As the first rays of dawn painted the sky, Jack made a quick, discreet trip. To the Cathedral of Prosperity.
The Cathedral was almost empty. It was still very early in the morning after all. However, there were a junior priest sweeping the front yard.
He approached him immediately. "Father! I require a significant quantity of blessed water. For purification rites, of course. My wife and I were haunted by nightmares these days."
Before the young priest replied, he offered a pouch heavy with gold coins. Enough to make the priest's eyes widen. "The purest you have, please."
...
Not long afterward... Jack returned to his workshop. Two weighty jugs of holy water sloshing softly. The crafting resumed.
He made the final, crucial step for crafting. Infusing the specially prepared bullets and grenades with the newly acquired holy water.
Each drop was absorbed. The runes on the munitions glowed faintly with an internal light. By late morning, the table was laden with rows of gleaming Holy Bullets and potent Holy Grenades. Each was a miniature conduit of divine wrath.
He loaded his custom-built Steamrune Shotgun. The weight of it felt familiar and comforting in his hand. A grim smile touched his lips.
Jack straightened. Rolling his shoulders. The air in the workshop hummed with contained power.
"Done!" He declared. A predatory glint entered his eyes. "Let's see how much that rotten pile of corpses likes a taste of the heavens." He was ready.
...
"That was the situation, Love. Do you want to join me fighting against that creature?" Jack asked. He had just explained the situation to Reina.
Reina nodded. Her long black hair swayed as she did that. "You have prepared a way to deal with it, haven't you, Dear?"
"Pretty much." Jack replied. "That thing was weak against holy elements. So... I've prepared holy bullets. And holy grenades. Plenty of them."
He picked up a pair of polished Steamrune Handguns. His backup weapons. And offered them to her. "These are loaded with holy bullets, Love. You'll be on crowd control and flank maneuvers. I'll be the main artillery. No problem, isn't it?"
Reina accepted the handguns. Weighing them in her palms. They felt solid. Heavy with intent. "I can do that." She said. "Anything I need to pay attention in the fight, Dear?"
"That beast only have two active skills. First would be [Miasma Breath]." Jack explained. "A putrid cloud of decay, poison, disease, and curse. But don't worry about it. Your fog control will make that a non-issue. Just blot out its noxious farts."
He paused, then smirked. "Don't worry about me either. My [Mythical Adaptation] shrugs that off easily, so I'm fine."
Reina gave a small, confident smile. "No problem with that, then."
"Good. Its second skill would be [Whispers of the Lost]. It's a sound-base sonic ability. It causes fear, dizziness, confusion. That's where this comes in." Jack pulled out a small, boxy device. Connected to an equally clunky headset.
It was a prototype music player. One of his abandoned engineering projects. He had only managed to record a single song on it. A tune he had played on flute. Not exactly a good piece of music. But, it wasn't off-key, at least.
The device was functional. It worked. Barely. "Put these on your ears. And push this to play. It's not a masterpiece, but it'll scramble the sonic attack signal."
Reina looked at the primitive headset. A hint of curiosity in her eyes. She slipped the headset on. Adjusting the bulky earmuffs. And pressed the play button.
Her eyes widened. "Music, Dear?"
Jack pushed the end button on her music player before answering. "Yeah!" Jack confirmed. "It should be enough to keep your head clear. In case that thing tried to use his [Whispers of the Lost]."
Jack loaded several Holy Grenades into a bandolier for himself. Then handed a pouch of them to Reina. She secured it to her belt with practiced ease.
"Ready, Love?" Jack asked. His Steamrune Shotgun now felt like an extension of his arm.
"Ready, Dear." Reina affirmed. The dual handguns were held steady in her hands.
Jack activated his Nine-Anchor Portal Ring. Chosen anchor: the chamber beneath the Lonestone Noble Cemetery.
The air shimmered. A familiar portal opened in the workshop. Leading straight to the dark chamber beneath the cemetery. He stepped through. Reina was a graceful shadow at his heels.
The chamber was a vast, oppressive space. The air hung thick with the stench of decay. It was dark. But not pitch black. The walls somehow glowed faintly in dull colors.
In the center of the chamber, an enormous form twitched. The Undead Legion Monster.
Its grotesque mass of fused corpses and skeletal fragments quivered. It was a monument to blasphemy. Tens of thousands of stolen dead bodies. Twisted into one abominable entity.
The moment Jack and Reina materialized, the creature sensed them. A low, guttural growl rumbled through the cavern. Shaking dust from the ceiling.
Its myriad eyes on myriad heads were scattered across its body. Like a wild fungal growth. They snapped open. Focusing on the intruders.
With a collective groan from multiple mouths, the Undead Legion Monster surged forward. A lumbering beast of grotesque death.
It moved faster than its bulk suggested. Propelled by an unspeakable malevolence.
"Alright!" Jack muttered. A grim smile was on his face. He lifted his Steamrune Shotgun. "Let's get this party started."
The monster closed the distance. It swung its massive, club-like arm. Formed from hundreds of skeletal limbs. In a wide arc.
Jack didn't flinch. He simply leaped sideways. Evading the attack. The monster's strike slammed into empty air. Sending a gust of foul wind rattling through the chamber.
As he landed from his leap, Jack pressed the trigger of his shotgun repeatedly.
BANG! BANG!
The Steamrune Shotgun roared. A torrent of Holy Bullets slammed into the Undead Legion Monster's chest. The impact was not just kinetic. It was supernatural.
Where the bullets struck, the putrid flesh hissed. Smoked. And shrieked. Chunks of zombie-flesh were disintegrated. Leaving behind glowing, holy-infused voids. Bone splintered. Dissolving into dust.
The monster bellowed. A sound of agony and rage from multiple mouths. As its form visibly diminished in those areas.
Reina moved like a blur. She vanished with a ripple of air. Reappearing several meters behind the creature. Her position gave her a better angle on the monster.
Her twin Steamrune Handguns barked. A rapid-fire symphony of destruction.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each Holy Bullet was a miniature star. Etching fiery paths through the gloom before impacting the monster's flanks.
The creature roared again. Its attention was split between the two relentless attackers.
The monster retaliated. Its grotesque body rippled. And a cloud of sickly green vapor erupted from its multiple mouths. [Miasma Breath]!
The noxious gas spread rapidly. Reeking of rot and grave dust. Visibly corroding the rock walls it touched. Jack, unaffected due to his [Mythical Adaptation], simply walked through it. Continuing his relentless barrage.
Reina, however, met the miasma with her own power. A thicker, purer fog, emanating from her very being. Erupted to meet the monster's gas.
Her supernatural power was formidable. It was acquired as the inheritance from the Cloudfather after all. From a deity.
The two mists clashed. Swirling and battling for dominance. Reina's controlled fog was dense and white. It swallowed the putrid green miasma. Neutralizing its harmful effects before it could spread.
"Nice one, Love!" Jack commented while reloading his shotgun with practiced ease.
The lumbering monstrosity attempted to strike at him. But Jack easily rolled backward to evade.
Jack unclipped a Holy Grenade. He pulled the pin and lobbed it. The grenade spun through the air. A small, radiant orb. It landed with an almost gentle thud at the monster's leg. And...
KABOOM!
The explosion was not made of fire. But of pure, concentrated holy light. It detonated one of the monster's legs. Tearing through its structure.
A miserable scream ripped through the chamber. As an entire section of the creature's lower body was annihilated. Dissolved into nothingness. The monster staggered. Its immense bulk was momentarily off-balance.
As it reeled, the monster unleashed its second unique ability. A wave of faint, desperate whispers filled the subterranean air. Seemingly coming from every direction at once.
[Whispers of the Lost]!
It was a chilling chorus of despair. Designed to shatter the mind. To induce crippling fear and confusion.
Reina's head tilted slightly. Jack watched, anticipating. Her expression remained serene. Her eyes still focused on the monster.
The clunky headset Jack had given her, with its single song, was doing its job. It seemed to be just enough to counter the psychic assault.
The monster's ancient whispers washed over her. Disrupted. Unable to affect her mind. She simply continued firing. Her movements precise and unhindered. Reina was a silent, deadly whirlwind on the battlefield.
Jack grinned. Then, he launched another Holy Grenade. This one aimed for the monster's head. A malformed cluster of screaming skull-faces.
The monster was still disoriented from the previous grenade. And from its release of sonic skill. It barely reacted until the grenade struck it.
KABOOM!
Another surge of holy energy erupted. Vaporizing a significant portion of its head-mass. The creature shrieked. A sound of profound agony and outrage.