The Bounty Hunter

Chapter 50: Ghost Town Showdown

January 28th, 2089

The cold wind howled through a frozen ghost town as snow continued to fall from the dark grey clouds in the nighttime sky.  A flash of light shined in the amusement park, one that hadnt even been opened before being abandoned and I crashed down next to some swings in the snow.  I stood up while brushing snow off myself.  

My suit was in tatters and provided no insulation against the biting cold. *Sigh* I casted a spell for warmth as I evaluated my injuries.  Even though I have no idea where I am, its better than getting sent to Elnas intended location.  She was probably aiming for her compound, where I would have been at a complete disadvantage. 

The cost of abandoning my defense for the brief moment it took to disrupt the teleportation was several deep cuts that went all the way to the bone from the wind blades she had shot at me.  After healing those cuts, I quickly climbed up the highest building in my vicinity to observe my surroundings.  On top of that decrepit Ferris wheel I looked around at the old concrete buildings focused on functionality that surrounded me.  I could feel the presence of a poison in the air that attacked every cell of my body.  My physique rebuffed it, but I still casted a filter spell to ward it away. 

Hmm, this place seems like somewhere I know  Theres an abandoned town that seems frozen in an older time with a poison in the air.  I looked around more and saw a dome in the distance that seemed to be confining something.  Ive realized it now that this must be the town of Pripyat. 

Wow, I really did send us off course during the teleportation.  Where did Elna land?  As if she was waiting for me to ask that question, I sensed a massive surge of mana that felt like a summoning spell of some sort.  Shortly after that I heard a whirling sound as I saw an attack helicopter rise above the buildings and soar towards me.  And it was not just any attack helicopter it was a freaking magic vehicle. 

There were countless runes and magic crystals all over it and I could feel the enormous amount of mana flowing within it.  Son of a bitch.  This hybrid of magic and machine flew towards me with Elna in the cockpit.  The missile launchers started blasting away and a salvo of missiles homed in on me.  I would normally dodge these but I had a sneaking suspicion that there was high-level tracking magic within them. 

So I performed an accelerated drop from the Ferris wheel while also conjuring a series of fireballs above me to screen my descent.  It was the right choice as all of the missiles made an impossible 90 degree turn to follow me, but ran into my makeshift flares.  The explosions blew away the Ferris wheel while Elna started up the minigun. 

As soon as I landed I ramped up magic into body reinforcement and sprinted towards the buildings for cover.  Bullets tore up the ground around me and tore me up as well.  This isnt like the movies where one can dodge hundreds of bullets miraculously unscathed.  At least a dozen bullets found their mark before I jumped through a second story window into some cover for a brief respite.  Shit, the bullets must have been magically strengthened else they wouldnt have been able to tear through my reinforced skin so easily. 

I muttered an incantation to reduce the mana cost of my healing as I continued moving.  I have no weapons nor magic artifacts and am completely reliant on magic to fight.  Thus, I have to conserve mana where I can.  Elna literally has me outgunned right now so I have to figure out a plan.  Her magic artifacts are truly ridiculous, how can a few crystals be enough to summon a helicopter from hundreds of miles away?  And how much did she invest in that damn thing? 

Its broadcasting a magic spatial jamming signal to prevent teleportation and I can feel mana pulses pinpointing my location.  The armor seems to be specially reinforced against attack spells and the weapons are likewise enhanced.  *Sigh* This situation looks pretty grim.  But I am not alone. Rin.  I called out and my familiar materialized by my side.  She immediately understood my plan and ran off before Elna noticed her.  If I can survive for the next 10 or so minutes, I can win. 

*BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *BOOOOM* *CRUMBLE* The building I was running in was being blown to pieces as Elna found me.  I sprinted ahead of the crumbling floor and was forced to barrel through a concrete wall to escape.  While I was airborne an additional missile blasted into me.  It was something I expected when I jumped so I had a barrier around me in preparation. 

The impact blew me through several buildings and I only came to a stop after leaving a small canyon in a road.  Is this a damn anime fight scene or what?  I spat out blood as I got up, letting my regeneration fix the minor broken bones and internal injuries I had sustained.  A perk of body reinforcement magic is that it improves everything of the body, including self-regeneration.  9 minutes to go.

 Elnas helicopter made its way over to my crash site and greeted me with further minigun fire.  I used earth magic to create an escape tunnel below me and I continued my frantic avoidance.  8 minutes to go. 

Several missiles flew down the tunnel and forced me to create an exit shaft.  I hopped up while closing the opening behind me.  The earth shuddered for a moment as the missiles exploded underground.  Several green vines emerged from my palm to wrap around the under-mounted minigun and hinder its ability to turn.  That gave me a precious few seconds to dash into another building without getting lit up by gunfire.  7 minutes to go. 

The minigun has broken free from the vines and has proceeded to tear up the apartment complex I am in.  I sprint up the stairs and onto the roof as I lunge forward onto another rooftop.  The structural damage is too much and the apartment building collapses. 6 minutes to go. 

I started hopping from one building to the next as Elna continues to decimate them.  At this point the entire neighborhood is a pile of rubble.  5 minutes to go. 

From my connection with Rin I can tell she is nearly done with preparations on her end.  I made an abrupt about face and charged the helicopter.  The outline of my body blurred and suddenly there were 12 copies including myself charging towards Elna.  7 of my illusory copies were cut down by minigun fire during the approach.  The remaining 4 copies and I scattered to encircle the helicopter.  I started firing off fire-based attack magic which had no effect on the enchanted armor of the helicopter.  But it did cause the snow from all around to melt and then evaporate into large gouts of steam.  4 minutes to go. 

The hot air buffeted the helicopter throwing off the missiles it was firing and allowing me to continue attacking.  A backdrop of explosions occurred behind me as I continued my assault.  3 minutes to go. 

Now this area looks like it is a giant sauna with all the white clouds of steam rising around us.  It has helped with obscuring Elnas aim, but by this point the other copies have been destroyed.  I myself have acquired a variety of bullet holes across my body.  This must be what Swiss cheese feels like.  Suddenly, the clouds were blown away as magic symbols on the attack helicopter lit up.  I could feel Elnas gaze along with the targeting lasers of her gunship.  She was oblivious to the fact that the steam clouds above her were being formed into a large magic circle.  2 minutes to go. 

Rin has done her part and reappeared on a rooftop near the helicopter.  She leapt above the helicopter while expanding to the size of a horse.  She pounced onto the tail trying to bite off the rotor, causing the helicopter to spiral as it was thrown a kilter by the sudden weight increase.  But then the gunship pulsed with magic for a moment and Rin was blown off by a jolt of electricity that traveled along the machine.  Shes alive but out of commission, that lightning attack was quite powerful.  1 minute to go. 

My steam cloud magic circle activated silently as it started working in tandem with the larger magic circle Rin had drawn on the ground while Elna had been attacking me.  There is a start-up phase so I have to survive until they activate.  There were no more buildings nor steam clouds in my vicinity to use as cover as I felt all the weapon systems target me.  Theres no way for me to dodge so I have to commit to defense. 

I abandoned my body reinforcement and gathered all the rubble in the vicinity to create layered walls of metal and stone around myself.  I took advantage of the cold environment to intersperse walls of ice in between them.  I used what remaining mana I could spare to create the usual telekinetic barrier around myself as the roar of the gunship armaments ripped through the air.  My defenses started getting torn to shreds at once. 

Layer after layer was destroyed as missiles and bullets rained down on me.  I continued gritting my teeth and enduring as I was left with only my barrier.  I strengthened the barrier surrounding my vitals to ward off fatal shots as the rest of the bullets tore me up.  It hurts incredibly.  I have a high pain tolerance, but this is something else entirely. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity my trap activated.  Elna finally noticed as the massive magic circle burned into the ground burst into light and the giant magic circle of steam in the sky did the same.  She immediately abandoned her assault to channel all mana into her protective wards as she waited for whatever happened next, leaving a bloody pile on the ground that was me.  I was alive, but barely. 

There was a brief pause as if nothing happened, but I looked into the cockpit to see Elna thrashing about in extreme agony.  She was vomiting while having uncontrollable seizures.  She lost control and the helicopter spun around before crashing into the ground and coming to a stop a little too close to me for comfort.  The cockpit was totaled, leaving her exposed as she continued to convulse from the effects of extremely acute radiation syndrome. 

The magic circles Rin and I had drawn had leached off all the radiation that was present here and concentrated it into Elnas cockpit.  Her helicopter was made of mana resistant materials, not radiation proof ones so it could not protect her.  I made sure to also accelerate her cell division to manifest the symptoms of the radiation poisoning as fast as I could. 

Healing magic glowed around Elna as she instinctively tried to counter the damage but it was too late.  All she managed to do was preserve her consciousness and suppress the symptoms as her body started to fail.  She looked at me who was also powerlessly lying on the ground as my own healing magic worked on my injuries and spoke.  I dare say that the others all gave passionate speeches about saving these two worlds as you watched them die.  Im not like them.  I have no particular desire to save the world. 

I looked at the dying dwarf curiously as I asked So why did you join them?  I have always liked creating magic artifacts you know.  My dream has been to make inventions that improve everyones life.  Yet all those items sat unsold as I was forced to create magic weapons that were designed to end life.  In this world it was more of the same since selling weapons is far more profitable than selling anything else.  I simply wanted to finally live in a world where people are more interested in a new stove than a new sword.  She gave a gasping chuckle as she continued You probably think I am incredibly selfish to want to sacrifice two worlds just for that. 

She gazed at my face to see my reaction before she faded.  Out of all of the justifications I have heard, yours is the one I most sympathize with.  Elna simply gave a small smile at those words before she was gone, leaving me alone here at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.  Its strange how that tragedy from so many years ago turned out to be my salvation in this fight.  Rin limped over to me as I finally had the strength to lift myself up. 

I so want to go to sleep right now, but I have to clean up here.  I dont need anyone from this world to start investigating and possibly finding out about the other world or myself.  Theres no way I can fix all this damage with my meager magic reserves, but Ill do the best that I can.  Rin hopped up to my shoulder and gave an encouraging yip as I started.  I need to get back home fast, my parents were gone for the weekend but will be coming home soon.  With that thought in mind, I started wandering the frozen town in the night.