CHAPTER 50: AMATEUR AERIAL COMBAT

As the platoon shifted past the abundant piles of corpses, they arrived at the front of the caravan. The wind hissed, a sound resembling the screaming of souls. Horrid amounts of abominations sliced and diced, a grinder of meat and flesh.

Hermes observed the scenes and coughed. In the past 15 minutes alone, he had to swallow his own puke multiple times. No matter how much he tried to hide his face, the scent of a million sewers continued to invade his nostrils.

A murky aura continued to resonate across the vast dunes. Turning around, he found Eleanor watching over the deck's rail. Sharpness exuded from her eyes as she scoured through the vast piles of corpses for any survivors. Hermes walked over to her.

"Eleanor, I already used [Sensory-Boost] to see if I can hear any biological signals. You should go back inside and rest."

"..."

"Eleanor?"

"..."

His words fell on deaf ears. Every bit of her attention was consumed by her relentless search. One by one, the vast piles of corpses beneath the hover tanks did little to hint at the possibility of life. Seeing nothing on the left side of the deck, she slowly walked over to the other side to resume her search; her actions resembled a broken marionette, one that ran on simple instructions. For every minute that passed throughout her observations, the slower her pace became.

Noticing her monotonous actions, Hermes sighed. He decided it was best to leave her to her own devices. Suddenly, a voice was projected into his mind.

["Hermes, two flying enemies are heading toward us from our 6 O'clock. Based on their speed, you have approximately three and a half minutes to prepare. Good luck."] The voice channel was immediately closed.

Hearing Lance's declaration, he immediately shifted his attention to Eleanor, who was still scanning for signs of life below the deck. Walking over to her swiftly, he grabbed her hand and dragged her inside. Not once did she show signs of resisting. Then, he called out to all the remaining soldiers on the deck to prepare for battle.

Promptly, he equipped the grappling hook Lance had previously supplied him and began to load his gunblade with cartridges from the belt-fed ammunition attached to his coat. He noticed how much remaining ammo he had and clicked his tongue.

'Only 4 more shots remaining...'

However, that was not his only concern. Since he began his first battle, he had used Magnum Carnage three times. Every usage of this deadly move rattled his bones to their cores. He had already begun to feel the effects it's had on his muscles. He estimated that he could only use the move two to three more times before his arms fully give up.

He decided it was best to leave these thoughts to the back of his mind. There was only a minute left before the enemies arrived. In advance, he activated [Sensory-Boost] to sense their approach more accurately.

Closing his eyes, he could hear the movements of the wind itself, shifting against a force that was directing it off its usual course: the flapping of wings. He mounted his right foot to the floor promptly and grabbed the handle of his gunblade that was strapped to his back. This was the usual stance he would take before initiating an attack.

From the sounds he could hear of their approach, he had already understood that they were both Mutant Devil Wolves. Although his previous encounters with them had ended in success, he knew for a fact how lucky each of those battles were.

When he decapitated that Mutant Devil Wolf when he first entered the battlefield, he had done so using the element of surprise. Using [Augmented-Comprehension], he calculated exactly where the beast would end up during the execution of his deadly move. He had also already understood that the only reason he was able to kill it so swiftly was due to his gunblade being an Ecliptic-tier weapon. Without these factors coming into place perfectly, it would have been impossible for him as a stage 1 Celestial to take down a mutant roughly 3 stages ahead of him.

Sweat began to trickle down his chin. He had no idea how he was going to fend not one, but two of them at the same time. The clock began to tick as the monstrosities of steel and flesh approached in fury, their gaping maws open, inviting anything getting in their way inside.

-Roar!

From the sky, the first Devil Wolf dove at the hover tank. Noticing its approach, Hermes swiftly jumped to the side, dodging its attack. In moments, it flew back up, readying itself for another dive. At the same time, the other abomination circled the platoon from the air, as if waiting for the opportune moment that its sibling will create for it.

After readying its pounce once more, the beast nose-dived headfirst into the tank, however this time, Lance was ready. He had immediately primed the tank's gun barrels at their intended target. With only seconds before the beast completed its attack, sparks of electricity snaked across the tank's plasma cannon, as a large beam of ionized energy rapidly shot forth in its direction.

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In mere moments, the wolf's augmented robotic eyes sensed the incoming attack and dodged. The beam, radiating immense heat, managed to burn a bit of its fur in the process.

Failing at its hunt two times, the Devil Wolf became agitated. It howled into the heavens above. Its sibling noticed how unsuccessful its hunts were, decided it was best to attack from range instead. Opening its gaping maw, a large cannon's barrel emerged. Unlike its predecessors, Hermes could notice how sophisticated the one before him was.

Without giving them any time to process what was about to be unleashed, the technological horror immediately fired off two rockets. Hermes' eyes opened wide. He turned his face in panic to the soldiers on the deck.

"Take cover!"

-Boom!

Large plumes of dust and smoke filled the air. On the tank, Hermes had lost his footing and slipped. His body, fueled by inertia, was propelled against the deck's railing. He had suffered a blunt blow to the head. Seeing this, a soldier next to him spoke with worry.

"Sir, are you alright?"

The words entered Hermes' ears in a disorienting manner. His vision began to spin. Rubbing the back of his head, he tried his best to get up, however his balance was impaired. Suddenly, he was lifted up in a swift manner.

Hermes turned his head to the left. In his vision, he could see August, who was supporting his body with his shoulder. As his senses slowly began to return to him, he began to cough; the smoke and dust had accidentally entered his lungs.

"Cough, August, what's the situation like? Has the tank been hit?"

"No, sir. It seems Frederick was able to dodge it in time. However, those rockets were much different from before."

Hermes nodded in silence as he struggled to stand up on his own. "Cough, cough, yeah... I noticed that those rockets seemed to have heat-seeking capabilities. The way they maneuvered was unnatural."

Suddenly, a loud roar interrupted their conversation. Hermes, who had just briefly recovered his senses, used [Sensory-Boost]. The sound was coming from behind them. Without an ounce of thought, he shoved August away and turned around to face the incoming attack while placing his gunblade in a guard stance.

Like a child being rammed by a semi-truck, Hermes was slammed into by the beast's jaw. He used his gunblade as a shield, lodging it in its mouth as he tried his best to cling on. The beast immediately flew away after finishing its attack, carrying Hermes with it.

Hermes was now in the air, held on for his life as the beast roared with all its might. Every decibel of its screams of terror immediately passed through Hermes' body. It would not take long before his eardrums ruptured. He could feel the heat of its breath. Mist covered his glasses completely as he tried his best to close his nose to the foul smell emanating from within its mouth.

Struggling to dislodge the gunblade from its mouth, the mutated monstrosity began to howl once more. By now, Hermes' ears were ringing heavily as his head spun from the disorienting angles the beast was taking in its unpredictable flight path. Losing its patience, the beast sprung forth the cannon mounted within its gaping maw. It was going to blast Hermes out of the sky at point blank range.

Seeing its actions, Hermes gritted his teeth. "Bastard, two can play at that game!" He immediately pulled the trigger on his gunblade, firing off an explosive shell directly at its upper jaw.

-Boom!

A large explosion sprung from within, leaving a gaping hole from the top of its snout. It began to roar in agony as the force of the attack sent Hermes falling through the sky. During those few moments, he had clung tightly to the gunblade, making sure the impact didn't allow him to lose his weapon.

However, such actions had consequences. As he was falling down the ground, he looked down at his right arm. Every ounce of skin was peeled, as blood dripped excessively from the wound. He had already expected such an outcome. Arthur had warned him of the potential backfire that the gunblade can unleash on the user if an attack was not executed properly.

Through the stinging sensations, he gritted his teeth and held tightly on the gunblade. The adrenaline from the battle had numbed his senses enough for him to ignore the wound. He then aimed his left arm in the direction of the mutant devil wolf. With the attached arm brace, he tightened the grip of his thumb, activating the grappling hook mechanism.

The arrow shot fourth, piercing through the beast's thick hide. Then he reeled the rope in, allowing him to get closer and closer to the beast. Suddenly, his [Sensory-Boost] notified him of something to his left. Turning his head, the reflection of a chasm fitted with colossal teeth aiming to swallow him was seen. His heart sank. Its sibling had decided to attack him at his most vulnerable moment!

There was only one outcome his [Augmented-Comprehension] could think of to escape the approaching danger. He decided it go for it immediately.

Within moments, he held the gunblade with his mangled hand and mounted it horizontally in front of him. Using his stomach for support, he held down at the trigger.

-Boom!

The bullet shot forth. Due to its force, he was able to propel himself backwards, immediately dodging beast's attack. Then he reeled the rope in even more. With the rope shortening, his angular velocity heightened, causing him to swing around the wolf he was attached to. Swiftly, he detached himself from the grappling hook and landed on top of the mutant devil wolf.

The sand blown by the breeze continued to rain down on his skin as he clung to its fur. Climbing the beast, he tried his best to hold on as the sheer force of its wings flapping threatened his grip. Finally, he had reached the top of its head. Without hesitation, he positioned his gunblade over his head and forcefully jammed it vertically into the beast's skull.

He grit his teeth and roared in agony: "Take this, you bastard!"

He immediately clicked the trigger, sending an explosion of gunpowder through its skull.

The beast's howls were cut abruptly as it died from its brain exploding. It began to spin rapidly towards the ground. Blood splatted across Hermes' face as he tried his best to cling on to his gunblade, which was slowly slipping out of the Devil Wolf's head.

-Boom!

Both the abomination of science and biology, and Hermes plummeted into the vast dunes of sand. With the protection of the soft sand as well as his passive-control of cosmic force, he was able to survive the landing with a few broken ribs.

As he struggled to stand up, fluids rushed up his throat. He tried to hold it in, but failed. Wiping his mouth, he looked down at his stomach. The armor plating he was wearing was cracked. Seeing this, he sighed.

'I underestimated how much strength the gunblade's shells hold once again...' His heart continued to race as he panted heavily. While trying to recover himself, a voice was once more projected into his mind.

["Everyone..."]

'Huh? It's not Lance... Mason?!'

["Everyone... Run..."]

End of Chapter