Death… And Me

Chapter 4453: Can it?

"Rean," Roan called, his voice as calm as ever despite the relentless pursuit behind them. "Try to fly toward the other two Magma Drakes."

"What?!" Lukay stared at him in disbelief. "Why the hell would you do that?"

Rean, however, immediately understood what his brother intended. His eyes lit up as he glanced at the radar before a grin appeared on his face.

"Oh! It actually could work!"

Although the damage to the airplane’s rear had made steering much more difficult, it wasn’t impossible to change course. Rean carefully guided the aircraft into a broad turn, avoiding any sudden maneuver that might put too much stress on the already damaged frame.

The airplane slowly arced to the left, hugging the outskirts of the ruined city while maintaining enough distance from the Godly Horror pursuing them. Every adjustment had to be made little by little, forcing the turn to take much longer than Rean would have liked.

The Godly Horror never gave them a moment to breathe. Molten projectiles continued raining toward the airplane one after another while the overworked Celestial Thrusters gradually lost efficiency under the constant strain. Every few seconds, another warning light lit up on the control panel, reminding Rean that the airplane wasn’t designed to continuously consume the Godly Energy of a Godly Predator Crystal.

Even so, he never once looked behind him. He trusted Roan, Kentucky, Celis, and Lukay to deal with every incoming attack. As long as the Drake couldn’t close the gap enough to unleash its stronger close-range techniques, they could still survive this chase.

Behind the airplane, explosions continuously echoed through the sky as magma spheres burst apart before reaching their target. Even when the group succeeded in altering their trajectories, the heat released by each explosion washed over the airplane, causing the already damaged tail to glow faintly red. Fortunately, none of the blasts had landed directly so far, allowing Rean to keep the airplane barely under control.

[03... 02... 01...]

[Yin Yang Sanctuary is now deactivated.]

[Cooldown: 24:00]

The Sanctuary vanished without leaving behind the slightest trace, and the overwhelming Godly Pressure of the surrounding territory immediately flooded back into the area, together with the Godly Horror’s. It was almost like an invisible ocean crashing down upon them after being held back for two full minutes. Fortunately, everyone had already consumed Roan’s pills, rendering the pressure harmless. Their effects lasted far longer than the Sanctuary itself, making the sudden return of the Godly Pressure little more than an unpleasant sensation.

Lukay naturally noticed the change and immediately looked toward the twins.

"Are you two alright? You kept that Sanctuary active for two whole minutes. Isn’t there any backlash?"

"We’re fine," Roan answered calmly. From Lukay’s perspective, maintaining such an incredible ability should have consumed an unimaginable amount of energy. Any technique capable of suppressing Godly Pressure over such a large area should have drained its user dry long before two minutes had passed.

Naturally, he expected some sort of consequence afterward. The reality, however, was completely different. The Sanctuary was maintained by the System itself, meaning neither twin had spent any effort to keep it active. Naturally, that wasn’t something they intended to reveal.

*Roar!*

*Roar!*

Around three minutes later, the two Godly Predators detected earlier on the radar finally entered everyone’s field of view, approaching rapidly from another direction.

By now, the twins had already figured out what was happening. The Godly Horror was capable of communicating with the lower-ranking members of its own race. They might not possess true intelligence, but coordinating simple ambushes was hardly beyond them. Even ordinary beasts had species capable of hunting together, so it wasn’t strange that Godly Predators and the Horror could do the same. These Magma Drakes had most likely spread out the moment the Horror discovered the airplane, intending to cut off the escape route.

Fortunately, neither Predator could match the airplane’s current speed. Only the Godly Horror was fast enough to maintain the chase directly behind them. The other two had simply taken a shortcut instead, attempting to intercept the airplane from the side as it flew past. Judging by their trajectories, they intended to crash into the airplane with everything they had.

Lukay’s expression immediately darkened.

"Try to avoid them!"

"No," Roan answered without hesitation. "Go straight at them."

Lukay stared at him as if he had gone insane. "Are you trying to kill us? If we change direction now, we can still avoid them! We can’t let them slow the airplane down!"

Kentucky looked at him before speaking in an unusually serious tone. "Trust us. Besides, you still have your escape technique, don’t you? If everything goes wrong, abandon us and run. We can at least act as bait."

Rean, Roan, and Celis all nodded in agreement, making Lukay feel even worse. He had traveled with the twins long enough to know they weren’t reckless people, yet every plan they came up with somehow sounded completely insane before succeeding. Even so, deliberately charging toward two Godly Predators while a Godly Horror chased them from behind was far beyond anything he considered reasonable.

"Fuck..." he muttered before letting out a helpless voice. "I won’t ask whether you’re crazy anymore. You definitely are. Your plan had better work."

Roan’s lips curled into a faint, cold smile as the two Magma Drakes rapidly approached.

"Rean, come out and help."

Without hesitation, Rean locked the airplane on its current course before leaping onto the roof beside his brother. Although the airplane continued vibrating under the tremendous output of the Celestial Thrusters, years of fighting together made coordinating their movements effortless.

"Here."

"Lukay, you too," Roan asked.

*Kabrum!*

One final bolt of lightning left Lukay’s core, exploding against another magma sphere launched by the Godly Horror. The attack veered off course before detonating in the distance, buying Kentucky and Celis a brief moment to catch their breath.

"Are you sure?" Lukay asked as he rushed over to the twins. "Who’s protecting the rear?"

"Celis and I," Kentucky replied while another volley of feathers gathered around him. "We’ll only need you to help Rean and Roan for a moment. Then we can all focus on the Horror behind."

Lukay no longer argued. There wasn’t enough time left to question their plan anyway. The two Predators were closing in rapidly, and in only a few more breaths, both sides would collide.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Focus your attack," Roan instructed while staring at the Magma Drakes ahead. "Rean and I will deal with the one on the left. You kill the one on the right."

Lukay almost cursed aloud. That sounded much easier than it actually was. Without the Yin Yang Sanctuary suppressing their Godly Pressure, the two Predators would react at full strength. Even if he unleashed one of his strongest techniques, he knew there was no way he could kill a Godly Predator that easily.

Still, there was no time left to hesitate.

"...Fine."

Golden lightning erupted from Lukay’s core as the Godly Energy inside him surged violently. Countless arcs of electricity wrapped around his core before converging, every bit of power focused on the Magma Drake approaching from the right. The surrounding air crackled nonstop as more and more lightning gathered together, the pressure becoming so intense that even the nearby space seemed to distort.

Beside him, Rean and Roan also raised their weapons. Yin and Yang Energy intertwined with the Light and Dark Elements, yet instead of harmonizing, both elements violently rejected one another.

Brilliant bright crimson and dark crimson lightning exploded into existence around the twins, surging wildly along their Crystal Void Swords and Scythes. The unstable energies collided over and over, producing an overwhelming destructive aura that even Lukay couldn’t help but glance at for a moment.

The distance separating both sides vanished almost instantly.