The golden, divine light was exceptionally dazzling in the doomsday-like gloom of the wilderness.
Even the all-shredding Originium Storm could not block the destructive power of the Holy Lance.
As the Holy Lance pierced the Originium Storm, Lucas, as if riding a surfboard, was wreathed in lightning and burning with raging crimson flames.
Man and machine as one.
He transformed into a brilliant black-red streak of light and, with a *swoosh*, successfully passed through the gap in the Originium Storm.
A few minutes later.
Finally, after successfully shaking off the Originium Storm, Lucas retracted his ability. The land-runner returned to its original state. However, the outer shell seemed largely unaffected, as it was made of Nirvana Metal and wouldn't have much of a problem. But the wheels and the engine had suffered severely.
The wheels could barely hold up, but the engine was now like a frail old man, 'coughing' incessantly, as if it could give out at any moment.
When Lucas returned to the cabin.
Everyone inside seemed to have lost their strength and had collapsed into a heap on the floor.
"Too fast! My head! So dizzy!!"
Magallan was dizzy, her head and eyes seeming to spin. She woozily unbuckled her seatbelt, moved her body with great effort, and after opening the car door and getting out.
*Blegh!!*
*Retch!!*
The others in the cabin weren't faring much better.
The Originium Storm's speed was simply too fast, and for the land-runner to escape, it had to be even faster. Under Lucas's control, the land-runner's speed had far surpassed that of an aircraft.
In reality, as Elite Operators, they could handle such speeds without any problem. But the real killer wasn't the speed, but the fact that the wilderness roads were anything but flat. There were all sorts of potholes and uneven surfaces, as well as obstacles that occasionally appeared ahead, forcing them to make extremely sharp turns.
Furthermore, under the control of Knight of Owner, Lucas could manipulate the land-runner perfectly and at will. So... the land-runner would often fly into the air under Lucas's control, even performing a 360-degree spin before landing.
This forced everyone inside the car to be tossed up, down, left, and right ceaselessly.
"Phew! Did we... did we make it out alive?"
Franka struggled to lift her head and looked out the window at the scenery outside. The oppressive, calamitous clouds from before were gone, replaced by a clear and peaceful scene.
Liskarm's constitution was a bit weaker than Franka's, and she still hadn't recovered. Meanwhile, Jessica was mumbling deliriously.
"Mmm~ I never... want to go out with Miss Magallan again!!"
"Me neither."
Franka said.
Liskarm: "Same here."
As for Lisa, since she had been protected by Franka and the others in turns, she was the only one who was fine.
And Magallan was in a much better state compared to the others in the back.
However, after getting out of the car, she was also dazed. Her cute bob cut was slightly messy, her gaze vacant, and drool was even trickling from the corner of her mouth, looking like she had broken down.
She stared at the Originium Storm receding in the distance, stunned for a moment.
Several more minutes passed.
Only then did everyone recover from their dazed state.
"Wuu wuu wuu!! We survived!!"
The most excited of all was Magallan. She knew all too well how terrifying an Originium Storm was, so when she survived it, she was first in disbelief, then started jumping up and down with excitement.
She had actually survived an Originium Storm with a near-hundred-percent fatality rate.
This could be considered one of Terra's Ten Great Wonders.
As an explorer.
Magallan felt she could brag about this to others for decades.
Jessica and the other two, with Lisa's help, sat back down in the car seats. The sensible Lisa took turns fanning them and giving them water.
"Look at her, that Max is so lame."
Franka didn't want to move. The three of them leaned lazily against each other, their muscles and bones feeling limp. Through the corner of her eye, she could barely see Magallan outside, jumping around excitedly like a monkey.
She teased.
"With the almighty Mr. Reeve here, isn't it normal that we survived? Look how excited she is."
"Next time... I go out with Max, I need to write a will first. Otherwise, who knows when I'll lose my life to her bad luck."
Liskarm squinted, looking like she was about to fall asleep. She grumbled weakly.
"Fat Fox... you still want there to be a next time with Miss Max? I don't think I ever want to go out with her again in this lifetime. It's too thrilling, my heart can't take it."
Jessica: "Ditto."
Meanwhile, Lucas had separated from Ceobe's body and was also sitting aside, resting.
Unexpectedly, the most excited person of all was Ceobe.
After Lucas left her body, Ceobe jumped up and down excitedly. However, the reason for her excitement wasn't that she had survived, but...
"Mmm~~ That was so much fun!!!"
When Lucas was using her body, although Ceobe couldn't control it, she experienced it firsthand, as if watching a VR movie.
"Big Brother Lucas, when can we do that again! When you were gliding on this metal thing, it was just like surfing in the TV shows!! So exciting!! It was even more thrilling than a roller coaster at an amusement park!!"
"...."
The moment Ceobe spoke.
The trio, who had been completely drained of energy a second ago, rushed to Ceobe's side and clamped their hands over her mouth, their faces changing drastically.
"Don't!! Ceobe, stop talking!!!"
This Originium Storm had left a deep psychological scar on everyone.
Fortunately, the land-runner was modified by Lucas. If it had been an ordinary land-runner or Magallan's previous model, the armor probably would have given out the moment the vehicle entered the storm's periphery.
Moreover.
The engine in this land-runner was also the best one Lucas had used, and he had even modified it slightly. Even after the super-high-load operation just now, the engine hadn't blown a cylinder. Instead, it had become like an old tractor; when you stepped on the gas, the engine in front would chug noisily, and the land-runner would lurch forward shakily.
"Sure enough, being with Max is contagious for bad luck."
Magallan sat happily in the driver's seat, driving the land-runner as if it were a tractor. Even though the tiny remaining stretch of road was relatively flat, the vehicle still bucked up and down, rumbling along.
Franka muttered under her breath.
Magallan looked a little awkward, really wanting to rebut.
"You can't blame me for this! Franka."
"I didn't expect to run into a once-in-a-decade natural disaster like this either. It can only be called a coincidence! A coincidence! A pure coincidence."
"And, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want. Who said I'm a jinx? I used to go on expeditions all by myself, deep into all sorts of dangerous places. See, didn't I come back alive? If I really had bad luck, the grass on my grave would have grown into a big tree by now."
Magallan's reasoning was sound, but the others in the car had no desire to pay her any attention.
Since Ceobe had been drained of her Arts energy by Lucas, after her initial excitement, she gradually entered energy-saving mode, curling up on the floor, waiting for Jessica to feed her.
Lisa was still a bit shaken. She held onto Lucas's and Jessica's hands the whole time, unwilling to let go. She was just a twelve-year-old kid, after all. A world-ending natural disaster like that, even if it wasn't nauseating, was far more terrifying than killing someone.
That feeling of powerlessness... even the top assassins would feel hopelessly desperate. It was not something human strength could contend with.
Franka teased.
"Have you ever heard of a jinx bringing bad luck upon themselves? Jinxes always bring misfortune to those around them. Don't you remember, what about your former teammates at Rhine Lab?"
Jessica paused, then turned her head with interest.
"Teammates? Miss Max had teammates before?"
Faced with the question, Magallan scratched her head, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I did, in the past...."
"And now..."
"Those teammates... the dead are dead, the injured are injured, the retired are retired. The one who died earliest, the fruit trees on his grave have already borne fruit many times."
Everyone: "....."
After a brief silence, Franka lunged for the car door.
"Stop the car!! I want to get out!!"
Magallan scratched her head awkwardly.
"Forget it, the doors are welded shut."
She did have teammates, but their deaths and injuries seemed to have little to do with her. One teammate repeatedly fell into ice crevices while investigating the North Pole together. Due to multiple instances of freezing, his legs lost some sensation, and he retired on the spot.
The only one who died did it to himself. He insisted on having Magallan take a thrilling photo of him on the edge of a cliff, and well... he fell...
"We're just a few minutes away. Look, it's that green mountain up ahead. Doesn't it look beautiful from a distance? We're already here. Even if you don't want to camp, we can leave right after I get a few barrels of 'Netherworld River' water. It won't take long."
"And besides...."
Magallan was a bit indignant.
"We've already encountered a once-in-a-decade disaster. Our bad luck should be used up by now. I don't believe this time we'll still... abababa~~"
Magallan was just about to plant a new flag.
Lucas and Jessica immediately rushed forward to cover Magallan's mouth.
"Stop talking, Miss Penguin. Can't you see your back is already riddled with them? It's all flags!! I suggest you stop being an explorer and go to Yan to be an opera artist. You're guaranteed to be the best person in the world to play the old general who's covered in flags."
Jessica also nodded with great solemnity.
Magallan felt her professionalism had been insulted, but for a moment she couldn't refute it. She was fuming. Although she really wanted to say that she was the most professional explorer, she... couldn't get the words out.
So she had to hold it in for the rest of the way.
Under the constant jolting of the 'tractor', ten minutes later, the group finally arrived at the rare mountain peak in the Siracusa wilderness.
It had to be said.
It was just as Magallan had described at the beginning.
The mountain was very beautiful from the outside. It wasn't high, only five or six hundred meters in altitude. Compared to peaks that started in the four-digits, this could only be called a large mound.
It was entirely verdant, the surface of the mountain appearing like an ocean of trees. Set against the monotonous, withered yellow of the wilderness, this mountain felt like it belonged to another world.
"So, beautiful, right?"
Magallan said proudly.
Terra was different from Earth.
There weren't many proper mountains on Terra. Outside of the mobile cities, the wilderness beyond the nations' borders was like a wasteland—rugged, dangerous, and with very little greenery to be seen. A green mountain that appeared so abruptly in the wilderness was extremely rare, especially in a central region of Terra like Siracusa.
Franka took a picture with her phone.
"I don't want to admit it, but it's actually not bad. This place would be amazing for camping~~ I was just thinking when I was watching TV shows, camping out in the wild like this is awesome. Set up a tent, watch the stars together at night, and if you see a shooting star, you can make a wish."
Jessica & Liskarm: "????"
They both quickly turned to look at Franka, wanting to say something but unable to get the words out.
You...
Didn't you just say you didn't want to be with Magallan anymore? That you wanted to get out of the car and run? How come it's only been ten minutes and now you want to go camping?
Having been with Franka for so long, Liskarm naturally knew her personality. She was a pure optimist, her thoughts flitting from one thing to the next. She was used to it.
"Um...."
"Senior Franka...."
Jessica said slowly.
"Aren't you afraid, Senior, that if we're with Miss Max, a meteor might fall from the sky?"
Magallan: "???"
"Wuu wuu wuu!! Little cutie Jessica, you've learned to be bad too, starting to make fun of me!!"