It suddenly dawned on Trip that the watchtower was held up by four wooden logs, forming the legs holding up the entire structure.

Only four wooden logs.

She exchanged her revolver for a pair of single-shot pistols, imbuing them with a yellow glow.

BOOM! CRACK! BOOM! CRACK!

KER-RASSHHHHH!

Two shots rang out, shattering two legs of the watchtower halfway up, sending the detached lower halves crashing to the ground. A groaning, creaking noise could be heard from the other two intact legs of the watchtower. It began to tilt to the side a bit, but not nearly enough.

One of the guards in the watchtower immediately threw out a rope ladder and prepared to climb out, but that only made the watchtower sway even more. The other guards pulled him back in, all piling together to sit on him in their panic.

Crossbow bolts started landing around her, but she ignored them, exchanging her now empty single-shot pistols for the loaded ones at her belt. The red robe was halfway up the watchtower. She narrowed her eyes and focused.

BOOM! CRACK! CRASH!

BOOM!

Trip’s third shot did the same thing to another leg of the watchtower. Just as Trip let off her final shot, a crossbow bolt hit her in the shoulder, causing her to lose focus. The yellow glow around the pistol twisted, forming a large bloom-like shape near the back of the pistol. The pistol itself seemed to ripple for a moment, before exploding. Trip felt a titanic force smash her backwards. It took moments before she landed back on the stage to skid backwards a few feet more. In her hand, bloodied with several deep shrapnel cuts, she held an intact pistol grip. The rest of the pistol was gone, blown up into pieces scattered across the stage before her.

“Mistress!” roared Wukong.

Trip couldn’t spare any attention for her injured hand. All her focus was on the red robe that was already three quarters of the way up the watchtower.

“Bring the tower down!” shouted Trip, pointing at the watchtower still teetering on one leg. One had to applaud the carpenters of Gao village. They really believed in solid construction.

“Bajie! Prepare for ramming speed!”

“Whuh?” said Bajie. “Whaaaaa… Hey! I’ve never gone this fast before!”

Wukong lifted Bajie to his feet then began pushing him in the direction of the watchtower. In a blink, Bajie seemed to gain so much speed, his moving feet only lightly touched the ground every other step or so. In fact, all the forward momentum was being supplied by Wukong. Bajie was the battering ram, and Wukong was the engine.

“Brother Wukong! We’re going to hit we’regoingtohit we’regoing-”

BOOM-KRAKA-KRAKA-CRACK!

Bajie and Wukong crashed into, then through the remaining watchtower leg, sending it and the rest of the watchtower crashing to the ground. Chunks of wood and splinters filled the air.

A pile of broken wood twitched. A reptilian head poked through, followed by a scaled body wearing a tattered red robe. The hybrid had cuts and scratches all over, one arm hanging limply by its side. It glared at Trip.

“Black… hat… Trip!”. It raised its good hand to form a fist, limping towards Trip. A red glow began to form around its fist. Trip sprinted towards the wooden frame, where Gao Lang was still leaning against the back of, gingerly trying to extract the huge crossbow bolt from his leg.

Not a moment too soon. Red bolts of magical force dogged Trip’s steps, blowing up small patches of wooden stage behind her. As she ducked behind cover, those bolts started eating through the layers of wooden stage Wukong had thrown over the wooden frame earlier, one small explosion at a time.

Behind cover, Trip remained calm. Smoothly, almost as though it was another practice session, Trip reloaded two single-shot pistols. By then, the barrage of red force bolts had stopped. Through a hole in her wooden cover, she saw the reptile limping closer, charging up a much larger red ball of force on its tightly clenched, trembling fist.

It was now or never. She slid out of cover with pistols extended. The reptile reacted instantly, flaring its closed fist out into an open palm, the red ball of force expanding into a familiar translucent red shield.

BOOM! BOOM!

At this range, even with an injured hand, Trip had absolute confidence in her shooting. Her first shot cracked the shield. Her second shattered it, blowing a hole in the reptile’s head. It fell over with a thump, dead.

Instead of inspecting the dead hybrid, Trip immediately got back partially behind cover to reload her pistols while maintaining situational awareness. Some time during the commotion caused by the collapsing watchtower, most of the guards had run away, as had the villagers long before that. Only one or two guards were left. They sat, stunned, staring off into space.

Two mounds of wooden chunks moved, Wukong and Bajie popping their heads and shoulders through. Scanning the area for threats and finding none, they made their way back to Trip.

-- Chapter 34, End --