The smoke from the sinking ship made it even more difficult to ascertain their situation. Nikolai grabbed his gun and strained his ears to pick up the slightest of sounds.

He heard the flapping of wings from his right side. Aiming his gun in that direction, Nikolai waited for the vulture to show itself. The flapping got closer, and the smoke parted but from the opposite side.

‘What?’ Nikolai turned the gun to his left, but he was too late. The vulture dived toward him and took hold of his arm with its talon. Nikolai had to let go of the cabinet, and the struggle in the air began.

The vulture held Nikolai’s arm as the Rider on top, a guy with giant goggles, stabbed with his spear. Nikolai dodged and took hold of the spear before sending a kick to the vulture’s head.

The monster screeched as Nikolai struck its ear. It lost its balance and started to flap its wings and spin in the air. The Rider on top grabbed the base of the beast’s wings as Nikolai grabbed its legs.

“Die!” The Rider stabbed again with his spear at Nikolai’s heart. Using the dagger that he took out from his belt, Nikolai diverted the attack before slashing at the monster’s neck.

Sensing the danger, the vulture suddenly flapped its wings and generated a whirlwind that sent them soaring through the skies. After missing, Nikolai felt the vulture try to let go of his arm.

“You wish!” Nikolai stabbed the monster’s abdomen, making it screech. He used the dagger to avoid falling, but he could feel it slipping from the beast’s body.

The monster tried to peck him, but Nikolai let go of the dagger to dodge. The monster missed, and Nikolai wrapped his arm around its neck. The giant beast shook its neck to get Nikolai away, but Nikolai stuck to him like a parasite.

“Taste your own medicine!” Nikolai opened his jaw and bit the monster’s neck with all of his strength. His jaws ached, but the monster’s scream proved that it was worth it. He could feel his mouth filling with blood, but he didn’t care.

“Let go of him!” The Rider stabbed with his spear, and it lodged into Nikolai’s shoulder. With a grunt, Nikolai ignored him and shoved the gun into the vulture’s face. “No!” The Rider screamed as he pulled his spear out to strike again.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

In a single moment, Nikolai fired several five times. The gunshot disfigured the monster’s face, and its brain matter came to the surface. As the vulture turned limp, the two began falling through the sky.

“Mori! I swear that I’ll kill you!” The Rider screamed at him and started strapping belts to his backpack. The straps linked the bag on his back to his sleeves.

“You can’t run away alone,” Nikolai grinned as he gripped the Rider’s leg. As he suspected, a set of wings opened from the Rider’s bag with the belts strapped to his arms.

“Let go!” The Rider kicked Nikolai with his other leg because rather than gliding to safety, they were still falling but at a slower rate.

Nikolai endured the kicks as he blocked them with his right arm. The powerful attacks fractured his bones repeatedly, but his Blood Energy worked on healing them.

When they got closer to Alias, which was still upside down, Nikolai jumped and landed on the ship’s hull. The Rider landed in front of him with his spear still in hand.

“You killed Mori,” The Rider glared at him from behind his giant goggles. “Prepare to pay the consequences.”

“You’re a talkative fellow for a clan of very few words.” Nikolai looked around, looking for any others. “How many of you are here?”

“You… know of us?” The Rider glared at him with both shock and rage. “If there were any chances of you living, they just became none.”

“Hah,” Nikolai smirked. The only reason that no one knew of this clan was that no one lived to tell of their misdeeds. There was no way they’d let him live, anyway.

Nikolai aimed his gun and fired, but the Rider struck the bullet away with his spear. He rushed forward, faster than Nikolai anticipated.

‘I can’t win, not in a head-on fight.’

Nikolai deduced in an instant. The hull was small. It was the worst environment for a sharpshooter to fight in. With his lower stats, Nikolai thought of a better plan.

The wound that the spear left in his shoulder was already fully healed after consuming 3 out of the 5 Blood Energy Nikolai had. He waited for the Rider to get close, and as soon as he did, Nikolai kicked the hull of the ship.

His attack was accompanied by what remained from his Blood Energy and the Limit-Break technique he learned from the elves. He was able to break open a tile in the ship. As soon as he did, the Lethal Gas came out straight into the Rider’s face.

“Hah!” The Rider gasped as he held his breath, but he had already inhaled some of the gas. While he was distracted, Nikolai retreated and fired his gun. The Rider tried striking the bullet away, but his body didn’t work as he expected, and it struck his abdomen.

Bullets rained.

The Rider’s body was bleeding from everywhere as he stood on death’s brink. As he took out another magazine, Nikolai heard another flapping of wings.

‘I knew it. These Riders would never attack alone.’

Nikolai ducked as the giant vulture passed above him, leaving scratches on his back. He raised his head and found that several Riders appeared to surround him.

“Don’t move, or you’ll die.”

A man riding on top of a white vulture said. A breathing mask and two black goggles covered his face. His long brown hair fell beside him in dreadlocks.

‘A chief.’ Nikolai frowned. He looked around and counted the riders: there were five, including the chief. As Nikolai stood up, the leader jumped and landed on the hull. He walked toward his poisoned and bloodied comrade.

“You’ve poisoned him.” The chief noted. “You’ve shown no mercy. Thank you for honoring him. This way, he’ll die as a warrior.” The chief stood up.

“I don’t think you’ll let this slide, huh?” Nikolai tried to force a smile, but the wounds on his back burned like hell.

“I’ll repay the honor and kill you myself.” The chief waved his silver spear. “Prepare yourself, outlander.”