Chapter 242: Chapter 242 - Plane Explosion?!
Nearly nine hours passed in the blink of an eye.
The private jet quietly cruised through the sky, the oceans outside having just barely disappeared.
A massive rocky desert appeared in its place, with not a hint of civilization in sight.
Theo sat beside the window, quietly staring down at the unfamiliar landscape below.
’We should be getting close,’ he thought.
Most of the others had grown tired throughout the flight.
Jim slept peacefully with his arms still crossed, faint snores echoing out occasionally.
Iris had quietly fallen asleep too, though her posture remained perfect in every way, making it almost impossible to notice.
Owen lay on his chair like a mess with his head resting against Lyra’s shoulder.
Meanwhile, Lyra continued reading her magazine, seemingly unbothered by the weight leaning against her.
’Peaceful,’ Theo thought, glancing back out the window. ’Almost like the calm before the storm.’
The ominous feeling in his stomach had only grown worse as time passed.
It really felt like whatever was waiting for them in Petra wasn’t going to be a good time.
Letting out a deep sigh, Theo lightly shook his head.
’Whatever it is, I’ll just have to quickly overcome it.’
At the same moment, the cockpit door quietly opened.
Two of the flight attendants stepped out, followed by the pilot.
All three wore calm, pleasant smiles on their faces as they moved through the cabin.
Only the first flight attendant, a petite woman in her thirties with blond hair, stopped beside their table.
’’We’ll be landing shortly,’’ she said warmly. ’’Please make sure you fasten your seatbelts.’’
Owen, Iris, and Jim startled awake at the noise.
’’We’ll do just that,’’ Theo nodded politely.
The attendant smiled warmly before continuing toward the rear of the aircraft.
Theo’s eyes followed her for a moment.
’Something’s off,’ he thought, brows furrowing. ’Wasn’t this supposed to be a twelve-hour flight?’
Now, after only nine hours had passed, they were suddenly going to land?
That wasn’t even all.
’Why are all three of them out here?’ he thought.
His gaze flickered back inside the cockpit.
The door had been left slightly open, allowing him to just barely see a sliver of the co-pilot.
’Was I wrong?’ he questioned. ’Did I doze off or something?’
Before he could say anything, Owen slowly opened his eyes.
He rubbed his face before glancing toward the window beside him.
For a second, he stared outside without much interest.
Then his expression rapidly began to change.
’’Hey,’’ he muttered.
Nobody reacted right away.
Owen pressed his face against the glass, his eyes growing wider and wider.
’’Guys?!’’ he said again, his voice louder this time.
Lyra put her magazine down irritably and glanced at him.
Owen slowly raised one hand and pointed outside.
’’Aren’t those our pilot and flight attendants?’’
Everyone’s head snapped toward the window.
Far behind the plane, three large parachutes calmly drifted through the air.
For several seconds, the cabin remained deathly silent.
’’What the fuck?’’ Jim said slowly, taking a step back.
At the same time, Theo felt every hair on his body stand on end.
The cockpit door opened just slightly more, allowing him to see the co-pilot slumped over the control panel.
Blood had begun pooling underneath him, right beside a blinking green light with a countdown.
’Huh?’ he thought, eyes wide. ’Countdown?’
The ominous feeling inside his stomach exploded instantly.
’’FUCK!’’ he shouted, jumping up.
A green swirling portal opened up right beside him.
Only a second later, a small unicorn appeared inside the cabin.
’’FENG!’’ he called out, kicking the cockpit door shut. ’’GROW LARGER, NOW!’’
Before anyone could react to its sudden arrival, gray chaos mana surged out of Theo’s body.
It instantly spread through the cabin, enveloping all five of them.
Owen also reacted, but only barely managed to form rock armor around himself and Lyra.
Then, the blinking light in the cockpit ticked down to zero.
BOOOOOM!!!
A deafening explosion tore through the aircraft.
The cockpit vanished in an instant as a sea of fire surged toward them.
It slammed against Theo’s chaos mana, making it tremble violently as it absorbed as much as possible.
’Too much!’ he thought, gritting his teeth.
But that wasn’t his only worry.
The cabin rapidly began to melt around them.
Only a second later, it was completely torn apart by the immense pressure.
Seats, luggage, and shattered pieces of the aircraft were hurled into the open sky.
For a split second, everything went weightless.
The five of them were violently thrown out of the disintegrating jet.
WHOOSH!
Howling winds drowned out every other sound as burning wreckage rained down around them.
Theo easily managed to keep his eyes open.
’’FENG!’’ he roared, looking around.
High above, a bright emerald light surrounded the unicorn, increasing its size a dozen times over in an instant.
The instant its transformation finished, Feng shot toward Theo like a green meteor.
Its massive body slipped between flaming debris before catching Theo cleanly on its back.
’’Apologies for the delay, contractor,’’ it said. ’’I was still containing the leftover blast.’’
’’Focus on catching the others!’’ Theo shouted, breathing heavily.
Without slowing down, Feng folded one wing and sharply changed direction.
Its emerald eyes immediately locked onto the others.
Far below, four figures were still helplessly plummeting toward the desert.
’’ROCK WALL!’’ Owen roared.
Several thick slabs of stone burst into existence beneath him and Lyra.
The moment they formed, the two crashed straight through them.
CRACK!
The rock shattered like glass, barely slowing their speed.
It had even knocked Lyra out!
’’Fuck!’’ Owen cursed helplessly. ’’This is bullshit!’’
Suddenly, a large shadow fell over him.
Owen’s eyes widened right away as he saw a massive creature swoop down toward him.
Emerald wind suddenly surged around Owen and Lyra, slowing their descent just enough.
A moment later, they landed heavily across Feng’s broad back.
’’Hang on!’’ Theo shouted.
Despite being utterly shell-shocked, Owen immediately wrapped one hand around Lyra before grabbing tightly onto Feng’s mane.
Without losing any momentum, Feng beat his massive wings once.
WHOOSH!
Meanwhile, Jim simply fell through the sky with his eyes closed.
’This is it,’ he thought, breathing calmly. ’My death.’
’Mom, Dad, I’m sorry—’
Before he could think any further, a powerful gust of wind wrapped around his body.
Jim’s eyes snapped open, utterly surprised.
Before he could react, he landed on Feng’s back.
’’Grab on!’’ Theo shouted.
Jim instinctively grabbed onto its mane, his face completely pale.
’’T-thank you...’’ he muttered, trembling like a leaf.
Theo barely acknowledged him.
His eyes were already searching the sky below.
’Iris!’ he thought, spotting her.
She’d fallen far below the rest.
Her pure silver hair danced wildly around her face as she continued plummeting toward the ground.
’’Go, Feng!’’ Theo shouted anxiously.
The Galehorn Unicorn’s eyes sharpened.
Without the slightest hesitation, green mana exploded around its body as it folded its wings and dove after her.
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