You don't even want to call me godfather

"Misunderstanding? Stop? Ha..." Clowell laughed at himself and shook his head. "Now that things have come to this, there is nothing more to say... I told you, Koshe, when two tigers fight, one is bound to lose."

Silence, deathly silence, as if there were only two men left on the bridge. They observed each other's postures and movements, and neither of them dared to act rashly.

At this moment, even the sound of gunfire in the distance seemed to gradually become fainter. The two men focused all their attention on each other, waiting for the right opportunity.

"Chirp——"

Above this battlefield that belonged to only two of them, an eagle was circling in the air, letting out an eagle cry.

As the cry faded away, the street lights on the bridge flickered a few times, and then suddenly dimmed completely.

At this moment, Koshe pulled out the dagger from his sleeve and threw it at Clowell.

The black knife was hidden in the darkness and flew towards Clowell's neck. If it were an ordinary person, he might have died from this attack.

But Clowell only turned his head slightly to avoid the deadly dagger. The blade flew past his hair and disappeared into the darkness behind him.

Having fought on the battlefield for many years, he was already used to this kind of insidious tactics. He could even walk through a hail of bullets without getting hit, so a mere flying knife...

"This is a childish attack... What on earth do you think this battle is? Kosh——"

"Bang! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Before Clowell could finish his words, from the top of the bell tower in the distance, accompanied by the reflection of the sniper scope, a bullet with extremely strong penetrating power arrived in front of him with a sound of breaking wind in an instant, piercing his body and shattering one of his collarbones.

There is no doubt that from the beginning to the end, Raphael, with his musket, was not aiming at the executioner on the street, but at Clowell on the bridge. Koshe never intended to hurt him with the dagger thrown by him. It was just an instruction for Raphael to shoot.

Blood bloomed on Clowell's right shoulder. The sudden attack slowed his movements for a moment.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" And in this moment of pause, Koshe had already raised his pistol and aimed it at him, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

This was probably the most consecutive shots Koshe had ever fired in his life. He aimed at parts of Clowell's body that were not fatal but could deprive him of his ability to move, and kept pulling the trigger without caring about the consumption of bullets.

The shell casings ejected from the gun barrel fell one after another at Koshe's feet. Every time a bullet hit Clowell, he would swing his body backwards with the impact of the bullet, his steps became increasingly unstable, and he stepped back step by step.

"Da da."

Soon, the magazine was emptied, but Koshei didn't seem to have any intention of stopping. He held down the gun body and swung it down. The magazine fell to the ground. The moment it bounced up, Koshei had reloaded the magazine, pulled it back, and loaded it.

But he did not continue to attack, or rather, he was a little afraid to act rashly now.

Even though he had been shot so many times and even though he had retreated countless steps, Clowell still did not fall down. He stood there with his head down, making it difficult to see his condition clearly.

What made Koshei even more unsure was Xila, who had not taken any action. He did not think that Xila would really watch his boss fall in front of him.

Just then, the street lights came on again.

Clowell was standing there in a strange posture, bent over, with the shoulder that was previously shot by Raphael hunched, and his legs bent inward, as if he was hit by Koshe's bullet, but there was no visible wound.

Only the broken collarbone was bleeding, but he did not use his other hand to block the wound, allowing the blood to flow out, and it looked as if he did not even feel the pain.

Is it really that shield-like thing?

An inexplicable sense of crisis emerged in Koshei's heart. He reached his left hand into his coat and grabbed the dagger.

Now Clowell's hand holding the gun is probably unusable, but with the existence of that layer of protective shield, the gun will probably have no effect on him. When it is absolutely necessary, Koshei might try to get close.

Suddenly, Clowell moved.

He straightened his back and raised his head. His hair, which had been combed back, was scattered in front of his forehead, making him look a little disheveled.

Just as Koshe had expected, Clowell could no longer use his right hand, but he raised his left hand, with another gun in his hand. Even though it had been guessed that he would have a backup plan, Koshe had not expected that there would be another gun.

But if you look closely, you will find that the gun is actually Xila's hand cannon. When Clowell pressed down Xila's gun, he took advantage of Koshe's blind spot and put the hand cannon into his sleeve.

The power of this hand cannon cannot be underestimated, you would think so just by looking at its appearance.

Koshe immediately summoned the hound pups, and the black liquid pups emerged from his shadow and climbed up his legs, and Clowell pulled the trigger at the same time.

"boom!"

Chapter 105: Remember in Heart

"boom!"

The deafening sound showed the power of the hand cannon, but its trajectory completely deviated from the angle originally pointed at Koshei and hit the ground nearby.

"This is……"

At this moment, there was a dagger stuck in Clowell's raised arm, and a hound puppy was biting the handle of the knife tightly, using its own weight as a fulcrum to pull the blade out of his arm.

The hound cub spun in the air and landed steadily on the ground. Its black pupils seemed to be looking at Koshei, and its behavior just now made him recognize its identity.

Koshe did not summon the hound cub to attack Clowell. The cub crawled out from Clowell's shadow, stepped on Clowell's back, stepped over his shoulders, bit the dagger, and stabbed it into his arm, thus deflecting the bullet's trajectory.

A hound cub with self-awareness, a hound cub that can use weapons...

"Destiny...?"

Before Kosheido could think about anything, the ground suddenly shook, as if something was trying to drill out of the ground.

"Koshei?"

The vibration was so severe that it made it difficult for the people on the bridge to stand steadily. Kule, who had witnessed the whole process of the two people fighting wits and courage like a fight between gods, felt even more at a loss.

"Chirp——"

Another eagle cry was heard in the sky, but this time it attracted everyone's attention.

Why are there eagles in the airspace over Rutland?

Before Koshei had time to figure out the problem, the vulture that had been circling in the air suddenly flew down and swooped towards the bridge.

When the distance got closer, Koshei and Kuler were able to see how big the eagle was. The vibration of the bridge made it difficult for them to dodge. The vulture flew quickly over their heads and the two were grabbed by the eagle's claws and taken off the ground.

Just as their feet left the ground, a giant snake, or worm, jumped out of the river, causing a shocking splash of water. Its head was like a lamprey, and circles of sharp teeth extended inward from its cylindrical mouth, which was bottomless.

It was exactly the same as the worm in Koshe's dream and the one he had encountered in the wilderness before.

"What on earth happened..." The one who was most confused right now should be Clowell. An eagle flew out of nowhere and captured Koshei, and now he was unable to stand steadily because of the monster in the water. He tried his best to keep his body steady and looked at Xila, "Xila, you——"

At this moment, time seemed to slow down. Before Clowell could finish his words, the last thing that appeared before his eyes was a circle of sharp teeth.

The worm rushed onto the bridge at a speed that was completely inconsistent with its size, swallowed Clowell on the bridge into its stomach in one gulp, and was knocked into the water by Xila.

"Not too late?"

A familiar voice came from above Koshei and Kuler's heads. Koshei raised his head. Although his vision was blocked by the eagle's body, after quick thinking, he associated it with the worm and the vulture, and he also knew the identity of the visitor.

"I didn't expect you to come, Adam."

Koshe didn't know what emotion to express, so he could only sigh.

"Adam?"

Even though Adam did not reveal his appearance, just by hearing his voice, Kuler beside Koshei opened his eyes wide in disbelief.

Hearing Kuler's voice, Adam's body paused. He did not respond, but just fixed his eyes on the giant worm below.

The worm stayed in the air for a moment, and then fell downwards because it had no forward momentum. Its huge body crushed the bridge almost the moment it touched the bridge deck.

The rubble and the seriously injured and dying Iris were falling rapidly and were about to fall into the water.

"Adam!"

Koshe was anxious. If Iris still had a glimmer of hope, if she fell into the river, the flowing water would greatly accelerate the blood loss from the wound.

By then, perhaps even Raphael’s healing abilities will be powerless to save the situation.

Without any extra words, after being reminded by Koshe, Adam placed his hands on both sides of the vulture's head. The eagle's eyes rolled, and then it rushed towards the river like an arrow.

Caught by its sharp claws, Koshei and Kule felt their bodies swinging backwards uncontrollably. The scene in front of them changed in the blink of an eye. In just a moment, they had reached the other side of the river.

"iris!"

As soon as Koshe's feet touched the ground, he suppressed the nausea from the rapid movement and stumbled to check on Iris.

Adam slid down from the vulture's back along the feathers on its body, holding Iris horizontally in his arms.

Koshe anxiously took Iris from Adam, who had already fainted due to blood loss.

"iris!"

He half-knelt on the ground, holding Iris's neck with one hand and her waist with the other, and kept shouting, trying to wake her up.

"..."

"iris!!"

……

so quiet.

I have never experienced such silence.

But this tranquility cannot make people feel at ease.

Iris opened her eyes, and as far as she could see was an endless vegetable garden, and at her feet was a flower bed full of purple irises.

She stood there in a daze. The vegetable garden, the flower bed, everything in front of her was the life she had longed for the most.

But she always felt like something was missing.

A gust of wind blew, blowing up maple leaves all over the sky. The breeze brushed her long hair, bringing a hint of fragrance.

It turned out to be the case.

Am I...already dead?

She had imagined it to be so heroic, but she had never expected it to be such a lonely death.

"Wow--"

While she was in a daze, she heard a sound behind her, like the sound of turning pages of a book.

Iris turned around and saw a woman sitting outside a gorgeous castle, holding a book in her hands and reading it intently.

She wore a pair of glasses and smelled of perfume.

After noticing Iris's gaze, the woman raised her head and met her gaze.

"Mother……"

Iris was stunned. The appearance that only vaguely existed in her childhood memory now appeared so clearly before her eyes.

"Mother?"

Her eyes were slightly narrowed, as if tears were seeping from the corners of her eyes, blurring her vision. She couldn't help but take a step forward, wanting to run towards her mother.

"Snapped."

But the woman closed the book, stood up, and ignoring Iris's reaction, turned and walked towards the open door.

"Wait a minute!" Iris quickly stretched out her hand, chased after her mother, and followed her into the door. "I've always...wanted to talk to you again!"

Inside the house, the woman stopped and turned her head to look at Iris with a serious expression.

"No, there's no time."

She said so.

"Why! Time is clearly already——"

"Dong dong dong."

A knock on the door interrupted Iris' words.

"Because he is calling you," the woman said with a bitter expression, forcing the corners of her mouth to rise, "Go, Sarita."

Looking at her mother and listening to the knock on the door that closed behind her at some point, Iris hesitated.

She knew her mother wanted her to live.

But the reality was too harsh, and it once made her feel suffocated. Life was too hard, so why should she continue to live?

Both her "grandmother" and "mother" lost contact, and her only friend, Destiny, died young. She couldn't understand why...

Why……

From the beginning to the end, the meaning of her existence was given by Koshei, and she always kept it in mind.

But she never found the opportunity to repay him.

And if she died so easily...