Chapter 1.24: Something Crazy

Axel and Mikah wore heavy expressions as they focused on the sights in front of them. This was what street war looked like. It was brutal and violent and ongoing with no signs of stopping. There was mana firing back and forth in a frenzy and skilled warriors delivering devastating blows. Only one word could be used to describe the situation outside.

Bloody.

"You guys ready to go?" Riot asked as he stood up and walked toward the front door.

The furniture in the tiny house was all old and decrepit. Riot could smell the mold in the surroundings and rotting flesh of the victims in the next room. He was unwilling to remain in this place another moment. However, his friends didn't have such sharp senses, and thus they were unprepared for this statement.

"Luck, hold on!" Mikah rushed forward to block Lucky's path. "We can't just rush out there like that. We have to come up with a plan."

"What's up with you, Mikey? We have a plan," Riot cocked his head to the side in confusion. "We're going to save Haan. Right or wrong?"

"Wah...I mean, right, we have to save Haan," Mikah was stunned. Other than the question at the end, he never heard his friend say these words in such an order. Usually, the latter would say he didn't need a plan before doing something totally crazy. Mikah still felt skeptical, but he nervously stammered, "T-then, what's the plan, boss?"

"We run," said Riot calmly as he walked past Mikah and cracked open the door. The sounds of gunfire and metals colliding mixed with the varied grunts and shouts to form an odd symphony of mayhem. This symphony of mayhem made the youth's heartbeat vigorously, great excitement growing in his heart. Familiar with this feeling, Riot crouched down low and readied his blade. "Meet me behind that huge tree."

Just like that, Riot snuck out the door.

Mikah stood there stunned, speechless, unable to react.

Axel walked up to Mikah's side with a smile, placing his hand on Mikah's shoulder, "Well, bud. It looks like we're making a run for it."

"But Axel...won't we die if we go out there? Those are mana weapons. They can even kill magi. How could we possibly survive?" Mikah's timid voice and waning energy were more than apparent to a creature of valor like Axel.

"I think you forgot why we're doing this..." Axel shook his head and crouched low to peek out the door. "But then again, we travel different paths now. It's normal you wouldn't understand why we're both willing to do this."

"Huh?" said Mikah. Axel's words left Mikah thrown off, but he quickly came to a realization. "Wait...are you saying this has something to do with what happened to you earlier?"

Axel glanced at Mikah and said, "Mikey, we met senior brother Flash and thought we'd be able to help Lucky for once, but what happened? He walked in on his own! My master even personally invited him to our school. Even the Lieutenant Colonel had to be respectful to him after that! Thanks to following him, we all escaped the Humble Realm on our own. Lucky may not know, but don't you know how rare that is? How many people have ever accomplished this in Acadia? I can count it on two hands."

Axel had a fiery light in his eyes after speaking to here. He smiled as he listened to the sounds of battle outside. HE turned back to Mikah and suddenly asked, "What did you learn back at the battle in front of your place? Why do you feel so different now?"

"Me?" Mikah was deeply affected by Axel's previous words. He hadn't expected this question. Thinking for a second, he said, "I learned how to sort-of talk to the air particles around with my body. When I do that, they get excited and help me. It felt like the air particles were playing with me. They keep flooding into my body, and I can feel myself changing somehow."

"Wow, that sounds awesome, dude," Axel was truly in awe. He didn't understand the elements at all, so how could he not be impressed? He smiled at Mikah and patted him on the back with a laugh. "Lucky and I can only charge straight in. If you can do something that cool, can't you play support? You're our sniper, Mikey. Just watch our backs."

"I can do that," Mikah nodded firmly, crouching next to Axel. "Wait...so what really happened to you before, bro?"

"Let's just say I had a change of heart," Axel smiled at Mikah, not knowing how to explain it completely. "There's this power flowing in my blood now. I don't know what it can do, but I'm stronger than I was."

"HELP! There's a pirate sniper in the tree!" Riot's voice suddenly came from outside.

"Lucky?" Mikah and Axel were momentarily stunned.

"He's in the tree!"

"Open fire!"

Foreign voices shouted in anger, and then a rain of blaster fire could be heard as small explosions rang out incessantly.

RUMBLE!

The boys were startled to find the tiny house shake as it had just suffered an impact. Something crashed into the front wall, cracking the infrastructure.

"Come on, let's go find Luck." Axel immediately stepped out the door as he spoke.

Mikah grit his teeth and followed along.

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When Riot first stepped out of the house, he crouched low and dashed fifty steps to a large oak in front of the house. First, he crawled to one side to see how far the barrier was. After confirming the distance, he considered making a run for it on his own. However, if he did that, his friends might die.

Riot decided to stick to the original idea and wait for his friends here. Unfortunately, as soon as his back was against the tree, he heard a whisper.

"Hey, brat! Get the fuck out of here before I kill ya, hear?"

Riot looked up in the direction of the sound, and there was a middle-aged man garbed in black hiding on one of the branches. His face was scarred, and his skin was dark. In his hand was a menacing-looking bow.

"Hey, mister, that's a nice bow? Are you in the Black Tyrant or the World Military?" Riot asked the black-garbed man calmly.

The boy's voice wasn't loud, but it wasn't soft either. The black-garbed man was immediately enraged.

"You..." the black-garbed man was momentarily speechless. However, in the next instant, he knocked an arrow into the bow and aimed down while releasing a formless pressure from his body. "Last warning, brat! Leave or die!"

"Definitely a pirate," Riot sneered, unaffected by the pressure. "He doesn't seem to have a power base. This power feels different from Luciano and more like Axel. Does that mean he's another creature of valor?"

While thinking out loud, Riot's foot had already stepped on the oak before his figure shot up the tree in four steps.

"Son of a bitch!" the black-garbed cursed when he saw how swift this little brat was moving. Knowing he didn't have time to aim, he fired straight ahead and then slashed out with the blade on the end of his bow.

Riot swung his blade and deflected the arrow, but the force halted his forward momentum. However, thanks to this, he dodged the opponent's blade by a hair. Angered by this unseen danger, Riot leaped and slashed the blade in his hand with all his might.

Clang!

The black-garbed man brought his bow up to defend against the saber, but the force of the blow knocked him off the branch he was on. His arms were numb from the impact, and his bow was nearly cut in half.

"How could this brat be so strong?" the black-garbed man was terrified by the blow he just received.

It flipped everything he knew upside down. Actually, he was literally upside down! Rotating his body in mid-air, the black-garbed man reached back and knocked another arrow into the bow, aiming with more focus than ever before. At that moment, he was shocked to see the youth from before kicking off from the branch to fly at him like an arrow.

"HELP! There's a pirate sniper in the tree!" Riot suddenly bellowed this, causing the black-garbed man to flinch.

"He's in the tree!"

"Open fire!"

Riot heard these voices shouting in anger, and then a rain of blaster fire assaulted the tree right as he leaped away. The explosive force from the bursting tree propelled Riot even more.

The black-garbed man's mind was currently a mess. Was he even still in the tree? Were you even still in the tree? Why yell this? Did the brat want to die together?

However, a knee to the jaw abruptly cut off the man's thoughts. His body crashed onto the earth and tumbled twice before crashed heavily into the house.

RUMBLE!

Seconds later, Axel and Mikah came rushing out of the house and immediately laid eyes on Riot, who now had a bow and arrows on his back.

"This way, quick!" Riot shouts, running past the stunned youths and scaling the fence into another yard.

His friends glanced at each other in confusion but immediately followed.

After landing on the other side of the fence, Riot saw eight pirates using the debris and shrubbery in the yard as cover as they staunched their wounds. As soon as Riot landed, their hostile gazes all landed on him as well.

"Hey, brat, who the fuck are you..."

Noticing their hostile gazes, Riot withdrew the bow and two arrows, firing twice in quick succession.

"Argh!" two pirates were pierced through the should and stomach, respectively.

"It's a hostile attack!"

"The fucking World Government is using kids now? Get him!"

"Kill!" the other pirates forsook their injuries and charged at Riot.

At the same time, as he fired the second arrow, two thuds sounded behind him. As soon as Axel and Mikah landed behind him, Riot handed Mikah the bow and arrows on his person and handed Axel the saber. Riot knew that Mikah had always been better at archery than axel and even himself. Mikah took the bow and arrows with wide and bright eyes. The wind particles around Mikah seemed to grow excited as he knocked an arrow in a very practiced manner. Riot grabbed the mana gun from the holster on Mikah's hip and aimed it at the ground between them and the approaching pirates.

Bang!

When the firelight beam impacted the earth, an explosion caused a blanket of dirt and dust to cover the area.

"GO!" Riot dove into the dust without fear. He used his superior senses to disable every opponent he came across in a single attack. After becoming a creature of valor, these humble pirates could no longer threaten him. However, just as he exited the yard's front gate, the sound of wind being sliced apart made him roll to the side. "Crap!"

A red and golden spear pierced through the smoke and threatened to impale Riot's neck. A flash of metallic light later, the blade of the spear was thrown up. Axel appeared in front of Riot with a blade in hand, stabbing forward with a ruthless glint in his eye. The saber stabbed into the pirate's neck, stopping him dead in his tracks. The pirate released the spear and grabbed at his neck in terror and shock. Axel unconsciously used force for ripping through the pirate's neck as he pulled his saber.

Seeing the corpse drop to the ground in front of him, Axel seemed lost.

"He's...dead," Mikah caught up, and he was equally shocked by what he saw.

"No time to waste, let's go!" Riot grit his teeth, his face impassive. Rushing out of the yard, he said, "We're almost there!"

The youths rushed out and ran for 300 meters, seeing much death and mayhem on their way. There were over forty corpses in the surroundings, and that number kept increasing. Although they were attacked four times along the way, they were only attacked by humble forces. Once they reached the front of the barrier wall, Mikah looked mesmerized.

"It...its elemental wind...this is a barrier made from wind power! The air particles here are so excited..." Mikah's eyes shined with light as if he had gained an insight.

"Big Luck, what do we do now?" Axel asked Riot in excitement, completely convinced now that they had reached their destination.

However, Riot didn't answer. He just held his arms out wide and walked forward fearlessly.

"Lucky, no!" Mikah was terrified. He could tell more than the others how sharp this wind was right now.

"Riot, stop!" Axel, too felt dread when he saw this action.

Why would Riot do something so crazy?