SSS-Knight in a Hero World

As Ferris continued fighting his opponent, he felt his body improving over time. His reaction time slowly increased, and so was his general flow against Evening's new tactics.

If the battle continues as is, his victory is assured.

But there was one thing that worried him.

What the hell is Miss Evening's blessing?

Not once have I seen her reload... Ferris noticed that fact. He imagined that her blessing was simply one that allowed her to shoot many times, but that seemed too boring.

Regardless, he still needed to watch out for anything.

I can comfortably block or dodge bullets, as long as I can predict them beforehand.

For now, Ferris stopped behind cover, forcing himself to analyze of the situation.

A quick glance toward the chaos where Judas had been showed the villains tearing into each other, their forces were now split in two.

The brawl had spilled back into the pool party section, the most open ground in the waterpark.

But Judas himself—there was no sign of his original body, but given that the villain's were still acting up, Judas must've been alive in there somewhere.

Ferris clenched his teeth. What the hell even is his blessing?

Ferris thought about Zipperman and his connection to Judas, but he couldn't come up with any potential answers given his situation.

They're really going at it... Ferris was awestruck by the displays of various blessings clashing against each other like a colorful mess.

But while watching, his vision was suddenly blocked by a huge blast wave from where the villains were. It was most likely an explosive related blessing that went out of control.

The shockwave created was strong enough to flip various food trucks over, and it also kicked off a lot of dust.

There wasn't a need to worry about Judas. Ferris placed his trust that he'll live.

What was important was that the dust around him could hide him from Evening's gun sights, giving him an opportunity to get closer under the cover of dust.

Without waiting, Ferris was already on his way to where he thought the end was.

I'm better at sensing than her, she won't see me coming—

Before Ferris could finish his thought, he saw a streak of light coming to his face.

Clang!

Ferris barely blocked and dodged in time. He heard the bullet whizz by loudly beside his ears.

Another one followed that shot, half a second later.

This time, Ferris was ready to dodge it. He placed his sword in the way of the bullet and reinforced it with his sword essence.

I didn't expect her to see through the dust, maybe I should—

"!!!"

Ferris observed the bullet's trajectory. He was expecting a straight path that befitted the nature of a bullet, but what he did not expect was that the bullet would simply move around his sword mid-flight.

Again, he just barely dodged it by twisting his body. The bullet grazed the side of his chest, near his armpit. If he was a microsecond too late, then his lungs would've been punctured right then and there.

A blessing that allows projectiles to track enemies!

That might've been it.

Ferris ran the opposite direction and hid behind cover again, placing his back on the cover so he could only focus on one direction.

Fighting in a battlefield with many obstacles was now becoming a bad idea. If Evening could manually direct her bullets, she could use the various covers as a veil to hide her true trajectory.

Beside him, above him, or even through a small slit in the cover, Ferris was vulnerable all around.

An open area... Ferris looked at the chaotic battlefield of villains. Despite the large explosion, they were still fighting like rabid dogs.

If it was an open area, at least Ferris could track the bullets—better than second-guessing himself every step of the way.

That's the choice then! He poured essence into his legs and bolted toward the pool party.

Strangely, most of the villains paid him no mind, they were still tearing into one another.

Ferris's instincts flared, and he glanced back over his shoulder, half-expecting to find Miss Evening's barrel already aimed on his back.

He found his hunches to be true as his eyes caught a strange bullet leaving a golden trail in the sky. It ascended upwards and descended down to his position like a meteor.

Placing his footwork into that of a sturdy stance, he prepared to block the bullet by any means necessary.

With his heightened senses, even a bullet going down on him felt a little slow, so he waited until it was nearly upon him.

But before he could channel his sword essence, a villain suddenly leapt in front of him taking the bullet square in the chest, like a bodyguard protecting the president.

What the—? Ferris froze, stunned.

That split second of distraction cost him. He didn't catch the follow-up shot streaking toward his ribs.

Splat.

Another villain intercepted it, their head bursting apart as they collapsed at his feet.

Then… two more villain scrubs shuffled into position at Ferris's flanks.

The one thing Ferris noticed about them was their shivering bodies, quaking eyes, and almost foaming mouths.

He could feel extreme emotional terror from the two, as if they were aware of what they were doing, and what happened to the other villains.

Oh right... Judas is... controlling them? Ferris thought happily, though he was a bit unnerved by the villains' presence, it felt as if they became slaves under Judas's command.

It's been so long since I've had a good battle brother... Ferris appreciated the help. After the battle, he now had a lot of things to ask Judas.

Outside the pool party zone, the dust settled and he saw Miss Evening casually walking down under the large signage.

"How the hell are you doing that, partner?" She laughed manically, rubbing the itch on her head using her gun. "This time, I'll hit you like a turkey!"

Miss Evening placed the barrel of her gun near her mouth and whispered some faint words,

"This bullet will hit Ferris."

After that, she smiled and pointed her gun towards Ferris.

Ferris immediately detected that something was off. Unlike before, where he didn't notice where the bullet came from, right now, he felt a massive gathering of essence.

Although not equal in power, it was similar to that of the aberrant's dragon breath he encountered before.

Noticing the potential danger, several villains suddenly scrambled into formation, lining up in front of Ferris like shields.

Surely, Miss Evening wouldn't waste her bullet on them… right?

Wrong!

The cowgirl was completely unfazed. In fact, she adjusted her aim so that she could hit their abdomens, causing much more of a mess compared to shooting them in the head.

Ferris clenched his jaw. He doubted she could burn through that many bodies before her charge peaked, but the longer he watched that gun hum with power, the more his stomach sank.

Hold on now... that's way beyond the 8th layer!

To properly compare the amount of essence build-up on her gun, it was about the same as a maximized 7th layer user.

So in other words, Ferris wasn't about to let Evening finish casting her spell.

She's too far for an essence blade...

Quickly acting, he stepped aside the line of villains protecting him and prepared his right arm for the worst possible case of injury.

He gripped his sword so much that his skin began to shift and tear under the pressure.

Ferris lowered his stance, shifting his center of gravity as though winding up a baseball throw. Every muscle in his arm screamed as he flooded it with essence far beyond what his flesh was meant to endure.

A fair sacrifice.

In a flash, he launched his sword towards Miss Evening.

With its sheer kinetic energy, it roared through the air like it was like a projectile that a tank would fire.

But with such great energy, it was very difficult for Ferris to throw it accurately.

Despite the force, It only left a fairly deep cut on Evening's shoulder, but it was enough to throw Evening's aim off before she fired her round.

Morning Blast.

Her gun emitted no gun flash or even sound, but rather a brief flash of pure light.

A tiny and golden string of light the length of her body emerged from her revolver.

Despite such a tiny projectile, Ferris could instinctively feel its destructive potential.

It felt like an unstoppable force that seeks its target no matter what was in the way of it. Whatever it be a mountain, or a line of bodies, it wouldn't lose its energy one bit until it hit its target.

Ferris was glad that his attack worked as the shot was now angled to hit above him.

For such an attack with a lot of force behind it, surely redirecting it using her blessing would be impossible.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case—nothing was impossible within the realms of blessings.

The golden string curved downwards, aiming straight at Ferris's face.

There was no way he could dodge such an attack, let alone block it.

At that instant Ferris forgot the knight's creed for a fleeting moment. Fuck...