District 42-Chapter 279: Against time part 2

Just as Ari gave the order, the Ridires began to look at each other in confusion. They were expecting that the Aesir would say to them to go save the citizens right off the bat, but he had other plans to use the time they had in hands.

"First of all, we need to get out of this siege! If we stay here, nothing good will come out of this!"

Ari began to run again, going on a path to the left. He knew more or less where they should go to avoid the gas. They weren’t completely stuck there. They could find a way to leave that siege and then begin their chase after the Frelsis.

’I bet that those Frelsis are all spread inside the areas that are already under that toxic gas. If we want to save the citizens as fast as possible and get them out of the buildings, we will need those masks. Now, those constructions are all surrounded by gas. In some minutes they will start to corrode the concrete and enter these places. Even if we went out from the buildings with the citizens, we will just face a sea of that toxic substance.’

They couldn’t spend too much time because of their current limit. Of course, Ari didn’t know anything about that gas, so the Vanir could be just fooling him.

’Anyway, the best thing to do is to trust him and play his game for now. If my plan goes well, then his gas will be useless. I just need to be patient and keep these Ridires alive for now. I think that they know that their lives will need to be used in order to save the citizens, but all of them seem to be prepared for this.’

In that situation, the Aesir was aware that they couldn’t be unrealistic and think that everyone would be alive and safe in the end. As a matter of fact, people would die. And now, they needed to do a tough exchange: their lives or the citizen’s lives.

For Ari, who had a strong sense of duty and was working so hard as an Aesir just to protect people, give his life on this matter was quite easy, the most obvious and natural choice to have.

He guided the Ridires through the well-organized, but complex streets of that city. The gas was always on their tail, similar to an intelligent predator animal.

The Vanir was watching them dancing like idiots while trying to avoid the inevitable. He had mapped all that city in his mind and knew what kind of path they were going to take, and the blind spots of his siege as well.

The man passed several years doing so until he had memorized it completely.

He liked to see his worst rival, an Aesir, and those stubborn small fries called Ridires, being smashed by his power. He felt like someone free for any handcuff while he did it, getting closer to his goals and contributing to Javir and the leaders of the Frelsi.

The enemy was clearly trying to outsmart him, but they would have a surprise. They didn’t have any idea of how proficient he was when dealing with that toxic substance.

That gas wasn’t a normal one after all. It was guided by nano-robots that released it in the air and also guided it in order to make it change directions and spread to different places.

It was a high-quality technology. The Frelsis always needed to find their way to operate without the same resources that the government had. They needed to make their own weapons, their own primitive technologies using common electricity... However, the investment they gave to power up the Vanirs was high, they spent a lot of money and resources.

’Now that we warmed up, we can start to play this game.’ He made some gestures with his cane. Gas was still coming out of it nonstop, but it had more functionalities than just release that substance.

Meanwhile, the Vanir prepared himself for the next twist, the group down there continued their run for their lives. They couldn’t wait for the siege to close completely and get them in the middle of it. They needed to charge forward with all their might. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Also, they should save as much time as they could to fight quickly the Frelsis, get their plague masks and then go save the citizens.

’We will delay a bit if we keep so low like this! It’s hard to run in a group and need to worry about other people, but nothing is helping it for now. We will start to go save the citizens a bit later than I was expecting, but the gas won’t kill them immediately nor cause permanent infection on their organism, so there is no major harm if they enter in contact with this thing.’

Ari had thought every single step they would make in that plan. As time passed, he could think in more detail. He wanted to do the perfect assault.

"There! If we cross that street, we can leave the siege! Prepare yourselves to keep running for a while afterward, and never take your eyes off the gas and the building’s roofs. We can’t get cornered!"

The Ridires answered with a strong roar and increased their speed to catch up with Ari.

Nonetheless, as the group approached the end of that street, the Vanir pointed his cane towards a certain point in front of them.

’What kind of thing is he plann--" Ari was starting to reason about that matter, but stopped once he looked in the same direction as his enemy was pointing at.

"Run faster!" He ordered. His legs were getting messed because of the strength applied by the exoskeleton, yet he raised it one more level. If what he deducted came to be true, then the whole group would be stuck at that siege without the possibility to leave anymore.

’The city has a sewer system, naturally. He just pointed to a manhole. If that cane can control the gas somehow, then it means that...’

Before he could finish it, just as he was passing by the manhole, a loud sound could be heard under their feet.

The manhole’s cover got launched to the sky, and a tower of that green gas came out of it, spreading around at an alarming speed.

The Ridires finally understood why they should start running faster. They couldn’t catch up with Ari anymore, but they were struggling to not get caught in that trap.

Ari even got immersed in the gas for some seconds, but he could get out of it in no time. He couldn’t stop to run, though, since it never stopped to spread around.

One by one, some Ridires could leave that area as well. However, compared to before, just half of their troops were there. The Aesir got a bitter taste in his mouth, but he couldn’t do anything for them at all. He just hoped that some of them could enter buildings or run to another path to keep surviving.

He diminished his speed a bit, letting the Ridires catch up with him.

When they were all reunited, the group could hear from the top of the buildings and near alleys the sounds of steps and guns being cocked.

This time, out of instinct, those warriors put their backs against each other’s, defending different directions at the same time while moving away from the gas. They drew their weapons and pointed at where the sounds came.

With guns in hand, the plague masks, and a confident posture, the Frelsi began to appear around from different places.

’When I think that things can’t get worst...’ Ari snorted, charging his launcher grenade. ’If we keep running, we will just lose time now. We are even late to begin our counterattack. I put them exactly where I wanted them to be. Now I can do something worth my title.’

"Thirty seconds, Vanir!" He shouted, looking to the man with heavy leather clothes and the cane. "In thirty seconds the gas will invade the buildings and start to kill the citizens, I know." He raised one finger, narrowing his eyes. "But we will need just ten to wipe out these guys and go save them."

That Vanir, contrary to Tein, wasn’t as loud and talkative. He still had his broken and antipathetic humor sense, but he was a man more of actions than words.

He ended up jumping out of the building, walking briefly with half of his body getting covered by the mass of green gas that was approaching them each second. He seemed to be more comfortable there.

"I am curious to know what you have been preparing for me and my comrades, Punctual Aesir." He chuckled.

The Vanir stomped his cane in the ground two times, then the criminals began to advance in the direction of the reduced group of Ridires.