat for now.” Understanding the danger, Calaria abandoned the gatling guns and swiftly disappeared into the depths of the mansion.