The First Supersonic Dash!
15: Chapter 15: Sonic Boom!
The First Supersonic Dash!
A deadly sense of crisis, cold as an icy tide, instantly drowned Ian’s senses.
It did not come from sight or sound, but from a far more primal, pure instinct—a creature’s innate fear of an apex predator.
“Below!” Ian’s pupils shrank.
His warning, however, came a second too late.
The moment he issued the command, a cavernous, blood-red maw burst from the thicker, churning toxic clouds beneath them.
Moving at a speed far beyond Ian’s calculations, it lunged brutally toward Comet’s underbelly!
It was a monster leader, several times larger than the rest!
Nearly half of Comet’s size, its skin possessed a dark golden, metallic sheen, clearly marking it as the most deeply mutated creature in the pack.
It had been lurking below all along, waiting for the fatal blow.
“Evade!” Ian’s mental command rang with desperation.
Comet rolled violently to the side, trying to dodge the lethal ambush.
But the creature was too fast, the assault too sudden.
Though Comet managed to protect its vulnerable underbelly, the monster leader’s dagger-like teeth bit down hard, tearing savagely into Comet’s left hind leg!
*Awoo—!* A howl of agony and rage echoed through the clouds.
In the grip of excruciating pain, Comet’s body went stiff, its flight balance shattering instantly.
Like a plane with an engine shot out, it spun uncontrollably in mid-air.
“Steady!
Comet!
Hold on!” Ian gripped the handles of the saddle with all his strength.
The intense centrifugal force nearly tore his internal organs apart.
The monster leader gave them no room to breathe.
Having landed its strike, it clung like a leech, digging four massive talons deep into Comet’s body.
Its teeth ground ruthlessly against the metallic shell of Comet’s leg, producing a sickening screech.
Sparks flew!
Even Comet’s rock-hard shell began to show cracks under the creature’s frantic assault.
Ian wanted to draw his sword and strike back, but amidst the violent tumbling, he could barely keep his seat, let alone deliver an effective blow.
In an instant, the situation had plummeted into absolute disaster.
*Damn it!* Ian gritted his teeth, his mind racing at the edge of overload to find a way out.
Conventional dogfighting was impossible.
The monster leader matched a growing Comet in both power and size; in a close-quarters brawl, they held no advantage.
They had to use an absolute, overwhelming power to shake it off!
Power…
absolute power…
A wild idea flashed through Ian’s mind like lightning.
He remembered the most fundamental, most terrifying ability of Valstrax.
A power that did not belong to this world!
“Comet!” Ian roared with all his strength through their mental bond, his voice deafening.
“Abandon all evasive maneuvers!
Ignore it!
Trust me!!” “Focus all your energy into your wing cores!
We only have one thing to do!” Struggling in agony, Comet felt the uncompromising, resolute will of its rider.
It stopped its futile rolling and let the monster rage upon its back.
“On my mark!” Madness burned in Ian’s eyes.
“Dive diagonally downward!!
Give me everything you’ve got and charge!!” *Awoo—!* Comet let out a earth-shattering roar—a desperate, all-or-nothing war cry.
The next second, the twin red energy cores at the joints of its massive wings erupted into a brilliant, supernova-like glare!
Simultaneously, crimson dragon energy surged forth, shrouding Ian’s entire body.
It no longer fought back or struggled.
Instead, at a suicidal, nearly vertical angle, it plunged down into the endless depths of the toxic clouds below, dragging the clinging monster with it!
Speed!
In a fraction of a second, the only thing Ian could hear was the wind howling like a screeching phantom in his ears.
The air seemed to solidify, brutally torn apart and shoved aside.
The piercing, high-frequency shriek drowned out even the monster leader’s terrified screams.
Ian felt as though an invisible sledgehammer had smashed him against the backrest.
His entire skeleton groaned, and his vision turned blood-red from the horrifying acceleration.
The monster leader finally realized something was wrong.
It tried to loosen its claws, but it was already too late.
At such monstrous speed, the sheer air pressure pinned it tightly against Comet.
*Now…
ACCELERATE!!* Ian screamed in his heart.
The instant their dive reached a critical threshold— Time seemed to freeze for a single second.
All surrounding sound vanished.
And then— *BOOM—!!!!!* A heavy, grand explosion, far louder than any thunder, detonated across the sky!
A visible, pure white cone of a sonic boom cloud expanded from Comet like a giant umbrella opened by God, blasting through the purple toxic haze!
The sound barrier was shattered!
Speed transcended sound!
Terrifying g-force and shockwaves slammed into the monster leader clinging to Comet.
Its metal-hard body couldn’t hold out for even a second.
Like a watermelon hit by a high-pressure water jet, it burst into a shower of flying flesh and blood in mid-air!
The other surrounding monsters, still circling moments ago, were swept up by the destructive shockwave.
Like flies swatted by a giant’s palm, they exploded in mid-air, turning into inconspicuous splotches of blood within the purple fog.
For the first time, the true, ferocious power of the Silverwing’s star from another world unveiled its terrifying fangs!