BXBX NOVEL Chapter 95: Fly without wings
With four dead, there were only 21 Imps coming at me. Since it took time for them to attack, if I reduced their numbers, I would fall even faster. I needed them above my head to serve as a platform.
So I waited until they were above my waist or coming at me from above. With {Thief}, I would perform acrobatic dodges and then plant my shoes on the demonkin's tiny heads. The momentary foothold allowed me to leap a little higher until my next stepping stone arrived.
"Sigh. Come at me already! I don't have all day."
The annoying thing was that a few of them stung me just so I could grab them and reposition them. A sharp pain from their venom coursed through my veins, as my current class didn't have {Digest}. I could not neutralize the poison.
Instead, {Regen} fought it like antibodies, waging war inside my body. The result? I felt my entire body ripple with an uncomfortable sensation. Like putting an ice pack on your hand and then holding it over the stove. The vast difference in states made my mind numb and my skin crawl.
"And it hurts like hell!" I complained as I drove my heel into an Imp's nose.
The restrictions of the classes made me suffer more and more. If {Thief} could handle the poison, or even just {Suffer} for a counterattack, I would be happier. But if I switched to {Fighter}, jumping around Imps 400 feet in the sky would definitely not be possible.
You could argue that all I had to do was throw a {Honey Trap} into the sky and grab a few Imps. But as feasible as that was, I only had one shot. It would work, but the moment the Soulgear began to fall. I would be left in the air with nothing.
Even though my current plan of action was inconvenient, it allowed me to get what I wanted. I couldn't even pay attention to the battle below. With the use of {Honey Trap}, would the F rank zombies also try to follow me?
I jumped from Imp to Imp like a monkey. I could see the Corpse Eater. It was wading through the air like a fish in a pond. Even from this distance, my skin could feel the electrified area around it.
It must have been preparing another {Thunderbolt}. Perhaps sensing me, the bastard slowly stared in my direction. The flappybird-looking bastard had no eyes, ears, or nose.
There was only darkness in the holes of its face, but I could sense its intention to send a lightning bolt at me. My skin felt the rise of an electric current charging the atmosphere.
"Fuck no. You cowardly, obese, birdbrained piece of shit!"
I didn't know if I was imagining things, but I thought I saw the Corpse Eater grinning at me. At that moment, I felt the very air tremble with soul.
[My Lord! The Corpse Eater is about to cast {Thunderbolt}, please dodge immediately!]
"Easier said than done, Aira."
Thunder rumbled in the dark sky as the giant shadow of the Corpse Eater slowly swam toward me. Knowing that I only had a few precious moments to come up with a plan, I racked my brain for a solution.
At its heart, the lighting was electrons traveling down through a medium. As long as the electrons could be redirected away from my body, I should be safe, but how?
Even if I threw a Imp at it, I didn't even know if the attack would stop at the Imp or not. Then I thought it would be nice to have a jet engine, like airplanes.
That or wings from a bird, even just being able to glide like a squirrel would be an improvement. As I looked at the impending doom in the form of an overgrown fishbird, I shifted the train of thought from blocking to evasion.
"Fuck, let's just wing it. {HONEY TRAP}!"
The noxious aroma from the Soulgear sent the Imps into a frenzy. I dove for the nearest demonkin and pulled its neck like a rug. His friends all came to us within a few seconds.
I waited until they were all headed my way before I hurled the Soulgear vase at the Corpse Eater. Within moments, the flying bastards ignored me and then turned their backs on me. Taking advantage of the moment, I ran over their backs like a track star.
Unlike before, the Imps soared to retrieve the vase. Barely bigger than a chuckie, they didn't have enough body mass to support my weight.
However, their fixation on the object I had just thrown at them drove them into a frenzy, and they moved like beggars at a buffet. I was able to jump between three Imps, covering an impressive distance of perhaps 300 yards.
Before I could land on the fourth, however, a bolt of lightning struck the imp with such force that it turned to dust. With my foothold gone, gravity pulled my body back to the ground.
As I fell with increasing speed, the roar of the wind deafened my ears. The sight of Imps all chasing after the vase was in my vision.
"FUCK YOU BASTARDS! AND FUCK YOU TOO, YOU OVERSIZED FLYING DICK!"
In my rage and anger at my helplessness, an idea came to me. An idea so insane it put my previous one to shame.
"{Draw} M26 PINS! {REGEN}, {Thief} CANCEL! {HIKE}, {CARRY}, {PERCEIVE}, {ENDURE}, {SUFFER}, {DIGEST}!"
I canceled my class and drew the pins instead of the grenades. Invoking a makeshift combination of {Fates}, my goal was to not die and fly skillfully through the air.
I then removed my jacket in mid-air while casting a {Fate} on it for the first time.
"{Withstand}!"
{Withstand} was a {Fate} that was hard to appreciate. It broke the laws of physics, but it also came at a high price. It made any material immeasurably more durable at the cost of making it immovable. For my plans, this was what I needed.
I struggled to get my jacket under me as my descent accelerated. The scariest part of this insane plan had arrived. Swallowing my nervousness, I roared to drive away my fears.
"{Draw}! M26!"
The frag appeared a few feet below the jacket. Being heavier, I caught up to it in a few seconds. Although I frantically tried to cover the explosive with the jacket, it still peeked out. Then it exploded.
I then pointed my hand at the bursting flames and invoked my {Fate}.
"{STORE} EXPLOSION!"
Like a vacuum cleaner, my outstretched palm slowly sucked in the explosion, and I didn't even want to think about what would happen to the supplies in my warehouse. If time stopped, then the explosion should not damage my stuff.
With the second step completed, I gritted my teeth as I executed the third and final part of this insane plan.
"{RETRIEVE} EXPLOSION!"
I controlled the opening to my subspace with all my concentration. The power and explosive force of the grenade was channeled into a small opening, creating a pressure like a rocket. The thrust hit my jacket, cancelling the momentum.
The result?
Like a breakwater during a tidal wave, the counterforce to the thrust was applied to my hand instead.
"ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Unable to suppress my screams, the intense heat and pressure crushed my hand like a hydraulic press. The laws of physics were clear, for every single action there would always be an opposite reaction.
And as I forced my hand downward to withstand the explosive thrust, my body was sent flying upward as a result.
"HERE'S MY ANSWER, YOU BASTARDS! THIS IS HOW YOU FLY WITHOUT WINGS! I AM COMING FOR YOU!!! YOU FUCKING FISHBIRD!" I roared in anger.
Using my hand like Iron Man's flight stabilizers, I spun through the air as I gained altitude. Countering the initial energy of the fall was the hardest part, now that I was moving in the opposite direction, it was easy to increase my acceleration.
"{DRAW} All M26!"
I created {Draw} because I needed my weapons to manifest at the same time. {Retrieve} could only pull things in my hands. {Withdraw} could be a few feet away from me. Neither fit what I needed so I was glad I could create {Kismet}.
Turning, I prepared for what was coming. Like an interconnected fireworks display, the trail of grenades exploded one after the other in a chained detonation. The kinetic energy pushed me away due to my proximity. But that would be a waste, wouldn't it?
"{STOCK} EXPLOSION!"
As before, the detonations were slowly drawn into the transparent portals I created on my back. When I felt there was no more power I could take. I created small openings to my subspace on my feet.
"{RETRIEVE} EXPLOSION!"
At my words, a powerful thrust erupted beneath my feet. It sent me flying even faster into the sky. The force grew too strong and finally began to burn my feet. My flesh boiled while my blood vaporized in agony. But the result was achieved.
Like Tony Stark, I raced through the dimly lit sky toward the Corpse Eater. To stabilize my flight, I copied my favorite superhero and summoned smaller explosions on my hands as well. With the three points of thrust from a dozen grenades, I soared like a rocket.
Unable to contain my excitement, I licked my lips as I approached the obese undead corpse eater.
"{Reveal}! Thanks for waiting, you fat fuck, let's dance!"
With his escorts chasing after the falling Soulgear, my charge toward the Rank D was unimpeded. The Corpse Eater, seeing our rapid approach, began to flop through the air in an attempt to escape.
When I was within a hundred meters of the bastard, I called off the explosions. My limbs, burned to the bone, began to regenerate at a rapid pace. I called for the 629 revolver as I leapt into the air.
To stop my momentum, I began firing the 629 at the flying undead. Though weak, my acceleration began to stop as the weapon's powerful recoil pushed me back. Both the 1887 and the M24 had {Withstand}, so using them to slow me down would have been useless.
'I guess everything has a downside,' I thought.
The .44 Magnum rounds hit the side of the fish until I finally slammed into its side. I tried to grab hold of its body as my momentum threatened to throw me past the undead.
Whether it was luck or fate that finally gave me a break, my hands were able to grab onto its fins, securing me to Rank D. With an immense sense of pleasure, I wondered how I was going to disembowel this fucking monstrosity.
"Look forward to it, hehehe."