Chapter 91
Motorcycle Mayhem
Zadar led Erin and her group to an area his people had prepared at the outskirts of the town. There most of the people underneath the green kobold’s payroll were waiting for their challengers to appear. Just like Lexton and Zadar had agreed, two motorcycles with sidecars attached to them were awaiting for their riders. There was also a set up of what looked like two large TV screens nearby. What this was for was something that Erin didn’t know.
“Alright then, my good people. May I have your attention?” Zadar spoke up loud enough for all of his gathered underlings to hear, getting their attention. “You all might be wondering, what all these recent preparations have been for. Well, it just so happens that our esteemed guests here want something from us, but unfortunately lack the money needed to buy it. Because of this, they decided to issue a challenge to us, which will be in the form of a motorcycle race.”
There was chuckling and mocking comments among the merchant’s goons. It seemed like it wasn’t just their boss who was confident, but it was also in those who served him as well. Erin and her companions decided not to speak up, as that would only either offer further amusement to their opponents or even cause a fight to break out.
“Yes, I know. It’s honestly quite laughable to think that they actually want to pick a fight with us,” Zadar continued as he let out a chuckle of his own. “However, for the sake of our own amusement, I thought it would be for the best to accept their challenge. It’s not like we’re at a risk of losing anything important anyways, right? Might as well have some fun.”
The caravan leader’s underlings erupted in cheers. They had been looking forward to some entertainment after long days of nothing but driving through the wastelands. A race against some people foolish enough to challenge them was just the thing they needed.
“Anyways, let’s get down to the business itself, shall we?” Zadar asked as he walked up to the motorcycles. “These will be the rides we’ll be using in today’s race. The blue one will be used by the riders representing me, while our opponents will be using the red one.”
“Before you continue any further, may I take a closer look?” Lexton suddenly asked. “I do hope you understand that one should always inspect the equipment they are about to use.”
“By all means,” the green kobold said.
After getting permission to inspect the red motorcycle, Lexton walked up to it and crouched down for a closer look. Dissatisfied murmuring could be heard from Zadar’s people, as they felt like this was simply a waste of time. However, it didn’t take long until the red kobold got up and walked back to his group.
“It seems everything is in working order,” Lexton said. “I do hope you forgive me for being so distrusting. It’s just these days there are a lot of people you shouldn’t trust.”
“Oh, trust me, I know what you’re talking about. I’m just glad everything seemed alright,” Zadar said with a smile. “Anyways, you still have the map I provided you with, right?”
Lexton simply nodded in response, as he took out the map he had shown the others back at the motel.
“Splendid! Now, you might be curious as to what these screens we prepared here are for,” the green kobold said as he motioned to the large TV screens. “You see, in order for us to follow the race properly and to make sure there is no foul play, we have placed cameras on the motorcycles. These screens will be showing us your progress as you ride through the course. Is that alright with you?”
“We already agreed to this, didn’t we?” Lexton asked in return. “I don’t see why you bother asking something you already know the answer to.”
“Oh! Silly me. I guess I forgot,” Zadar said. “Anyways, I think it’s time you get to meet your opponents.”
The green kobold motioned towards a couple of his lackeys, who walked up to Erin’s group. One of the two was a human woman and the other one was a male gnome. Both were dressed up in biker attire and confident smirks on their faces. It didn’t take much for Erin and the others to figure out that they were looking down on their opponents.
image [https://i.ibb.co/ynbhYWJ/Ch-91-Pic-1.jpg]
“Allow me to introduce you to Lania and Debbler. They will be representing me in this race,” Zadar said. “I hope you’ve got some real skill in whoever you chose from your group to represent you, as these are no beginners. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that these two are the best cyclist duo in my whole group and they won’t go down easily.”
“Trust me. We have more than enough here,” Lexton said. “Are we going to start now or is there anything else we need to go through?”
“Just one more thing. Would you mind and leave behind any possible weapons you’ve got?” the green kobold asked. “I’d like to keep this as clean as possible, so no weaponry.”
Erin looked at Lexton, who simply nodded at her. Without offering any complaints, the redhead went to give her sword and other weapons to Durge and Ryle who would be holding onto them until the race was over. Lexton also took out his pistol and handed it to Arkay to keep it safe.
“Hey, I saw that kobold have some weird vials in his jacket!” one of Zadar’s goons yelled from the audience. “I bet those are bombs or something!”
“Mr. Lexton, I’m going to have to ask you to leave such things behind as well,” Zadar asked with a frown. “I’m sure you agree that trying to blow up your opponent isn’t very sportsmanlike.”
“Are you talking about these?” Lexton asked as he opened his jacket, showing the numerous vials lining the inside. “These are nothing but simple energy potions. I tend to stay up late quite often, so one of these gets my energy back up when I need it the most.”
“Is that so? Well, would you mind and giving us one for testing then?” the green kobold asked. “While I don’t like to doubt you, you said it yourself that there are a lot of people these days you shouldn’t trust and I just want to make sure those are what you claim they are.”
As a couple of Zadar’s goons were about to move towards the red kobold to seize one of his vials, he decided to make a suggestion of his own in order to get rid of the doubts.
“I have a much better idea that can get this done far faster,” Lexton said as he took out one of the vials and took off the cork. “How about I simply drink one to show you that there’s nothing to worry about? That way we can get to the race much faster.”
Before Zadar could even reply, the red kobold had downed his drink in one swift go. Upon seeing that there were no negative side effects at all, any notion of the vials being weapons was dismissed.
“Anything else you want to do to waste time?” Lexton asked. “I’m sure your audience would like to get to the action already.”
Zadar looked around and saw that his underlings were beginning to grow impatient. While these people were under his payroll, the green kobold always made sure not to upset them too badly. These weren’t exactly the most law-abiding or clean record individuals he had hired, so there was no telling what they might do if angered too much. With the way they were starting to behave, it was clear that getting the race started was in his best interest at this point.
“Fine. We are done with all the preparations anyways,” Zadar said. “Go and get ready.”
Following the caravan leader’s instructions, Erin and Lexton walked up to the red motorcycle prepared for them. The redhead sat on the bike itself, while the red kobold sat on the sidecar. As they were doing this, the riders representing Zadar got ready on their bike as well.
“Everybody ready?” Zadar asked, looking at the contestants who nodded in response. “Start your engines!”
The motorcycles roared as their engines were started. Erin glanced at the opposing rider, who simply smirked in return.
“...GO!” the green kobold yelled, starting the race.
With the race on, both motorcycles sped past Zadar and into the wasteland outside the town. Due to being much more experienced riders, Laina and Debbler took the lead right at the start. However, it wasn’t a big lead, as Erin and Lexton were trailing close behind.
“Dammit! They already got ahead of us!” Erin cursed.
“Don’t worry. It’s only the start. No one would be crazy enough to predict the outcome of this whole thing just by our current situation,” Lexton said calmly. “Not only that, but I’ve got plenty of tricks of my own at the ready to even things up.”
“What kind of tricks are we talking about here?” the redhead asked, curious as to what the kobold had planned, as he had been so certain over their victory.
“Well, this little thing for example,” Lexton said as he pulled a small device out of his jacket.
“...What is that?” Erin asked, somewhat worried over the answer she would receive.
“It’s a bomb,” the kobold replied nonchalantly, causing the redhead’s eye to go wide from shock. “It was attached to our motorcycle before we got here. I decided to take it off in order to use it later on.”
“But when did you-!? Hang on, you checked the bike and said that you didn’t find anything on it!” Erin said in an accusing tone. “Why did you lie!?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I didn’t want Zadar to know that I knew,” Lexton answered. “Now he will think that he still has his little trump card, which will allow us to have the element of surprise on our side.”
“...How did you even find that thing?” the redhead asked. “Had it been me, I probably wouldn’t have even known where to look. I doubt Zadar just stuck that thing on the side of the bike.”
“Even he isn’t stupid enough to do that,” the kobold replied. “However, trying fool a con artist like me isn’t a smart move, as I knew right away where to look. During the time we went practicing, I took note of every hard to see spot on these things and immediately checked them out. Once I knew where to look, finding and removing the bomb was a piece of cake. It was almost cute that he actually decided to try this.”
“Okay, so you knew about the places to look for, but how did you know Zadar would do this?” Erin asked. “Also, why would he do this? I don’t see how he could claim his victory was legitimate, if he simply blew us up.”
“He could easily deny having anything to do with it and simply claim that we mishandled the bike, which then caused it to break down,” Lexton explained. “Does this place look like it has a strong justice system? Even if there was someone we could take our complaints to, Zadar would just bribe them.”
“...I’m afraid to ask, but how do you know all this?” the redhead asked.
“That’s simple. I would have done the same in Zadar’s position,” the kobbold replied. “We both might be con artists, but there’s a key difference between us. I’m a professional, while he’s just an amateur. That’s the one thing that will decide this match in our favor.”
“...I’m not sure I like the way you worded that.”
As Erin and Lexton were riding behind their competitors, they entered a valley. While riding through it, Erin couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong, like someone was watching them. She glanced up and saw something moving there.
“Lex, something’s wrong!” the redhead exclaimed. “I think we’re being watched from the top!”
“Oh dear, that amateur couldn’t help himself but get started already, huh? The again, the early bird gets the worm and all that,” the kobold said as he began to look for something hidden in his jacket. “Here. Put this on your face.”
Erin looked at the item Lexton had handed to her and saw that it was a mask of some kind.
“Why are you giving this to me?” the redhead asked.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Lexton replied, as he took out a couple of his vials. “Although, I’d recommend that you hurry or else this will become very uncomfortable for the both of us.”
Without asking any further questions, Erin put the mask on her face. Once she had done so, Lexton put on his own mask and then used a handkerchief to wipe at the lens of the camera a bit. After this was done, he threw the vials he had pulled from his jacket ahead of them.
As soon as the glass vials shattered on the ground, large yellow clouds of gas exploded out of them, covering the entire area. The cloud was so massive that it took them a while until they had ridden through it. Once outside of the gas, Lexton and Erin took off their masks with the redhead giving her partner a puzzled look.
“Lex, what was that about!?” Erin asked. “What was that smoke just now!?”
“Those things you saw moving at the top of the valley were Zadar’s goons. Had I not done something about them, they would have dropped rocks or something else on us,” the kobold explained. “Thanks to the little surprise I had prepared for them, they were unable to do so, as they’ll be too busy trying to stop their bodies from coughing violently. That’s the nasty surprise that gas has on people who happen to breathe it in.”
“But you said your-!” the redhead began to say, only to realize what her partner had done. “Don’t tell me… All that talk about your vials being energy potions was nothing but a lie!?”
“You’re quick to catch on,” Lexton said with a chuckle. “I knew someone would notice me carrying my usual equipment with me. Luckily, all I needed was to put some harmless coloring into some water and I had my “energy potion” ready. There was no way they were going to check all of them, so it was easy to fool the fools.”
“But Zadar said that weapons aren’t allowed!” Erin said. “He’ll see through the camera that you just broke the rules!”
“Oh, sweet Erin. You keep forgetting that you’re talking to a professional con artist here,” the kobold said with a chuckle. “Remember when I was wiping the camera earlier?”
“Yeah. What about it?” the redhead asked.
“Do you really think that I was trying to clean that thing?” Lexton asked in return. “That was a signal to a certain friend of ours.”
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Back at the starting point of the race, the crowd watching the monitors showing the racers was getting impatient. At a certain moment, something had happened to the screens, making it impossible for them to watch what was going on. Some of Zadar’s people were trying their best to figure out what was happening, hoping that they wouldn’t get skinned alive by the upset audience.
“What in the hell is wrong with the monitor!?” Zadar asked furiously. “Didn’t I tell you to make sure the equipment was in perfect condition before setting it up!?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“W-W-We did, sir! We honestly don’t understand what could have caused this!” one of the technicians said nervously, afraid of what his boss might do to him. “We assure you that we are doing our best to figure out what went wrong! We should have this fixed soon!”
“Well, you better make sure to do that! If you don’t, you’re the ones who get to answer to the crowd! Got that!?” the green kobold threatened his underlings.
“Y-Y-YES SIR! WE APOLOGIZE, SIR!” the terrified technician said before quickly getting back to work.
Unknown to Zadar and his underlings, the reason for the screen’s malfunction was not a technical error at all, as it was purely magical. Lexton wiping the lens of the camera had been a sign for Arkay to use his technomancer abilities to start interfering with the screen, this preventing those watching from seeing Lexton use his chemical vials. This had been the part of the plan the kobold had discussed with the cat boy in private.
“I suppose that’s enough,” Arkay muttered to himself, canceling his magic and this allowing the screen to return to normal.
“Oooh. I saw that. A little outside interference, huh?” Zeldana said with a wink aimed at the cat boy. “You’re a naughty little kitty, huh? Nice work.”
“I might not know what that was for, but good work anyways,” Durge said with a chuckle as he gently ruffled Arkay’s hair. “I see that Lex made quite the thorough plan for this whole thing.”
“Not sure what’s going, but I’m happy to hear it’s good!” Ryle said with a grin as she put her arm around Arkay’s shoulders. “Keep up the good work!”
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Back with Erin and Lexton, the pair was finally catching up to their opponents. They were now at a large open area with nothing around them at all. It was pretty much just emptiness surrounding them on all sides.
“Lex, we’re getting closer to them!” Erin exclaimed happily. “Just a bit more and we will be able to get past them!”
“That’s great and all, but I think we have more pressing matters to worry about right now!” Lexton replied as he began to pull more things out of his jacket. “Namely those bandits who seem to be very interested in us for some reason!”
The redhead was about to ask what the kobold was talking about, but she then heard the sound of multiple engines approach them from behind. She looked behind herself and saw a group of bandits coming towards them fast.
“What the-!? Where the hell did they come from!?” Erin asked in shock.
“They were most likely waiting just outside our line of sight, but were probably contacted by Zadar to attack us once we got here,” Lexton replied calmly as he worked on assembling something. “I don’t know if they are actual bandits or just his goons playing dress up, but they are not here to play nicely with us.”
“What are we going to do!?” the redhead asked, before looking at what the kobold was working on. “Also, what are you doing?”
“I’m just building our solution,” Lexton answered. “You’ll see it soon.”
It didn’t take long for the bandits to catch up to Erin and Lexton. They began to move in to surround their prey, when the kobold decided to make his move.
What Lexton had assembled was a small water pistol that he had put one of his vials into. He first moved to wipe away at the camera with his handkerchief again, thus sending a signal to Arkay. He then proceeded to shoot the contents of the vial at the surrounding bandits, who were baffled by the seemingly harmless liquid that was now covering either themselves or their vehicles.
“What was that supposed to be!? You think you can drown us like this or something!?” one of the bandits mocked, causing his companions to start laughing.
“Erin, have you ever heard of the creature known as the Grappling Worm?” Lexton asked calmly as he sat back down.
“Uhhh… Doesn’t ring a bell right now,” the redhead replied. “How is that relevant right now?”
“Grappling Worms are underground beasts that appear in this area. They get their name from grabbing their prey from beneath and dragging them underground,” the kobold explained. “The way they hunt their prey is through a very strong sense of smell. And there are certain odors that they find very enticing.”
“What does that-?” Erin began to ask, only to be cut off by a giant worm coming from underneath one of the bandits and dragging him underground.
The bandits were completely caught by surprise from the sudden attack and couldn’t do anything to prevent the beasts from devouring them one by one.
Erin looked at the one-sided attack in wide-eye shock, before turning her attention back to Lexton.
“...Let me guess, the vial you used had stuff that those worms like?” the redhead asked.
“Bingo,” the kobold answered with a smirk.
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After their encounter with the bandits and the worms, Erin and Lexton were able to catch up to their opponents. Zadar’s riders immediately turned their attention towards their opponents, who had been doing far better than they could have imagined.
“Hey, what the hell is with all that stuff you’ve been using!?” Debbler yelled angrily. “You’re gonna get disqualified for cheating!”
“That’s rich coming from you guys!” Erin yelled back. “Your buddies have been trying to screw us over this whole time!”
“Bullshit! None of the stuff that has happened to you guys has been our fault!” Lania shouted. “We’ve been just as much victims as you have!”
The redhead was going to continue arguing, but a hand on her arm from Lexton stopped her.
“Erin, instead of wasting our voices by yelling at them, why don’t you take us a bit closer?” the kobold asked. “I’d like to discuss something properly with those two.”
Despite being confused by the sudden request, the redhead did as she was asked to and pulled their motorcycle closer towards their competitors. Once they were close enough, Lexton once again wiped at the camera with his handkerchief before standing up in his sidecar.
Before either Lania or Debbler could do anything, Lexton surprised everyone by suddenly jumping over to Debbler’s sidecar. Once he had landed, the kobold proceeded to give the gnome one of the most violent beatings ever.
“OW! STOP IT! STOP IT, YOU JERK!” Debbler screamed as he futilely tried to defend himself from Lexton’s punches. “LANI! HELP ME!”
“Hey, what the hell are you doing to my partner, you little shit!?” Lania shouted as she tried to swipe at the kobold with a backhand, which he avoided. “Hold still, you bastard! I’m going to wring your neck!”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the time for that. Erin?” Lexton called out to the redhead, who pulled closer, allowing him to jump back to their bike and continue on their way. “Well, it has been fun, you two! However, if I were you, I’d give up on this race, that bike and find new employment! I’ll be seeing you two at the finish line later!”
Before Lania could make a retort, Erin sped up, getting past them and taking the leave. The proud biker felt completely humiliated and began to boil with rage. There was no way they would let such an insult go unpunished.
“...To hell with what the boss ordered! We’re killing those two!” Lania said angrily as she began to speed up. “I don’t care what kind of an investment boss sees in that little red bastard! There are just some things that I will never forgive! You with me, Debbler!?”
“Yeah! We gotta kick their asses for sure!” the gnome yelled as he held his bleeding nose. “That jerk took out at least two of my teeth! And I was already missing so many to begin with!”
With their minds made up, the two rode after Erin and Lexton, hoping to earn their revenge against them. However, little did they know that the kobold had left a little surprise for them.
The racers were not getting closer towards the finish line. Some of the spectators began to cheer in anticipation of seeing who the winner would be. This didn’t include Zadar, as he could tell by the screens from the cameras that his riders were losing. Seeing as how he was running out of time and options, he took out a small remote from his pocket.
“I hate that it has come to this, but there’s no other choice. I’d rather skin myself than admit loss to that red asshole!” the green kobold muttered to himself. “Just blame yourselves for picking a fight with me…”
Zadar pressed down on the remote, causing one of the bikes to blow up. Unfortunately for the green kobold, it wasn’t the one he was expecting.
Erin’s lone eye wen t wide upon seeing their opponents suddenly blow up. She slowly turned her gaze towards Lexton, who was completely undisturbed by what had just happened.
“...What did you do and when?” the redhead asked.
“Simple. I just dropped the little gift Zadar had put on our bike on their bike. Seemed it was only appropriate of me to do so,” the kobold replied calmly. “Why do you think I decided to start throwing punches at that bald gnome? I’m not some muscles-for-brains idiot like Ryle.”
“...Remind me to never piss you off,” Erin said. “By the way, don’t you think you were a bit too harsh on those guys? I get that their boss is an obvious scumbag, but they didn’t do anything all that horrible to us.”
“Hey, I gave them a warning, didn’t I? I told them to give up on the race and their bike, but they didn’t listen to me, did they?” Lexton said with a shrug. “Besides, if they have any luck, they’ll survive that blast.”
As one would expect at that point, Erin and Lexton crossed the finish line first. Upon seeing their friends win, the rest of the group began to cheer.
However, there was no cheering within any of Zadar’s underlings, let alone with Zadar himself. They had expected Lania and Debbler to take an easy win, only for them to lose in a humiliating manner. This was not just unbelievable but unacceptable in their eyes.
Zadar stomped over to Erin and Lexton, followed by a few of his goons. Upon seeing him walking towards them, the redhead and the red kobold turned their attention towards him.
“Well, if t isn’t the failure of a businessman himself,” Lexton said with a smirk. “I’d say that I hope you’re not too upset about your loss, but that would be an obvious lie.”
“Enough with the snark, you red bastard! What the hell happened there!?” Zadar asked while pointing an accusing finger at Lexton. “Why did the screens here start messing up at just the right time throughout the race!? And why did the bike of my racers suddenly blow up!?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the red kobold said, feigning ignorance. “After all, I was in the middle of a heated race and away from here. How could I know anything about your equipment failing? I think you just need to get better technicians or something.”
“Well, what about the bike Lania and Debbler was on exploding!? How do you explain that!?” the green kobold asked. “I know you had a hand to play in that!”
“Oh really? And just what proof do you have?” Lexton asked. “From what I could tell, they simply suffered a terrible engine failure or something similar. Not much I can do about that. You should know how important maintaining your equipment is. Then again, I guess that all comes with being a third-rate businessman at best…”
Watching the argument between the two kobolds made Erin feel somewhat awkward and uncomfortable. Lexton was not holding back on the insults at all, which was obviously angering Zadar to no end. This was something the red kobold was enjoying immensely, which you could pick up on from the look on his face. The redhead just hoped that he didn’t go too far and cause more issues for them.
“You cheated! I know you did! Just admit it already!” Zadar accused angrily.
“Oh for the love of… Have you really devolved into this? Making baseless accusations when you don’t get your way?” Lexton asked with a sigh. “Do you even have proof to back up your claims?”
“Well, you obviously put a bomb in my riders’ bike, because when I pressed the button on this, it-!” Zadar said, showing the remote he had, only to put it away upon realizing what a mistake he had made while blinded by his anger.
“And what might that be? Don’t tell me that there was a bomb involved in this race that was detonated with a remote controller,” the red kobold said as he glared at the green kobold. “If so, mind explaining to me just how did you know about it and why it was there in the first place?”
“N-Never mind that!” Zadar quickly said as he threw the remote away. “There were still those weird disturbances with the screens here that happened at specific times! And what about all those vials you had on you!? I’m sure those played a part in your cheating!”
“More baseless accusations… Didn’t I already tell you that I have no idea about what happened with screens here?” Lexton replied with a sigh. “And like I told you at the beginning, these are nothing but energy potions. I tend to work late into the night quite often and need these to pick me up. And since you don’t seem to believe me…”
Without any warning, the red kobold took out one of his vials once again and drank it without any hesitation. Just like at the start of the race, there was no visible effect on him at all.
“So… Was there something else you wanted to accuse me of or are we done here?” Lexton asked with a smirk. “Because I think you owe us some enchantment equipment.”
Zadar was starting to panic now. Not only had all of his tricks failed or backfired, but he had no way to simply pin the fault on his opponent in order to win. Even if he could find a court that he could bribe, he’d need to provide at least the tiniest bit of evidence for them to use in his favor. With nothing in is hands, the green kobold would have to admit his loss.
However, upon realizing his defeat, Zadar decided to resort to the most basic tactic he could in order to turn things in his favor. It was called simple brutal force.
“Alright then, I suppose you did win,” the green kobold said with a smirk. “But so what? How does that matter?”
“What are you saying?” Erin asked with a glare. “Because we won, you have to-”
“Erin, don’t bother. This little turd obviously hasn’t yet learned his lesson, so there’s no need for you to waste your voice on him,” Lexton said with a sigh before turning his attention back to Zadar. “Are you sure about this? If you apologize now and just hold on to your end of the deal, I’ll let this slide. Your choice.”
“Ha! Look at you talk all tough, yet I’m sure you’re pissing your pants already!” the green kobold taunted as his underlings began to get ready to jump Erin and her companions. “You see, this is how I win in the end! It doesn’t matter what might have happened earlier, but as long as I’m the one left standing, no one’s going to complain about it! Now, how about YOU apologize!? Maybe I’ll tell my people to go easy on you!”
“...You’re freaking hopeless, aren’t you?” the red kobold said. “Did you really think that I wouldn’t see you pull some stunt like this? The way I win in the end is simple. I just have to be smarter than my opponent.”
Lexton then gave a look to Durge, who immediately understood what the kobold was saying. This was what he had been asked to stay at the starting point of the race for.
“Hey, Ryle. Can I ask you something?” the orc called out to the blonde. “Are you fast on your feet?”
“Pretty damn fast, if I say so myself,” Ryle replied. “Why?”
“I’m going to make a bit of a mess here,” Durge answered as he took hold of his warhammer. “Use that to get to that green little bastard so we can get out of this.”
The blonde was about to ask what the orc meant by making a mess, but didn’t get the chance, as he pulled out his massive weapon and used swung it with incredible destruction.
It hadn’t yet been revealed to the rest of the group, although Lexton probably had an idea due to his keen eyes, but Durge’s weapon wasn’t just a simple hammer. Instead, it had small rocket boosters built into its head that were activated through the use of ki. This increased the destructive power behind the warhammer so much that any regular user would have their arms torn out of their sockets. However, Durge’s body was made to withstand such force, allowing him to simply decimate is enemies instead.
As multiple Zadar’s goons were crushed by the force of the blow, there was also a large cloud of dust that rose up explosively from the impact. The sudden blindness caused by the dust gave Ryle a chance that she used to full effect, as she sped to Zadar, grabbing the green kobold by the neck.
Once the dust had settled, the gathered goons were about to take out their weapons to kill the ones daring to defy them, only to stop upon seeing their boss at the mercy of Ryle, who was holding him up.
image [https://i.ibb.co/jgvGmHf/Ch-91-Pic-2.jpg]
“Put… me… DOWN!” Zadar managed to choke out while having his neck constricted by a powerful grip. “Who do you think you’re dealing with!?”
“The only kobold I find more irritating than Lexton?” Ryle asked with a raised eyebrow, before tightening her grip. “However, it seems to me like you don’t know who you’re messing with. I’m the person who has you by the throat and can at any moment decide to just end your worthless life by simply tightening her hold a bit more. You get what I’m getting at here?”
“You wouldn’t-” the green kobold began to say, only to be stopped by the grip on his throat tightening even more.
“I’m starting to get annoyed here,” the blonde said with a glare. “You might wanna change your tune pretty soon.”
“O-Okay! Okay! I get it!” Zadar said, desperately trying to save his life. He then motioned towards his underlings to put down their weapons. “What the hell are you idiots waiting for!? Put down your weapons! Put them on the ground! Don’’t give these people any ideas!”
Knowing that their paychecks depended on the green kobold surviving, the hired goons dropped their weapons. This allowed Erin’s group to gather around Zadar and stick together. Once all of them were together, Ryle let go of Zadar, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground. The green kobold coughed as he tried to catch his breath.
“Do you see now? This is the difference between you and me,” Lexton said mockingly to Zadar. “While I do agree with you that helping others simply for sharing characteristics is stupid, I do help those who deserve it. And because of that, I’ve got people with me who don’t simply do things out of money that I can trust. You lost far before any of this even started, loser.”
The green kobold held back his anger, not wanting to get on the wrong end of a choking hand again.
“Now, why don’t you hold your end of the bargain and show us where our prize is?” Lexton asked.
The green kobold proceeded to lead Erin’s group to the place where Lexton’s old RV was being held. Once there, the red kobold entered the vehicle to gather all the equipment he needed. As this was going on, Erin, Ryle and Arkay watched over Zadar in case he tried to do anything. Durge and Zeldana kept their eyes on the green kobold’s thugs that had followed them, ready to respond to any attempts at saving their boss.
It didn’t take long for Lexton to come back from the RV while carrying a large bag on his shoulders. He had decided to take everything that was useful, as an opportunity like this would probably never come again.
“Okay, you guys got your prize, right?” Zadar asked. “Can you let me go, so we can go our separate ways already?”
“Oh, you thought you could just sneak out like nothing happened after all the shit you tried to pull?” Lexton asked with a glare. “Considering how you tried to kill us several times today, I’d say we deserve a little bonus. And since my companions and I are in the need of a new vehicle, how about we take one of yours? You’ve got plenty to spare, after all.”
“Absolutely not! That was not part of the deal!” the green kobold protested.
“Really now?” the red kobold asked. “Mind if I provide a counter argument? Ryle?”
The blonde proceeded to grab Zadar by the throat once again with a very tight grip. The color on his face began to change from the lack of oxygen almost immediately.
“O-On second… thought… That sounds… just swell!” the green kobold managed to say despite the grip on his windpipe.
“Excellent! I knew you’d see things our way!” Lexton said happily. “Now then, how about we take that van over there?”
Thr vehicle the red kobold picked out of the whole lot was a rather large black van. It was spacious enough for their whole group to stay inside in relative comfort. Erin also noticed a small “X” marking drawn on the side of the vehicle, but didn’t mention it.
Once Erin and her group was seated within the van, Lexton turned to Zadar one last time.
“Sorry to leave so suddenly, but unlike you we’ve got work to do. I hope that at least this has served as a learning experience for you. Namely that you’re still a hundred years too early to call yourself a businessman and to even think of messing with the real pros,” the red kobold said mockingly. “Hopefully for your sake we’ll never see each other again!”
With that, Durge pressed down on the gas, allowing them to speed away from Zadar and his goons. For a moment, the green kobold and his underlings simply stood in silence, seething over the humiliation they had just faced.
“...What the hell are you morons waiting for!?” Zadar yelled angrily at his thugs. “AFTER THEM! GO AFTER THEM!”
The goons scurried to their vehicles, hoping to chase after Erin’s group and exacting their revenge on them. Unfortunately for them, none of their vehicles seemed to turn on at all, leaving them in the dust.
Upon realizing this, Zadar screamed in anger at his loss.
----------------------------------------
“I gotta hand it to you, Lex! I’ve seen a lot of crazy people in my life, but I’m sure you’re the craziest one of them all!” Durge said as he drove their new vehicle through the town’s streets. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone pull of such risky moves like you did and actually come out on top!”
“Oh, that was nothing. Simple calculated risks and nothing more,” Lexton replied calmly. “In all honesty, I’m a bit disappointed at how predictable Zadar turned out to be. This whole thing wasn’t even a challenge at all.”
“That sounds great and all, but don’t you think it’s a bit too early for us to celebrate!?” Erin asked. “Any second now, we’re gonna have a small army of angry guys from Zadar’s caravan coming after us!”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” the kobold said nonchalantly. “Like I told you already, that guy was completely predictable and I’ve seen through everything he would do.”
“What do you mean by that?” the redhead asked. “Why shouldn’t we worry about people chasing after us?”
Before Lexton could answer, Ryle came over to the front. The blonde had realized something while looking through the back windows of the van.
“Hey! None of those guys are coming after us!” Ryle shouted excitedly. “I saw them scramble to their cars, but none of them moved!”
“...Okay, what did you do?” Erin asked while looking at Lexton. “I know you had something to do with this, so just tell us.”
“Oh, nothing much. I just tampered with some of their vehicles on the night before the race, while they weren’t looking,” the kobold answered with a smirk. “To make sure that they wouldn’t be able to do much, I also asked Arnie to use some of his technomancer abilities on the rest of them. Of course I made sure that our vehicle was left completely untouched.”
“So that’s why it had that X marking on its side,” the redhead said. “I’m guessing you prepared for all of these things way in advance?”
“Well, after I was provided with the map, I did some research on what we could expect to see out there. After that, it was only a matter of getting the things necessary in my hands, so I could respond correctly to every predictable obstacle we faced,” Lexton explained. “It’s not that difficult once you know what you’re up against.”
“But weren’t you practicing with Erin to ride motorcycles?” Durge asked. “How did you find the time to do all that?”
“If you’re good at handling time and yourself, you can find the time to get things done,” the kobold answered before letting out a yawn. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to do something else…”
“What’s that?” Erin asked, only to not receive any answer. “Lex?”
Upon taking a closer look at the kobold, the redhead realized that he had fallen asleep. It was then that she understood what he meant by handling time and himself. For the last couple of days, he had been sacrificing his own sleep and other free time to prepare for their match with Zadar. Whether it was doing research on the course they raced through, getting the items he needed in order to counter all the things Zadar had prepared for them or sabotaging the vehicles of their opponents, Lexton had done it by pushing himself to the limit. Now his exhaustion and lack of sleep had caught up to him, causing him to fall asleep on the spot.
Knowing how much the kobold had put on the line for their sake brought a smile to Erin’s face. He had truly become an irreplaceable ally that they could be thankful for. He may have acted smug, arrogant and even somewhat hostile from time to time, but it was undeniable that he cared about them deeply and was willing to do whatever it took to keep their group safe.