Ryker continued to aggravate the beast, keeping it occupied as long as possible. This was taxing, considering that they had to be alert at all times and keep moving to avoid being struck to death.
At one point, the creature had almost reached them and was less than an arm's length away. But Ryker was quick to maneuver the chopper in time before they plunged to their deaths.
"Ryker, this is the second time," Lucas said from behind, feeling his heart leap out of his chest. He had lost track of the number of times he had seen a grim reaper waving at him.
'Am I going to die today, this time for real?' Lucas wondered, clutching the rifle tightly as he shot the creature again.
By then, the creature was completely enraged. Letting out a snarl that shattered their eardrums, it sprinted towards them, its action wobbly because of its size as it tried to swat them away.
Right at that moment, Vance and his group arrived, much to Ryker's relief, and he instantly piloted the chopper away from the creature, allowing his comrades to take over.
"You fucking monster! Get ready to have your ass whooped," Ryker rotated his right wrist in joy as he waited for Vance to take action.
But even after seconds passed, nothing happened. Vance did nothing, much to everyone's surprise.
"What's happening? Why isn't Vance ending that thing?" Lucas mused, asking no one in particular.
"I have no idea. Did he lose his rifle or something?" Ryker said and instantly smacked his forehead, cursing himself for thinking the worst.
"I don't think so. If that were the case, he'd have informed us," Seb stated, his brows contorting into a thoughtful frown.
"Then? What's happening?"
The creature was just about to smash Vance's chopper when Vance leaned out, supported himself on one leg on the landing skid while the other remained inside.
"Go to hell!" He shouted and aimed the rifle directly at the creature's head. The next second, a white light emerged from the rifle, and the monster was reduced to nothing.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Even Lucas and Ryker, who had witnessed the scene before, were awestruck and stared at the man who was rejoicing in the other chopper.
"That bastard got lucky!" Ryker commented, smiling sardonically at Vance before he turned the chopper to return home.
"Umm... Ryker, now that the creatures are all dead, can we take a look?" Lucas asked from behind.
"Look? What look? What do you want to look at?" Kyla asked, her voice turning high-pitched in fright. She was already scared out of her mind to witness the monster from afar. She didn't intend to go anywhere near it.
"Why do you want to take a look, Lucas?" Ryker, too, wasn't that supportive of that idea.
"Umm... you know our current tranquilizers don't work on those creatures anymore. We need to create new ones, and I was thinking, maybe I could extract their blood. It'll help Patrick and me with the research."
"Extract blood? Don't tell me...."
Lucas raised the box he had brought with him, and Ryker's eyeballs almost popped out in disbelief.
"You're joking, right?" Seb gave Lucas a look that said he wasn't in his senses.
"I wish I were. But sadly, no." Lucas shook his head, his lips thinning into a hard line. "We need the blood to find out which ratio will yield us the best tranquilizer."
"But the monsters are already dead. Can their blood still be of use?" Kyla looked down at the carcasses of the monsters everywhere, and her heart jolted.
Did they have to go there?
"We can only find out after we extract the blood."
Ryker sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Lucas, you owe me this," he complained, decreasing the pitch angle, and the chopper started to descend gradually.
"What the hell is Ryker doing?" Vance's face turned pale when he saw Ryker and the others going down.
Have they lost their minds? Why are they going to the bloody battlefield?
Vance was irked and worried, and unable to suppress his curiosity, he called Lucas immediately. But the man rejected his call, forcing him to hurl a bunch of profanities.
"What the fuck! Idiot, pick up the call. Why aren't you picking up the call? Have you lost your mind? Did the monster scare you stupid?" he yelled and dialed Ryker, who also didn't answer his call.
Exasperated, he called Seb, who, to his relief, answered the call.
"Seb, what the hell are you guys doing? Why aren't you leaving Solvane?" Vance hollered, not hiding his frustration, and Seb turned to Lucas for help, only to find him nodding at him.
"Vance, it's me, Lucas. I wanted to go down there," Lucas said, giving Kyla a look. The woman had lost all her speech when the chopper started descending.
"Lucas, is your madness acting up? Have you lost your mind?"
"Vance, I need the monster's blood. We need it to create new tranquilizers."
Vance went silent at once. He understood what Lucas was trying to convey. Although they had the rifles with them, they couldn't depend on them all the time. Take today's situation.
Moreover, his rifle was running out of battery, and he had no idea how to charge. What was he going to do once the battery died?
"But Lucas..."
"Don't worry, Vance. The monsters are dead. I'm safe."
That assured Vance to some extent. But he was unwilling to leave Solvane until he was damn sure of everyone's safety. He glanced at the man beside him, who understood his intentions.
Without questioning him, he decreased the pitch angle of their chopper, slowly descending to the ground.
"Just be careful, Lucas," Vance felt uneasy and warned him. He didn't know why alarm bells were ringing in his mind, as if something was bound to happen in a few seconds.
Ryker lowered the chopper until Lucas could jump down easily.
"Ryker," Lucas turned to him once he was on the ground, his expression serious. "If something happens, protect yourselves first."
"Lucas..." Ryker was stunned by his words and, for a moment, didn't know how to react.
And Lucas took this second of silence to turn around and walk towards the nearest monster.
However, he barely reached it when the monster that had been lying dead woke up suddenly.