Chapter 122- Relief
The avalanche carried the plane down to the foot of the mountain, breaking it to pieces with each hit. The people inside were thrown everywhere, hitting the ceiling and the ground like bouncy balls.
Nobody could stop or fight back the horrifying impact. They tried to grab anything to stop it and keep themselves alive as the plane approached the bottom.
Meanwhile, outside, Arthur held into the side. The plane rolled horizontally and vertically. In more than one instance, it almost made him smash into the ground and then get crushed by the weight of the avalanche.
Holding on to the rope, he covered his head and remained motionless. There was nothing else he could do. If he released himself, the avalanche of rocks and ice would eat him instantly so he had to remain on the aircraft.
But, with each passing second, his body was being crushed slowly by the pressure of the snow and the rocks mixed within it. His back got hit several times, almost pulverizing his bones. At the same time, he was being swung up and down rapidly, totally destroying any mental perception he could have of the situation. He was getting really dizzy.
His skin was peeled off cleanly as blood gushed out. All Arthur could do was try to hold on while looking at his health dwindle rapidly. He didn’t know if he was going to survive.
Eventually, and after a godly awful amount of time, the aircraft reached the foot of the mountain. It finally stopped rolling, and the avalanche continued dragging it down through the plain.
Until… It finally stopped. The avalanche carried it a few hundred meters away from the mountain when it lost all momentum. Everything went completely quiet for a good 10 seconds as the impact settled in. The aircraft’s parts were scattered everywhere around the area, leaving the main body completely wrecked.
Then, out of nowhere, a hand emerged from the snow. Then, another hand emerged and they pressed against the thick snow as a body popped out. Arthur growled as he pulled himself out of the snow. His bloodied and tattered body could barely move properly.
Laying on the ground, Arthur exhaled and inhaled greedily, trying to regain his composure. His heart and lungs were working on overdrive and the adrenaline that shot through his body kept him wide awake.
‘I made it… I made it alive!!’ He thought to himself as he opened his inventory and took several potions of health. Then, with his shaky hands, he chugged them down. Every inch of his body was in dire need of healing so the potions were instantly used for recovery.
Since they weren’t the strongest type of potions, the effect of one was minimal. Arthur needed 6 of them to actually recover enough to start moving again. His back was still brutally disfigured, but the bleeding stopped and he had regained some strength.
Standing up from the puddle of blood he was lying in, he looked around him in an eerie silence. The entire place was completely quiet as if it was some kind of cemetery. Arthur was still post-shock so in his mind, he was panicking.
“Isla! Herculia! Emmy! Danny! Anybody?!!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. But, he didn’t receive any response. That almost crushed his heart as the looming truth started settling in.
‘Did they all die?’ Putting his hand on his forehead, he started walking forward with a dark look on his face.
“They aren’t that fragile… They shouldn’t be dead.” He said with a frustrated tone. Reaching the wreckage of the aircraft, he fell on his knees and started digging through the snow with his bare hands. For several minutes, that was all he did, he dug and dug the snow till his fingertips started going numb. Yet, he barely made any progress.
“Isla! Can you hear me?!” He yelled again and again as he dug with his arms, trying to find a way inside the aircraft. But, there was simply too much snow.
“Goddamit! Goddamit!!” Feeling helpless, Arthur started punching the ice with an angry look on his face. ‘Those two kids… No…’
Arthur put his bloodied hand on his face as he sat back and looked up at the sky with a dazed expression. His expression was blank and nothing appeared on the surface. He looked like he was a hollow vessel with no soul.
Staying there, he silently stared at the empty blue sky. “… Fuck this game…” He muttered under his breath. ‘It’s toying with me…’
This entire journey, from the moment it started till this point had been a series of extremely hard challenges one after the other. Arthur didn’t know if the game deliberately put them in their path or if it was simply a series of unfortunate events, but Arthur was tired.
He hadn’t left this world for days now so this journey felt as real as it could get. He had seen all kinds of horrors and lived through the most insane situations in a matter of days which was very much ridiculous.
“Tomorrow is the first day of the academy… Oh man…” He muttered. He was feeling really defeated and exhausted beyond words. This outcome was the worst one possible.
At that very moment, when Arthur was about to stand up again and try one last time to dig the snow, he suddenly heard a cracking sound.
“Hm?” Looking up, the noise led him to the submerged aircraft. Its wooden surface was peeking out of the snow so he could see it clearly… The wood suddenly burst open as shards flew high in the air.
Arthur followed the broken bits with his eyes before he looked down again quickly at the exact moment when a silhouette emerged from the broken hole.
“… Isla?” Arthur muttered in shock.
The girl didn’t seem to hear him as she pushed herself up before she quickly turned around and pulled Finlay and Serko.
“Hah… Hah… Come on, get up!” She said to the others inside the aircraft. Then, one by one, his injured group emerged from the hole. Isla, Danny, Herculia, and Emmy… They were all there.
“We’re alive… somehow!” Herculia said as he dropped to the snow.
“The aircraft… it protected us from the avalanche,” Emmy replied as she wiped the blood off her face.
“Are you two ok?” Danny lowered himself to check on the two dwarves. Even though they were clearly still in shock, they were fortunately awake again after the impact. When Isla covered them with her body, it lessened the impact on their bodies and they survived.
However, at the same time, Isla suffered severe injuries because of that. Looking at her, her body was tattered and beat, she had a massive injury on her side as if something had pierced through her abdomen and the reality was… Isla was impaled by a sharp wooden piece.
Although it almost killed her, Isla was able to get it out of her and quickly heal herself. When the aircraft finally settled, she was the first to spring into action as she gathered everyone and made sure they didn’t die due to blood loss.
Then, she tore a hole through the ceiling for everyone to leave. In a nutshell, she had done everything to ensure their survival.
Yet, even then, she didn’t rest at all as she looked around her, looking for someone. ‘Where is Arthur? Did he…?’
At that moment, they all heard a loud yell.
“Guys!! I’m here!! Oi!!!”
Looking up, they all saw a silhouette rushing toward them in a hurry.
“Arthur?! You’re alive!” Emmy exclaimed with a wide smile on her face. Her expression lit up.
“Arthur! Hahaha, I knew you would make it, you bastard!” Herculia laughed heartily.
“I’m glad you’re all alive. Man, I was about to cry if they were all dead.” He said as he stopped in front of them. “Well, not really cry, but let me be dramatic for a second there.”
“Hahaha…” They all laughed.
Isla stepped forward and looked at Arthur. “If you didn’t reconnect the wire in time, we would’ve all been dead. Great job, Arthur.”
For a moment there, Arthur saw a flash of a smile appear and disappear on her face. He was stunned in his place, realizing that he had just witnessed something extremely rare. Isla was someone who very rarely smiled due to her personality.
Yet, that subtle one was so gorgeous, that even Arthur felt his heart skip a beat. It was simply one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. But, he quickly shook his head.
‘What are you thinking, idiot? Stop being weird.’ He sighed inwardly.
“And all of you too. Our collective work as a team saved our lives. I want to thank you all.” Isla turned and said to the others.
“Haha, that’s what a team is for. We work together to survive.” Herculia replied.
“I’m glad everyone is safe and that’s what matters.” Emmy nodded.
“You have done most of the work, Isla. We should thank you.” Danny replied with admiration written all over his face.
“Hehe, fanboy,” Herculia muttered.
“What did you just say, musclehead?!” Danny glared at him.
“Nothing.” Herculia shrugged.
“You bastard…”
“Hey, don’t attack me, hey! Stop!”
Seeing that, the others laughed. Arthur joined them with a wide smile on his face. His relief was truly… amazing.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3
