Vol. 1 - Ch. 226 - Road Trip (8)

"Holy heavens, It's my first look at an underwater cherry blossom storm, and that was stellar. You could’ve told me I am in a different world and I would’ve blindly believed it.!"

I tried to lighten the mood with my comment, but Viz’s voice cracked as he fumed with anger.

"What nonsense are you talking about?! Those flowery words aren't any help in the situation! You tell me to deal with the situation, nooowww!!"

The source of his anger was the Railgators—they're crocodile type monsters, and their inhabitant was around Lake Eclair—chasing after us. And it wasn't just one or two—their entire swarm was trying to besiege us, jumping at us from every direction possible as we ran down the rural path. It was a literal stampede situation.

Wait, wait, wait. How did we suddenly skip from the soul stirring scene to the maw of the Railgators you ask? Good question. I would like to know too.

Tracing back the details that come to my mind, the order of events went something like this; after learning about Lake Eclair's plum blossoms from the soldiers at the headquarters, we left the place and journeyed to Lake Eclair to witness the absolute thriller of nature.

But we had just been immersed in the scenic view when one of the Railgator swam up to us, opening its massive jaws wide. We narrowly dodged the jaws of death by hair's breadth, extracting ourselves from the immersion of the scenic view. Railgator's hide was pretty tough, so we had to put some effort but we managed to put it down. 

But, just as we were dealing with it, more and more Railgators started crawling out of the lake—two, three at a time. Realizing we couldn’t fight them all, we rushed to the bike and escaped in a panic.

I thought I could scare them off with my wind magic, but apparently, that only angered the Railgators even more. Soon, they started appearing from the mountains and the lake, almost pouring out from every direction. No, seriously. Where in the world were they hiding all this while?

And the thing about wind magic was that it’s not quite compatible against monsters that hunt in groups. This was the conclusion I had reached after the subjugation mission of Dark Wolves.

If I take my guess; maybe these creatures used the mana particles in the air or the released mana to communicate in some way, and disrupting that really ticks them off. That seemed to be a common trait for such monsters... 

Well, so I just had to stop using wind magic, right? However, that's where the problem arose. We were completely surrounded by the Railgators so my wind magic was indispensable to track for opening and make an escape path. I would be shooting at my foot if I stopped at this juncture.

And then, as the wind magic lingered around the area, more and more Railgators appeared out of their hidden spot. It was the re-enactment of the Dark Wolf situation.

So I guess, you could put blame on my head, but that was completely unintentional. And I really tried my best, but it's just that type of thing; inevitable was stopped by no one. 

Yes, to conclude it, I, or anyone else for that matter, weren't at fault here. 

As I told myself firmly, I pointed towards a steep incline on the left side and gave instructions to Viz.

"It's do-or-die moment, Viz. We have to somehow shake them off with the bike. Oh, climb that slope to the left, Viz."

Amidst the escape, I pointed out a direction to Viz. He hurled his gaze in the direction and grimaced. 

"Holy heck, dude. Are you insane? Ain't no way you think it's that easy to get on that slope with two of us riding on the same vehicle!"

"But we're dead either way if we continue to move straight. They have formed a full siege to capture us. Or well, I think it's a prickly situation. Anyway, we atleast need to sort out their number from the right side of the lake to escape."

"What do you mean die?! Aargh, you're asking for the impossible!"

Viz uttered a frantic shout—and although he retorted back, he had a determined expression as he positioned the front wheel on a less bumpy part of the slope. He further twisted the accelerator, making the bike run at full power as it galloped on the slope.

Weaving through the scattered bushes and the gathering Railgators, the bike zigzagged up the pathless incline.

"You knew it was going to happen, right, didn't you?! Hey, confirm this, Allen!"

Hey, hey, can you not slander my good name? 

What do you think reality is? A game with an unlimited lifeline? You would have to be absolutely unhinged to seek threats to find... that... thr...ill?

I shook my head to negate Viz's claim, and had just looked back when my detection took notice of three people. *Hoho?*

"Sheesh, there's nothing escaping from the eyes of great detective Viz... you're right, everything was all according to plan."

◆◆◆

"We’ve reached the end, Boss. According to the client's word, the exit should be around here… Ah, there it is."

Gil cautiously felt the wall with his hand, and found something resembling a handle hidden there.

"Time’s running out, so let’s open it quickly. As for what can be behind it, only god knows."

At the confirmation of Rio, Gil channeled his mana and pulled on the handle. Momentarily, a 'clunk' sound—as if something had come apart—resounded and the hidden revolving door slightly moved while the settled soil fall down.

Gil paused for a moment to confirm the outside situation from the opened crevice, and seeing it was all clear, he carefully turned the door. 

And just as they'd heard, the exit had opened on the belly of a small hill with the breathtaking vista of Lake Eclair. Below their gaze was a rural road continuing toward the south. Of course, they also had heard the path ahead was cut off by debris. 

If everything had followed their original plan, this area would've been devoid of any force, however the entry of the army over the matter should've put more guards around.

"Boss, this way."

Gil and Rio cautiously left the shade of the hidden passageway, and heard the voice of Jin from behind a rock. 

The situation had been unpredictable, and was full of risk, so their team had disposed of one of the three mana vehicles in an abandoned well of forest southwest of Mingua. And to make sure they're not set up, Gin—among the team, he was specialised in ambush and information gathering—had split from their team and had arrived nearby to secure the exit. 

"Never losing on your feet, eh, Gin? But we're not that fortunate, and now have pursuers behind us. Well, after destroying the path on the way, they shouldn't be still coming after us. ...How is the path ahead?"

"The debris slope is quite big, but once we get past those rocks, we should be able to get out on the other side of the disaster site easily. The new carriage we had planned should be the—."

Rio and Jin were just sharing details when the two suddenly fell to the ground behind the boulder. Gil quickly followed suit, suppressing his presence. 

The reaction was due to the gradually approaching sound of the mana vehicle's engine. They'd just hidden themselves when they saw a two-wheeled mana vehicle leaping from below the slope in their blind spot, causing their eyes to widen in surprise.

"W-What am I seeing..."

A shocked murmur escaped from Jin. He had never expected a mana vehicle could run over that slope. It was absolutely mind boggling. 

"So this is... the true meaning of 'Yuglia's Future' huh. What incredible mobility. I want them in our Wings too."

Rio's eyes shone in an excited gleam, like a young man spotting his cool toy.

But their amazement aside, the group of three carefully concealed their presence. Their soul should've been something no one would visit just by sheer coincidence. 

And yet, the mana vehicle continued its dash in the straight line, and stopped just 20 metres in distance from them. They’d require no second hint to know they've been found out. 

The group's eyes trailed at the mana vehicle, and then on the driver—the riders were two young boys, not even adults. 

One of them had wore a mask with a repulsive expression, as if luring you to punch that face, and the jet black mantle of Knight Order draped on his back. 

All of the evidence and their information hinted the masked guy should be Allen Rovenne. 

"Leave behind the mana vehicles and vanish from our sight if you value your life."

Allen Rovenne remarked as soon the mana vehicle stopped. 

'Kukuku,' However Rio just grinned as he came out from the shade of the rock.

"I admire your guts to arrive here with just the two of you. Hmm, you guys are plenty strong, that I gave you. And must be invincible among your peers, eh? But you know... those that die straight in the battlefield aren't weak?"

Rio gave his beloved longsword a shake as he spoke. However Allen ignored his words, and began a countdown, his voice now tinted with annoyance.

"Are you deaf? I said shoo away if you don't wanna die. I will count to three. ...1...2..."

Rio heightened the inner circulation of his mana, and unleashed every ounce of his trained battle intent. 

"And you know, it's the arrogant folks like you who don't even bother understanding where you stand in the battlefield—...and 3."

"Whatever, have a pleasant death. Viz."

After remarking what seemed to be final words, Allen urged Viz who then operated the mana vehicle at full power. The sound of engine resounded in the area and they dashed out of the place within the blink of an eye. 

"...They just escaped... What did they even come for...?"

Gil let out a confused voice. Everything had been so sudden, and meaningless, that it left the trio dumbfounded as they watched them escaping. However that moment of confusion only remained for a second before a shiver ran down their back.

They saw a swarm of Railgators rushing from the direction a steep slope mana vehicle had just appeared. Appearing in the stream, the swarm was like loctus covering every piece of ground they could see, their blue eyes giving a ferocious glint.

And it was in this situation the calmness disappeared from Rio's expression for the first time.

◆◆◆

"Holy shit! That guy at lead is mowing down the jaws of Railgator like nothing! Are all thieves like them......"

In contrast to my astounded remark, Viz just let out a sigh, apparently given up on the whole situation. 

"...Haa. So, what's your next plan?"

"Good question... I really don't want to hover nearby that yikes guy, but let's see, if we can get them to have an opening. We can steal at least one bike. It'd be impossible for us two to carry the three of them either way. I can ride the other, which would give us more edge on mobility, and we should be able to shake off the chase of Railgators as well. Airu-san was right. Why waging our lives on dangerous gamble when they would be soon available to buy."

"......But you put me to stake my lif—......*Sigh* you know what, never mind. ...So, how are you going to throw them off-balance?"

"I noticed Railgator's chase had slowed down when we were on slope. If we can split them up, they wouldn't be able to surround us. And here, if we can somehow lure them near those thieves, and have them distance from the machines, we would be set. And don't you think their population is too much? We would also be doing a service to get them in number. Alright, let's do it."

◆◆◆

Protecting Jin and Gil behind him, Rio was unleashing his might to fend off the stream of Railgators. A several dozen carcasses of Railgators had already piled around him. 

But amidst all of that, Rio was feeling perplexed. 

He had been slashing down any Railgator that leaped in his direction, and still, somehow the swarm's aggro was not on them. It was as if there was a bigger offender that had been receiving swarm's hatred. 

And in an attempt to rush toward that 'offender,' the stream had split into left and right. 

Perplexed at the situation, Rio enhanced his hearing via mana to see if he could find any clue, and heard the faint, peculiar noise of mana vehicles from the surrounding area.

"Tsk, that bastard is setting us up... He's probably using something kind of lure bag or what, and is taunting these gators to move in that direction. And... the objective is probably to distance us from the mana vehicles, huh?"

Rio's gaze fell on his subordinate. 

Jin had his shortsword and shield hoisted up, barely resisting the swarm, but the mage Gil was struggling much. 

"Gil, and Jin. Slowly move away from the mana vehicles. We're going to lure them out."

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