"What kind of fiend is that?" Ryker was shit scared. But even in his fright, he didn't dare neglect the chopper and put his comrades' lives at risk like last time.
"It looks like the drug this time is of high potential," Lucas commented coldly and raised his rifle, aiming at the monster.
Although they were at the city border, they could clearly see the monster, and Lucas didn't hesitate to kill it. The more he delayed, the more human lives would be lost.
Kyla, too, aimed at the monster, and as expected, the tranquilizer had no effect on it. The creature didn't even react when the pointed edge pierced its skin.
"Lucas, I think it's all up to you now," Ryker remarked, controlling the chopper as they flew straight. He couldn't keep drifting lest Lucas should lose aim.
Lucas wasn't as skilled as Vance or Dave. So he needed his help.
Lucas hummed and aimed at his target. Mustering his courage, he pressed the trigger, and a laser beam travelled in the air before it hit the monster.
With a roar, the monster turned in the direction from where it had been attacked.
Lucas had expected the monster to fall dead once he hit it. However, it remained standing, only that it was injured at the part where the laser beam had struck.
"Lucas, try again," Kyla commanded from beside, and Lucas pressed the trigger again five times successively, each time aiming for a different part.
The monster couldn't evade the laser beams, and the fifth shot did it. It flopped to the ground, and the intensity of the fall shook the ground. Dust rose in the sky, and all the people who had come under the monster had been squashed to death.
"Fuck!" Seb felt terrible. But they had no choice. It was the only way they could save the people. The monster had to be killed; otherwise, it'd be them who'd be killed.
It was not the end, though. There were still other monsters on a rampage, killing all humans on their path.
Although they weren't as gigantic as the one Lucas had killed, they weren't easy to handle either. None of the tranquilizers worked on them, and Lucas had to use his rifle to kill them.
Fortunately, only one or two shots were enough to kill the monsters.
Lucas became more and more skilled at killing the monsters, and in no time, only the humans remained. He had killed all the monsters until a strange phenomenon occurred that almost made his eyeballs roll out of their sockets.
The gigantic monster, which was lying dead, started to twitch in its spot. The places where it had been struck by the laser beam started to regenerate, starting a fresh wave of panic among Lucas and the others.
"Fucking shit! Just when I thought we had the weapon to stop this madness," Ryker was vexed, and he had to maneuver the chopper suddenly as the monster stood to its height.
Now they were within an arm's distance from the monster. All it had to do was stretch its hand, and the chopper would be smashed to pieces.
Not just theirs, even the other choppers had to be careful. They even had to pause the rescue mission for the time being, as they couldn't lower the choppers to reach the humans.
All hopes were on Lucas. He was the only one who could save them. The pressure on his shoulders was so strong that his hands shook. But he remained focused and aimed at the monster again.
This time, however, even after ten beams had been shot at it, it remained unaffected. It was injured and bleeding, but it didn't collapse like last time.
Lucas's attacks had infuriated it completely, and it started aiming at the choppers instead of the humans below. However, as it ran, it ended up squashing the humans under its feet, reducing them into a pulp.
One gigantic monster proved to be more difficult and dangerous than all the other monsters combined.
At the seventeenth shot, the monster slowed down visibly, and its strength withered. On the twentieth shot, it collapsed to the ground again, squashing everything underneath it.
"Is it dead?" Ryker asked, heaving a sigh of relief.
"I'm not sure. We can't.... oh no." Kyla almost screamed when she saw that the monster had woken up again, and this time quicker than before. Its injuries were healing rapidly as it stood to its height again.
"Lucas, why do I feel that every time it collapses, it wakes up stronger and faster?" Seb asked apprehensively.
He wasn't the only one who felt that way. The others, too, had sensed it.
"What do I do? What do we... Watch out!" Ryker shouted when the creature slapped one of the choppers that had failed to escape its reach.
The chopper was smashed to pieces, and the people in it were dead already or plunged to their deaths.
Ryker was overwhelmed with fury. Although there were rescue groups from other cities, he recognized all the choppers that belonged to Velomore, and the one the monster had smashed was among them.
A grim silence fell over, and Ryker clutched the cyclic pitch stick tight.
It was one thing to see residents of other cities die. There wasn't any emotional attachment to them. So, all they felt was sympathy and sorrow.
It was something else altogether to see their own people die, people they had been close to, people they had trained with, had dinner with, or even played with. The emotions were hard to explain, and Lucas felt bad for the three people who hadn't spoken anything for quite some time.
Even Kyla, who hadn't stopped cussing since they had entered Solvane, had gone silent.
Right at that moment, Lucas received Dave's call. The man had accompanied the rescue team to Thurnak.
Lucas immediately accepted the voice call. They were far away from the monster. So, they were relatively safe.
"Lucas, the rifle is useless against this beast." Dave's panicked voice fell over everyone's ears. "It becomes stronger and faster every time it wakes up after collapsing."
"It's the same here, Dave," Lucas sighed, his heart in turmoil.
"What about Vance? Was he..."
"I called to inform you that Vance could kill the creature in Drithel, and he's going to Sunfield. He wants us to hold on as much as possible. He'll join us once he kills all the monsters in Sunfield."
"Did you just say he could kill the creature?" Lucas was stunned beyond words.
Even Ryker reacted and turned to look behind from the corner of his eye.
"Yes. His rifle reduced the creature until nothing of it was left."
Lucas's eyes lit up with hope. There was a chance to take down the beast.
"Oh, no. Lucas, I have to go. I... Ah!!" Dave shouted in fear, rendering everyone apprehensive, and the call was disconnected immediately after.