"What is this thing?!"
The agent whose leg was caught realized the danger but couldn't mount any effective resistance.
The World Government was vast, with agencies from CP1 to CP9, plus the elite CP0. They had a massive network of agents, but not all were specialized in combat.
The white-suited CP0 agents were undoubtedly the strongest, often called the shield of the Celestial Dragons, but such agents weren't part of this hunting game—at least not in the role of hounds.
These agents were clearly the lowest tier, with combat skills only slightly above Spandam, the ultimate nepotism case, making them the grunts of the agent world.
Though trained in combat and proficient with firearms, loyal to the Celestial Dragons, they were still mere mortals.
Bullying unarmed people was their forte, but facing a real crisis was another story.
"What are you staring at? Hurry up and get this thing off me!!"
The metal petals had already torn into his flesh, and the pain drove him to struggle desperately. But no one dared to help. The purple glow spinning beneath the petals didn't look like anything good.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out from behind the agent. Eratin mercilessly shot the trapped man dead.
"Too much whining. Annoying."
"Saint Eratin, you…"
The remaining agents were startled, wanting to say something but fearing they'd be next. They didn't even dare touch their fallen colleague's body.
After a moment's hesitation, they shrank back.
"Foolish scum, using such crude tools to obstruct my path. I don't care about the one-shot kill points anymore—I'm going to make him suffer!"
In the eyes of a Celestial Dragon, rebellion was an unforgivable sin. Rather than considering what the traps implied, Eratin was more incensed by the attitude, with no intention of turning back.
To him, the lotus was probably just an ordinary bear trap.
Even Ivankov and the others didn't fully understand what was happening. Though one guard was down, it was the Celestial Dragon himself who had done it.
"Oran, it looks like your device failed. What do we do next?"
"Failed? My creations don't make such basic mistakes. Even if it was Jhin, that guy wouldn't mess up. His pursuit of artistry in this field is downright obsessive."
Karthus Jhin, the Virtuoso, saw killing as an art. Oran had once been involved in his capture, and these devices were derived from studying Jhin's confiscated weapons.
These lotus traps were tools Jhin considered essential to his "art." For a deranged "artist" like him, his killing art allowed no errors.
Oran had further enhanced them. After all, he never shied away from learning others' strengths to shore up his own weaknesses.
Especially with external tools—whether Shimmer or Hextech Cores—power itself wasn't inherently good or evil. How it was used was what mattered.
Take the lotus trap that had just been triggered: Oran had extended the fuse for the explosion. If anyone tried to rescue the trapped agent, it would cause even greater devastation.
However, Oran had still underestimated the depths of the Celestial Dragons' depravity.
Boom!
After a considerable delay, the lotus trap detonated as planned, setting off a chain of explosions.
Triggered by stepping, timed detonation, or manual activation—the traps had multiple activation methods. The first lotus's bloom was merely the beginning. Once the position was deemed suitable, the mechanical lotuses in the canyon began blooming one after another.
Purple smoke instantly filled the area, the explosions tearing through flesh, while the anesthetics within the lotuses began to take effect.
"Protect Saint Eratin!"
"Saint Eratin, it's an ambush! Run!"
To capture their target alive, the traps had a reduced amount of explosives and weren't placed too densely. Otherwise, that blast would've wiped them all out.
A few agents remained standing, but they didn't dare flee. If they died here, only they would suffer. If Eratin came to harm, their entire families would pay the price.
But Eratin didn't heed their words. Unlike the Celestial Dragons who wore glass helmets, Eratin preferred a gas mask, which filtered air and protected against harmful gases. By chance, this shielded him from the anesthetics.
Moreover, he wasn't like the typical Celestial Dragon, who was merely a useless aristocrat. Eratin realized this wasn't a tool Kuma used to stop him—it was a premeditated trap.
"Get out of the way! Useless fools, letting these scum get their hands on explosives. The Navy's getting more incompetent by the day!"
Boom!
Before Eratin could finish, another explosion rang out. The agent who had just shouted for Eratin to run was now reduced to his lower half, his upper body seemingly vanished into thin air, with only the lingering bloodstains proving he'd once been whole.
"Damn it… Damn it, how dare they let this scum's filthy blood splatter on me!"
The goggles of his mask were stained red, and anger nearly overwhelmed Eratin's reason. But the attacks didn't stop.
Boom!
Another explosion rocked the ground, leaving a massive crater. The last standing agent by Eratin's side collapsed.
"It's this way, isn't it? Damn scum, just wait!"
The agents' deaths didn't scare him. Eratin drew his weapons—two blades, one in each hand—and charged toward the source of the sound.
At the same time, on a nearby hilltop, a group of people stared at Oran in stunned silence.
"What's wrong? Never seen a sniper before? Why use a sword when a gun can solve the problem?"
Regardless of why those agents served the Celestial Dragons, the moment they set foot on this island and aided their atrocities, they were no different from the Celestial Dragons themselves. Oran showed no mercy.
"No… this thing… you call it a gun?"
The technology on these seas was oddly skewed. Flintlock pistols firing round bullets were a mainstream weapon.
While there were plenty of self-proclaimed snipers, their skill relied on marksmanship, not equipment. Scopes were rare on the high seas.
Looking at the massive weapon on Oran's shoulder, with a barrel as thick as a fist, Ivankov couldn't equate it with sniping.
"Single-shot, one-hit kill. Of course it's a sniper."
"What kind of bad joke is this, Oran? Watch out!!"
"Found you, you sneaky bastard!"
As he spoke, Eratin burst through the smoke in the canyon below, his blades glinting coldly. Without hesitation, he slashed at Oran.
In Eratin's mind, someone who relied on shooting from a distance must be weak in close combat. If he could get close, he could easily capture Oran and make him experience the wrath of a Celestial Dragon.
Faced with this unexpected development, Ivankov and the others moved to help, but they saw Eratin's weapons halted firmly in midair.
At some point, Oran had drawn two blades of his own.
"You guys got one more thing wrong. I never said I couldn't use a sword."