Chapter 28- Ride Of a Lifetime (Part 3)

The bike flew in the air for a good 3 seconds after the initial jump. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion for Talon. All his senses seemed to sharpen far beyond normal as if he felt that his life was on the edge and so his mind's instinctive defensive mechanism kicked in, allowing him to be more aware of his situation than ever.

Behind him, the monsters jumped too without hesitation. The sight of tens of creatures leaping from the bridge was as magnificent as it was terrifying.

*VNNN*

Looking down quickly, Talon twisted the accelerator as he noticed the perfect place to land. Right beneath him was the roof of one of the houses. The distance between it and the edge of the bridge was a dozen or so meters which was easily crossed by the bike.

*BANG*

At some point, time turned back to normal in Talon's head as he found the bike landing on the roof. Quickly, he twisted the hand clutch before he glided to the side.

Looking to the side, he noticed the other edge of the roof getting closer and closer.

"Stop, stop, stop!!" He cursed as he quickly smashed his leg on the ground to make it stop even faster. 

At the last second, the vehicle reached the edge, almost falling and bringing Talon and Hyun-Jae along with it.

Talon was relieved for a second before he realized that there was a bigger problem about to fall on his head… Literally.

Looking up, the sky was completely filled with monsters that were raining down on them.

"Move!!" Acrypha yelled, making Talon's instincts kick in. Quickly, he dashed with the bike forward toward the other side of the house.

"Where should I go, Acrypha?!" He yelled as he looked ahead of him. He was about to reach the end of the roof and he had nowhere to go. Meanwhile, monsters were already landing on the roof and all around the house.

Some were completely squashed by the impact because of their weak bodies while others were relatively unscathed.

"Just move as fast as you can and trust me!" She said.

"Ok!"

Without time to even hesitate, Talon accelerated and jumped from the roof again. At the same time, the monsters continued falling down on him. Looking up, he quickly tried to protect the bike from anyone who was about to impact it.

[Ding!]

[You have killed a level 7 Tarnished Dimension Walker.]

[Ding!]

[You have killed….]

[Ding!]

[You have leveled up. +2 free points.]

A series of notifications flashed and disappeared across Talon's retina that he completely ignored. At the same time, beneath him was another roof of another house that was slightly lower than the house before.

The vehicle's landing was considerably safe.

"To the right!" Acrypha floated ahead of them as she guided Talon. The latter completely trusted her words as he moved where she wanted him to move.

At the same time, Hyun-Jae, who was still hallucinating from the exhaustion, looked dazedly at Talon. 

'What's happening?' She asked herself. 'Are we dead? No, that's not the case. I can still see that we're moving. Did he find a way for us to escape?'

Her eyes wandered around her. They were on top of a roof, being chased and rained down upon by monsters.

'Is he ok?' She asked herself as she stared at her companion. She could sense that she was completely resting on his back. Yet, even in this horrible situation, Talon was making sure not to move his body too much and not to push Hyun-Jae away.

His back felt wide and… dependable.

"Hold on, Hyun-Jae! We're getting out of here!" At that moment, Talon looked back and said in a serious, confident tone.

Even when his life was at risk, he was making sure that she was fine. Why? He could simply get rid of her at that moment since his life was clearly at risk and he could have a better chance of surviving if he simply threw her off the bike as a decoy for the monster.

It was inhumane, sure. But, one's life is more precious than anything else so as weird as it may have been, Hyun-Jae felt like she would completely understand it if Talon did so. Yet, not only did he not do that, he even made sure to protect her and also let her rest on his back as she recovered.

Hyun-Jae's dazed thoughts halted there and she felt something she had never felt before. She couldn't put it in words at all. So, all she could do was stare at Talon silently. Her pupils only reflected his side silhouette as she completely focused on him, even ignoring the monsters that were about to catch them.

While his companion was having these conflicting thoughts, Talon continued moving from one roof to another with Acrypha's help. She kept guiding him lower and lower so that he could finally land on the ground.

Because of all of that, Talon was pushed to multi-task endlessly like a machine. He was driving the vehicle as fast as he could, maneuvering through a terrain that wasn't even made for bikes while his other hand was swinging the spear and hitting any monster that might fall on the bike. At the same time, he was making sure that Hyun-Jae was still stuck to him.

It was extremely taxing for the brain to handle two tasks at a time, especially if they were tasks that required extreme focus. Naturally, Talon was having a very hard time doing that even though it was working somehow.

What he didn't notice was that under this pressure, during those circumstances and because of his natural instincts, Talon's skill 'Dimension Harvester' reacted to that.

[Ding!]

[Host under extreme mental pressure.]

[Host is using full brain capacity.]

[Ding!]

[Dimension Harvester reacted to the situation.]

[Ding!]

[Host acquired a new passive skill: Enhanced Focus.]

[Enhanced Focus (Level 1): This skill increases the brain capacity of the host, making their senses sharper, their focus level higher, their ability to absorb the details around them better, and their thinking speed faster. It passively levels up the more the host finds themselves under immense mental pressure.]

Talon had no time to read what skill he got but the feeling that came along with it was far too clear to ignore. His buzzing head and the struggle he was having to deal with all these tasks suddenly started easing up out of nowhere. It was as if his clouded mind was slowly clearing up miraculously.

Talon's eyes also started sharpening even more and his hearing became a lot better. In a split moment, Talon's way of perceiving the world around him changed. What he found hard a second ago became a little more bearable. That improvement immediately applied to the situation. Talon started maneuvering the bike better and avoiding the monsters more efficiently. He also was able to follow Acrypha more accurately.

'Hm?' The latter noticed that change and could only hum in confusion.

A few seconds later, the bike finally landed on the ground after descending slowly from one roof to another. 

"We're close to the subway!!" He murmured as he tried to accelerate faster with the bike. The monsters were still tailing them still. However, that's when he realized something crucial… The bike was getting slower instead of faster.

Looking down, Talon realized the problem immediately.

'The fuel!!' 

Since the fuel tank had been damaged, the bike had been leaking fuel endlessly and the effect of that was finally taking place.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, don't let me down now!" Talon tried to accelerate again and again but the bike wasn't answering. Its speed was slowly descending as they got closer and closer to the subway entrance.

Acrypha noticed the problem and her face darkened.

"Can't you make it move the rest of the distance?" She asked.

"I don't know if it can handle it any longer!" Talon replied as he clenched his teeth.

'Just a little more! We just need a smaller push!'

The distance remaining was around 100 meters or so. But, at the same time, the monsters behind them were in hot pursuit, closing the distance way faster than before.

'I need a little push. Just anything!' Talon racked his brain for a solution but to no avail. There was nothing around him that could create a pushing effect.

'I guess it all depends on luck again!' He cursed inwardly. 'Goddamit!!'

Talon felt completely powerless at that moment and his usually clear thoughts started darkening. 'Are we going to die here? This way?' He asked himself as his teeth clenched.

"We can do it…" 

At that moment, Hyun-Jae whispered to Talon with a slightly weak voice. Her energy was slowly coming back and so she was able to move her body a little. Using her arms, she wrapped them around Talon's waist and squeezed to reassure him.

Talon was surprised for a moment when he heard those words. Looking back, he stared into Hyun-Jae's beautiful eyes and could only feel what she was conveying… Just endless trust.

She completely trusted Talon and also completely trusted that they were going to survive. 

When he saw that, Talon could only get all the negative thoughts out of his head. If Hyun-Jae was this convinced, then why would he have to be pessimistic?

"You're goddamn right we are!" He yelled as he felt a rush of excitement and hope fill his body. Looking ahead, the distance was now around 60 meters, Talon could see the subway.

'50 meters… 40 meters…'

The bike was slowing down more and more.

*ROAR*

'30 meters… 20 meters…' Talon counted as his heart rate slowly decreased.

'10 meters…'

(A//N: Thanks for everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )