Chapter 122 122 Hurry Up

This pinched him a lot but he didn't sour the mood of the others who had gotten comfortable after a day of hard work and nerve wracking labor.

Bruce wiped off the sweat from his forehead with a white handkerchief that he took out of his pocket.

"Thank god we managed to make it. I thought we would die for sure when that mage attacked me. I wonder how I managed to survive past that kick. I don't know how many bones of mine he broke with that brutal kick. Even breathing is getting difficult by the second." Bruce was the first to let go of his fear after he finally felt safe in the moving truck.

Zach too remembered how close to death he had been and how he would have definitely died had it not been for Christina who had somehow managed to locate and save his pathetic self in time before the kick of the mage could connect with his side.

Diana heard the whole story of their escape; even the part where Zach and Bruce almost died. Therefore, she got rid of her hatred of Christina who had swooped in out of nowhere to snatch Zach from her even though she met him first.

"We must help her out in the future just like she rescued you this time. Not everyone in her position would have done something like that." Diana acted like a virtuous wife as she reminded Zach to take care of Christina in the future should she ever be in need of his help.

Everyone in the truck looked at her as if she was some weird creature that had been newly discovered. The way she was acting seemed delusional to all those who witnessed the changes in her feelings towards Christina throughout the conversation. It began with heavy jealousy, changed to full blown hate as if they were life and death enemies and eventually stopped at a positive note. She not only accepted Christina but also vowed to help her out in the future; she even reminded Zach in that weird way that made everyone else listening to it uncomfortable.

It wasn't only the other listeners who felt uncomfortable at her sudden change in behavior. Even Zach was somewhat shocked to see her use such a tone with him all of a sudden even though she had refused to talk to him nicely in the recent past. Little did he know that Diana only acted in such a manner because she was against Zach's wedding with Christina. And now that the wedding was obviously on hold, she let go of her grudge against Zach for not considering her first.

Suddenly, Zach felt goose bumps spread all over his body as if something invisible had grabbed him from behind with enough force to crush his bones. He was still as if he had witnessed something that scared his very soul and diminished his thinking capability.

Zach even doubted his mental capacity for a moment because what he was witnessing was not possible even by the standards of this world. Therefore, he waved off the map in front of him and recalled it again to differentiate fiction from reality.

As soon as the map reappeared in front of him, Zach checked for the same anomaly once again.

It was moving towards his group at a speed that was faster than a formula 1 racing car. This kind of speed should not even be possible considering the only kind of vehicle he had introduced in this world was a truck that couldn't be used in such a manner. The only situation in which this was possible was if the entity chasing after the group with ill intent turned out to be a mage who had reached the S rank or someone capable had managed to build a vehicle based on magic that could reach that kind of speed.

Zach didn't have another moment to reconsider as the hostile entity would be able to reach their trucks that were moving at sixty kilometers an hour, in about 10 seconds.

Everyone else witnessed as Zach's face changed colors countless times in a matter of seconds and couldn't help but ask if he was all right but Zach didn't bother with any of their questions. Instead he ordered the driver of his truck to pull emergency brakes and stop the truck immediately. The other driver was relayed the same message with the help of the satellite phone even though there was no need for such a thing as the other driver had already pulled the brakes after the first truck followed the order.

He was worried that it was some kind of explosive projectile that was heading their way which might end up destroying the vehicles that they were using. Therefore, Zach called out to the team leaders and asked them all to evacuate the remaining members from the truck on an immediate basis. The luggage was no longer the priority as the lives of his people were more important to him.

The team despite being in a pinch did not panic as everyone got out of the truck in an orderly manner. With surprising agility, everyone escaped the two trucks that would soon come under fire.

Thankfully, the flash of light in the distance headed straight towards them like a fallen star leaving a shiny trail behind it. In the very next second that flash of light slammed into one of the trucks which had been evacuated in time. The following explosion was so loud that the birds in the distance started wailing out loud as Zach and the others had to take cover and shield themselves behind trees and other solid objects in order to withstand the powerful shockwaves. The violent shaking of the earth caused their steady feet to wobble slightly as they leaned against the cover for support.

The truck couldn't withstand the force behind the impact and exploded like a gas tank on fire. The momentum of the humanoid figure was so high that it didn't come to a stop even after the first impact and plowed through the first truck and slammed into the second one that was parked parallel to the first.

The resultant fire from the two consecutive explosions spread out in the vicinity and viciously burnt everything in its wake. Thankfully, Zach had already pulled out everyone out of the harm's way which allowed them to be safe from the effects of the explosion.

Even those with thermal vision could make out nothing amidst the smoke and fire. The fire that had spread out in the surroundings had rendered the thermal vision completely useless. Therefore, all of them had to squint in order to make out what it was that completely decimated both of their trucks in a single hit.

Unlike the others, Zach was at an angle from where he could barely make out a humanoid figure standing amidst the smoke trying to pull out its fists from the wreckage of the truck that was still on fire. The figure was well built but the shape of its head seemed to be quite odd. There was no way, that a human could have a skull in that shape. It was almost as if a human had the skull of a leopard or a panther.

Zach didn't discard the possibility of this being the case since this was a magical world where succubi were real. Therefore, it was not entirely impossible that the creatures such as werebeasts were also real. A world full of magic had endless possibilities after all.

The sound of the explosion had also reached Prince Kolt who was leading his forces in pursuit of Zach and his group. A smile appeared on his face as he excitedly lashed his horse in order to speed up.

In fact, Kolt knew the reason for the explosion he had heard. In order to stop the advance of the trucks that were considerably faster than his forces that were travelling using the horses, Kolt sent his escort mage ahead of him in order to intercept Zach. He was not sure if the mage would be able to pull it off and therefore the sound of the previous explosion was music to his ears.

Kolt hurriedly indicated his commander to come closer as he ordered him in a loud voice that could be heard over the thundering sound of the hooves striking the earth.

"We need to hurry up and catch up to them or we might lose them again if we keep going at this pace. Urge the men to rush forward like their lives depend on it. No need to worry about the men or the horses; I am paying them more than enough to compensate such trivial losses."

The commander nodded in understanding and fell behind once again in respect to his lord and then let out a loud yell in order to raise the morale of the forces that were extremely intent on proving themselves useful in front of the prince.

Kolt seemed satisfied by the result as the sound of the thundering hooves increased exponentially after the commander's roaring voice fell into the ears of the troops.

"His sacrifice will no doubt cost me a lot but not quite as much as I would lose if I allowed Zach to escape from my clutches. I will need to hire a new one to act as my bodyguard." Kolt thought as he spurred his horse ahead of everyone else.

…

The figure that clashed into the trucks with its bare body was none other than the escort mage that had been fighting against Christina all this time.