Not everyone can face death with composure, not even Steve, who was always determined. He hesitated for a moment as he pressed the detonator.
But this was his mission.
After taking a few deep breaths, Steve thought of his family, friends, and loved ones one by one before finally pressing the button.
"Boom—"
The violent explosion and raging flames sent Steve flying. Well, the front half of the plane flew with him!
He had expected to die with a smile on his face.
The moment he pressed the detonator, he thought he would either be killed by the shockwave, pierced by fragments, burned alive by the flames, or poisoned. He thought of many ways to die, but he never imagined he would fall from the sky with the plane's cockpit in pieces—fall to death.
What?!
"This..."
Steve was stunned. Looking back, he saw the clean "cut" behind him, as though a knife had sliced through his body, leaving him falling apart.
What?
What happened?
Then, under the fiery glow from the explosion, Steve noticed the black magic runes at the "cut" and immediately realized that Ryuji had saved him. For a moment, he wasn't sure what to feel. It was like a bottle of five different flavors had been tipped over in his heart. Logically, he should be thankful, but... he couldn't quite bring himself to say it.
Thanks to the "technical formula," the explosion, shockwave, flames, and other dangers were contained within the area where the runes were placed. That's why Steve hadn't been struck by the front of the plane during the impact.
It was as if... the second half of the plane had suddenly "rotted" off. The front half remained in the air for a moment, but the back half erupted in flames. Of course, the shockwave from the explosion still caused the plane's nose to fly a short distance.
Without the back half, there was no power. After the front half briefly soared, the whole thing dove straight down.
Steve was dazed. He hadn't died in the explosion, but now he was going to fall to his death?
Then he spotted the parachute next to him.
How embarrassing.
In 1914, parachutes that could be folded up like an umbrella and stowed in the cabin had been designed for pilots. By the 1930s, bomber aircrews began using them too.
Was it weird to have a parachute now?
After securing the parachute, Steve gritted his teeth and jumped, but—
An explosion tore through the sky. Ryuji and Diana finally separated their lips and looked up.
Victor laughed. "I thought you were really going to kill him by letting him fly a plane? Haha!"
"Quit talking nonsense! Ryuji put the parachute next to the pilot's seat. If he couldn't see it, that's his problem." Logan slapped his brother on the back before frowning. "He's not slowing down!"
"Do you think the parachute's broken? It couldn't be, right?" Victor grinned.
Logan: "..."
"Maybe the base commander didn't want the pilots to escape at all?" Ryuji said with a shrug, spreading his wings and soaring over.
Steve, terrified, couldn't open the parachute. For some reason, the mechanism was broken, and it wouldn't open!
Damn it, am I really going to die from falling?
At least make it 200 meters away from the ground!
If I fall now, I'll probably be reduced to a bloody mess!
"Damn it!"
Suddenly, Steve realized Ryuji must have wanted to let him die, but then immediately pushed the thought aside. If Ryuji had wanted him dead, he wouldn't have used runes to save him during the explosion.
A shadow zipped toward him from afar. Could it be Ryuji?
Grabbing the parachute with one hand, Steve's descent stopped.
"Whew..."
"Are you out of your mind? Why haven't you opened the parachute? Are you so scared that you don't even know where the pull cord is?" Ryuji teased with a grin.
"This parachute's broken!" Steve defended himself, determined not to show weakness.
"Oh? Broken? Maybe the base commander didn't want the pilots to escape, so he put a broken parachute there." Ryuji said without mentioning, I didn't do it.
Steve: "Maybe?"
That actually made sense!
It was a suicide mission. If no one survived, his own men would die too. The pilots were tricked into thinking they could escape, only to find out too late that the parachutes didn't work.
"You... you're not dead? Damn, I saw you get pierced by Ares..." Steve began to ask but then stopped when he realized something.
"Wait, how did you survive that?"
"Ah, no, my hands are tired," Ryuji said with a sigh, as if he genuinely had no strength left in his hands.
That was a flawless excuse—no one could prove otherwise.
Diana smiled and shook her head.
She'd heard the whole conversation. Ryuji was just messing with Steve, playing a game like a child. She didn't care; after all, she didn't actually want to kill anyone.
"Let's go home." Ryuji wrapped his arm around Diana, and with Logan and Victor close behind, he laughed, "I'm heading home this time, and I'm going to sleep for three whole days and nights!"
"Hahahaha—" Everyone laughed.
On November 11, the German army officially surrendered. German representatives signed the armistice on a train in the Cambien Forest, north of Paris.
With that, World War I finally came to an end!
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