Tysone cursed under his breath as he accelerated, though keeping a good eye behind his shoulder, fearing to find a reflection of the very same creature he saw on the mirrors in front.
"We are being followed." Saeko said, her head turned to look at the window. She could feel it.
"Followed? I'd call it escorted." Tysone's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. "Every rooftop. Every ledge. They're just... fucking watching." He swallowed thickly, hating the feeling like a mouse being watched by a hawk.
A collective shiver ran through the truck. The girls went quiet, Kohta had his eyes glued to the scope, even though he didn't need it to see the dozens of dark shapes against the sky.
"What are they?" Rei whispered, her face pale as she clutched her spear.
"I don't know." Tysone's voice rung out. "Don't look like normal zombies. Not like the big one either."
He wasn't surprised by the anomalities anymore.
"They look like gargoyles." Kohta said, a weird sense of morbid curiosity mixing with his fear. "Those statues on old buildings. The ones that are supposed to scare away evil."
"Ironically." Saeko murmured, her katana now out of its scabbard and resting on her lap.
Tysone scanned the street ahead. It was a long, straight road, flanked by tall, old brick buildings.
"They're not attacking." Rei whispered, peering through the armored slit in the back. "Why aren't they? We're right here, loud as hell."
"Patience." Saeko said calmly, wiping black blood from her katana with a silk cloth. Her hands moved steadily despite the horror outside. One could only wonder how the young kendo champion could keep such composure in the face of what looked like an impending end. "A predator plays with its prey. A hunter doesn't rush. It waits for the right moment."
"No way..." Takashi's voice was strained, and he was now sweating bullets.
Tysone's head darted from one rooftop to the other. Dozens of them. At least twenty. Maybe more. A flock.
Takashi tightened his grip on his spear, knuckles turning white. "You think they're smart enough to plan an ambush?"
"The big one today was smarter than the others." Tysone said. "It knew to block shots, to target weakness. If these are related, then yes. They're thinking. Maybe even talking to each other." And wasn't that the fucking proverbial cherry on top?
Kohta, usually loud, was uncharacteristically quiet, staring through his scope. "My liege... I've got at least twenty on this side alone. They're fast. Try to lock on, and they vanish. They're very slippery... it's hard to make out what they look like..."
Everyone held their breath for a moment. Being hunted by coordinated monsters was worse than facing a mindless horde. Then again, it was something to be expected.
"We need more power." Takashi blurted out, eyes darting to Tysone's hip. "The core. The big one. It's a Rank 2, isn't it?"
Everyone froze. That black gem suddenly felt heavier in Tysone's pouch.
"If one of us uses it now..." Takashi pressed, with an edge of building desperation. "We might stand a chance. If Saeko-senpai takes it, she'd be unstoppable. Or you, for that matter. With more strength, you could clear this street in seconds!"
Rei looked at Tysone, hope and fear in her eyes. "He's right. If this truck flips, we're sitting ducks. We need someone who can match them."
Tysone didn't answer right away. He steered around a rusted forklift, tires splashing through oily water. He felt the core's hard shape through the leather pouch. He wanted that power, badly. But he wasn't just a fighter; he was the one in charge.
"No." Tysone said firmly.
"But—" Takashi began.
"I said no." Tysone cut him off. "Listen. Remember when I took the fire core? I was burning up for hours. Out cold while my body rebuilt itself to handle that energy. Full absorption would take at least a day." Tysone explained, leaving no room for argument. "If Saeko or I take this now, we become liabilities. We'll be dead weight while our bodies process the power. If we get attacked while one of us is out, the rest of you die trying to protect us. And this core is different from the fire type, we don't even know what it'll do to whoever uses it."
His logic sank in. Their desperate hope died, replaced by a cold dread. There would be no deus ex machina. No sudden power-up to save them.
Takashi subsided, leaning back against a crate of electronics. "Damn it."
"We fight with what we have." Tysone declared. "Or we die trying."
It wasn't much of an option, but it was the only choice they had.
He waited, fists clenched so hard his nails were drawing blood. The group lapsed into a taut silence, waiting to see if the creatures would give them an ultimatum.
"My liege...!" Kohta cried, panicked eyes darting to and fro. "Contact! Front! Something just—"
He didn't finish.
A heavy THUD vibrated through the entire frame of the Apocalypse Mule. The front end of the truck dipped as if a massive weight had just landed on the hood.
Tysone slammed on the brakes. The truck screeched, the heavy tires skidding on the wet asphalt, the scrap metal in the back clattering and shifting with a deafening noise.
Through the windshield, through the smears of old blood and the fog, they saw it.
It had dropped from a high-tension power line overhead. Now its taloned claws had bitten deep into the roof of the Mule.
It was still the size of a small car, though somewhat slimmer and sleeker in design than the oversized battering ram of the abomination they killed earlier. It was a quadruped, with black, bat-like skin stretched taut over sharp-edged bones and corded muscles.
"Sonuvabitch." Tysone cursed under his breath. This wasn't a fucking gargoyle. "You wanted our attention, now you have it!"
The creature on the hood didn't roar. It didn't hiss. It let out a sound like two dry bones grinding together. It was irritating.
Through the windshield, he saw its face—or lack of one. It had no eyes, just a smooth, obsidian-scaled brow that sloped down into a snout filled with rows of needle-thin teeth. Or maybe the eyes were so black that, in the low visibility outside, it appeared the beast was eyeless.
It leaned forward, its weight pressing the front of the Mule down until the suspension groaned. The long, whip-like tail flicked behind it, cracking against the side of the truck like a gunshot.
Rei pressed herself against the back of the passenger's seat, wide-eyed with terror. "Ty." Her voice broke.
The creature raised its head. As Tysone glared right into the darkness of its eye sockets, he realized that the creature could actually sense him. The eye-like orbs shifted slightly, tracking him. He gritted his teeth, because beyond the thing now crawling on the hood of the truck, he could see its kin dropping from the sky like stones, their forms landing on the surrounding road. A circle of predators was closing around them.
"What now?" Takashi said, raising his spear as if to stab the creature through the roof.
"Stay put." Saeko commanded, her own katana held with a practiced grip. "The armor plating on the roof will hold. For now."
But for how long?
The creature slowly leaned even further down, its front leg scrabbling at the windshield.
The glass didn't crack. Its surface was protected with bulletproof glass.
Tysone peered past the circle of creatures. There was an open road ahead; if they could just get past these things, they could make a run for it. The Mule was tough, but it was not an invincible tank. They were a target. The truck was a metal cage.
He had to do something.
"Kohta." Tysone's voice was dangerously calm. "Take the wheel."
"W-What?" Kohta's eyes widened. "My liege, I'm a marksman, not a—"
"Take the wheel." Tysone commanded, his gaze locked on the monster on the hood. "Take the wheel, and when I say so, make a run for it!"
He didn't wait for a reply. Tysone grabbed the door handle and kicked it open, immediately grabbing the ugly's thing attention.
"Tysone!" Rei gasped as the black, frigid night air rushed into the cab. Kohta quickly filled in the now vacant driver's seat. He did have some driving skills, contrary to everyone else in the truck.
Still, his experience was quite limited…
The creature's head snapped toward Tysone, its lipless snout peeling back from those needle-like teeth. Truly a hideous sight.
But even so…
With a halberd in hand.
Tysone didn't hesitate.
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.