34 Chapter 34: Monster Hunter (1/2)
I didn't stop running until a single Ravager finally caught up, pouncing on and knocking me to the ground.
”Kuh!”
Grunting as I twisted around to grapple with the Ravager, I desperately fought to keep its snapping jaws from reaching me. The Ravager ferociously pressed in, its slavering jaws trying to take a bite out of my face, its hot, foul breath causing me to gag. I grimaced when several drops of drool splattered onto my cheek.
”That's disgusting!” I cried and kicked the Ravager with such force that it was flung off. It sailed through the air for a moment before crashing into several of its brethren and unfortunate Phantoms that happened to be leading the rest of the pack.
I wiped my face with the sleeve of my uniform jacket before glancing at the advancing horde. As I did so, I caught a glimpse of the chronometer at the edge of my glasses' lenses. Apparently I had been running for about an hour.
Wait…what? An hour?!
Shaking my head, I double-checked the time briefly, but the numbers did not change. I must have lost track of time while running. Thanks to Dad's training, I had great stamina, so I could run for an hour without slowing down. I was still breathless and tired, though, so I seized the chance to recover my breath before the monsters lunged at me again.
Those guys had been running for an hour as well, so they were just as exhausted as me. Fortunately for me, they had also paused to catch their breath, or to recover after I had kicked their leader right back at them, breaking their lines.
Instinctively, I reached for my smartphone. My GPS was still activated, and I was sure that Bei Pan Zhe and the rest should have escorted the refugees to safety by now. Yet, when I thumbed the speakerphone and dialed his number, the call refused to connect. There seemed to be a signal, so the problem was most likely on the other end.
”Why isn't he picking up?” I murmured to myself, feeling frustrated. I was relying on them for backup, and if they didn't arrive soon, I would be torn apart by the huge numbers of monsters. I could probably run for a few more minutes at most, my stamina having been depleted by my hour-long run earlier. I probably couldn't escape any further.
I had no choice but to make my stand here.
Craning my neck, I peered behind the horde of monsters, my glasses automatically magnifying images in the distance. Try as much, I could see no sign of any backup coming. My GPS was still active, broadcasting my location, but my calls weren't getting true. It was as if Bei Pan Zhe was deliberately hanging up on me.
What's going on?
”Gr…”
The Ravager's growl brought me back to the present. In front of me, the Ravager I had just kicked, and the rest of its brethren that I had knocked over like bowling pins, were rising to their feet, having completely recovered.
”…fuck.” I tried to force my rising panic down. Taking a deep breath, I gritted my teeth. ”Looks like I'm on my own.”
The Ravagers howled, their voices filled with violent bloodlust, as they began sprinting toward me. The Phantoms glided closer, reaching out with their formless hands, as if to grab me. I involuntarily took a step back, but steeled myself for the coming conflict.
”Gemini,” I intoned. Twin flashes of light burst through the clearing before intensifying onto my fingers. Twin swords instantly materialized in my hands, one black and one white. Adopting a defensive stance, I pointed Castor and Pollux toward the approaching Ravagers and Phantoms while the adrenaline rushing through my system overrode my fear.
Without waiting, I began dashing toward the demons the same moment they lunged at me. Swinging my twin swords, I cut a swathe of destruction through the howling and moaning monsters, thinning the horde. Four Phantoms went down, their formless figures cut apart into ribbon-like wisps. A single Ravager fell, whining as blood spurted from a huge gash that separated its body into two. Spinning around, I sliced through another Ravager and a few other Phantoms, my short but razor-sharp twin swords whirling around like a deadly tornado and dissecting their victims with deadly precision.
I shouldn't have run for so long. Normally three minutes were more than enough for me to summon Vermillion Phoenix or one of the other Celestial Guardians, but I had been too busily running. Furthermore, I had to remain within the same area to complete the casting. Since I had been running nonstop for about an hour, I had constantly moved out of whatever effective range of the area where I could complete the interdimensional gate used to call forth the Celestial Guardians into existence.
Simply put, if I wanted to summon a creature, I had to make sure I remained within about a hundred or so meters from the location where I began casting the summoning spell. In an arena, that wasn't a problem because it was a small, restricted area, and there wasn't any chance I could wander out of the boundaries set by the summoning spell, not unless I was thrown out of the ring (which would mean my defeat in any case).
When I was coming home from school the other day, I had begun casting my summoning spell the moment the bus reached within a hundred meters of my house. That was why I didn't immediately summon Vermillion Phoenix immediately when I alighted. I had to complete the summoning spell while running toward my house, and it was a pretty close shave. If I had been just ten seconds slower, and the timing had been off, I would have been caught by those kidnappers.
Out here, in the wild, however, it didn't matter. My running had meant that I covered a few kilometers of distance, and so I was never in one place to complete my summoning spell. I could only begin right now.
So before I brought out my big guns, I had to make do with my Constellation magic. Which, to be fair, was more than holding its own against the pack of monsters.
I danced a deadly tango with dozens of different partners, all of whom ended in pieces after a brief exchange. Dancing to a tune only I could hear, I weaved through my surrounding posse of overly enthusiastic audience, my swords darting out to a mysterious beat and plucking the life-strings from the monsters' hearts. More of them fell at my feet, blood flowing freely from grievous wounds as they paid for witnessing my performance with their lives.
However, as the battle dragged on, I was beginning to tire. I was already slightly exhausted from running for about an hour earlier, so my stamina was not at its peak. Panting, I channeled magical energy into both swords and swung them both in opposite arcs.