32. The Best Offense is to Attack with Your Defense
The next several minutes were spent trying to figure out the logistics of flying, mainly because Isaac would rather not touch the egg if he didn’t have to (who knew what kind of weird Abyssal curse was on the thing) and also because he didn’t have much faith in Casimir’s ability to not accidentally slam his head into a tunnel wall doing one of his “tricks.” In the end, after much debate, he decided a piggy back was the lesser of many evils. After a final nod at Igor, Casimir flapped his giant wings and set off.
(It occurred to Isaac, as they rose up into the red sky, that Igor still had his hands over his ears. He assumed the man would realize it was no longer necessary after they were gone. Surely he would, right?)
Isaac hadn’t actually flown all that often despite the abundance of flying beings within the Underside. It wasn’t that he was particularly scared of heights; he’d actually dreamed of flying when he was younger.
The problem was that the first experience he had with flight was when he’d first met Casimir all those years ago, and the angel had thought it would be a great idea to give him a tour of the Underside. It wasn’t all too different from right now, Isaac thought, though so far the angel seemed to actually be restraining himself.
They were still going fast, of course. Isaac was pretty sure Casimir would combust if he had to move any slower than, like, the speed of a train. But it was tolerable enough as long as Isaac kept his eyelids firmly shut to avoid the worst of the wind pressure and debris hitting his eyes. That was another thing about flying; it wasn’t nearly as fun to him when he couldn’t actually see his surroundings without risking his vision. He’d always been much more attracted to the sights that came with flying rather than the sensation itself.
Casimir was still holding onto the egg with one arm, and this close to it, Isaac could feel a similar chilly aura exuding from it that marked it clearly as Abyssal. Thankfully, the egg seemed completely unaffected by the speed, and the smoke that drifted around the thing was drawn towards it with a strong enough force to not drift away with the motion.
“Hey, there’s the station!” Isaac heard Casimir say. He opened his eyes a hair and caught a glimpse of the Solonell City subway station in question approaching at high speeds. His gaze shifted warily over to the angel.
“Be careful,” he repeated, more just to be able to say that he’d tried than because he actually thought the angel would listen to him. As if to prove his point, before he’d even finished his sentence, Casimir gave his wings another great flap and shot forward, hurtling through the air.
—
Technically, they didn’t crash.
The thick concrete pillar situated at the edge of the purple line platform came flying towards them with frightening speed, and Casimir, who’d just completed two consecutive barrel rolls and was laughing loud enough to drown out the sound of the wind rushing past Isaac’s ears, didn’t notice it until it was right in front of their faces.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Technically, they didn’t crash because mere moments before the inevitable impact, Casimir raised his hand. Isaac barely had time to process a soft red glow emanating from the center of his palm, then from within the pillar, before the concrete itself split apart. He winced instinctively as the entire pillar came crashing to the ground, leaving a gap for them to fly through, but none of the debris made it to them.
When Isaac opened his eyes, he could just barely make out a faint glowing sphere enveloping them, the same shade of red that the earlier glow had been. There wasn’t a scratch on them, though the same couldn’t be said of the pillar, which was no longer a pillar.
On the tablet that he’d been gripping tightly with both hands, the words [SKILL BARRIER LVL 97] flashed briefly on the screen.
Isaac stared at the shattered remains of the pillar and belatedly realized that Casimir had created a barrier inside the pillar, forcibly wedging the cement apart and resulting in the whole thing shattering, torn open from the inside. It figured that the angel would find a way to make what was by all accounts a defensive skill into such a destructive one.
It also figured that Casimir would choose to fly without his barrier active 99.99% of the time despite having the ability readily available.
“We’re here!” the angel announced, completely ignoring the chunks of cement scattered around the station platform and the clouds of lingering dust rising in the air. He was still carrying the egg, which didn’t look damaged, so that was good at least.
Isaac paced around for a few minutes to get his legs used to the feeling of being on solid ground again. His limbs were a bit more shaky than he would like to admit, but he also felt zero issues with his stomach, which he took as improvement.
Once he felt settled enough, Isaac nodded at the angel. “Okay, let’s hurry up and get this over with.” With luck, they wouldn’t encounter any other purple line creatures while they put the egg back. Even if they couldn’t actually attack them with the system in place, he still wasn’t particularly keen on getting on the bad side of a bunch of eldritch horrors.
Isaac turned to exit the station, but before he could take a step, he was yanked backwards by the collar of his shirt. Stumbling, he glared up at Casimir, who was grinning amusedly.
“Nuh uh, first we’re gonna talk,” he said. Isaac scowled.
“And what exactly do you want to talk about?”
The angel frowned. “Something’s bugging you,” he said bluntly. “And I’m gonna figure out what it is, ‘cause I’m a great friend!”
That was news to Isaac. He’d never agreed to this supposed friendship.
He heaved a long sigh. “Look, there isn’t anything to talk about. I’m just tired because of this charisma stat bullshit.”
“Nah, it’s not that.” Casimir grinned. “You’re super un-self-aware.”
Isaac raised an eyebrow. “You’re one to talk.”
“Excuse you! I’m very self-aware!”
Isaac just shook his head. He could tell by the stubborn tilt of the angel’s wings and the steadiness of his posture that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this conversation, even if he still didn’t know what the fuck the man was talking about. So, begrudgingly, he sighed and gave Casimir a brief overview of the events that had transpired since he’d left the Inferno.