Chapter 22- Somehow
"Tsk…" Rein squinted as he felt his side aching. Even though his injury wasn't serious anymore, he still felt it stinging and burning with every move he made. His body was still recovering, and he wasn't particularly helpful about it. Rein could even feel the injury bleeding through the bandages, and he could only ignore the pain and focus on running for his dear life.
He didn't even want to look behind him as he knew the monsters were closing him down. Meanwhile, his mind was trying to come up with another plan before he became their lunch for the day.
However, with each passing second, the room for thinking was cut shorter and shorter as he found himself completely surrounded.
'Great.' Rein cursed as he looked around him. The rows of cars that were a blessing at first became a curse now that he had truly exhausted his speed completely. The monsters didn't care as they swept them away as if they were toys and not real, heavy vehicles.
His running was useless, and so was fighting. He couldn't take this many monsters on; it was simply impossible.
'What should I do?'
*BANG*
Barely dodging a mutated monster, Rein changed direction to run the other way, only to be stopped by another monster. The Undead continued their approach, closing down on him.
'Get the hell out of my way.' Rein charged forward as he slammed his fist into the monster's face, carving it in before he stabbed it and jumped back as he spun around and kicked the second one as it approached him. The momentum made it slam into the ground violently.
Then, Rein tried to make a run for it again.
"SHREEE!!!"
However, at that moment, out of nowhere, a large silhouette landed in front of him, and he stopped in his tracks as he stared up at the giant creature. Its appearance was familiar.
'A bald eagle?' Rein frowned. 'It looks like the one I killed earlier?'
Just one glance into the monster's eyes, he could see the rage hidden within. He also realised that the monster seemed to recognise him. Its eyes were beastial, there was some intelligence hidden within.
"..." Rein then realised something else… 'Could this thing be related to that bald eagle? Perhaps a partner?'
Before he could even finish that thought, he saw the sharp beak descending on him. Earlier, its speed was something he couldn't keep up with, but after going through all that evolution, Rein could easily react to the monster's attack as he quickly jumped to the side before he dashed forward.
Running underneath the monster, he dodged several other attacks as he sliced the monster's leg. The creature screeched as it opened its claws and slashed with them.
*CLING*
Rein used his sword as a shield, stopping the claws in their place. However, the monster didn't have any intent to pull away. Instead, it pushed its claws forward, making Rein's feet glide on the concrete ground.
"Hnnng…" Rein's muscles pulsated with power as his veins popped. 'So… damn strong.' He clenched his teeth as he pushed against the monster.
"Just… get… off… me!!!" Rein yelled as he threw the monster back several steps. The eagle seemed surprised, so Rein decided to turn around and run. The monsters were already there, and he was about to be trapped in a circle.
He couldn't afford to fight the eagle head-on.
However, even with his pessimism, Rein still underestimated how screwed he was. Almost the moment he turned around to try and run for his life, he found several mutated monsters coming from that side. He then turned to another direction and he saw even more Undead coming his way.
"Fuck…"
"RAWR!!"
He didn't even afford the time to curse how disastrous his situation was as the monsters leaped at him.
'...' Rein seemed stunned for a second before he gripped his sword, ready to put up a fight till the last breath. 'If I'm going down, I'm taking as many as I can with me to the depths of hell. Come at me, you cursed creatures.'
At that moment, as Rein was about to swing his sword. Out of nowhere, a ball of flame descended out of nowhere, slamming into one of the creatures. The creature's eyes widened as it cried in pain and fell to the ground.
Then, in quick succession, two other balls hit two other monsters. On the other side, arrows pierced the heads of the Undead.
"Rein!!"
He heard a familiar voice as he looked up, seeing Violet standing on one of the buildings' roofs. In her hands, a ball of flame floated idly before it flew down, hitting another creature.
"Move, you bastard! We can't hold them for long!" Another familiar voice spoke to him. Rein looked up.
Rein was a bit stunned before he snapped out of it and saw the opening she created for him. So, charging his feet and using Gravity Manipulation, he flew ahead.
The rest of the monsters tried to leap at him, only to be stopped in their tracks by the fireballs and the arrows flying down at them. At the same time, using his sword, Rein sliced and cut through everything like a flash.
With each move of his sword, a monster fell to the ground, and blood splashed everywhere. His eyes were locked on the exit.
'Come on. Come on. Come on!' He cursed as he hurried his steps and then leapt forward.
The monsters attacked him from every side at that moment.
*BANG*
Rein rolled on the ground a few times before he stopped at his feet and continued running. He had emerged alive out of that enclosed trap. That opening Violet created for him was barely enough for him to use.
Had it been anyone else slower or weaker, it would've not been enough. However, Rein knew that it was far from enough.
Taking a different turn, Rein ran through an alley as he dashed toward the other side of the block. The monsters tried to naturally move after him, but the narrow path made them slam into one another as they clogged the alley, stopping in their tracks.
Piles and piles of monsters slammed into one another as they created a large wall. Meanwhile, the rest tried to run from the other side.
However, by then, Rein had already run far away. The distance he created was huge, and when he emerged from the other side, he was able to continue ahead, moving from one alley to another.
He didn't stop for several minutes until the monsters were far behind him. Eventually, he came to a halt as he looked behind him, panting heavily as he rested against the wall, his chest heaving up and down.
His face was covered in sweat from sheer exhaustion. Rein had been running and fighting nonstop for several hours ever since everything started, and even if his body was far stronger now and his stamina was three times that of normal people… This was still ridiculously taxing on the body.
'I think… I think I lost them.' He exhaled heavily as he slid to the ground, trying to regulate his breathing. "Note for the future… Taking a full-sprint marathon while fighting giant creatures isn't a good idea… Fuck me."
In the end, Rein could only laugh coldly in satisfaction. He had somehow emerged alive from that disaster… And he succeeded.
"Rein! Do you hear me? Where are you?!"
At that moment, he heard Violet's voice in his ears. Wiping the sweat off his face, he put his finger on his ear.
"I'm alive… somehow."