My Fate System

Nikolai aimed at the figure instantly, shooting several bullets, which he infused with his mana. They reached the soul as it was a few inches away from Lex.

The bullets didn't kill it or make it dissipate, but it did disturb its presence long enough for Nikolai to pull the Gunmaster back. It gave a shrill scream and grew larger, and its features became more prominent.

"Yo, Souls Mechanic," Nikolai bared its teeth as his crimson eyes glowed eerily in the darkness. "Do you think it's wise for you to fight us as a soul?"

Souls need bodies for a reason, and bodies need souls. Each of them was weak on its own. The ethereal entity in front of them wavered in hesitation.

"Why are you all still..."

"Not possessed?" Nikolai smirked. "Your little plan to possess others annoyed me, so I made sure to pick up every single item that I found. All sixty-six of them."

"You?" The Souls Mechanic's aura turned menacing, and the tension rose in the hall. "You dare stand in the way of my reincarnation? With your puny strength?"

"I think you misunderstand who the predator is here." Nikolai took a step forward as his jaws gaped to reveal his long teeth. His crimson eyes made the Soul Mechanic's soul shiver. "However, someone else needs to take the stage."

Nikolai retracted his aura and took a step back. He turned toward Lex and nodded her way. The Gunmaster loaded her gun as the flame around her eyepatch began leaking out.

"I got this," Lex said before darting forward. She removed her eyepatch, and the flame exploded again, but her eye didn't materialize like before.

"I never thought my vessel would be one holding a Celestial Eye!" The Souls Mechanic laughed heartily with glee. "We are fated to become one!"

"Just shut up." Nikolai fired a bullet embedded with darkness, which went through the soul's head. "You blather too much, second-rate villain."

"Second-rate?" The head reformed itself. "How dare you, I was a member of the greatest pirates ever to exist!"

'He's mad about the second-rate thing?' Nikolai was amused, but he didn't care about the Souls Mechanic's backstory and simply fired again. Lex did the same, and the onslaught began, but the Mechanic didn't stand idly.

The tower rumbled as doors spat out new machines that rushed forward to attack them. Yuxi grabbed her bow and blended into the background, striking at the machines from afar. As for Nikolai, he became Lex's shield.

"I'll hold the machines back as you take care of the mechanic!"

He was behind Lex in an instant and turned to strike the ground. Darkness rose from the ground as if a giant monster opened its maw, blocking the advancement of the machines.

The machines fired their bullets and their energy beams at him, making Nikolai's darkness gets torn apart. However, it was enough to hold back the enemies as Lex fired at the soul.

"Foolish mortal," The Souls Mechanic's soul grew larger as spiritual spears began folding into themselves above his arm. He waved his arm like an ancient god bringing down destruction.

The Celestial Eye saw it all. Lex rolled on the ground and then jumped to the side, the spears missing her by a hairbreadth. She aimed her gun and fired while crouching, disturbing the soul attacking her.

The Souls Mechanic raised both of its hands and gathered his spiritual power. It exploded and struck the ceiling but didn't destroy it. Instead, the tower lit up from the inside as it began to fold into itself, creating a giant gap.

Countless guns appeared on the walls as flying machines began pouring in through the gap. Lex looked at all of them with her Celestial Eye as her grip tightened around the gun.

"Don't underestimate us, mortals," Lex grinned as she aimed her guns. "Sometimes, we might surprise you."

As she said that, a volley of bullets left her muzzle. She took out another gun and began firing as well. Each bullet struck a machine's weak point ­– an essential cord, a loose plate, or a gap between the cogs – and they fell to the ground like one after the other.

"Impossible..." The Souls Mechanic muttered in shock. "Processing this amount of information is beyond your capacity!"

"Test me, bootlicker." Lex licked her lips. Her shoots were unceasing. The soul wavered as its machines fell to the ground., turning toward the rest which Nikolai had taken down using his darkness.

"How..." It tried to understand how these bunch can be so strong. "Each of these machines is at the F-rank. So it shouldn't be...."

"A growing dungeon. If we have found this dungeon in a year, or even less, it would have been an S-rank dungeon." Nikolai grinned. "You can blame the gods for this dogshit luck of yours."

"I won't allow you to destroy my plan!" The Souls Mechanic roared. "Even if it means reincarnating as a machine, I will kill you all." 

He flew toward the biggest machine, which Lex took down and dived straight into it. The machine's eyes lit up as it floated again, the torn wire reconnecting itself. Guns appeared on its shoulders as its mouth gave a hollow laugh. 

"You will die today, mortals. My soul can enhance...." 

"Goddamn, finally." Nikolai took out the vials from his pocket dimension. "It was such a chore to wait for this moment." 

"What are those?" The Souls Mechanic looked at it with disdain. "Don't think that your lame potions can save you!" Its voice came out hoarse as if gear produced it. 

"Let's see about that. Retreat behind me!" Nikolai shouted, and the two girls ran behind him in response. He threw the five vials he had procured from Sergio and slapped the ground to construct a wall of darkness. 

"See you on the other side of oblivion, Souls Mechanic." Nikolai grinned as the vials broke in front of the machine. The ice and fire energy blasted against each other, exploding and destroying everything in its path.