With his sense of danger at an intense high, Henry knew he had to act fast so he raised his rifle and started firing shot after shot toward the two.
"What the—"
With his mouth open in surprise, Henry watched as the two riders —Vykers, as the System called them— reacted with incredible reflexes to avoid all fired shots. They even went as far as to control their horses and skillfully move in a zig-zag pattern that made it difficult for them to be targeted. All the while still inching ever closer.
Triss guided Nyx down a ridge with a purposeful focus that told Henry that she knew where she was going. Unlike Henry, she had left the Hadron Mansion many times to perform missions for the gang so she knew enough paths that could give them a chance at escape.
The problem was, the longer they rode, the weaker Nyx became as her stamina was soon running out. On the other hand, the horses the Vykers were riding were of larger builds thick with muscle that boasted stamina.
While Nyx was very suited to a sprint, those horses were suited to Marathons which this ride was quickly turning into.
Now that the Vykers were getting closer, Henry could better observe their faces. One was a man, the other was a woman.
The man had a lanky build and an arrogant smile on his face as his horse galloped closer to their target.
The woman's face was more serious and as the cloak she had on billowed, her form was exposed to Henry's sight. She was huge. Her arms were bulging with muscles and each of her thighs looked as large as two of Henry's put together. Her chest was expanded and looked more like manly pecs than they did breasts.
Her face was butch… Really, by visage, she looked like a man but she was a woman. Henry was sure.
As Henry watched, the female Vyker reached to the side of her saddle and lifted a crossbow. It was made with wood, metal, and string and it was massive. The Vyker fitted a bolt on the Crossbow and raised it to aim.
"Shit! Nyx, to the side!" Henry yelled. Because he wasn't handling the reins, a yell was all he could manage.
Nyx heard him and regardless of the direction Triss was directing her to move in, she obeyed and swerved to the side.
Alas, it made hardly a difference.
The female Vyker fired the bolt and with a sickening *Thwack* sound, it struck into Nyx's side. A few inches from where Henry's right leg was.
[Nyx has lost 8 Hit Points]
[Nyx's Hit Points: 22/35]
Nyx stopped in place immediately and reared in pain so violently that Henry and Triss were tossed off her back and then she galloped away as though running would help lessen her pain.
"Well— Fuck—" Henry said as he watched her go. Disappointed as he was to see his best chance at an escape gallop to safety, Henry was still pleased that she wouldn't get attacked anymore. He didn't want her to share the fate of Triss' horse whose life or death was so far unknown.
The two Vykers arrived just as Henry and Triss got back to their feet.
"Heel," said the female Vyker in a voice softer than Henry would have expected considering her size and the look on her face.
"Resist and you WILL die," the male Vyker warned.
Henry and Triss shared a look but said nothing. Running was pointless when their pursuers were on horses so things were looking very bleak.
The female Vyker nodded, satisfied. She took their silence and their decisions not to take action as compliance.
"Now, tell us where it is."
"Where what is?" Triss asked immediately. Her voice was far more stable than she thought it would be.
Henry nodded in agreement to her question and added his own,
"And who are you?"
The female Vyker snorted as she and her comrade alighted their horses with their sights locked on Henry and Triss with an almost penetrating glare.
"I'm Rena," she said and then pointed at her male comrade, "And he's Urn. We serve Maude Aleric. The Lord whose chest you so foolishly robbed."
"We don't…" Triss started to say.
"Don't bother denying it," Reyna said with a hand raised and her nose wrinkled, "I can smell it on you."
"Smell what?" Triss asked and Henry thought he heard a bit of hurt in her voice at the insinuation that she smelled bad.
Rena pointed at Triss,
"You've been touched by Grant's gun. Even now, its sting remains, does it not?" She asked.
Triss frowned and Rena smirked,
"That's what I thought. I could smell the corroded flesh even as we chased after you."
Rena pointed at Henry then,
"You, though— You've not been touched by Grant's gun. You've touched it instead. Attempted to wield it too, I suspect."
Urn, the male Vyker, laughed then. A harsh sound thick with arrogance,
"He'd be foolish to try. How much magic can a boorish Gangbanger possibly have to activate that weapon? Even Grant needed a transfusion to fire it more than once."
Rena nodded in agreement,
"Well, it's of no consequence. Just one more item to retrieve.
Now, the Chest, Where is it?"
Triss shrugged,
"We don't know."
Urn frowned.
"I don't think you understand the extent of your error. There is no forgiveness. There is no pardon.
You WILL speak and you WILL die.
But if you cooperate, we can at least ensure your death will be quick and relatively painless. The alternative is enough torture to make you squeal and enough pain to last you into the afterlife.
Now, will you tell us?"
This time, it was Henry who answered with a confident and clear-sounding,
"No."
If it was death, either way, he might as well be defiant. He didn't have to look to his side to know that Triss agreed.
Rena shook her head like she was truly disappointed. She raised a hand —a large hand— and Henry watched as it became covered with scales while her nails began to extend and curve into wicked claws.
"Then, you're fools.
The materials to create a Vyker varies but for the best result, the parts of a magical creature are essential. In my case, it was a Wyvern…
With my claws, I will shred your skin off your bones, piece by piece and although you will be in excruciating pain, you'll remain alive long enough to tell us what we want to know.
So we ask again, and for the last time, where is the Chest?"
Triss pursed her lips.
The Langlot gang had had the advantage of not being the ones who robbed the train and that had allowed them to strike a deal with the Vykers. Unfortunately for her and Henry, they did not have that advantage.
Maybe things could have turned out differently if other members of the Dionisio gang had gone to New Freudein instead… Members who had not been struck by the Acidic goop on the Train. Maybe.
But Maybes were pointless now.
With a look to the side at Henry, the two acted together with impressive synergy considering they had never attempted such before.
They leaped back at least three feet.
Triss ran behind Henry for cover as she hurried to reload her empty revolver cylinder. Henry provided her the cover she wanted by raising his rifle and firing the six bullets he still had left in the gun.
His aim was impeccable as always and he aimed for the heads of both Vykers only to be left stunned when both Rena and Urn reacted with insane reflexes to dodge all fired bullets.
Urn's feet blazed with a fiery glow and he dashed forward in an explosive speed by all senses of the word. He went past Henry with hardly a bother and spun in place to smack Triss with a backhanded fist of his hand that had also been set ablaze with a fiery glow.
"Ahh!" Triss let out as she was sent flying over five feet away.
Rena's thigh muscles bulged and she bounded forward. She arrived in front of Henry before he could even think to blink, with a scaled fist flying toward his face for a bone-crunching impact.