Trigger warning: This part contains panic, anxiety, injuries and fighting. If you are not comfortable with that, scroll to the end and you will find a short summary of the events of the chapter.
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After Chapter 28
Devils? But how in the hell did they get here?!, Alex thought.
At first everyone had frozen in their steps, then as the Devils moved towards them, the youngsters backed to the tree. They soon reached the trunk, but the enemy continued to advance.
They have weapons! And swords, real swords!
One of the Devils eyed Alex with a cold stare and swung his blade. The Thai managed to escape it, but only at the last moment. He felt his stomach tighten with fear. Their situation was far worse than when they had been trapped underground. The Devil attacked again and the blade struck the bark of the tree just a single centimeter from Alex. The Thai froze, panic taking over his mind.
I almost died! He is seriously trying to kill me! I don't want to die!, his thoughts whirled around.
He came out of the trance when Neptune gently bit his ear. He realised that the sword was still trapped by the hard wood of the trunk and his enemy was trying desperately to pull it free.
"Hit him on the head!" Neptune cried. Alex gathered all his courage and slapped the edge of his palm with full force into the jaw of the man. He felt the sickening crash as the man's head hit the tree and he slid to the ground, out cold.
Alex stared at his hand with a horrified expression. This was no video game. As he glanced at the unconscious man, he felt the contents of his stomach rise in his throat. I almost killed someone! This is terrible!
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Lando had been staring at the line of Devils advancing towards them for a long time. What do they want? Surely not killing us? That can't be, right? What should I do? Help!
"CAREFUL!!!" Helios screamed into his ear. Lando instictively leaned away and the sword of a Devil studded into the tree next to him.
As he freed it, Lando leapt away from him and ran towards the edge of the clearing. However, the enemy man followed him and he only narrowly escaped the next blow. He was constantly swaying this way and that, escaping the blade thanks to his fast reflexes and sheer luck.
Lando saw it in slow motion as the man swung the blade at him. Helios jumped off his shoulder towards the man. Lando's heart sank. He can't die for me! He lunged forward to catch his dragon, and escaping the sword they both crashed into the chest of the Devil, knocking him over. Lando fell on him, and the enemy man seized his throat, managing to switch positions. Lando kicked, but the man increased pressure on his throat, suffocating him. Lando tried desperately to breathe, but his vision was starting to get fuzzy.
"LANDO!!!" Carlos cried out, seeing his friend in trouble. He delivered a huge blow to the Devil's head with a fallen tree branch, and the man fell to the ground unconscious.
Lando stayed on the ground for a moment, trying to regain his breath. Then he stood up, still breathing heavily. Carlos pointed at a young tree at the edge of the clearing they were standing nearby.
"Climb up there and don't come down!" he said.
Lando nodded meekly and did as he was told. He was still shaken from his near-death experience and the fact that Helios would have died for him without a second thought.
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In the meantime, Pierre was also having a hard time escaping the Devils. He had picked up a thick branch and held it in two hands to block the first blow of the Devil who attacked him.
His plan worked and the branch stopped the sword, but it snapped under the impact. The enemy man withdrew his sword and Pierre was left with two shortened branches, one in each hand. He manages to deflect the next blow, the sword hitting the tree. But the Devil was too fast for him. After some blows, the stick in his right hand finally snapped to useless pieces. It was only a matter of time before the other one snapped too. I don't want to die! And I don't want Tarasque to die either!
"Tarasque! Go away! Now!" he shouted. He felt his dragon jump off from his shoulder. At least he won't get killed, he thought.
Then the branch in his left hand snapped, and he found himself weaponless. His heart skipped a beat as he saw Tarasque on the ground behind the Devil. The little dragon screamed, drawing the Devil's attention to himself. The man turned and tried to catch him.
"NO!" Pierre shouted. He suddenly had an idea and kicked the Devil between the legs. The man doubled over, forgetting about the dragon.
Pierre snatched Tarasque and moved away from the man, towards the edge of the clearing. This was too close, far too close, he shook his head.
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Why? WHY??? WHY DO THEY HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING??? Max freaked out when he saw the Devils. As one of them came within striking distance, Max stepped forward and punched him with his full weight behind his arm. LEAVE ME ALONE!, he thought.
The man staggered back, suprised by the sudden violence. However, being an experienced fighter, he recovered quickly and lifted his sword. Max grabbed his wrist, trying to push it back, but the Devil was stronger.
Suddenly, Julunggul jumped onto the shoulder of the enemy man, and climbed onto his right arm, the one holding the sword. He stopped halfway and bit into the sensitive flesh on the inside of his elbow. The Devil cried out in pain and swung his arm backwards. Julunggul was caught by suprise and she sailed above the head of the Devil, landing with a yelp on the ground.
Max roared in fury as he saw his dragon whining miserably.
"HOW DARE YOU INJURE MY DRAGON?!!" Max roared. He punched the man on his temple so hard that his wrist hurt, and the man fell to the ground, losing consciousness.
Max, seeing that the Devil was well and truly out of action, leapt to his dragon, driven by panic and worry for the creature who seemed to care about him more than anyone else he met in the past few days.
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Charles had stood shocked when the Devils revealed themselves. Then, as one of them came closer to him, he realised that he should do something about the sword in the enemy man's hand. What should I do, what should I do?
The Devil got within sword reach, and slashed at Charles. He managed to duck and the sword wheezed past over his head. He jumped sideways at the next one, and twisted so the third blow also missed him.
Before the fourth try, Charles kicked hard at the Devil's hand, and the sudden blow knocked the sword from the man's hand. Charles stopped for a moment, suprised that his plan actually worked. The Devil seized the opportunity, and sprang forward, pushing Charles backwards. They had turned while fighting, so the tree wasn't behind Charles anymore. He stumbled and fell to the ground hard on his back. Fortunately he managed to keep his head from banging to the hard ground, and Tharion also escaped being squeezed by leaping out of the hood with a yelp.
The Devil hadn't fallen like Charles had, and he stepped on Charles' chest, stopping him from getting up. Charles watched in horror as the Devil found his sword. He was helpless, and the enemy man didn't look like a merciful type.
Noo... I don't want to die! Mother, Arthur, Lorenzo... I don't want to leave them!
Tears sprang to his eyes as the Devil lifted his sword. That's it. Not in a crash, but in some faraway wood by some lunatic murderer, he thought.
Then the Devil suddenly cried out in pain and his legs gave way beneath him, causing him to fall to the ground. Charles felt something pricking his wrist, and that reminded him to get up while the Devil was out of action. As he did, he saw Tharion looking up at him from the ground. He had bit the Achilles of the Devil, causing him to stumble.
Charles picked up the sword of the Devil from the ground and, since he didn't know how to use it, but didn't want the Devil to get it while he was anywhere near him, he threw it towards the forest.
The sword was already flying when he realised that Pierre and a Devil were fighting at the edge of the clearing.
"PIERRE!!!" Charles screamed desperately. Pierre looked over his shoulder, saw the sword, and using his race driver reflexes boosted by adrenalin, he managed to jump sideways in time.
The Devil he had been fighting with wasn't so lucky. The sword hit him square in the chest, and he fell to the ground without a sound, not moving anymore.
Charles froze and went pale. He couldn't take his eyes off the fallen man. He's dead! I KILLED him! I am a MURDERER! What have I done?!
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Short summary: The Devils attacked the unarmed youngsters. They tried to kill them and the drivers and their dragons fought bravely to save themselves. Julunggul was slightly injured and everyone was shaken but that's all. However, Charles threw away a sword, which fortunately missed Pierre, but killed a Devil.
I am done with the editing, so all updates are new chapters from now on :)