Dry breeze smashed against our faces as we sped through the uneven grounds of hell. With the ashy ground below and the sky above, the bone bike fit in like the last piece of a puzzle. Noa held my waist and I shifted the gears to the last ones.
The city made of black stones and dried woods was long behind us while only barren land remained our companion.
"This is very fucking fun," Noa muttered, pressing her helmet down with one hand. It had enough space to snugly fit our horns inside, so I left them stuck there and didn't need to use psychokinesis.
"Right?" I answered.
"How did you know how to drive this?"
"What? Repeat that!" I screamed over the engine's shrieks.
"Drive! How?"
"Exactly! Even I've never seen this!" Titania chimed in.
"I've seen it in a museum. It's function is pretty easy."
"Museum? You mean we've been using horses over this thing?"
"No! In my old world."
Noa, perhaps unable to hear well, wrapped her arm tighter around my waist and placed her head over my shoulder.
"You mean everyone had something better than this in that world?"
"Yup. Their motorcycles all flew." I let go of one hand. "Or should I say they hovered? Do you get it?"
"Not really,"
"I don't get it either. Also, Eugy, look the Dragon Blood tree!"
Not far from us was a giant tree that resembled a mushroom. Unlike the rest, it wasn't shriveled but had leaves of a deep crimson forming a shade, like the blood of a dragon. With all the branches flowing upward, the enormous tree shaded the wide region below it.
A trail of dust was left behind as I hit the accelerator harder.
Noa and Titania yelped a bit as the bike wobbled, but I managed to balance it out. The stones below shot away and the barren roads cracked.
Few buildings and houses appeared in the distance and in the next half of an hour, we were already at the tree.
Up close, it seemed even larger than what we had seen. The Dragon Blood tree stretched far up high into the sky. A few demons were walking around the tree while others decided to have a picnic down there. Many had carriages made of bones and leathers dragged around by horse-like monsters.
I slowly let go of the accelerator and the bike dragged to a slow stop around the tree, that was large enough to make it impossible to see the other side.
The houses and buildings were strangely far while no sign of accommodations remained around the spot itself.
Noa got off the bike, the jacket she had taken from the octopunk was a little short and didn't reach her waist. She stretched her back and her hands while I opened the cabinet and pulled out the map.
The octopunk and deer-demon had been whipped badly after mentioning Dantalian's name over and over again, they gave us the map with all the landmarks and turns neatly marked.
"From this point, we go toward the north-west."
"Yup! I remember this tree faintly."
"Hey, Eugene Hall," Noa called, she tapped her helmet and only removed it after I gave her a nod. We didn't see the necessity, but it seemed fine to hide that we were humans for now.
"Let's rest here for a bit and then hit the road. We should be at the place tonight."
The faster we killed Dantalian, the better. I couldn't be sure if we won't be caught up in her machinations again, but the same trick would probably work well as long as I could hold out. It wasn't like she was strong.
Noa looked around the tree for a good spot to rest. The best was taken by some demons, so she kicked them out and stole their sheets.
Zero remorse, huh?
"Eugene," Noa patted the spot next to her and beckoned me over. After leaving the motorcycle behind, I walked over to her and plopped myself on the ground.
"Fuck, Hell is an exhausting place."
"It's cooler than I thought. Could use more spice though."
"More porn?"
"What else would be good here?"
Wow.
"Sandwich?" Noa asked.
"Oh! Me me!" Titania said and flew over to her. Did this girl steal those poor demons' food too?
Noa held the sandwich above my head. Black bread and bloodied meat… It was a sight that would make anyone run away.
"Interesting."
I sat up and chomped down right away. One might not be able to stomach it, but I had been force-fed human flesh quite a bit.
"Not human flesh for sure."
"Why do you know what that tastes like?!"
"Ate a bit."
"You become more and more spicy with every conversation, Eugene Hall."
Was that so?
We sat in the breeze for a while. Some of the leaves of the Dragon Blood fell on us now and then, with our legs stretched out wide and the red skies up above, it made for quite the relaxing spot.
Thoughts entered my head.
Would I actually fall for her schemes again?
I didn't think so. No matter how much she tried to weaken my mind now, it would probably be impossible.
Maybe a shred of guilt, or maybe some uncertainty… something was always left in my head that I had never addressed.
I used to say 'I am who I am,' and I still didn't think that was incorrect.
But.
I had lost the 'I' in that phrase. I was never who 'I was' but always who the world made me. I never acknowledged me as myself.
I never decided to trust others fully, I even left people behind without a second thought only in pursuit of strength.
I came to love someone, but I had the galls to be a bitch even after that.
In my assumption that just like myself, no one else was interested in 'me.'
"I don't love Eugene Hall or Yujin Han. I love you."
Heh…
A smile spilled from my lips.
"What?" Noa asked. "Why are you laughing?"
"Nothing. Should we set off now?"
Noa grinned even louder than me and stood up.
"Hand over the keys, I'll drive."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺