Light slowly appeared inside the hound's mouth as it was biting off the rifle machine. Before the hound could realize it, the light spread within its mouth, and in the blink of an eye, its entire body disintegrated.
"Ke!" the imp was tossed off the truck upon the quiet explosion. Fortunately, it was able to cling to the wagon, its body swaying along the harsh wind. When it looked up, it saw the rifle machine mechanically moving towards the hound gnawing on the roof of the truck.
A ball of light slowly formed at the muzzle again. In no time, it produced a light beam that pulverized its head. With an abrupt break, the hound lost its balance and fell over the front of the car.
"Ke…" the imp was in awe, its murky eyes twinkling at the machine as if it had seen its fateful destiny. But its awe was short-lived, sensing another fierce presence behind the truck.
"Ke!"
There, sprinting at the back of the truck like a bull, were the last of the three hounds. Unlike the first two, this one looked fiercer. The imp panicked, but before it could do anything, the truck started moving backward.
"Ke?!" the imp looked at the front, catching Lucky's evil eyes through the side mirror. For some reason, the imp didn't feel good about that look on the man's face. Hence, it clung to the railing as if its life depended on it.
A loud thud echoed in the air, making the imp look at the hound. Much to its dismay, the thud was caused by its steely tail hitting the back of the truck as it jumped.
The imp slowly looked up, only to see a large hound's shadow blanketing over him. When the latter landed in the wagon, the front tires jumped off the tracks.
Lucky clasped the steering wheel in surprise, keeping his foot on the pedal. But alas, the hound was heavy. Adding the weight of the machine and the hound, the engine couldn't hold the balance.
"Tch." He clicked his tongue, assessing the situation based on the text displayed on the engine. He clicked a button near the steering wheel, displaying a camera view of the back. "That damn bastard… what does he think he's doing to Rampage Rex?"
Instead of biting off the rifle machine, the hound used its steel tail to break the rifle machine. Although the weapon was thick and heavy, the dents around it grew more and more evident.
'This one is the smart one, huh?' Lucky pressed another button, shooting at the hound to test it. But alas, the hound used its tail to deflect the big bullets. To make matters worse, the hound soon noticed the ammunition and went after it.
Its hard and sharp tail flung across the ammunition, putting a stop to the attack. Another hiss escaped Lucky, angrier that the hound was attacking the best feature of this truck. As Lucky thought of how to deal with the smart hound, he caught the imp clinging onto the railings.
"Ke!!" the imp shouted at the hound, but the hound ignored it. "Ke!"
"Huh?" Lucky blinked, a little stunned. "Is it angry?"
"Ke!" this time, the imp jumped back in the truck. It flew to the hound, landing on its back.
The imp raised its small yet long fingers. Slowly, a book appeared in the palm of its hand. Using the book, it hit the hound with it.
"What the hell? Is he… copying me?" His face twitched, appreciating the imp's willingness to help. However, an illusion version of his book wouldn't even leave a scratch on the hound.
Lucky shook his head, setting his eyes on the windshield.
'Never mind that,' he thought, taking his time to read everything that was written on the screen. His eyes lit up when he noticed the auto-pilot mode. He hastily put the truck in pilot mode before he unhesitatingly crawled his way out of the window.
"Hey!" Lucky whistled, trying to get the hound's attention. "Look here!"
He raised his hand, shaking the book in it. Observing the hound, he smirked.
"Catch!" he threw the book away and like a dog, the hound jumped out of the truck. "Nice!"
"Ke!"
Lucky ignored the imp that was clinging to the hound's back as he slid back into the driver's seat. He quickly worked on the buttons, canceling the auto-pilot and getting full control over the truck once more. Rita's voice rang from behind, but he ignored it.
"Cry later, girl," he said as he looked back. "You're going home after this."
The tires screeched aloud as Lucky made another abrupt 180 turn. Their vehicle revved up as it stopped, facing the direction where he threw his book. After taking another deep breath, Lucky stomped on the pedal.
"I hate that book just as much as them, but it's mine."
His eyes blazed as he sped straight to the hound. The hound was about to gnaw at the book when the imp suddenly snatched it. It let out a growl, jumping to follow the book. At every step, the hound would open and try to bite the book, only to end up biting the air. It didn't even notice that the imp was leading it to the middle of the road and, before it knew it, the truck was only a palm's length away from it.
"Ke!" the imp jumped high, its leg hitting the side of the truck.
A loud shriek escaped the imp, flying away as it lost balance. Thankfully, Lucky caught its feet before it could fly past the truck. The imp intuitively held on to the book, dangling upside down beside the driver's seat. Despite its inverted perspective, it witnessed how the hound flew away from the collision. As soon as it crashed on the ground, the machine rifle blew fire at it.
"Ke." The imp heaved a sigh of relief, and so did Lucky.
"That was fun." Lucky leaned back and then looked over the open window while lifting his hand. He smirked at the dangling imp, taking his book from it and then tossing the imp in the front passenger seat.
"Ugh…" Rita let out a faint grunt from the backseat. "Is it over?"
Lucky glanced back. "Well," he cleared his throat, snapping his eyes at the windshield. He grinned the second he saw the wide text on it that said;
[Area cleared.]
"If this thing is right, yeah." He looked back again with a smug look. "See? Told you guys. It's better to use this route."
Rita's body hurt so much that she didn't have the energy to complain to him. She was just glad they were still alive.
"Since I'm now sure that this thing is accurate, I'll take the safer route," he said, readjusting his position after secretly keeping his book in his special storage. But when Lucky faced the windshield, deep lines appeared between his brows.
The screen was showing a blinking blue small well icon, which was not on the map before. "The hell is this?"
Rita slowly looked at the windshield and narrowed her eyes. As soon as she caught the difference in the blinking light, her eyes went wide.
"You did it!"
"Ah?"
"You said you need more data before going back to the base. You did it!" Rita's expression brightened up as she looked at Lucky. "The well!"
"The well?"
"Mister Lucky, I think you're really lucky!" Rita looked at the blinking light in excitement. "That blinking thing is the location of a water source and it's close!"
Her grin broadened. "This is good news!"
"Uh." Lucky blinked in dismay, raising a brow as he looked at the blinking light once more. "Well, I guess I am lucky."