Chapter 29: Chapter 29- Guilt
The bike's speed dwindled quickly at the end and at some point, Talon was sure that it was slower than if he even walked. The reason he didn't immediately give up on the bike when it started slowing down was mainly his common sense telling him that he wasn't faster than a bike when the reality was far different.
What Talon forgot was that his agility was equivalent to two people and not one, if you add the effect of his spear which adds +5 agility to that, he was as fast as two and a half people.
Approximately, at top speed, Talon could run at 50 kilometers which was very fast.
"I'm sorry, Hyun-Jae. But I will have to pick you up." He said as he suddenly jumped from the bike, and lifted Hyun-Jae in a princess carry before he immediately dashed forward as fast as he could.
Hyun-Jae was still flabbergasted by what happened but still didn't move since she was still feeling really spent.
Running through the small passage that led to the entrance of the subway, Talon looked back at the hordes of monsters that were following them relentlessly. The distance between them was no more than 15 meters at that point.
'Don't they get tired?!' Talon clenched his teeth as he hastened his steps. At the same time, he opened his status window and decided to put all of his bets on his agility. After leveling up three times in the past few days, he had 6 free points he can use. contemporary romance
'Put 5 points into agility.' He thought to himself.
Immediately, Talon's legs felt a lot lighter and his steps hastened even more. He was now running at triple the speed of a normal human being. For some, he might even appear like a flash with how fast he was.
Reaching the entrance of the subway in a moment, Talon jumped the whole entire staircase.
"Aaah!" Hyun-Jae naturally hugged his neck when she noticed that.
"Hold on!!" Using all of his strength, Talon landed on his feet, absorbing the impact before he launched forward running as fast as he could.
At the same time, the monsters blasted through the subway's entrance, destroying the whole staircase as they fought against each other in a chaotic bestial war.
The only creatures that were able to ignore all of that were the insects. The giant bees, mosquitoes, and flies sliced through the air at amazing speeds, closing the distance between them and Talon.
When the bees got close enough, they suddenly shifted their bodies' position with their stingers aiming forward.
'Oh no...' Realizing what was about to happen, Talon's pupils contracted.
*Swish*
The stingers were suddenly launched out of their sockets the next second, flying like arrows toward Talon.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
A rain of stingers fell relentlessly on Talon like rain. They were considerably fast for how low leveled the bees were which made evading them extremely hard. Still, Talon tried his best as he jumped left and right, gliding with his feet and changing directions as he moved.
With his Enhanced Focus skill, it was certainly easier than it could've been. But, neither Talon's speed nor reactions were fast enough to dodge all the stingers.
"AGH!!"
A few stingers ended up lodging into his back because of missteps. Piercing through his flesh, they went very deep into his back, almost touching his backbones. The pain was immense from each hit and it made Talon almost stumble and fall.
But, he quickly regained his balance and ran as fast as he could.
"Talon!!" Hyun-Jae's eyes widened when she saw the stingers protruding out of his body.
"I'm... fine! It's nothing!" He said. "Are you ok?!" Then he quickly checked her body for any stingers. When he noticed that she was unscathed, he exhaled a small breath.
Hyun-Jae could only stare in speechless shock at what he was doing. Not even her thoughts could describe what she was feeling at that moment. Nothing could make her comprehend it, at least not in that moment.
Instead of worrying about the things puncturing his back, Talon was more worried about Hyun-Jae's well-being.
'Why... Why is he doing all of this?' She could only ask herself.
At the same time, Talon finally reached the underground level of the subway where the metros were. With a simple jump, he avoided the paid area barrier and entered the metro section.
The place was completely empty if you ignored the stains of blood on the wall and the putrid smell of whatever abominations happened there before. Talon ignored all of that and rushed to the only thing he wanted to see now.
'A metro! I need a goddamn metro!!' Looking around him frantically, Talon's eyes fell on the other side of the area. There, he saw his hope. A metro was there, in the station with its door open.
Around it were a few Dimension Walkers. However, Talon didn't really care since they seemed really weak and he could deal with them without a problem. So, without hesitation, he accelerated toward the front part of the metro where the control room was.
Meanwhile, all kinds of creatures were following him. The sight of two people being chased by a clumped wave of unknown abominations was something to behold as horrible as it was.
'Come on, come on, come on, come on!' Talon murmured quickly as he looked back and forth between the metro and the monsters behind him.
With a simple calculation, Talon realized that he was faced with a problem. He wasn't going to have enough time to open the door to the control room on the metro with how close the monsters were in tow.
'Do I really have to do this?!' Sighing inwardly, Talon looked at Hyun-Jae.
"I'm sorry for this." He murmured before he suddenly pulled her up till her face was stuck to his neck and her body tightly close to his. Then, his arms wrapped around her even tighter before Talon suddenly leaped forward.
He flew in the air for a few meters as his body smashed against the window glass of the control room, destroying it completely as the two fell inside the metro.
"AGH!!" Talon groaned from the impact. However, he kept his arms wrapped around Hyun-Jae to protect her.
The young man didn't even have time to process what happened as he looked up. Near him was the control panel of the metro. Without time left and with the monsters already outside, Talon extended his arm and pulled the huge lever to the maximum.
Suddenly, the sound of the metro's engine roared as the wheels of the vehicle started moving slowly. At the same time outside, the monsters surrounded the control room, trying to enter.
Hyun-Jae's eyes opened slightly as she noticed that some of them were about to barge into the control room. So, with great difficulty, she picked up her sword and aimed it at them.
Her body channeled Aetheris slowly as she felt her weak body under immense pressure.
"Fuck... off!!" She clenched her teeth in anger as her sword sizzled with lightning before a lightning bolt was blasted out of it, straight toward the the window.
*BANG*
The lightning bolt hit the monsters, sending them flying back as the metro's speed slowly increased and it finally entered the tunnel.
"Hah... Hah... Hah..." Heaving up and down, Hyun-Jae looked at the window anxiously, expecting to see another monster. She really didn't know what she would do if that happened as her body was completely spent.
Luckily, that didn't happen at all. When she was assured that there weren't any more monsters, Hyun-Jae's head finally plopped back.
"Talon... Are you ok?" She asked weakly.
"Yeah..." Talon replied with an exhausted tone. "Thanks... for saving us there... Ugh!" With a small groan of pain, Talon closed his eyes.
Hyun-Jae's eyes shifted toward him as she worriedly moved her hand and touched his shoulder. They were still on top of each other from the fall and so the position was as awkward as one might imagine.
Seeing the blood seeping out of Talon's back, Hyun-Jae's face darkened. His injuries were heavy.
"I'm sorry..." She said in a low voice, barely audible. "Using that skill completely spent my energy. I couldn't move at all. I became a deadweight."
'If I was able to run... He wouldn't have been this heavily injured.' Hyun-Jae cursed herself inwardly.
Her fists balled till they started shaking from frustration. "I'm really sorry... I was useless!"
Talon looked at her silently with a complicated expression. He could see that Hyun-Jae was fighting the urge to cry at that moment and it made his heart squeeze a little. He didn't blame her for what happened at all.
In fact, if it wasn't for Hyun-Jae, they would've already been dead multiple times. Yet, because she overused her powers, she ended up unable to move.
At that moment, Talon felt that it was pointless to use words. Instead, he decided to convey what he thought through actions.
Wrapping his arms around Hyun-Jae-'s back, he pulled her into a small hug.
(A//N: Thanks for everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )