Fading World ( Part 5 )
Jack was led out of the Parliament building in handcuffs , the survivors present looking at him with a mix of fear , apprehension and disdain.
He ignored their baseless murmurs as his eyes met his three friends standing next to the open military van that awaited him.
For a moment he feared that they were also being arrested. If that was the case , then he would have to take on the military and mages in a fight to save them , however limited the power he possessed within the System was.
“ I told your ass to fucking play along ,” Hamilton walked towards him ,“ The government does not have to obey international law like the Mage Association does!”
“ I know,” Jack replied.
“ Then why the fuck would you ….uurghh! You're literally driving me nuts Jack!” Hamilton shouted , losing his temper fast.
Jack looked around and saw a hefty man with a double headed axe swung over his shoulders. The axe’s metal glowed red , a clean give away that he was the warrior mage that had been called in.
His Perception talent immediately went to work , and unlike what happened with Caesar where he couldn’t read anything , he was now able to discern that whatever the man’s ability was , it took a huge toll on his speed and reflexes.
This was an advantage that Jack could exploit when he inevitably initiated his escape plan.
“I still did not get to learn of his abilities . Information about first classes is highly classified,” Hamilton saw Jack looking at the mage .
“ Worry about taking care of the girls , I might be gone for a long time ,” he said , his voice calm and reassuring. What Jack did not know was that he had just foreshadowed his future.
He sneaked a peak at Linzy and could easily tell she was struggling to hold back her tears. Cynthia was not as close to him , but she too felt sad at the unfortunate turn of events.
“ We don’t have all day Hamilton , let the man pass ,” Henry emerged from the Parliament building , this time dressed in full military uniform equipped with all the badges his tenure of service had earned him.
“ I give you my word, Linzy will not come to any harm while I am still here ,” Hamilton swore to Jack as he obeyed his superior.
With those words , Jack felt a burden weighed off his shoulders. Hamilton may have fallen short of many desirable character traits , but one thing was certain. His word was his bond.
The warrior mage had come with his own vehicle , a massive tuned Jeep Wrangler that exuded as much aura as its driver. He threw his massive axe onto the boot and after fastening it with leather belts built into the car ,he got in and started the engine.
“ Didn’t you hear the commander ? Move !” an angry looking female officer with short hair and a muscular build took over from the mages handling Jack and started to lead him into the back of the van. There was a large scar on her face that was hard to miss.
She gave Hamilton a lengthy glance before getting into the van with Jack. Though Hamilton paid her no mind , Jack guessed that he probably had some history with her.
A group of around five soldiers joined the female soldier inside the back of the van and soon after the vehicle hit the road. The warrior mage followed closely , his car’s monster engine eclipsing the sound of the van even for those inside it.
“ Step on it , we have to make sure this man is at headquarters before the sun sets ,” the female officer thundered through the small opening to the driver’s cabin.
“ Yes ma'am!” the driver cried , accelerating the vehicle.
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The more they left the city centre , the more frequent the cries of Wailing Hounds became.
The motorcade had to adjust course a few times to avoid traffic blocks caused by civilian cars carelessly crashing into one another. New portals swelling with monsters had also appeared , rendering the previously marked routes impassable.
Jack thought about the Dread Ghost which during the daytime would be easy to beat. He wondered whether there were other monsters with similar characteristics . It certainly brought up more questions about how the climate and ecosystem of Praiyas looked like to encourage such adaptations.
He decided to take this question up with Aiko later on.
“ I still can’t believe they are dragging us through the mud for an ordinary civilian ,” the same woman continued , this time directing her grievance to the soldier seated next to her.
“ Let’s just get this done with Carol. I have been allowed leave for two days and plan to use it to get my son somewhere safe ,” the man replied. He seemed to be her equal in rank.
Carol sighed , then turned to Jack.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“You’ve been awfully quiet this whole time. Tell me , how do you and Hamilton Brook know each other?”
“Co-workers ,” he curtly answered.
The van took an abrupt turn , throwing everyone who didn’t have a belt on against the vehicle's body work.
“ Dammit Marcus !” Carol yelled at the driver.
“ We are under attack from some wolf-like monsters. They are currently giving chase and can move pretty fast ,” the driver explained as his partner on the other side opened the side window and put his rifle out to start shooting.
“ Bullets have no effect ,” the man shouted after having fired multiple rounds at one of the pursuing Wailing Hounds to no avail. All he had accomplished was to further agitate it.
“ They are coming at us from the surrounding buildings ,” Marcus added as he veered the van to the left , avoiding a hound that had jumped through a window of a first floor building adjacent to the road.
The hound landed furiously on empty tarmac , frustrated at having missed its mark.
Then came the Warrior mage from behind , ramming it with his monster truck that hit like a battering ram. It was thrown to the side where it was crushed by other stampeding hounds that were giving chase.
“Take the left , it leads to the tunnel ,” Carol barked . It was sound judgement , as this would eliminate the threat of buildings .
Marcus obeyed , taking the appropriate turns till the van got into the tunnel.
“ What the fuck , are these monsters coordinating or something ,” Carol cursed as she fastened her seat belt.
Her words instantly brought Jack memories of the ruby that the Dread Ghost had been using to control the hounds .
He put aside that assumption ,remembering how Aiko had mentioned that the bond of Stipulatio had a maximum of three subjects.If they were being controlled , then it was by something else that did not require the bond.
“ Bossman , I think we are in terrible danger ,” Aiko came in.
“ Yes , I can hear Wailing Hounds all around us ,” he answered her.
“ Who are you talking to ?” Carol turned to Jack but the man’s attention was only for Aiko.
“ The hounds are not the threat , Bossman. If they are working intelligently in such large numbers , then a Soul Reaper may be involved ,” Aiko continued.
The blue screen appeared ,
[
System Notification
New Talent installed; Flowing Paradise
]
“ What’s a Soul Reaper ?” Jack asked Aiko , ignoring both Carol and the System.
Before that could be answered , Marcus stepped on the brakes hard and swerved the van to the left wall of the tunnel , bringing it to a swift screeching halt.
“ What the fuck Marcus ?” Carol abandoned Jack .
“ We’re surrounded , Ma’am. And it's worse , there’s people too ,”
“What do you mean people ? Civilians?”
“ Ma’am , I think they’re zombies ,” the man’s voice was shaking.
As if fate had conspired to provide evidence for his claim , a Wailing Hound tore off one of the back doors of the van and as the Warrior mage dealt with it , a zombie leapt over the mage’s head and got inside the van.
Jack had only gotten a short glimpse at the hound , but was able to tell that it looked different from the ones he had encountered before. Its body was skinnier , more bony than muscular. Its head’s skeletal structure was also slightly visible under its scaly skin.
The zombie was humanoid as expected , but with empty eye sockets and shrivelled pale skin with warts all over. A closer look revealed that the eyes were still inside the socket ,but shrank to a dry husk from total dehydration. Its deformity bore an unsettling resemblance to the one that the Wailing Hound had.
Carol was on it in seconds , tearing through its body with a barrage of bullets with her gun. Unlike the Hounds , it had little durability and the weapon easily made short work of it.
It fell off the van , leaving behind a small cloud of grey dust that had been coming out of its husky body instead of blood.
The warrior mage smiled as the Wailing Hounds started to surround him.
He recalled how he had tried to dodge the job of overseeing Jack , thinking it to be a waste of his great abilities. Now with powerful beasts prowling around him as they exuded a ghostly mist , he knew he would never have forgiven himself for passing up such an opportunity to brandish his war axe.
“ Come at me !” he dared them , swinging a thundering uppercut that caved the skull of one ambitious hound that had jumped before the rest.
Jack watched the massive display of power with shock and amazement. The mage had just put down a Wailing Hound in one move.
The rest of the pack , seemingly oblivious to what had happened to one of their own , launched a rapid coordinated attack at the mage. This is where his other ability came to play , the man’s skin was more durable than iron. He tanked the hounds attack’s with relative ease , putting all his focus on swinging and cleaving.
“ Hamilton was right to want to avoid fighting this monster ,” Jack noted , grateful he was not one of the hounds being slaughtered.
Then , as the mage’s axe tore through the throat of a hound , Jack noticed that instead of blood, the same grey dust he had seen on the zombie was the one coming out.
He was sure that Wailing Hounds had blood , the bitter taste of it still lingering on his tongue. The warrior seemed to take note of this too, seeing as to how he paused for a moment before continuing the onslaught.
“You have to release me from these cuffs at once ,” he turned to Carol , sensing that the situation was about to take a grave turn for the worse.
She went for her keys but a call came through her radio before she could pass them to Jack. The call was from the army headquarters.
“ Is this Lieutenant Carol Malik , over”
“Yes ,this is Lieutenant Carol Malik , over” Carol confirmed.
“Lieutenant , the army headquarters has come under attack. Confirm you have received this information , over”
“Yes , yes I have received the information , over”
“Good , stand by for further instructions , over and out.”