Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 38 - Thirty-Four: Escape by the Skin of One’s Teeth

Chapter 38: Chapter Thirty-Four: Escape by the Skin of One’s Teeth

In Malin’s vision, the forest on both sides of the road became flooded with units engulfed in purple. These four-legged, ghostly creatures moved rapidly, with several already close to the main road.

Leonidas was still turning the cart while Richard, running alongside, was using his firearm to shoot at those spectral beings, but to Malin, the kid’s chances of hitting them seemed lower than hitting the planet they were standing on.

Lager pulled the third flare, threw it into the middle of the road, then reached out and hoisted Jon onto his back, running toward the cart, "Move it! Damn it! Leon, where are you going!"

"Malin is still behind!" Leon ran towards Malin, then he saw Malin draw his revolver from his waist.

What use is that toy gun... While thinking this, Leon saw a pure white burst of gunfire from the muzzle of Malin’s revolver.

......

Malin opened fire on the targets that had surged up onto the roadbed; by this time, he had a clear view of what the hellish creatures were—a skinless, humanoid lifeform galloping on all fours.

Malin remembered clearly that the initial velocity of the bullets in his revolver was around 360 meters per second. So, the moment the gun sounded, the target in Malin’s eyes was hit—the bullet entered through the left eye of the humanoid creature and blew the back of its skull off, then the different kind burst into flames.

Good, the bullets could penetrate their flesh, the head was a weak point, and the quicksilver bullets could ignite them.

So, turning around the next second, Malin retreated while shooting at the targets that had already stormed onto the main road in his field of vision.

Five bullets, five different kinds dead on the ground, with three burning by themselves—this indicated that quicksilver bullets might not always ignite them, but were still extremely effective.

After emptying the revolver, Malin put it back into its holster, pulled a shotgun from the gun bag behind his waist with his left hand, and with his right hand, he drew a purple flare from his waistbag, unlocked its safety, and threw it under the roadbed.

Then he saw the monsters, undeterred by the purple light, charging upon the road surface. This meant they weren’t afraid of UV light.

The cart had turned around and was stopped on the opposite side of the road. Lager stuffed Jon into the carriage.

Richard jumped into the driver’s seat of the carriage, sitting in front of his cousin, then saw Malin and Leon, "Leon! Malin!"

"Leon, you go first! Take me with you when the cart comes over!" Malin said, while pulling a grenade from his waistbag—he was ready to test how resistant these creatures were to shrapnel grenades coated in silver powder.

Pulling the pin, Malin tossed it out—the grenade flew straight towards a monster that had just leaped down from the roadbed due to the high force of the throw. The impact-triggered explosion transformed the creature into a burning piece of dead flesh.

Good, they were also afraid of explosions. Their fleshly appearance couldn’t prevent the blast from tearing their masters to shreds.

With this thought in mind, Malin raised his shotgun, again knocking down two monsters that had surged onto the road surface. Although the shotgun wasn’t fatal in one blow, the quicksilver’s effect set them ablaze, sacred flames roasting their souls and shells.

By then, the carriage had started moving. Leon jumped aboard, grabbing onto something fixed inside the cart with one hand and stretching the other toward Malin, "Malin!"

Stowing the shotgun back in the gun bag, Malin extended his left hand, letting Leon pull him onto the cart while extending his right hand toward the monsters rushing toward his side of the carriage.

Blazing red flames erupted from his hand, engulfing the entire stretch of road and the monsters in a sea of fire, bringing with it the scent of roasting flesh.

They were indeed ’creatures,’ though they really didn’t look the part.

"We actually got out!" Lager shouted excitedly from inside the carriage.

"Get me on top of the carriage," Malin said to Leon while patting the cord at his back, "Secure my rope to the side of the carriage." The hook at the end of the rope, originally intended to help ascend to the top of a ruined fort, now had to serve as a safety line.

Leon did as instructed, first hooking the rope’s end directly to the carriage’s inner window guardrail, then boosting Malin onto the roof. He then looked back and cursed, "Damn! They’re catching up!"

"These creatures are very good at pursuit! There are also some in the woods on both sides!" Malin warned loudly, reloading his revolver and pulling out the shotgun to eject the spent shells he hadn’t had time to remove earlier, "Does anyone have magical items like a fireball?"

"We didn’t bring anything like that!" Leon, who had ducked back into the carriage, popped his head out, "I have a purple flare! Is it useful?"

"Don’t waste it! They’re useless!" Malin stopped him from making a rash move, "They ignore the purple light!"

"Master of Wisdom, where do they come from?!" Leonidas was speeding the carriage along the road while glancing to both sides from time to time.

"Maybe I should light a flare. At least it could provide us with some light," Leon said as he ducked back into the carriage. When he emerged again, he had a revolver in hand and was also biting on a flare stick.

"No need," Malin said, raising his left hand and creating a bright sphere of light in his palm.

"Brightness Spell! It’s very bright, but isn’t that an assistance magic?" Leon looked at Malin, first puzzled, then when Malin slapped the carriage and applied a spell formation to reinforce the carriage’s structure, the young man’s eyes widened and he nodded vigorously at Malin, "If we can live through this, I’ll add a thousand gold to your bounty."

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