I looked at Assassin ahead of us. He looked back.
Excalibur materialised wordlessly in Artoria's grip.
Another gaze from afar locked onto us, making my precognition ring with a mild warning.
My hand tightened on R1's throttle, heels digging into the floor.
Under our collective gaze, Assassin pulled a controller from his armour and pressed a button on top.
BOOOM!BOOOM!BOOOM!
Explosions blasted from beneath us—right from Hyatt Hotel's foundation. The walls shook, floors quaked, and the ceiling above vibrated with escalating intensity.
Hyatt Hotel began to tilt and collapse unto itself.
"Master!" Artoria's voice rose over the sound of crumbling concrete, groaning metal, and shattering glass.
R1's tires sank as the floors beneath us caved in one after another. Amidst the devastation, I watched Assassin turn and barrel through a glass wall behind him, plummeting straight down from the 32nd floor.
"Master, fall back! This structure won't hold." Artoria shouted, raising her sword toward the falling ceiling. My heel dug further down as cracks began to spider-web along the floor beneath us.
Mana stirred around us—Medusa's predictable attempt at rescue by summoning her Pegasus to take us airborne.
I did not let her.
VROOM!
R1's tires screeched as I cranked its accelerator. Artoria snapped her gaze to my back.
"Master! What are you—!?" Her question was swallowed as a section of the ceiling plummeted straight toward us.
I jerked R1 aside, dodging the debris by a fraction of an inch.
60 mph.
R1's speed climbed without pause.
100 mph.
Artoria looked ahead, wrapping one arm around my waist while her other hand slashed at any debris threatening to crush us.
"Master! Don't tell me!" Artoria's pupils constricted as R1's engine roared without pause.
I didn't answer.
140 mph. 160 mph.
Artoria's grip on Excalibur tightened unconsciously as we raced toward a glass wall.
Crack.
Glass shattered as the floor vanished beneath us. We went airborne for a split second. R1's tires continued to spin as gravity pulled us down from the top floor.
I shifted my entire weight onto R1's rear, angling it toward the glass framework of the hotel's exterior.
R1's rear tire was the first to hit a shaking glass window. Its front tire followed. Tiny, friction inducing magic circles carved on them awoke.
Assassin was nearby, having deployed a parachute to land safely below.
He glanced back and froze.
We were speeding down the length of Hyatt Hotel. Vertically.
Windows shattered in our wake as the hotel's foundation continued to tremble.
VROOM!
R1's roar drowned out every other sound as we chased Assassin below us.
We had traversed half the hotel's length. Ground was rushing up to meet us at an accelerated pace.
That was the moment [Ultimate Precognition] flared.
Artoria and I glanced back simultaneously. Our eyes pierced through the shattering glass beneath us, across to the other side of Hyatt, and locked onto a tower roughly three kilometers away.
Archer stood there. His bow was aimed straight at R1, right through the hotel's width.
A spiralling arrow was nocked on his composite bow, which he released with a slight smirk.
BOOOM!
Space spiraled as the sound barrier was torn apart.
A vortex of twisted space tore toward us from three kilometers away, crushing Hyatt in its path to reach us in moments.
We reacted instantly.
I pulled the brakes with brutal force.
R1's front tire lifted due to gravity. The bike continued down Hyatt on its rear tire alone.
Assassin had already maneuvered onto a distant rooftop. He disconnected his parachute and leaped from house to house, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.
A fraction of a second later, Caladbolg reached us. Before it could touch R1's rear tire, it met an unsheathed Excalibur.
I tightened my grip on the handlebars.
"Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind King."
A spiralling vortex of space collided with a twister of compressed wind.
BOOOOM!
Hyatt Hotel crumbled. A blinding white flash forced every eye watching us to shut.
VROOM!
We tore through that flash. Our surroundings dissolving into a streaking palette of colors.
R1 flew, heading straight for where Assassin was running across rooftops.
He looked back and jumped down from the roof. Below was a gas station; he sprinted toward a person refueling a sports bike and kicked him aside.
"HEY—"
Assassin ignored him and ignited the bike's engine with practiced familiarity. In two seconds, he was roaring down a road at nearly 160 mph.
R1 landed on asphalt behind him, its suspension screaming as it transitioned from a vertical plunge to a horizontal pursuit.
Suddenly, R1's engine gave out. Its tires were barely holding on.
I looked ahead at Assassin widening the gap between us.
"Medusa." I said.
Clip. Clop. Clip. Clop.
The sound of hooves striking ground resounded in my ears. Pure white wings materialised first, followed by a white body and four legs. A Pegasus with Medusa astride it shimmered into existence beside us. A stake-chain was already buried in her neck, her blood dripping down.
We exchanged a glance. Medusa wordlessly threw her stake-chain toward Artoria.
Artoria caught it with an effortless grab.
Medusa used the chain as a pivot and, with her monstrous strength, violently slung R1 forward, dragging it ahead of her Pegasus.
BOOOM!
The sound barrier shattered.
My eyes closed mid-motion. Countless fluctuating blue sigils began to climb across my body.
Pain sent desperate signals to my brain. My magic circuits screamed under pressure.
I snapped my eyes open. My irises had narrowed into slits, flashing unstably.
I poured my mana directly into R1. Green circuitry slowly awakened across its frame.
I wrenched its throttle one last time.
VROOM!
Our surroundings dissolved into a cluster of speeding lines.
Assassin looked back, his eyes widening as a sonic boom hit his ears. He tensed, expecting us to appear in the distance.
We didn't.
I was already looking down at him from inches away.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
All the Ultimates used in this chapter -
[Ultimate Biker] [Ultimate Precognition] [Ultimate Analyst] [Ultimate Mechanic] [Ultimate Architect]. You all can point out any I might have left...
[Authors Thoughts]
Sorry for the wait. Writing a chapter like this takes considerable time. It's better to be a bit late and drop a good chapter than drop the ball and create something neither here nor there. As for the danmachi chapter today? I'll see if it feels good or not, if not then I'll upload it tomorrow.
...
Anyway... Have a relaxing day everyone!
...
Honestly, even I'm getting impressed by the amount of things I can write with Izuru. He literally has every talent, so I can make him do anything, the only constraint being my own mind.
Anyway... does this remind you all of a legend? The one who used to ride a flaming motorcycle.
Yes... I'm talking about the Ghost Rider. It's been ages since I've watched that movie.