District 42-Chapter 281: Against time part 4

As Ari passed for the entrance at a high speed, just possible because of the exoskeleton that he was wearing, the enemies that got behind needed to run for their lives to not be exploded.

They couldn’t see when the Aesir dropped those explosives beside their feet. The man was sneaky and quick in his action.

Of course, those few Frelsis weren’t the only ones who were defending the place. There was more inside the Healing Center.

’I thought that those bastards weren’t willing to kill innocent people at all. Until now, they never did such action like going to cities just to take other people’s lives. However, now is a different matter. They are representing a threat to their lives as well. It pisses me off.’

Ari felt disgusted just by thinking about how a lot of Ridires would need to give their lives in order to keep the citizens alive. That was because they probably wouldn’t have those plague masks to give to everyone.

The Aesir knew how their sense of duty was intrinsic in their soul since the day they became guards.

Ari frowned hard after entering the Healing Center and seeing the remaining Frelsi defending the local standing in front of him. Those were making the protection from inside.

’I wish that all of them could be out there. This way, I wouldn’t need to be concerned about reducing all this Healing Center to wreckage and parts of Frelsis.’

As long as he kept seeing what they were doing with the city and how distant they were willing to go, Ari felt more and more hatred towards them.

"Get out of my way. Otherwise, you will be the next to end up like those guys out there."

If the sense of duty of the Ridires was high, then the Frelsis had about the same will like them. They were committed to their goals, to the pursuit of freedom. That’s why none of them moved an inch when Ari stated that intimidation. They were willing to keep there at any cost.

The Aesir snorted, finding it a hassle. He changed the ammunition on his launcher grenade quickly.

"Then, we will need to play together for a little while. I hope you don’t spend too much time. I have things to do, after all."

Ari raised his gun while narrowing his eyes and getting a cold expression. However, before he could even pull the trigger. A loud sound came from under his feet, making him get alarmed.

’What the heck is thi--’ Just when he realized what it could possibly be, the ground under him cracked violently and abruptly, which made everyone standing there lost their balance and nearly fall, some Frelsis couldn’t keep on their feet and needed to settle down.

Ari, though, kept standing on his feet, steady. He wasn’t going to lower his guard. Nobody knew when the true attack would come.

The Aesir took advantage that he knew what was going to strike him and activated his shield. A blue sphere covered his body, having the looks of glass, but the hardness of steel.

Soon, those cracks appearing on the ground became a huge fissure that expelled from it a huge amount of pressurized gas.

It struck Ari’s shield, nearly breaking it right away. The Aesir got launched several meters to the skies, such was the power of that blow.

It even destroyed the ceiling of the Healing Center, making all its structure tremble.

All the patients got in fear because of the fuss that they were hearing out there, some of them even screamed in panic.

Ari was in middle-air and going up more and more. He thought that it would never end, but soon he began to fall.

From distance, he could see the Vanir on top of a building again. Nobody needed to see his real face to guess that he was furious.

Loki made a motion with his cane, prepared to make another attack which Ari couldn’t predict.

Nevertheless, Ari wouldn’t let that guy fight as he pleased. He needed to be more assertive.

Opening a part of his shield, he pointed towards the Vanir and, calculating in just some instants, he measured the distance and how long it would take to the explosive get where the man was.

He pulled the trigger and a red ball came out of the grenade launcher, drawing an arc and falling beside Loki.

The Vanir didn’t even have the time to jump to the side to avoid part of the impact. He received the explosion fully on his right side. In the exact moment that the ball fell on the roof of that building, it exploded in a tower of flames.

Ari finally fell on the roof of the Healing Center, which had now a wide hole opened on it. Some pressurized gas was still coming out of it. The Aesir’s heart nearly stopped when he thought about two people:

’Vick and Canute! I need to go there and get them out of--’ He was interrupted when a mass of that deadly gas struck him on the side and made him fly several meters. His body just stopped when he skidded on the ground and his speed lessened.

The Punctual Aesir struggled to raise from the ground. His body got hurt, particularly on the side when that mass of gas struck him. The density of that substance was out of this world. It didn’t even seem to be the same thing as before.

’Just as I thought, he has a lot of other ways to use his gas... And very effective ones.’ He looked concerned to the point where he got struck. That side was now dyed in black and purple. When he tried to touch it he just felt an excruciating pain crossing his body.

Ari moaned when feeling how much it hurt him. It was like that purple and the black area got rotted or something. His skin was strange and he felt that even his internal organs got affected by it.

’So, he can do something of the sort with his gas, huh? He sure is a tricky guy, I would never expect such a thing. It is even unfair in my point of view, hehe.’

He took his grenade launcher with both hands, reloading it.

Loki was still standing in the same place as before. His right side got a hard burning on it, and parts of his flesh were now gone.

Both enemies gave enormous damage to each other. They were tied on that battle until now, but one of them had a single advantage over another that could decide the destiny of the fight.

"If I was you, I would just give up, Ari! There is nowhere to run. Just accept it. Your Ridires will all end up dying while trying to save the citizens. If not the gas, my Frelsis will do this work for me. By the way, this Healing Center is thoroughly infected. I doubt that you would really find a way to save it with the resources you have now."

He spun his cane while walking back and forth. The calmness in his voice could leave someone wondering if he really got affected by Ari’s attack. Even the Aesir got somewhat frightened with his self-control.

"Besides it, you have nowhere to run anymore. Look around you for just a moment and tell me what you see?"

The Aesir did as such, looking around. He knew very well what was going on in the rest of the city, but he needed to do that just to accept reality.

Around him, just the roofs of the buildings could be seen in 80% of the city. This whole zone was covered in that green gas. Everything that was invaded by it rotted, died, and left just a putrid smell as traces of its past existence. Even the building’s structure was getting degenerated because of it.

The power of that gas was frightening, indeed. The way it traveled the space, the way that Loki controlled it, and the symptoms it had in humans, let one thinking whether it was or wasn’t a real poison of the gods.

Nonetheless, when seeing that scene, the only thing that Ari did was to giggle in Loki’s face.

The man looked to him flabbergasted, stomping his cane on the roof of the building and shouting:

"What are you seeing now, that is so funny, Punctual Aesir? You are LATE! You lost too much time. Now, this city is gone, your comrades are gone, and this Healing Center as well! Soon, you will be gone, too!"

Ari nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes. I was just getting a bit nostalgic for a moment. Being late makes me nostalgic. It remembers me of the past sins of someone who is ironically called god nowadays..."

With a grim expression, Ari looked back to his past days in District 42. Past days that he never want to remember ever again.