"How are you? Can you move?" Xia Zixin asked with concern, supporting Nangong Shiyu.

Nangong Shiyu clenched his teeth tightly, silent. He shook his head weakly. His vision blurred, eyes unfocused.

Though the bleeding from his severed arm had stopped, the pain hadn’t vanished.

Beside them, the mantis-like Aberrant drooled pale yellow saliva, inching closer. In a few more steps, it could swing its scythe-arms to end their lives.

Watching the monster approach, Xia Zixin hoisted the semi-conscious Nangong Shiyu onto her back. She channeled magic to her feet and dashed toward a nearby building. Her magically enhanced shoes gripped the wall like suction cups as she scaled vertically upward.

But after only a few steps, her shoes slipped off the wall. They nearly plummeted to the ground. At the last moment, Xia Zixin reattached her shoes to the wall, saving them from a deadly fall onto concrete.

The mantis Aberrant behind them seemed unconcerned about its prey escaping. It advanced at a walking pace. To it, killing these two weaklings was effortless. A flick of its forearms would finish them without doubt.

Seeing they were about to enter its attack range, Xia Zixin had no choice but to descend to the ground. She searched for an escape chance.

As the distance closed, cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

Just then, a black Adidas sneaker flew from across the street, hitting the mantis squarely.

Struck, the monster whirled around to find the attacker. Its green compound eyes scanned the area, quickly spotting the tall boy on the other side.

"M-monster! Come and get me if you dare! Don’t—don’t touch my friends!" Luo Qitian shouted, his voice loud but body trembling uncontrollably.

"Screeeeech!!!" The monster roared back. It plunged its scythe-arm into a blue Porsche Cayenne parked roadside, preparing to hurl it.

"Holy shit! Fuck!"

Watching the three-ton car fly toward him, Luo Qitian dove sideways, barely dodging the Cayenne. The blue SUV crashed through a storefront window, wrecking the shop inside.

Fortunately, people had hidden earlier, so no one was hurt.

Just then, an engine roared on the empty street, drawing the monster’s attention.

"Shiyu’s classmate, thank you!" Xia Zixin shouted from a window. She had commandeered a Mercedes-Maybach from the roadside. "I’ll ask your name next time!"

With that, she slammed the accelerator. The Maybach roared to life and sped away like a wild horse.

Seeing its prey escape, the mantis let out a frustrated screech. It crouched low, spread hidden wings under its carapace, and shot forward like a crossbow bolt, chasing the speeding car.

Watching them disappear, Luo Qitian lay stunned on the ground. Once sure he was safe, his pale face regained color. He leaned against a wall, gasping, his school uniform soaked with sweat.

"What the hell was that? Do monsters really exist?"

Luo Qitian muttered to himself. Recalling the events, he felt trapped in a nightmare.

"Huh, I actually stood up after seeing that. I underestimated myself. Maybe all those horror games helped. Guess being an otaku isn’t useless."

He turned his gaze to a severed arm nearby, expression turning grave.

"Shiyu, I owe you my life. You have to survive."

As Luo Qitian planned to rest longer, a blinding flash appeared in the road. Dozens of men in suits and sunglasses materialized. They spotted him against the wall, exchanging eerie glances.

Hmm... judging by Hollywood tropes, these men were probably here to silence him. Realizing this, Luo Qitian scrambled up to escape. But as he turned, a black-suited man blocked his path.

The man grabbed Luo Qitian’s shoulder, staring through sunglasses into his eyes.

"It’s okay. You’re alive. Trust me, everything will return to normal. Don’t be afraid."

A wave of dizziness hit Luo Qitian. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

◆

Meanwhile, Xia Zixin drove the black Maybach at 160 km/h. She ignored traffic lights, police, and lanes—just driving wherever clear, putting distance between them and the monster.

The mantis Aberrant chased relentlessly. Everything in its path shattered—cars, streetlights, pedestrians. Anything it touched lost its form.

Nangong Shiyu sat in the passenger seat, slowly opening his eyes. He spoke with difficulty, "Xia Zixin... stop. Let me out to fight."

Through the rearview mirror, he saw cars flattened by the mantis. It pained him. The monster’s prey was him, not innocents.

"With your strength now, you can’t beat that Aberrant," Xia Zixin said, frowning. "Letting you fight is suicide."

"But... what about the innocent people?" Nangong Shiyu asked sadly. "It’s after me alone."

"Idiot! Do you think dying solves anything?" Xia Zixin snapped. "This isn’t fixed by suicide. Only you can defeat that Aberrant. If you die, all is lost!"

"Then why not let me fight!" Nangong Shiyu unbuckled his seatbelt.

"You still can’t win. Just run. When I became the Thunder God, it took half a month to master magic against Aberrants like this. Bad luck you met one on day two."

"What about you? Aren’t you the 232nd Thunder God? Why aren’t you fighting?"

"I’ve lost the right to control Lightning," Xia Zixin said, still staring ahead. "So only you can do it."

Nangong Shiyu clicked his tongue. He moved to punch the door with his right hand—then remembered he’d lost half his arm. Looking at the charred stump, he gave a bitter smile.

"How’s Luo Qitian?" he asked, recalling whose sake he’d lost his arm.

"So that’s his name."

"Yeah," Nangong Shiyu nodded.

"You have good taste in friends. If he hadn’t bought time, we’d both be dead."

"Is that so... Is he alive?"

"Yeah, alive."

"That’s good..." Nangong Shiyu sighed in relief.

But the danger behind remained.

Through the mirror, he saw the mantis still chasing. For a living thing, that speed was absurd. If their speeds weren’t nearly identical, he’d doubt his eyes.

"Can you go faster?" Nangong Shiyu thought. Running wasn’t a solution. Until they lost it, they weren’t safe.

"This is my max controlled speed. Faster, and we might flip."

"What’s the point if we can’t lose it?" Nangong Shiyu said anxiously.

"Better than dying in a crash, right? Don’t tell me you want that, little brother Shiyu?" Xia Zixin chuckled.

"Absolutely not."

Dissolved by saliva or in a crash—neither was a dignified death to him.

"But even if you don’t want to die, you might have to think about how," Xia Zixin said.

"What do you mean?"

Hearing this, Nangong Shiyu held his breath, bracing himself. His sixth sense warned of something terrible.

"The owner didn’t fill the tank before driving out," Xia Zixin shrugged.

Hmm...

Nangong Shiyu knew her meaning. It was truly bad news.

—The car was running out of fuel.