The attention turned to Xavier, who was about to enter the truck first. There goes the answer. Daniel pointed at him. “You go on the back.”
Xavier doesn’t sound pleased, but Zhengyu gives him a menacing stare, prompting him to move away from the running board. He leaped up to the truck bed, and everyone else hopped into the truck.
“Wait, can I sit there?” Alyssa asked Zhengyu. Both stood right directly in the front passenger seat.
Gosh! Now is definitely not the time. “I don’t want to hear one bit of arguing who’s sitting at this seat. One gets in here and the other goes in the back!” Daniel tensely blurted, pointing his thumb.
“Temperman, this is bet-”
Daniel holds his index finger up, gesturing to her to be silent. “Uh-uh. Your father and you have mentioned an imagery of war. Upon that, he arrived here and mentioned your home getting ransacked. So, this is an emergency. Save those banters for the next time, and therefore one of you will take the vacant seats immediately!”
Beep! Vroom!
The pickup revved its engine. Daniel raised his eyebrows and tapped the steering wheel with his fingers as if the clock was ticking. Alyssa’s breathing pattern fumed through her nose while Zhengyu just a disappointed head gesture.
“Fine,” Alyssa gruntly replied. She eyed Daniel. “You better let me next time.”
Zhengyu hopped onto the front passenger seat and swiftly closed the door. Daniel pointed to his seatbelt, instructing him to pull it to the seat belt buckle until it gave off one clicky sound. Next, he checked everyone was packed up. Xavier with his back on the backseat window with a flood of luggage beside him.
“Ok, you can get us back right?”
“Yes, I have one more trip before cooldown. Also, pull down the window.”
Daniel pulled the gear stick. Zhengyu poked his forearm out through the window, charging it up from his elbow to the tip of his fingers. A red casting arm brightened the right side of the truck. A jerk to his hand followed by a snap of his fingers, summoned a wide opening ahead.
Vroooom!
The engine rev roared loud as rock and accelerated out from the parking spot, and one counterclockwise motion to the steering wheel. The truck’s rear tires screeched loud enough to reach inside. In between each footwork, he pedaled on the gas and brakes until it regained composure. Finally, a hard thrust initiates a powerful acceleration, jerking everyone back in the opposite direction. Their backs are pressed onto the chair cushions followed by their heads onto the headrest.
The terrifying abnormalities of swirling colored lights zoomed past along the truck as the speed gauge pushed up where the numbers exponentially passed the recorded top speed. Thumping on the brakes or loosening off the gas pedal did not alter the movement one bit. He focused on the rear mirror, seeing Xavier was in place and not affected by the outside altercation.
“Hang on for a few more moments! We are almost at the endpoint,” Zhengyu reminded. “Prepare for the rough part of the show!” Zhengyu tapped on Daniel’s wrist, holding on to the steering wheel.
A black warp ahead expanded, indicating this was it. Daniel rearticulated his foot, pressing on the gas pedal. The gauge quickly dwindled, dropping from the technological limit the truck could calculate to the low two hundred.
They passed through the black warp, hovering over the truck as it sped through followed by a hard uplift like a ramp. A loud bonk on the roof came from behind the seat. “Ow!” Rebecca yelped.
Ooh, we are going for a dive. Daniel’s whole body slanted in the direction the gravity was directing as he eased off the gas pedal, giving the entire view of the world through the windshield. The night, gloomy sky illuminated by the scorching blazes ravaging the town. Zhengyu leaned towards the dashboard, pulling the seatbelt.
“I’ve only been away for ten minutes at most. Darn it all!” Zhengyu berated, pushing down his window.
“What are you doing?!” Daniel yelled, swiveling at him and the front simultaneously.
“Getting attention before it's too late!” He summoned the red bolts at a much higher charge, and Daniel felt the sensation from his arm hair and skin react to the upsurge. “Direct this thing further!”
Offed the brakes and heavily on the gas, lifted the truck upwards, and sped through the mountainous landscape. Daniel observed with his left on his side mirror and below the truck as it hovered into the town’s imaginary borders. Zhengyu’s left still inside the truck, he tapped him again, now directing where to go. First pointing west. Daniel twisted counterclockwise without coming to think how that would be possible.
The truck easily swayed, breaking the laws of physics with this one. That’s not important. He refocused, checking the truck still en route.
“There!” Zhengyu exclaimed, pointing to the front where a trail of white smoke rose high in a pinnacle.
“Gonna be an abrupt dive!” Daniel responded.
“Just do it on my command and it should be fine,” Zhengyu confidently said, turning to Xavier. “Hey! Get a load! We are about to take a drop!”
He went by the count of three. Daniel gripped hard on the steering wheel to the limit, bracing for the gravitational drag.
“Now!”
The truck’s engine stopped revving, and everything went quiet except Zhengyu and Xavier’s activity. Thunderous gusts swarmed as the truck fell through a vertical trail of clouds and the smoke coming from the town.
Alyssa exerted a form of self-defense mechanism when he felt like an encasing wrapping around his arms and other various parts of the body followed by a brief flash of yellow light. A couple more flashes through his peripherals. Daniel turned on the headlights to full blast, penetrating the clouds and smoke.
Approximately still over five thousand feet. He gauged the remaining height now that he could see the town as a reference. The vibration clashing with the steel frame hummed along the way.
“Alright! Punch it!”
Vroom!
Everyone jerked back to their headrest while the truck sped through the remaining smoke in its way.
“Prepare to drop!” Zhengyu exerted, striking the upcoming barrage of firepower from his side.
Oh Christ, firepower from below. Daniel didn't open the window and already felt the fireballs coming right towards the door.
Bang!
An abrupt pound towards the window. Daniel unbuckled his seatbelt, unequipping his scabbard, and shoved it onto the gas pedal.
Alyssa lounged up right next to the driver's seat. “Where the heck are you going?!” She concernedly questioned.
Daniel pulled down his window, intending to climb onto the roof. “Helping your dad is what I'm doing!” He replied while his head peeked out of the truck. He tossed the katana onto the roof. Bracing his arms, he grabbed one of the roof rails and swiftly exerted himself off from inside the truck. Despite the boots, his qi exertion from his feet assisted in his heavyweight, manipulating as if he was just a feather lying on the surface. Immense winds gushed past his face with no intent of relaxing. Thank God for the defense shield.
Zhengyu noticed him approaching the center of the roof. “Kid, get back inside. I'll deal with it.”
Daniel shook his head. “I can't sir. This shit can't be justified as they are attacking my truck. Especially, I need to exert some of my own qi. So please let me offer your assistance.”
Zhengyu decisively accepted and told him to deal with his left and the front. To Daniel, the town sounds odd for such a civilization. Correlating to Earth and at Raal, a town appeared to be the city back home. Once he figured that, he found the landing spot was further than it was supposed to be. It bought him and Zhengyu gracious time.
Picking up his katana, he swiftly slashed on a bursting fireball from behind. They’re freaking humongous for such firepower to be fired from the land.
And another one! He gave a one upward slash, piercing through at ease. However, a trace of the fire lingered on the blade, invading the entire steel in a second. Oh no. This is terrifying. He thought as one breeze of his qi didn't extinguish the flames.
“Look out!” Xavier screamed.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Shit.
Kaboom!
“Well well. A visitor from the outside.”
Daniel realized someone had intercepted the attack. He saw Zhengyu turn around and reacted in surprise.
“Hon?!”
Daniel peeked behind his shoulder before fully turning around. Shoulder-length red hair flowing among the gusty winds. Similar to Alyssa, her cloak was hanging on the back of her shoulder but without the casting of dark stealth. Underneath her cloak was entirely leather armored, wrapped around her body over the black clothing except for the arm and leg joints. She returned a glare in the direction of Zhengyu and next to Daniel.
“You Alyssa’s mother?” Daniel muttered through the gusts.
“And who are you?”
“Related to Alyssa’s business, got caught in a fiasco and now I'm here from Earth.”
“Hmm…alright, and my husband is back. I'll accept it...Where's my daughter?”
Daniel pointed to the roof they stood on. “Inside the vehicle.”
Alyssa’s mother sprayed a downpour of water from her palm to Daniel’s scorching blade. The flame sizzled upon the touch of the water. Huh? He felt dumbfounded, unsure of why his qi ain't effective.
“You're welcome.”
Zhengyu jumped up to the roof too. “Kid, we have around two minutes,” he told Daniel, analyzing the circumstances. He eyed the entire roof and the truck. “I have one idea. I don't think we could land this smoothly as imagined.”
I figured. “You don't mean literally-”
“Darn, you're pretty sharp. Of course, we are.”
Boom!
Daniel backstriked a projectile in a clean cut. Exploded mid-air as it was a second after passing Zhengyu. “Matter of fact, I'm surprised this vehicle could withstand all of this. Logically, it should have dented or totaled to trash.”
“Time to play the game of chances. I'll tell you what…by the time we get very close to the spot all three of us jump.”
“Sounds pretty bizarre but I have no other ideas, so I'll go with it,” Daniel said, sounding a bit reluctant.
The truck further descended, reaching to the lowest of the atmosphere where it was visible from the naked eye at ground level. Gusts instantly calmed, and Alyssa mother’s hair went stiff, appearing like vines hanging tight onto the tree. She pulled her hair back that was blocking her view, and her hair watered from the hairline down to the distal ends. A sizzling sound withdrew the debris and ailments that gave her the dingy look.
I wondered how many times she had to do that from all the piles of firepower. Daniel scratched his head from that thought. He regretted thinking, now that his hair grew an itch.
“The Adlers are here!” Xavier yelled. A series of high-pitched whistles echoed across the entire town. The Adlers resembled an eagle with long beaks and talons. However, underneath the candor-like wings, there were humanoid arms and hands of a greater scale in size compared to humans. Two of them landed on the tailgate, revealing the fibrous humanoid legs with each foot having three toes. Each spread their humongous wings wide enough to cuddle two trucks.
Zhengyu and Alyssa’s mother expressed clear despair at each other, and the two quickly ran to the truck bed, dealing with each of the Adlers on their own as Xavier focused on keeping the truck undeterred from its route.
Caw caw!
An opposite reaction to the loud whistling resonated from the direction of the landing point. The ample noise and flapping sounds reached Daniel's ears before a dark breeze swarmed past him. Crows. He remembered those were the exact same swarms of crows gathered at his driveway when he met Xavier. The crows swarmed under the manipulation of Xavier’s left hand rapidly moving in various directional gestures. Notably, he pointed right up into the sky where more Adlers were hovering above the clouds, nearly camouflaged with the night sky. The flock of crows gilded exponentially in a curve upward. They cawed extraordinarily loud as their body glowed orangey red, exposing the Adlers’ disguises.
A blind red and white light shone through the sky nearly as bright as the sun in the shape of a wildfire, pounding out hard shockwaves as it expanded. Crows created a nuclear bomb?! Daniel continued to stare at the horrific amount of power, reminding him of the nuclear bomb’s mushroom cloud. A stack of halo rings around burst out of control, dispersing every cloud in the vicinity.
One of the Adlers, from a different direction away from the explosion, sped right in the direction where Daniel stood. Eyes flashed as if they found their prey. His katana reacted to the upcoming presence before he could, blocking the Adler back away as it swarmed through the other two Adlers. Darn, that was close.
Daniel stared back at the Adler who attempted to hit him back. Unlike the others where it’s all dark, black, and gloomy, his opponent was more flamboyant by color once it unconnected its arms from the wings, allowing it to flap while acting like a human. Vibrating green through its body hair from the neck to its torso, the Adler whistled in a pattern that was identical to human language followed by one low-tone grumble.
“I can’t even comprehend what the heck you are saying, alien bird,” Daniel said, hovering himself briefly above the truck. He posed his right left in front with the right on the rear and swiped through the blade with the creases of his palm. “But, you’re in the way.” Daniel’s qi exerted.
The Adler pulled a thick pole from its back and transformed it into a spear. Daniel brought out his aura and the two swarmed off in the air, clashing their weapons with intent of destruction as demonstrated through their steel blades.
13.2
Clash! Bang!
This Adler is a monster. Daniel’s mind was puzzling while trying to comprehend what was the purpose of these creatures. His opponent was on par with every movement he tried to input. What was concerning was the seemingly no noticeable flaws at the current stage of the battle. Its torsos and the movement of its legs and arms were beyond durable. Daniel considered himself lucky as he could take the physical blow that he almost blocked mostly from his left forearm.
“Hmph!” Daniel grunted hard in his throat. His field of vision temporarily turned red as if he was already in a horror movie or hell. Quickly eying down, he felt liquid gushing out of his center abdomen. The large grip of the Adler held onto the wide stick of the spear pierced through his inside. He only responded with a breather, mildly desperate for air.
How did I let myself fall for this? Daniel madly tried to recall the last half a minute of keeping up with the Alder.
Christ, I was slow for a second. He went along the flow of the battle, expecting to break the Adler’s defense at any point to the torso. Once he went through another cycle of strike and block, he saw the origin spot of the Adler’s flashing green. The drop of his awareness and focus hampered his mind of thought and the one second proved to be dangerous. He thrust the katana at it. Which was when the Adler struck its spear abruptly into his stomach thanks to its right-wing steered away, drifting from the katana’s tip.
I’m such a fool. Daniel criticized himself for falling into such a trap. While in a trance, he heard the sounds of slit both going off simultaneously. Afterward, Zhengyu and Alyssa’s mother cried his name. He saw them leaping above attempting to strike the Adler on the back. The next second, they were knocked off by the hard surface of its flapping wings.
No…no! Daniel’s blooded hand reached for one of them as they fell downward from the truck.
“I got you!” Alyssa yelled from inside, gripping her mother and father through the window.
The feeling of trance transitioned into dizziness with a sense of faintness. However, his right hand, still gripping on the hilt tightly, vibrated aggressively, and the twitching of the fingers revitalized him awake. His right arm began to sizzle. Vapor gas emitted from the ridges of his forearm muscles and stiffened around his elbow.
Steel edges of the blade reflected the brightness of white ki, aiming directly at the Adler. Surging ki within his arm reached behind his eyes, grabbing the edges of his corona.
The Adler whistled in a low tone, expressing confusion as to why Daniel was still moving.
Slap!
Daniel went on from the humongous spear and grabbed the Adler’s nearest arm. “I'm not finished!” He grinned, exerting more of his sky-blue aura at a much higher intensity. The Adler’s head jerked back a little, attempting to shove in the spear further.
Slit!
Splatter!
A puddle of blue blood splattered from his back, splashing to the windshield.
Come on hand, let's do this. Daniel slowly lifted the stiff arm. Sounds of roar deafened the area around the two. He never thought the animal instinct would come from the blade itself. The roar wasn't recognizable hence he couldn't differentiate what his katana represented.
The blade volumed up the roaring cry, bumping his arm high with the intent to kill. Rattling turned to a screeching ring, deploying a thumping cycle of air punches.
The Adler’s strength started to dwindle as it was receiving the effects of the air punch. At the curvature of the blade, the punching pressure was directed at the Adler’s feet.
“Arggh-GAHH!” The Adler simultaneously whistled with a painful sorrow.
Daniel grunted, grinding his teeth and forcing his legs to hunch forward. He remained focused on the flashing green at its torso. All of a sudden, his right arm relaxed. Finally! Excitedly, Daniel lounged his right arm right over Adler's captured arm. “This is payback for my stomach!”
He gave a one upward diagonal slash, cleanly cutting its arm. The Adler staggered amid its left hand gracefully holding the spear. How does it feel, you alien bastard? Daniel regained control of the duel. He then cut off the other arm, leaving it armless.
The Adler fell onto the truck with its upper back hanging over the truck bed. Daniel, still with the spear impaled to his abdomen, strolled up to it. Using the air punch from his blade, he thrust the kick upward and the pressure sped it up further into the air. Daniel raged, screaming through his voice as the aura shot upward pillar height into the sky.
White qi flooded the entire katana, urging it to be released. Blue qi encircled Daniel’s feet, accumulating the charge as it assisted him move with the heavy weight of the spear. Targeted. He leaned back with the katana hovered over his head. Lifting the left hand, he gripped the hilt right below his right. This magnified the pressure due to more grip, allowing more qi to overflow.
One slash attack towards the Adler. Massive loads of qi dashed away from the blade in a wave shape, much wider and bigger than the sword has ever unleashed. Compared to when he was chosen for the katana, the slash of energy it inflicted was minuscule.
The Adler screamed to its core as the wave of qi engulfed its body with the flashing green switched off.
It’s finally over. Daniel looked above before his legs collapsed and dropped to the roof of the truck with the slight sound of a dent. Blood splashed upward, staining his clothes. His attention turned to the spear which was still impaled through his abdomen in a desire to be removed.