Seed of Titan-Chapter 171: Forced to Part Ways

"Guys, why the fierce look? I just want to talk," the enforcer said loudly as he drifted through the air.

Drai and Max didn’t buy the man’s words, thinking that if he really intended to talk it out, there was no need for him to blast their party away, especially when the beam so nearly hit them directly.

"Heh, looks like you guys aren’t idiots," the man quietly muttered. "Now, let’s see your identities..."

After a quick scan with his neuro-optic interface, the man remarked, "Maximillian Velles? Interesting... The guy is officially listed as dead. ’Went missing after entering Siyeun Mountains.’ Ho... so that’s how it is. His surname sounds familiar—a renowned family perhaps? Doesn’t matter though. The Organization doesn’t discriminate when it comes to trespassers.

"What about the kid? Drai Varz. A first-year student of Soluna Academy, huh? Pretty prestigious place—before it was attacked by those zealots, of course. Hm, he’s basically a nobody. Good, this should be an easy arrest."

While the enforcer was musing to himself, Drai and Max were having their own conversation.

"I don’t think we can outrun him since he’s able to reach us this fast. His flight’s top speed must be faster than mine," Drai cautiously whispered.

"Right. I don’t think we have a choice but to split up. Go escape with Horsie, I’ll deal with him," Max ordered.

"No, you escape," Drai immediately objected. "Go back to your family with Horsie. You’ve earned your freedom."

"Hell no. What use is freedom if I have to abandon you for it? I’d rather perish here if it means you’ll live on."

"You’ve suffered enough! Just let me handle him, I have something to bargain with if things turn south."

"Enough. Either you escape or stay and fight with me because I’m absolutely not going anywhere."

Drai briefly fell silent before he eventually said, "Fine." He then approached Horsie and grabbed one of his legs, dragging him closer.

"Sorry, Horsie, but bear with the pain for a bit more, okay?" he said while rubbing Horsie’s quivering thigh. "They’re just superficial wounds, so your life’s not in danger. We’ll get you treated soon."

Horsie let out a soft whimper before falling quiet.

Seeing that their aggressor was more than halfway toward them, Max hurriedly pulled out his family emblem, offering it to Drai while saying, "Take this with you as proof that we’ve met and lived together. Tell my family that my last will is for them to shelter you in my place and help you deal with your problems, especially those involving the Crimson Order or your parents."

Drai glanced at the pendant on Max’s palm before shifting his gaze to the owner’s face, looking straight into his hardened eyes that currently blazed with determination.

"Thanks for everything, Max," Drai solemnly said.

Max let out a warm smile, a sight Drai had never seen so clearly due to the previously messy beard that had always covered it.

"Forget my earlier request, Drai," Max said. "It was just an old man’s whim. Live as you see fit. Be free and merry, just as you’ve always been these past two months with me."

Hearing this, Drai smiled back before replying, "I sure will." Then, he reached toward the pendant.

’Still, I hope Auri starts working out,’ Max silently wished as he gazed at his young companion’s clear eyes, perhaps for the last time.

Just then, a painfully strong grip wrapped around his wrist.

Before Max could make sense of what was happening, a powerful G-force pressed against him, and almost immediately, he was sent flying through the air with blinding speed.

Max looked over his shoulder and saw that Horsie was flying right behind him, visibly shocked by this abrupt departure. And sighted far beyond the foal was Drai’s figure that was rapidly turning smaller as he remained standing on his spot, waving at them both.

Back on the ground, Drai could hear the old man’s upset howl rapidly fade out as the pair of live projectiles turned smaller in his vision, eventually vanishing into the distance.

"YOU FUCKER!" the enforcer roared in anger as he zoomed past Drai, heading in the direction where Max had just flown off. However, a small explosion from an energy ball right ahead of him quickly jolted him to a stop. The man swerved mid-air, trying to readjust his flight path, but successive explosions blocked his path, forcing him to pull back.

The enforcer finally turned around and faced his remaining target who was now hovering in the air before him, fully wrapped in a pure white aura, eyeing him coldly.

"Based on the info we have on you, I thought you would merely be a helpless first-stager. Turns out you’re hiding your fangs," the enforcer said, clearly irritated.

"Nah, I wasn’t hiding anything. You’re just plain dumb," Drai flatly refuted, causing the enforcer to pop out a couple of veins.

"Looks like we got a smartass here. Heh, let’s see you try talking shit to this," the enforcer remarked irritably before raising his weapon.

After its muzzle shone very briefly, the weapon launched a short glowing beam that headed straight toward Drai, who only needed to swerve sideways a bit to completely avoid it.

Seeing this, the enforcer clicked his tongue and immediately changed the weapon’s firing settings before aiming it at Drai once more.

This time, instead of a thick and short beam, a cluster of small glowing pellets shot toward Drai, who tried to dodge again. However, these new projectiles suddenly swerved outward before reaching him, causing a few of them to hit Drai who hadn’t anticipated their abrupt trajectory change.

Seeing the partially successful shot, the enforcer pleasantly snickered before blurting, "Despite their small size, those are condensed plasma. Just give up, kid. Your flesh or even bones must be melting—"

Before the enforcer could finish talking, Drai had already zoomed toward him, his fist arriving in no time.

Having been caught off-guard, the enforcer reflexively raised his weapon to defend himself, which turned out to be futile as Drai’s fist easily punched through the weapon and smashed it apart before crushing the enforcer’s chest plate, launching him away.

The enforcer had to push his suit’s boosters to their limit to counteract the momentum from Drai’s punch and stop him from falling. He hovered there with his hand on his chest, inspecting the damage.

Behind the crushed chest plate, the man’s right pec had caved in a bit. And based on the throbbing pain in his chest, his rib cage had likely been fractured.

This was to be expected though—with Drai’s concentrated strength after acquiring Nexus Augmentation, unless one specialized in defense, a clean hit from Drai would easily crush one’s flesh and bones to mush regardless of their evolutionary stage.

Fortunately for the enforcer, he likely possessed decent defensive skills or attributes, which prevented his chest from exploding.

"Not bad for a last stand, kid," the man contemptuously praised. "Sadly, you’ve failed to finish me off. Now I just have to wait a bit before you succumb to your wounds."

"Are all your organization’s lackeys this dumb or are you just a special case?" Drai snapped back.

"What did you say, motherfucker!? Wait till I capture you, I’ll—huh?"

The enforcer’s threat was cut short because right at this moment, he finally realized that the spots hit by the plasma bullets earlier looked relatively fine. Aside from the scorched off clothing, his target seemed to merely sustain mild cauterizations at worst.

As he watched the man’s face turn red, Drai inwardly laughed. He couldn’t help but feel that the man in front of him was reminiscent of Jian, easily agitated and ludicrously dumb.

’Too bad he doesn’t use a sword—that would be the cherry on top.’

Just then, the man dropped his destroyed plasma launcher and grabbed a protruding piece from his powersuit’s right hip. Holding it at his side, he activated the device, which immediately released several thin blades that connected to one another, forming a sword. It hummed, and the composite blade began to glow blue.

To the enforcer’s bafflement, instead of getting intimidated, his target burst out in laughter while seemingly pointing at his newly formed weapon.

"What’s so funny about my weapon!?" he yelled furiously as he flew forward, slashing at Drai.

But right as his swing was halfway there, an energy ball popped out of Drai’s palm and exploded right after.

Once again, the enforcer was blasted away, but this time his boosters had been damaged by the explosion, so he helplessly plunged and slammed onto the muddy ground.

’Fuck!’ the enforcer inwardly cursed while embedded in the mud, his body pained all over. ’Not only did he laugh out of nowhere, he also used a needless suicidal attack. Ordinary my ass—this guy’s a fucking madman!’

Before the man could get out of the mud, a white streak dropped onto him from the dark raining sky, smashing apart his already battered mechanical suit.

Drai stood there with a foot on the man’s motionless back. Unlike what the man had assumed, he wasn’t hurt by his explosion at all.