"Detour?What a bad luck. I hope we don't suffer too much before die..."
Coco muttered under her breath, obviously not holding out much hope for their survival in the wild at night.
She was quickly removing the steel plates from both sides of the vehicle. Zed noticed that, despite her slender upper body, she seemed to handle the car parts and modifications as if they were weightless.
'This must be her awakened gift,' Zed thought.
"Here, eat this."
Adrian approached, handing over a heated can of food. He tapped it with a metal spoon, producing a crisp sound.
They hadn't built a fire in the wild, but their modified vehicle had almost all the capabilities they needed to survive another day.
But not at night.
Adrian didn't seem as worried as the others. He sauntered over and leaned against the car, looking as if he'd just woken up. The man had a lot of nerve, sleeping even out in the wild.
"What's she doing? Won't the car become more vulnerable without those plates?"
Adrian asked nonchalantly while taking a bite of his bean soup.
Zed opened his own can and, to Adrian's surprise, handed it through the car window before replying:
"During the day,time yes, we need the armor. But at night, it will only slow us down."
"How?" Adrian inquired.
"Because monsters will come chasing after us in the latter half of the night."
"How is that possible? I've never heard of such a thing," Adrian shook his head, puzzled.
"I'm sure you haven't. When you were out, the energy in air wasn't as thick, and there were still opportunities to take helicopters."
Coco said as she tossed a wrench into Adrian's lap.
She didn't shy away from showing off her slender waist and toned.
Her healthy, tanned skin contrasted with Lucy's pale complexion, especially on her lower half.
"My question is...how did you learn about all this?"
Coco asked, unfazed by Zed's lingering gaze, moving even closer to him.
Feeling awkward, Zed averted his eyes and rubbed his nose, not directly answering her question.
"You guys didn't choose the wrong person. This is my job when I get in that city."
Just then, they all heard an eerie growl, like the cry of a baby, growing louder as it approached.
"What was that?!"
Adrian seemed confused but instinctively placed his hand on his sword, a gesture he usually reserved for when Zed interacted with the air stuff.
"Damn, didn't you study even one thing before you left?"
Coco asked, tensely jumping back into the car as Zed followed suit.
"Yeah, I know you don't understand, but these are rare creatures. They called Acid hounds. We're lucky to have to play with them today. They mostly come from dogs, but not that common... All you need to know is...they'll chase you till you die," Zed explained casually.
As specks of eerie green light appeared in the distance, Coco immediately started the car. The tires screeched in protest as she pushed it to its limits.
Despite their attempt to speed away, they were still caught by the acid hounds very soon.
*Boom*
With a muffled crash, a beast rammed into their steel beast, shaking it violently. The creature's body wasn't small, and the impact nearly caused the car to flip due to its momentum.
"Hiss!"
The acid hound spat out foul-smelling saliva, its eyes milky, full of malice. It continued to emit chilling cries that sounded like a baby's wail.
"Wai—"
Simultaneously, four or five more acid hounds emerged from the other three directions. Have to say these creatures were even more terrifying in appearance.
They were all gray-white, noseless, and had blood-red eyes. Upon closer inspection, one could see that their skin was covered in a layer of black fur.
"Are the fuckers always this big?" Adrian asked, startled. At the same time, Zed shouted at him:
"Quick, get the gun out!"
Struggling to maintain balance in the shaking car, Adrian managed to hand Zed a SMG. Gritting his teeth, Zed stuck the barrel out of the car window and began firing.
Bullets tore through the air, leaving fiery trails as they pierced the chest of one of the monsters. The creature fell, but to their horror, it quickly rose again, even more ferocious than before, and lunged at them.
The car swerved and skidded on the rough terrain, Coco's knuckles white as she gripped the wheel. Her heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline surging through her veins as she pushed the vehicle to its limits, desperate to outrun the relentless pack of acid hounds.
Zed continued firing, his aim steady despite the chaos around them. The gunshots echoed through the landscape again and again, each round taking down another monster, only for it to rise again and continue the pursuit.
"Reloading! It's useless!"
While Zed shouted, he withdrew his gun, then looked at the other two passengers in the car, his mind racing with frantic thoughts.
Under the present circumstances, it seemed that the only way was to use his awakened abilities to make a stand. He had only 1 point left in his blood bank spore, which wouldn't last long. Moreover, Zed knew that after using it, he would be plunged into a long fatigue, and he might even lose consciousness and be taken back to the tower.
Another option was to find a chance to escape using his hidden spore.
But they were in the wilderness, hours away from Newford by car. Going it alone would be a sure path to death.
'Damn it, why did the tower grant me such weak abilities? Where have my vampire stuff gone?' Zed couldn't help but complain internally.
Meanwhile, Adrian, sitting beside him, seemed to have noticed something. As composed as ever, he even offered Zed a smile.
"Kid, watch closely."
Adrian gripped his sword, and to Zed's surprise, the man opened the car door without a second thought.
At the same time, he finished his sentence.
"Awakened abilities should be used, like this."
With a casual tone, he raised his arm, and his katana transformed into a streak of light. His actions were astonishingly crude and brutal.
He didn't even draw the blade, wielding it more like a club, while the sheath became a bat. Yet, this didn't seem to hinder his use of it at all, as he effortlessly sliced through the spine of an incoming acid hound.
The force of his strike blew the car door right off.
"Oh, sorry. I'll ask the team for this later."
Adrian apologized with a sheepish grin before resuming his more carefree assault.
The howls of the acid hounds filled the air with pain, but Adrian remained unfazed. He swung his blade again and again, shattering another hound's neck and ending its life.
In the cramped space, the katana seemed like an extension of his arm, and he wielded it with ease.
"Watch out!"
With Adrian's sudden shout, he struck again, this time aiming for Zed.
Zed was confused, but thanks to Adrian's timely warning, he managed to react and quickly lean back.
The katana swept across the back seat, impaling and exploding an acid hound that had lunged at Zed from his side. The creature's head burst open like a watermelon.
Adrian merely laughed, wiping the blood from his face.
Zed now understood why the guy had insisted on taking the back seat.
At the same time, Coco, who was in the front, asked with a hint of trembling voice:
"Did we just meet a giant one...?"
Both men looked up and saw the answer that filled them with dread.
A five-story-tall dog stood not far away.
"B2... no... it might be B1..."
Zed felt helpless at the sight, having never faced such a creature in his two lives.
Adrian, too, was sweating, and although he hadn't truly unsheathed his katana, it was evident that he had expended considerable energy.
"What do we do now?"
Coco, gripping the steering wheel, face turned darken.
No one could provide an answer.
The car kept silent for a few seconds, then she shook her head slowly with a grin and put her foot down.
"Schlanger..."
The roared past them, It seemed the car could only hurtle towards the beast, which had clearly noticed the insect-like vehicle.
Just as everyone in the car seemed to have accepted this fate, suddenly, a deafening gunshot echoed through the wilderness.
Immediately afterward, the car's radio crackled to life.
"Hello... this... the Newford Wild... Divers... you g... need to... find way... move around... its back... We... provide... sniper cover..."