novelraw Chapter 164: The Space Between Movements (IV)
Chapter 164: The Space Between Movements (IV)
「Let’s bully the dragon. (≧▽≦)」
"Yea, yea..." he said, then added quietly. "that’s not possible though."
Si Hon shut his eyes tightly for half a second while the rooftop shook again beneath another impact from the dragon’s claws. Heat rolled across the air in uneven waves, mixing with cold wind, ash, smoke, and the sound of concrete somewhere below continuing to collapse floor by floor.
Honestly?
The entire school sounded like it was dying... because it was... ( : ˘ ∧ ˘ : )
"Mimi," Si Hon said quickly while forcing himself upright again, one hand still gripping the broken wooden stick tightly enough that it makes his knuckles hurt. "Help me out here, alright? Tell me where to dodge and where to go because my body feels like expired noodles right now."
Another explosion thundered nearby.
"And I need a weapon," he added while scanning the rooftop fast. "Any stick, pipe, sharp metal, cursed kitchen utensil, I don’t care anymore. Just point me at something pointy."
Above his hand, Mimi floated quietly for one second.
Then her sleepy expression completely vanished.
Her little eyes widened dramatically while she lifted Spoony upward with both hands like a sacred artifact before suddenly spinning it between her fingers.
Pale system light swirled around her body.
And then—
She smirked.
A dangerous little gremliny smirk.
「I found it!!! (°▽°)」
Without hesitation, Mimi pointed her spoon dramatically toward the farthest corner of the rooftop.
"The FAR end?!" Si Hon’s face twisted immediately. "Are you serious?!"
Because of course it had to be there.
Not nearby.
Not conveniently beside him.
No.
The mysterious weapon had apparently spawned in the worst possible location across the giant rooftop of a three story school currently being latched by an angry dragon.
"Fuck my life."
Then he moved.
Si Hon immediately jumped down from the higher stairwell housing platform onto the main rooftop surface below, shoes slamming against cracked concrete before he broke into a sprint toward the far side of the building.
Or... something close to a sprint.
More like an exhausted half dying man forcing himself forward through sheer resentment.
The rooftop wind hit him hard while debris crunched beneath every step, smoke rolling past his face in uneven clouds as alarms screamed somewhere far below across the city.
Behind him, Seong’s threads snapped sharply through the air while Aeloria launched another barrage of ice toward the dragon’s head.
And then—
The dragon noticed him.
Its massive (I forgot the color of its) eye shifted downward slowly.
Locked directly onto Si Hon.
"Why me?" Si Hon wheezed immediately. "There’s literally stronger people right there!"
The dragon’s massive eye locked onto Si Hon again.
Without warning—
Its enormous claw pulled backward slightly.
Not upward.
Sideways.
Like a predator winding up before tearing through it’s prey.
Si Hon’s exhausted brain processed it instantly.
(Fuck.)
The dragon swung.
FAST.
Its gigantic claw ripped horizontally across the rooftop with horrifying force, black talons carving through concrete like the entire building was made out of soft clay. The air itself screamed from the speed behind the attack while shattered debris exploded outward everywhere in violent waves.
Entire sections of rooftop flooring got peeled apart and launched into the air.
Ventilation units crumpled instantly.
Concrete pillars snapped sideways.
And the claw was heading directly toward Si Hon.
「DAD JUMP JUMP!!! HIGH!!!! HIGH!!! (ᗒᗩᗕ)」 Mimi suddenly screamed.
Si Hon didn’t hesitate.
The moment the claw tore across the rooftop behind him, he planted one foot against a broken chunk of rubble sticking upward from the concrete and kicked off it with everything he had.
BOOM!
His body launched upward barely in time.
The dragon’s claw swept underneath him by literal inches, close enough that the wind pressure alone violently spun him sideways midair while broken debris exploded beneath his feet like miniature bombs going off one after anotha.
"F-FUUU—"
The rooftop vanished underneath him for half a second as the claw completely erased the section where he’d been standing moments earlier, chunks of shattered concrete and twisted metal flying upward around his body while smoke burst across the air in huge clouds.
One jagged piece of debris slammed past his shoulder close enough to graze his uniform.
Another clipped his shoe midair.
The shockwave from the dragon’s swing kept carrying him higher than expected too, his stomach dropping violently while the world tilted sideways around him in a blur of smoke, burning rooftop, and giant angry dragon.
And below—
The dragon’s claw continued ripping across the rooftop surface, carving a massive trench straight through the school like someone dragging a blade across a paper.
"WOAH WOAH WOAH—"
And then— ಥ_ಥ
He crashed shoulder first onto the rooftop several feet away and rolled violently across the concrete before slamming hard against a bent ventilation structure.
Pain shot through his ribs immediately.
"Ack."
For half a second he just laid there.
Then—
He slapped the ground once.
"Still alive. Nice, but fuck, why do I always get hit in ribs."
And forced himself back up again.
Behind him, the claw had literally carved a massive trench across the rooftop surface deep enough to expose metal support beams underneath.
"THIS DRAGON GOT PERSONAL BEEF WITH ME HUH?!!!!!"
「(≧▽≦) Maybe you smell edible!」
"Mimi ಠ_ಠ..."
Still, he kept running.
Or limping aggressively.
Same thing at this point.
His legs screamed with every step while dizziness kept hitting him in waves from overusing Multi Directional Movement earlier. The rooftop suddenly felt ten times larger than before too.
(Fuck...)
His breathing grew rougher.
(Out of all the places...)
Another step.
(Why did it have to be at the FAR END?!)
Another explosion shook the rooftop.
(This school is HUGE for no reason too— who designed this shit?!)
Above him, the dragon roared again while Seong barely dodged another sweep of fire through the air. Aeloria’s ice shattered across the dragon’s face in glittering blue fragments that melted almost instantly against the heat pouring from its body.
Meanwhile Si Hon continued hauling himself across the rooftop like a man being chased by unpaid taxes.
Then—
He saw it.
Near the far edge of the rooftop, half buried beneath broken concrete and twisted metal debris—
A long fractured steel rod.
Sharp at one end.
Covered in dust.
Si Hon’s eyes widened immediately.
"There!"
He practically threw himself toward it.
One hand slammed against the rubble while he yanked the steel rod free with all his strength, chunks of broken concrete scattering across the rooftop as the weapon finally came loose.
It was heavy.
Cold.
Jagged enough to pierce something.
Perfect.
And right as Si Hon finally grabbed it—
The dragon swung again.
Its massive claw ripped through the air toward him fast enough to distort the smoke around it.
「DAD!!!」 Mimi shouted immediately. 「USE IT NOW!!!」
Si Hon’s eyes narrowed.
Then closed.
Everything slowed.
The rooftop sounds faded.
The screaming, fire, collapsing building etc.
All of it suddenly stretched strangely distant while the sensation returned beneath his skin once again.
Compression.
Pressure.
The world folding inward around him.
(Multi Directional Movement.)
The thought echoed silently inside his mind—
And then reality twisted.
For the briefest millisecond—
Si Hon opened his eyes inside a place that wasn’t the rooftop anymore.
Everything around him had become white.
Not empty.
Spiraling.
Endless streams of pale distorted space twisting infinitely in every direction like he’d fallen inside the inside of movement itself. Time felt wrong there. Distance felt wrong. His body felt almost weightless while strange currents pulled at him from every angle simultaneously.
And floating faintly beside him—
Mimi grinned proudly while holding Spoony upward like a magical GPS.
「Left left left! (≧▽≦)」
Then—
Reality snapped back violently.
BOOM!
Si Hon reappeared instantly above the dragon—
Directly on the back of its neck.