Chapter 7: A Teacher's Lesson? [3]

Wyland was carried in one arm by Obrex and re-summoned back the lance Luin Celtchair in the other.

His eyes were fixated on a single entity which poses the greatest danger than the monster pack surrounding him.

A Tedeum Homon Proxon.

This particular Homon Proxon is missing a limb, as the powerful lance have incinerated through its shoulder, its entire left arm just gone, and even continued exploded through several tree trunks that were in its path.

Leaving only a smouldering trail of fire.

It is a skinless humanoid, revealing its strands of dense maroon muscle fibers. Black hexagonal armor covers the eyes and forehead.

The nose is partially removed, while the sinister smiling shark teeth can be seen in full detail. Its body is slightly protected by the same armor which covers its face.

The Proxon retreats into the trees while emitting a deep screech. The monster pack rushes like crazy at the two humans, throwing all caution out the window.

Hyper-focused on getting Wyland out alive first, Obrex ignores the pack of monsters as he dashes forward with incredible momentum. He raises his lance and masterfully evades every swipe and bite.

His eyes jumps from point to point to look for the Proxon but the humanoid was nowhere to be found.

Obrex decides to just continue running when he feels the blood dripping down on his back. Wyland had a nasty hole in the back of his head. He simply didn't have time to keep an eye out for this Homon.

Of course, the monster pack is close on his heels. Always trying to get a bite out of him.

Adrenaline is pumping through his body in this moment. His heightened Irregular senses can effortlessly keep up with the swift, predictable movements of the monster pack like child's play.

He couldn't unleash everything on these beasts for fear of hurting Wyland even more, but he made sure to make fresh new holes in the monsters that stood in his way.

Unexpectedly, he felt a sudden surge of sharp pain in his back.

Something struck him with enough speed and force to breach through his "Cellular Defense Emitter" and even the hardened skin and dense muscle tissue.

"Nghf! Damn it! What was that?!""

Obrex turned his head to see the wound. A boney spike.

With his sharp eyes he searched and quickly found the perpetrator who shot him.

It was this creepy smiling ass Humanoid Tedeum.

Deep inside the forest, hanging by its legs from a branch, regenerating its missing left arm before breaking the bone and turning it into a spike.

Preparing to throw another one at him.

Only it had no more opportunity to do so, because Obrex had already reached the large parking lot where his blue SUV was waiting.

Though, bad news was, the wheels are ripped wide open and the front engines strewn across the ground like a modern mosaic artwork. The armored windows were shattered with clear claw marks.

"Shit, my car."

There were, of course, few other vehicles parked here and there, also torn to pieces, so he couldn't hijack one even if he wanted to.

But he didn't have the time to mourn for his car or look for a intact one and immediately scavenged through his car wreck for the medical supplies.

First was putting the car between them and the monsters, then he carefully laid Wyland on the ground and turned him onto his side behind the piece of junk SUV. Afterwards, with a bit of luck, he fortunately found a scratched but intact first aid kit.

He sighed with relief.

Subsequently, he was shot in the back again when he wasn't paying attention for his own safety, but this time the spike managed to reach deeper into his flesh, near his liver.

"Son of a bitch!"

Obrex turns around and clutches his lance tightly like a javelin. He then throws it with such force that it creates a massive shockwave of blazing flames that travels in the Proxy's general direction.

Annihilating a large section of the surrounding trees, incinerating every monster that stood in its way.

He started a massive forest fire, which also bought him a little more time as the fierce lashing flames created a physical barrier for him.

Hastily, he takes the first aid kit and kneels next to Wyland to examine the head wound. He notices that some kind of worm is crawling around in his head.

Due to its slippery body and the fact that it hides in the brain, the parasite cannot be removed except via a surgical operation.

Instead, he tears open a small vacuum-sealed plastic packet and applies the content, "Healing Jelly" to the injury.

Stopping the bleeding and disinfecting the wound.

Obrex hears a muffled rustle through the blazing flames from the opposite part of the forest, which had not yet caught the devastating flames of hell.

Instantly, he re-summons his lance back in his hand and gazes intently in the direction from which the rustling is coming from.

". . ."

". . ."

Yet a feminine voice breaks the suspense.

"Which dumb-ass is burning down the whole forest- Wait.... MY GODDAMN CAR!"

A young olive-skin toned woman in a black business suit with two scimitars strapped behind her waist comes sprinting out of the woods and kneels in pure emotional agony in front of her luxuriously trashed car.

"NOOO! So much hard earned MONEY down the DRAIN-!"

Another young person with slicked-back brunette hair and the same uniform as the woman comes out of the forest like a gentleman, holding an impressively decorated halberd.

"Bollocks. They also busted the company car too."

While the woman is crying her eyes out, the man notices Obrex after seeing the vandalised company car. He casually walked over without a hint of fear.

"You there good sir! We are from the Pervis Corporation. Were you the wanker who trashed our cars?"

Obrex sat down and prepared two packs of healing jelly so he can finally remove the two bone spikes in his body. He trusted his gut instinct that those two people are no threat to him and Wyland.

"Do I look like someone who vandalises cars while injured? It must've been the work of that Proxon that is still hiding somewhere in the vicinity."

"Considering that there isn't a single vehicle remotely operable anymore, several charred, bestial-looking bodies in that blazing forest, an unconscious person with a head injury who got patched up and you having been javelin-ed by bone like spikes. This peculiar situation does favour your story."

The man is standing next to Obrex. Staring into the forest.

"Do you always talk so much?"

Obrex pulls out a spike before applying the healing jelly on the piercing wound.

"Pardon my vocal assessment of the scene. Please trust me that I only did it for your own convenience..."

As if on cue the heartbroken woman screams in anger, running towards the burning forest with both scimitars drawn on each hand.

"Where is that PISSER?! I'm going to feed it its own leg!"

The woman suddenly trips over a speeding pebble tossed by the gentleman.

"Well, with no means of safe and proper transportation. I suppose we are going to stay here until help arrives. Excuse me then."

The gentleman pulls out a working vintage flip phone while walking towards his colleague who fell on the pavement face first.

Obrex glanced at the two corporate workers before pulling out the second spike from his body.

•••

A once beautiful city with a rich history and centuries-old buildings that recall a time before the cascade of cataclysmic events. Now it lies in ruins, torn down by the war against the Tedeum and set ablaze for all to see.

It is the capital city of Great Britain, London.

Warren and Xema were chasing down a marked Tedeum beasts through the streets of London. They were quick on their feet's because Irregulars were naturally harder, better, faster and stronger than regular humans.

Their target ran into a building, which the two followed inside. In doing so, they met a tiny problem, for they fell into its trap.

Without saying, it was not part of their plan to be lured into a trap and ambushed by their prey. Even though, Xema already foresaw it and told Warren of such possible predicament beforehand.

They were trapped in the 15th floor.

"As expected, it led us into an ambush."

"Hey, at least we've eliminated our target! I just didn't expect them to suddenly swarm us with such numbers.... UGh—! Might want to stop meditating and help me hold the entrance!"

Warren is currently holding back the door, barricaded with various room furnitures and using his large greatsword as an anchor to hold everything in place.

"Stop your whining and stall for more time. I'm almost ready..."

Xema was leisurely eating a nutrients bar.

"Almost ready for what? I can barely keep the door from breaking apart and this is really tiring.... Uff—! Why did you even insist on making the scenario so unrealistically hard! THis is.... HNNGH- Impossible!"

A Canine Tedeum beast variant crawls into the window from outside, only to be quickly disposed of by Xema's throwing knife, which establishes an intimate relationship with the beast's skull in a split of a second.

"This should be enough. Jump out through the window Warren. Avoid the spikes to the best of your ability."

As instructed, Warren abandons his position and jumped out of the window. Having taken his greatsword with him.

Just at that moment the door bursts open, wood splinters in all directions.

But Xema was not fazed, she maintained her calm and calculating cold expressions. After all, she had no reason to be afraid, but the thought that she might be afraid is too strange to even imagine.

For she had already set her own traps on all the floors they traversed.

There were numerous throwing knives in the walls, ceilings and stairways. They had accumulated explosive amounts of energy ready for activation.

Xema herself had already dived out of the window, just after Warren, when she confirmed the activations.

Beams of energy connected with each knife and pierced through all the obstacles in their way, followed by a violent explosion.

From the 15th floor down, everything was reduced to fragments and rubble before it exploded from the inside out. Without the supporting structures, the buildings shell collapses on itself.

Crushing everything beneath falling debris.

And just like that, all the throwing knifes restored themselves back to Xema undamaged.

•••

Warren regretted to have followed Xema's orders while in free fall, he just willingly jumped out of the 15th floor.

Even for an Irregular, without proper IBU suit, falling from such a height can still cause broken bones if the CDE level is too low.

At best, for the average Irregulars that aren't physically outstanding or having unlikely immunity to falling, breaking one leg and a rib, would be considered lucky.

Just because he is in a safely simulated environment, where death should be practically impossible, he will still feel the pain.

To create the most realistic representation of real combat, it was essential to integrate all artificially simulated senses into the system.

Including pain.

He braced for impact and closed his eyes.

But suddenly he felt the air pressure around him diminish. When he opened his eyes, Xema was carrying him while she was strapped to her own glider.

"Oh thank god... I thought I needed to hug the concrete ground for a while. Huuu... you have my thanks Xema."

"Unlike you, I have contingencies."

"Do you also have a contingency for spare IBU suits? Not like I'm blaming anyone for insisting on going in with regular clothes on."

"The battlefield is unpredictable. Relying yourself solely on that IBU suit will get you killed in case of a sudden assault. It is better overall to gain more combat experience by learning how to be resourceful with what you have right now."

"I don't think you have the right to lecture me when you've brought the whole arsenal equal to that of an entire garrison with you the whole time! Where do you even keep it?!"

"...It's a woman's secret."

"..."

"No wonder you lack teamwork. WoAaH!"

Xema accidentally loosened her grip on Warren.

"Concentrate, Warren. Even when we managed to clear a large swarm from the entire district inside this one building there will be still stragglers hiding somewhere."

"...just don't ...drop me okay?"