To say that the Irregular did not scare me a tiny bit would be a huge lie, for I was absolutely terrified as it made its way towards me. But to say that it was my number one problem at the moment would definitely be a huge misjudgment on my part.
Besides, countless of regular Undeads were already lining up to come speak to me.
"Bring it on!" was what I would probably have said in the heat of the moment, if it weren't for the fact that I had absolutely nothing to defend myself with.
Practically, I was defenseless. In the middle of a crowd of rotting flesh. Completely and utterly defenseless.
Thankfully, a prince charming decided to make his return in order to save me from my dire predicament. Without even a single second wasted, Kai reappeared back from the darkness and rushed past by right in front of me. Without hesitating for a moment, I immediately jumped right back into the sidecar, narrowly avoiding scratches from the Undeads, and watched as they all disappeared from view behind me.
Unfortunately, the direction where Kai was headed did not look like it would be anymore less of a trouble.
"Kai," I asked questioningly at first, the sight of the incoming ton full of pure muscle filling up my whole view, before finally breaking off into a frantic frenzy of screams. "KAIII!"
"I know!"
Just before the Irregular could swing its fist towards the bike, Kai quickly swerved out of the way and did a perfect handbrake turn along with it. After nearly a full three seconds of spinning, the two of us finally came to a halt just in time to see a shell hitting the giant monster right in its chest.
BANG!
Sparks went flying off of the Irregular's thick skin, and the loud noise echoed throughout the whole city of Biouldeon.
If it were any normal adversary, then surely such a strike would call for its downfall. However, such a thing could never be expected from an Irregular. Its complete mutation from the usual gene that drove the regular Undeads compelled it to be much stronger and tougher than the rest of its brethren. Needless to say, the one that were right in front of us was no different.
It would need so much more than just a tank to take something of that size down. Blood bullets would definitely be one of the things which might help.
Sadly, I didn't possess any except for... Wait!
"Kai!" I called, as he began revving up the bike for another go. "You got a gun I could use? I think I've got myself an idea."
It was a stretch, but it was the only thing I could do that might end up doing something. I absolutely hated it when I could only rely on someone else to finish my problems, especially when the two of us were not necessarily on the same side. Besides, it was more than apparent by now that the tank could do nothing much but to slightly irritate the thing even more, so what good could that do!
Handing me his small pistol that he had been holding on to, I quickly reloaded it with the bullets I made back in the bunker and readied myself to aim.
However, seeing that I did not discuss a single bit of detail with Kai, I was instead met with the sudden jolt of the bike as it accelerated once more. Although the Irregular had its eyes fully focused on the tank, I knew that even the slightest provocation could change this fact, and so I waited right until the very last moment before shooting.
With every passing second, all I could think of was to make sure that I would waste a single bullet, including this one.
Closer and closer, the view presented itself. Just a little bit more, I thought, just show me your neck already! Steady now. Hold... Aim a bit higher, take a deep breath and here. We. Go.
BANG!
I let out one decisive shot straight towards the neck of the Irregular, and the bullet pierced through the air with such intensity before planting itself right in the base of the giant's head. Even from where I was, twenty feet away, I could feel the impact as the bullet came into contact with the rotten flesh. The snapping sound was absolutely music to my ears.
"Hell yeah!" I let out in satisfaction.
"You sure about that?" Kai's voice right away dragged me straight back into the ground.
And he was right too.
The moment I turned around to see the result of my work, I was greeted by the sight of an even more furious Irregular than before, running as fast as it could behind us. It certainly wasn't the fastest, but seeing something so grotesque chasing after you would certainly not be good for your health by any means.
"Go, go, go!" I shouted. I knew I was being a very needy passenger, but desperate times called for rather erratic behaviors. This was simply a byproduct of that.
Nevertheless, Kai complied to my request and upped his speed even more. We were now going back towards the tank, and it was at that moment that I was finally able to get a glimpse of how my opponent was doing.
To say that he was flying through his situation would be an overstatement, but it was clear to me that he had everything — apart from the incoming monstrosity — under control. Moustache dictator here was holding his ground very well, seeing that he was completely outnumbered, and even I had to admit that his movements and footwork had become much more efficient than before. In fact, it was almost as if he was a completely different beast than the one I'd just faced, like a switch having been turned on somewhere inside him.
But alas, this observation of mine could not last that long for yet another swerve was imminent.
BANG!
Without even a single form of notice, the tank released yet another shot straight towards the Irregular. It was so sudden that it completely caught me off-guard, but thankfully Kai was fast enough to have made a quick dodge. If it wasn't for him, I'd be burnt to crisp by now, and we all knew how much I did not want that.
Even the Reaper would not be able to find anything laughable in that.
Either way, judging from the absence of the disintegrating sound that would always accompany an Undead's defeat, I knew that it was yet another dud. Whatever it was, these Irregulars were as tough as steel when it came to bringing them down.
Unfortunately, so were the regular Undeads when it came to being persistent.
"We've got company."
"Wait, what?"
Around forty Undeads were running up towards us, and they showed no signs of stopping at all. From one thing to another, things just looked bleaker and bleaker with every passing second.
"Hold on!" Kai notified, as he continued to build up speed. Whatever it was he was aiming for, it certainly did not have the word slow in it, and I was just along for the ride.
And so were some of the Undeads by the look of it.
Passing straight through the heart of the groaning and grunting masses, some of them managed to hold on to the sides of the bike. This included my side of the sidecar, and you could already expect what my response to this was.
"Sorry buddy, but I'm not in the mood to share seats," I said before punching every single one of them back onto the road. It was certainly a pain to deal with, but nevertheless a good breather from the adrenaline pump just moments ago.
Speaking of which, what the hell happened!?
Turning around to see for myself, the sight that I saw was definitely not the first thing that I would expect to see. Right where the two behemoths were supposed to be, I found both the Irregular and the tank clashing head-on with one another, pushing each other in an attempt to tip the other one over. Although the battle was clearly one that the Irregular had forced onto the tank's hands, the latter was doing a rather fine job in holding its ground.
While this was happening, I tried to get another aim towards the giant's body, but apparently looking at the opposite direction of where I was going didn't really suit my stomach that well. Giving up, I slumped back onto the chair and decided to think of another idea.
"Got anything?" Kai asked, once he was done turning the bike around.
"Gimme a sec."
I thought hard and well, but the only solution that I kept on coming back to was the same one every single time. It was clear to me that I was no master tactician, but it was pretty jarring to know that I only had one approach to almost all kinds of situation. Still, if it ain't broken, don't fix it I guess.
Once I had come to terms with this simple plan of mine, I told Kai of what I was about to do. He wasn't mightily impressed by it, but he did indeed agree that it was the best course of action for now.
"You're ready?" He asked for the final time as he revved the bike in preparation for lift-off.
"Yep."
In a blink of an eye, Kai sped off straight towards the two giant masses of rotten flesh along with metal, and thus my plan was set into motion. I gripped tightly onto the pistol in my right hand, and took a deep breath. Other Undeads were still roaming around the vicinity, but I couldn't waste any attention towards them. All I had in my sights was the big one right in front of me.
"Now!"
As soon as Kai let out the signal, I jumped out from the sidecar yet again and bolted my way through the street. Evading any of the attempts by the Undeads around me, I quickly made it and jumped up to the tank.
All of this happened in only a matter of seconds, but it felt as if an eternity had passed with every single step. However, even with this, I failed to realise what was going on as I jumped onto the head of the tank. It was only when I came face-to-face with the rotting monster on the other side that I finally could register that loading sound coming from below me.
But alas by then, I was already halfway into the air.
I had jumped just moments ago, and was on the trajectory to pass right above the Irregular's shoulder. Aiming the pistol in my hand straight towards its neck, I was just about to shoot another blood bullet when suddenly--
BANG!
For the third time now, the tank released another shot. This time, at point blank range. Unfortunately for me, as soon as I did manage to let go of a bullet, the shockwave pushed me so far away that I landed rather badly on my knee.
Just another day's work, I thought irritably to myself.
Still, the Irregular was the only thing that mattered to me then, so I quickly got up and prepared to shoot another round.
At first, it seemed that both the tank and my effort had amounted to nothing, but slowly the Irregular began to show signs of being damaged. Smoke was coming off of its chest, and it too began staggering away from the tank. It was clearer than ever that this was the moment that I had been waiting for.
Loading another one into the clip of the pistol, I steadied my right hand and prepared to fire.
One more shot. One less problem.
I repeated these two things in my head over and over like some form of mantra, and before I knew it, I had already pulled the trigger.
The sight of a head bursting into absolute nothingness could never have felt better!
With this, the only thing left to worry about were the Undeads — which would surely keep the tank busy — and...
CLANG!!
I was pushed back immediately by the impact as both our weapons collided. Thankfully, I was fast enough to think of using the side of the pistol to block the machete, otherwise I'd probably be sliced in half by now.
Facing each other adamantly, both him and I began sizing each other up.
"Tell me your name, boy," he asked.
"Rain. Just Rain."
...
"I see."
With this, he immediately ran straight towards me with his machete in hand. Slashing it through the air, I managed to avoid it just barely and it was at this moment that the two of our eyes met. In his, I saw pure hatred and the abyss that span a million mile deep in his gaze. And in mine...
Whatever the hell it was he saw in mine, I surely wasn't going to make things easy for him.
"Well, boy, my name's Chad!" The man shouted out. "It's best to remember it for it'll be the last thing you think of in the gates of Hell!"
Without any further introduction, the man quickly turned around towards me and the two of us once again descended into the dance of death that we'd shared earlier. This time, with me being in a much greater disadvantage.
And thus, as the choir of Death started playing in my head, the final battle began.