“Playing chicken, I see... Impressive.” The Reincarnator suddenly pulled up next to Dill, unleashing a blow made exponentially faster by the bike’s speed and her Skill. Dill held out his hand and caught the fist straight on. The air cracked loudly and Dill’s bones creaked—still, he grasped her fist and refused to let go.
Maintaining their speed, they barreled toward the castle.
“Let go! Do you want to end up as a stain on the wall? I’m not going to die. We Reincarnators cannot die. That’s something only you barbarians do.” The Reincarnator now sounded simply bored, her voice tinged with contempt.
Dill mocked her in return. “I wonder about that. Let’s put that to the test.”
“Don’t be stupid... Be serious for a moment. Our resources are limited. Even a body of this rank is not easily acquired. Let go... Let go!” The immortal Reincarnator looked agitated. She was about to lose the body she had just occupied, along with Dill’s body, which she had been seeking to acquire. Exerting all her strength, she tried to tear her bike away from Dill and escape, but he would not let go nor move away.
“How pitiful, godless Reincarnator. Do you fear death?”
The castle wall was upon them.
“Dill!”
“Master!” Both the children shouted his name.
“I am the one who defends the hearth, the broad shield, the survivor—Dill Steel-Link!” Dill rallied himself and stood tall upon the bike, releasing his grip on the Reincarnator. She slammed on the brakes, slowing down suddenly. Dill, on the other hand, headed for the wall at full speed. He had no time to turn to look at the source of the crashing sounds behind him. The wall was right in front of him.
Kicking off from the seat, he jumped high in the air. Under each arm he held one of the children he needed to protect. As that momentum was about to slam him against the castle wall, he met the challenge head-on instead, kicking back against the stone. The impact traveled through the soles of his feet, the shock piercing all the way to his bones. His body went numb to the core, then felt like it was splitting open—an explosion of pain. His sense of reason started to dissolve, but a rush of adrenaline stole it back.
Keep going. Dill advanced another step. In place of his right leg, where fractured bones ground together audibly, he brought his left foot forward. The impact moved there. In an instant it too started to crumble. He moved his feet farther still. Right foot forward. Left foot forward. Right, left, right. As his feet cried out in agony, he continued to move them each in turn. If his legs gave out, Dill would falter and die the very next moment—and then the children he held under each arm would suffer the same fate.
That was why he couldn’t stop moving his feet. Left, right, left, right! Forward, forward...up the castle wall! Upward! Keep climbing, fast enough to clear the top! Dill ran, and as he ran along the wall’s surface, he continued to dissipate the shock of the impact.
With each step he took, he left a footprint in the solidly armored wall outside Vulcan, the surface of which was as hard as a tortoise’s shell.
Amazing. Sid, still hanging from Dill’s side, looked back down from the height Dill had climbed and sighed. This shouldn’t have been possible. Even a descendant of demigods, like Nue, should have been unable to achieve something like this.
Master, you might really be a demigod yourself—a true hero.
Just as he was thinking this, Sid suddenly found himself floating in midair. Dill’s feet had left the castle wall. His legs had been crushed pitifully, a fragment of bone jutting out of one knee, but still he kicked at the open air, trying to move forward.
Dill Steel-Link was no hero.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you, no matter what,” whispered Dill to the children, as he held them tightly...then plummeted to the ground.
There was a sickening crunch.
Sid opened his eyes. He was...still alive. Right next to him, Nue was moaning as if she’d been hit somewhere, but she too was alive. What about Dill?
A foot with flames blasting from the heel accelerated through the air, kicking Dill in the side of the head.
“Wonderful! I can’t believe you survived that. I’ve never seen a resource quite as excellent as you. After I’ve killed you, you’ll be embalmed with the greatest of care. I can promise you that your body will be provided to someone who far outranks me—a business magnate, a bureaucrat, or a manager. Your body is just that special...”
The fall from her bike had hideously torn the skin from half of the woman’s face, but rather than feeling pain, she seemed excited. She was smiling.
Dill glared at her, eyes boiling with rage—but that was all he could do. Both his legs were already broken. He had no weapon to wield and no way of fighting back. The remaining Reincarnator bike brigade, who had slowed down to observe the situation, were now catching up.
“Dill Steel-Link...Well done—I mean that. Your resistance will be recorded and branded on your body as a barcode. That first-class body of yours will be placed at the head of our showcase.”
“I pity you people.” Dill, breathing raggedly, used the last weapon he had left: his words. Besides his lips, there was no part of his body he could move to his satisfaction.
The woman’s spirits seemed to be dampened by this. She looked at him now with a doubtful expression.