A carriage emblazoned with a double-headed eagle, the distinct mark of the Sun Wardens, was parked in front of the Alchemy Tower. The lock on the door was busted, the door itself hanging ajar.

  Julian Thorne closed his umbrella, pausing on the steps to listen. The sounds of a struggle echoed from the upper floors of the Alchemy Tower—the distinct thud and bang of a fight in progress.

  This is it.

  Without hesitation, Julian pushed the door open.

  The sounds of the fight grew louder. As Julian moved toward the stairs, a sharp crack and the splintering of wood preceded a body crashing through the stair railing. The figure tumbled down, managing a clumsy roll, and ended up kneeling before Julian as if in supplication. He quickly recovered, leveling a pistol at Julian.

  "Who's there?"

  Even in the dim light, Julian recognized him instantly. The deerstalker hat, the familiar face—it was Sherlock. Julian raised his hands, a wry smile on his face.

  "Should I say 'no need for formalities,' or should I just surrender now?"

  Sherlock, recognizing Julian, visibly bristled. If there were a system for tracking negative emotions, a notification of +1000 would surely be popping up above his head. He rolled his eyes, about to retort, when his expression suddenly shifted. "Get down!"

  BANG!

  A muffled sound erupted, and from the seemingly empty stairwell above, a transparent bullet of compressed air shot out, emitting a high-pitched whine.

  Julian threw himself backward as a thud signaled the projectile's impact, leaving a deep hole in the ground.

  "What the hell?"

  Before Julian could get his bearings, more air bullets rained down from above. Invisible to the naked eye, he could only rely on his hearing and instincts to evade.

  A whoosh of air rushed past him. Julian instinctively dove to the left, then broke into a zigzag sprint, moving like a phantom in the darkness.

  Dirt sprayed upwards as a trail of bullet holes appeared on the ground.

  "There's an invisible guy up there. He's the killer in this case. We underestimated him. He's already taken out two of us."

  Sherlock's face was etched with regret, but he didn't stop moving, firing two shots toward the stairs as he spoke.

  BANG! BANG!

  Wood splinters flew from the stair railing as two new bullet holes appeared. Whether they hit their mark was unclear, but the Alchemy Tower fell silent once more.

  An eerie silence.

  "An invisibility user?"

  Julian's expression turned serious. The Apocalypse game did indeed feature Espers. Esper abilities were either activated by specialized serums or inherited through other bizarre means. Some of these abilities were undoubtedly difficult to deal with.

  But invisibility seemed a bit too overpowered, didn't it?

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Just then, an intense premonition of danger washed over him, raising gooseflesh on his back. Julian's eyes widened, and he instinctively leaned back.

  The air shimmered, and a transparent air bullet materialized behind Julian, hurtling towards him. It grazed his fedora, sending it tumbling to the ground, a neat hole punched through its center.

  Clearly, if he had reacted a fraction of a second slower, his head would have been turned into a fine red mist.

  Sherlock, quick on the uptake, tossed a handful of gray powder at the space behind Julian.

  "Thunder!"

  Instantly, a dark thundercloud formed in the air, miniature lightning bolts flashing within its confines.

  A Meteorologist's trick...

  Julian recalled that Meteorologists could manipulate localized weather conditions, creating advantageous battlefields. They were also proficient in close combat, marksmanship, and spellcasting—essentially, their entire combat style revolved around the weather. In the wilderness, they could accurately predict weather changes, too.

  As the thundercloud gathered, Julian heard the faint sound of footsteps retreating, likely the invisible assailant trying to avoid the impending storm.

  On his skill bar, the icon for [Gun Kata: Lethal Tempo] began to glow faintly.

  Julian felt his mind enter a strange state, an indescribable sensation of having everything under control.

  He abruptly stopped his backward lean, twisted his torso, and an ivory-handled Colt M1873 revolver materialized in his hand, spinning smoothly.

  Gripping the handle, he aimed at a seemingly empty spot and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

  The skill he had been charging up was instantly unleashed.

  Wave Shot!

  Sherlock, standing a short distance behind him, widened his eyes in astonishment. What the hell was that?

  From his perspective, he saw a bullet engulfed in roaring flames erupt from the gun's barrel, the space around the bullet rippling as if torn.

  A muffled groan came from a corner of the open space, accompanied by a spray of blood.

  The outline of a young man wearing a monocle materialized, a look of shock on his face.

  A hit! Sherlock's senses sharpened, and he immediately joined Julian in firing at the revealed figure.

  Crack!

  The young man's figure, struck by the bullets, fractured and shattered like a broken mirror.

  A Mirror Image... Julian thought to himself.

  Moments later, the air vibrated again further away, and a barrage of air bullets flew towards them. Sherlock cursed and rolled out of the way.

  Julian, facing the same onslaught, didn't stop. Instead, he charged forward like a cheetah in another direction!

  "Watch out!" Sherlock shouted. His enhanced senses told him that at least two air bullets were on Julian's trajectory. But he quickly shut his mouth, because as Julian charged, he seemed to see the invisible projectiles, dodging them with fluid grace before aiming and firing at another empty space.

  The icon for [Hot Pursuit] on his skill bar began to flash.

  CLANG!

  A flaming bullet shot out, deflecting mid-air. A metallic shriek followed, as if some heavy object had been knocked aside. A dagger clattered to the ground. Julian took a step back, then pushed off with his right leg, leaping forward while still airborne.

  Behind him, Sherlock's voice, low and resonant, chanted in ancient Faric:

  "Frostbite!"

  A dusting of gray powder spread across the floor, instantly coating it in a thick layer of frost. Two distinct footprints appeared on the frozen surface.

  Julian, still mid-air, raised his right hand without hesitation and fired at the footprints.

  A sharp cry of pain rang out. A figure rolled on the ground, becoming visible once more, but it was no longer human. It was a grotesque creature covered in gray scales.

  Its head was bloated and misshapen, only vaguely resembling a human's. Viscous fluid dripped from its scales. It clutched its wounded side with its left hand and extended its right, muttering in a garbled voice:

  "No, wait, wait, I just want to live..."

  Before it could finish, Julian raised his revolver and coldly pulled the trigger.

  The burning bullet pierced the creature's skull, causing it to explode in a shower of gray brain matter and green slime.

  Julian shook his head, staring at the creature's corpse. "No, you don't."

  In the game, creatures like this had usually lost all semblance of humanity.

  A system notification popped up:

  [You have killed Horvath Guy. You have gained 2800 experience.]

  [B-Rank Quest [The Alchemist Phantom] completed. Reward: 50,000 experience.]

  [You have obtained the rare item: Goethe's Alchemy Manual x1. Claim it?]

  "No." Now wasn't the time.

  After the creature died, Julian bent down and picked up a thick notebook from the floor.

  [Ordinary Item: Horvath's Diary.]

  Julian opened the journal. Sherlock, clutching his injured side, quickly approached and stood behind Julian, reading along with him.