265 Chapter 265 – Shots
'Is it a Specter or a human?' Nick thought.
'Is it one of Envy's servants? If so, I have to escape immediately!'
Luckily, nothing had happened yet.
Another lucky thing was that Nick always walked around with all of his weapons.
By now, Nick's strength had become so powerful that he could throw his heavy spears like they were sticks.
Nick smoothly took out one of his spears and held it in his hands.
'No one has attacked me yet,' Nick thought as he covertly glanced around his backyard.
Slowly, Nick started to walk around one of the big piles of rusty metal.
Silence.
The entire backyard was silent, except for the sound of Nick's steps.
When Nick walked to the other side of the heap of metal, his ability still hadn't deactivated.
'They're not looking at me from above. The walls are behind me. The floor is closed with no openings. That means that they are seeing me through the heap of metal.'
'Well, this is as good of a time as any,' Nick thought as he narrowed his eyes.
About two years ago, Nick had decided to wear a uniform with an added red coat that extended up to his knees.
Manufacturers were allowed to produce these kinds of uniforms due to popular demand.
The reason why many Manufacturers wore these kinds of uniforms was the ability to keep weapons and useful trinkets secret.
The uniform naturally also came with an advanced and very practical toolbelt.
Nick covertly moved his free hand to the back of his pants, his body slowly getting filled with adrenaline.
Crk.
Nick heard the extremely subtle sound of leather boots slightly scraping against steel from the other side of the heap of metal.
Up until now, there hadn't been a single sound, and the chances of one of Nick's attackers slipping up were minuscule.
This meant that the other side was getting agitated.
Most likely, they were about to attack, the thought of which made them subconsciously tighten their grip on their weapons and lower their stance, which produced the sound.
This little sound was enough to tell Nick that his opponent was most likely human, which he hadn't expected.
There was no reason to attack Dark Dream.
The city had no reason to since they could simply disband Dark Dream if they wanted.
Kugelblitz had no interest since Vernon Melfion was standing behind Dark Dream's CEO.
And all the other Manufacturers also wouldn't attack since they didn't want to start beef with Vernon.
Even more, Dark Dream kept to itself and didn't antagonize any of the Manufacturers.
So, why would a human be interested in attacking the Chief Zephyx Extractor of Dark Dream?
Sadly, right now wasn't the right time to think about this.
As soon as Nick heard the sound, he pulled a black ball out from behind his back and threw it at the ground with all of his power.
WHOOOOOOM!
An explosion of smoke consumed Nick and a huge part of his backyard.
A smoke bomb.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Immediately, a barrage of bullets punched through the heaps of iron.
While normal guns wouldn't be able to break through so much iron, these were definitely not normal guns.
Based on their power, these guns were wielded by at least a Mid John.
These kinds of guns used an Extractor's Zephyx as propulsion and sometimes also as ammunition.
The bullets left holes behind in the huge heap of iron, and Nick could tell that the projectiles flying past him had quite a bit of Zephyx on them.
This meant that the person who fired the gun had an ability that allowed them to enchant their bullets.
Another thing Nick noticed was that all the bullets were aimed at a height below Nick's chest, which was strange.
If the goal was to kill Nick, they would want to hit his chest or head.
Yet, the bullets were aiming for Nick's lower abdomen and legs.
'They don't want to kill me?' Nick thought with furrowed brows as he jumped to the side.
Naturally, he had expected to be attacked immediately after he used his smoke bomb, which was why he had already jumped to the side.
'All the fire is coming through the heap of metal, and the Zephyx on the bullets seem similar. That means only one person is shooting at me. Not sure if they are using a rapid-fire gun or just using two guns at the same time, though.'
DING!
One of the bullets was about to hit Nick's leg, but then, a small green forcefield appeared.
Naturally, with his wealth, Nick had bought a far better Barrier than his trashy old one.
This one was perpetually active, and it used a negligible amount of Zephyx to stay ready.
Additionally, the Barrier encompassed his body at a distance of about ten centimeters.
Like this, his Barrier wouldn't waste Zephyx blocking attacks that would have missed Nick.
It was far better than his old one.
Sadly, it was still worlds away from Wyntor's and Ardum's Barriers.
For example, the Barrier didn't cling to his skin perfectly, and it also couldn't reshape itself to redirect attacks or diminish the attacking force.
Naturally, it also didn't have any of the fancy features that Ardum's Barrier had.
When the bullet hit Nick's Barrier, Nick could see the light of his green Barrier taking on a slightly black tone.
'That's the Zephyx on the bullets. Probably some kind of debilitating or poisoning effect,' Nick thought.
'I feel some drain on my Zephyx, but it's manageable. That probably means they are a Late or Peak John.'
'That's someone I can kill.'
'But is the gunner the only attacker, or are there more?' Nick thought.
Finally, Nick landed over five meters to the side, away from the lump of rusty metal.
Yet, when he landed, Nick seemed to collapse into himself.
Nick's body turned into mist, and he rapidly slithered forward, close to the ground.
Right now, Nick was at the northern edge of his backyard, with his house being at the southern edge.
The shots had come from the direction of Nick's house, and Nick was slithering towards the northwestern corner of his backyard.
Step, step!
But then, Nick heard steps coming from in front of him, and by the sounds of things, they were moving towards the place where Nick had just been.
'They're not alone,' Nick thought with narrowed eyes.
This was troublesome.
There could be two, but there could also be 200.