Chapter 637: Blue
Chapter 637: Blue
The scene of his brother being sent away, his body broken, didn't leave Oren's mind. It was the hardest choice he had to face, torn between saving his family. But, until now, Arthur has never asked him for help, even if he was on the brink of death.
'I should find him,' pondered Oren. 'But, my mother will leave Earth at that time, and so will Selena.'
This choice would haven't existed if not for June showing him that video. However, did Oren prefer to remain ignorant of his brother's suffering to make it easier to decide? That was far from the case. Oren felt grateful, but he didn't know what to do now.
Then, he decided to seek help. This was the only method to help his brother and save his mother, but those he could ask for help were but a few, and Master Melania seemed unstable at the moment.
'Mr. Tate,' remembered Oren that his father's old comrade, Mr. Tate, was still in the battlefield. However, he seemed to hide more capabilities than just a regular shop owner, so he might be able to help. 'I need to seek him out.'
"I never thought Master Ronin had a wife," muttered Kody as the three of them left the villa. "In either case, we are on our own now. The only lead we have about Mrs. Silvera and Selena's whereabouts is avarice dungeon."
Oren could see the sweat and trembling lips Kody had despite acting calm. After all, he was always the doting brother over his sister and even bullied Oren for rejecting her at first. However, he was not to blame.
"We know that the two of them were kidnapped by a unit of soldiers, and their destination is Avarice Dungeon. We know this city better than anyone here, so we might be able to get there in time."
"But, how can we get there? Most roads are destroyed, and public transportation lines are infested with monsters," said the giant man.
"We can steal a car," suggested Maryam. "But the roads will be a problem. Does any of you know where we can find a teleport station?"
"There is no internal teleportation in Kera," frowned Oren. "What kind of city did you live in? In any case, I have a good choice in mind. Kody, do you remember that rich pavilion where the arrogant ones go?"
"Yeah, it should be close to this place," nodded Kody. "Is there a reason you are asking about them?"
"I remember those dear seniors always being there with their high-tech flying motorcycles. We can borrow them. I'm sure they cannot care less about them right now."
"Even if you call it borrowing…" muttered Kody with shock. "Well, I can't say I never wanted to do that. Let me guide you there!"
As Oren guessed, the destroyed parking lot had a few flying motorcycles they had stolen. The one who cracked the encryption was the runemaster, Maryam. However, since Oren and Kody were familiar with the city, Maryam rode behind Kody, whose body was in better shape.
Their engines raved before lifting them off the ground. Then, after turning the handle, the SkyBeam 07 darted through the street, making them avoid the destruction on the road. Then, with Kody and Maryam behind him, Oren led the way, going straight toward Avarice Dungeon.
"Avoid all monsters along the way, and be careful about the falling rubble," instructed Oren into the telecom. "We will head toward Avarice dungeon and wait for the soldiers there. However, that place should be infested with monsters. Therefore, we will use one of the roofs to hide until we see the target."
Oren knew that he had to find Mr. Tate along the way. The possibility of him being where Oren left him was slim, so his best shot was to go to the battlefield and oversee the city.
Their SkyBeams zoomed through the city, and Oren ducked as he flew between two destroyed buildings leaning on each other. Kody flew over them, and the SkyBeams made their way toward Avarice Dungeon.
"Oren! There is a flock of monsters in front of us!" shouted Kody through the telecom, and Oren spotted a group of Skywalkers patrolling the streets. It seems they were going back toward Avarice, but their SkyBeams mana made the demi-humans notice them.
"Let us deter into an alley and avoid them. If they pursue us, then I will handle them. So do not attack unless they attack us."
Oren didn't want to kill anyone without reason nor waste time on these obstacles. Then, as he neared an alley, his motorcycle turned and used the walls of a building as a road before going into the passage.
The Skywalkers disappeared, and Oren hoped it would remain that way. He was riding the motorcycle on the building when a few shadows appeared to his left, soaring through the sky. Oren realized these idiots were pursuing him and turned his bike toward the sky.
"Keep going forward, Kody!" shouted Oren as he stood up on his motorcycle, using it as a flying sword. Then, his greatsword appeared, tightly held above his head. A white flame covered his blade and body as Oren soared toward the sky.
"Sword of Haste!" shouted Oren as he waved his greatsword as if he was waving a feather with short and quick movements. The greatsword slashed the air countless times as Oren flew between the skywalkers before darting past them.
"Warning! SkyBeam will now start descending, as the flying limit has been reached!"
An alert came from his motorcycle as the flames exploded behind him. The screams of the Skywalker filled the skies as the greatsword disappeared, and Oren sat in on his bike. The white clouds were so close, and Oren remembered the scene of Arthur soaring through them.
"Are you there, Arthur?" asked Oren as he reached the sky, but his SkyBeam was becoming slower before it stopped midair. His outstretched hand seemed small compared to the blue before he began to fall back to the ground.
Oren closed his eyes and steered his SkyBeam back to the ground, diving through the white flames and agony-filled demi-humans. A skywalker jumped on him while being burned alive as he descended, slamming onto his SkyBeam's shield.
"For our great nation… will not…" said the Skywalker before reaching out toward him. Oren stared into the charcoaled and the burned flesh before using the bike's sonic attack. A small hole appeared in the shield before a loud explosion threw the Skywalker aside, and Oren passed through.
Oren let go of the handles as he approached the ground and brought his hands together. He knew it was foolish to feel anything over killing an enemy, but life was sacred.
"Forgive me for killing you," muttered Oren as the countless Skywalkers, burning alive, fell from the sky. "May your souls join the blue and never compromise their freedom."
The voices of agony disappeared as the Skywalkers fell from the sky. Their corpses landed on the street as Oren landed and resumed his quest to find his mother and girlfriend. The telecom activated as Kody's voice reached him from the front.
"Oren! Avarice is gone!"
"What are you talking about?"
"It seems the Dungeon Break has been caused forcibly, turning the place into a giant portal. We will land on the nearest building to the portal, and you can meet us there," said Maryam through the device before the call ended.
"Well, it was an army that came through that portal. So it is no wonder that Avarice is gone as well. However, how would the portal close in the end?"
This was a question for the future, but Oren couldn't help but wonder. Avarice wasn't far, and Oren saw the giant portal after a turn. However, it was unlike what he had imagined, as the portal was twice as big as the buildings around it.
"This is insane," muttered Oren as he saw Kody wave at him from atop a building. The SkyBeam raved as Oren began to fly on the walls until he was above Maryam and Kody, and then he landed. "There are no monsters around?"
"We found a few, but all of them seem to be running away from this place. It might be because the battle is happening on the other side of the portal."
Oren supported the bike with his foot as he looked toward the battle. Even from here, he could sense the disturbances in mana. The ground shook every few seconds, making him fear such a brutal battle.
"This works best for us. However, there are still two more streets that lead to the portal. We don't want the soldiers to pass without our knowledge, so we need to split."
"We cannot fight against them together, let alone individually," Maryam shook her head. "We still haven't figured a way to snatch the two women without fighting."
"I am thinking of a way," muttered Oren as he looked around. "Let us each monitor a different street, and inform the others when it happens. Then, the other two will do the following…."