Chapter 89: We are Taking the Journey With Style

Chapter 89: We are Taking the Journey With StyleThe morning sky above Elandra was cloudless and pale, the kind of sky that promised dry winds and dust in the teeth. At the edge of the Dawnwatch Barracks, four figures stood in silence—each armored, armed, and alert. Lyra adjusted the grip on her bow. Korrik the Bastion leaned against his massive shield like it was part of him. Arienne of Solmere stood with arms folded, her robes faintly glowing under the morning light. Inigo, in freshly polished combat armor, stood slightly apart, his fingers absently twitching near his belt. The city gates opened with a long groan of iron and timber. Beyond lay the old imperial road—cracked, worn, and destined to wind through more than a thousand kilometers of plains, mountains, ruins, and wasteland before reaching the edge of the Western Rift. Lyra glanced sideways at Inigo. "We’re walking that?" "Yeah," Korrik added, squinting west. "I count maybe thirty days on foot. Forty if the terrain turns sour. Fifty if we don’t kill each other first." Arienne said nothing, but her eyes narrowed at the distant haze. Inigo took a deep breath. "Actually... we’re not walking it." He tapped at the system interface only he could see. It shimmered just behind his eyelids, the familiar blue panels hovering at the edge of his mind. [TOKEN BALANCE: 165,235] [PURCHASE: MILITARY VEHICLE - MRAP (Armored Personnel Carrier)] [COST: 25,000 TOKENS — Confirm Purchase?] He confirmed. A brief flicker, a flash of light—and then the air shimmered like a heat mirage. With a deep mechanical thud, something massive slammed into existence on the packed dirt road just outside the gate. The ground trembled. Dust exploded outward. A hulking, sand-colored MRAP appeared—an armored behemoth on six rugged wheels, with reinforced windows, a high chassis, and a mounted turret seat up top. The others froze. "What in the hell is that?" Korrik barked, yanking his axe halfway out of its sheath. "Is that a siege golem?" Arienne blinked. "It’s not magical. But it radiates something... ancient. Mechanical?" Lyra stepped forward slowly, eyeing the armored vehicle from front to back. "That’s... yours?" Inigo grinned. "That’s our ride." There was a moment of stunned silence. "No horses?" Arienne finally asked. "No horses," Inigo confirmed. "No oxen, no reins, no whip. This thing runs on combustion. Internal engines. Long story." Korrik thumped a hand on the metal door. "Feels like a moving fortress." "It kind of is." "But how does it move?" Lyra asked. "You said combustion. Fire magic?" "More like controlled explosions," Inigo replied. "But explaining engines to you would take an entire semester of engineering courses. So I’ll just show you." He opened the heavy front-side door with a loud CLANK and climbed inside, taking the driver’s seat. The others hesitated as he flipped a switch. The dashboard lights flickered on. With a short hiss of pressure and a whine from the starter motor, the engine growled to life. The roar echoed down the street. Steam vented from the exhaust pipe, and the MRAP settled into a low rumble, like a beast waking from hibernation. "Holy shit," Korrik muttered, his eyes wide. "It’s alive." "Get in!" Inigo called over the sound. The rear hatch swung open, revealing a reinforced interior with six seats, armor plating, storage compartments, and enough legroom for even Korrik to sit without folding in half. Arienne stepped in first, settling into a corner with poise. Lyra followed, trailing her fingers along the cold metal. Korrik climbed in last, muttering to himself as the hatch shut behind him with a final clunk. From the driver’s seat, Inigo spoke over the internal intercom. "Seatbelts." "Seat-what?" Lyra asked. "Just grab the strap next to you and clip it into the buckle." After some awkward fiddling and one accidental pull that nearly knocked Korrik off balance, the team managed to buckle in. Inigo shifted the vehicle into gear, pressed the throttle—and with a deep mechanical roar, the MRAP surged forward. It wasn’t a fast start, but it was steady, powerful. The tires rolled over uneven cobblestones like they weren’t even there, the suspension absorbing every jolt and dip. The adventurers inside swayed, startled, but soon adjusted to the rhythm. "This is sorcery," Arienne murmured. "Nope. Engineering," Inigo replied. "And a little bit of capitalism." "What’s the top speed on this beast?" Korrik asked, gripping a ceiling handle as if expecting it to lurch into the sky. "About 120 kilometers an hour, if the road holds," Inigo said. "But we’re not going full speed yet. Gotta conserve fuel until I get more." Lyra leaned toward the front. "You’re telling me we’re going to cross a thousand kilometers in... what, ten days?" "Maybe less, if terrain allows. Plus we don’t have to stop at every damn inn and outpost." seaʀᴄh thё Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Korrik gave a whistle. "You just killed the entire merchant caravan industry with this thing." Inigo smirked. "Yeah, I’ve been doing that a lot lately." They passed through the outer districts of Elandra, drawing the attention of stunned civilians and a few palace guards on horseback. A few saluted. Others merely stared. Eventually, the city gave way to countryside—rolling fields, wind-swept hills, and narrow dirt roads that the MRAP handled with ease. Birds scattered at the rumble of its passage. The occasional deer darted into the underbrush. The silence inside the cabin gave way to murmured conversation. "So, your business together back at the capital. How are you going to handle it now that you two are leaving?" Korrik asked. "We just temporarily closed it," Lyra said. "The customers were sad about the announcement but since we are fighting a major enemy here that could threaten the whole of mankind, we have to do it." Arienne chimed in. "So the rift, I remembered you two going inside of it and inside the rift was an Abyss where the Demon King and his demon generals reside. Did you encounter them during your raid inside of the rift?" "It was only a cave system," Inigo replied and added. "Though there are some monsters that are totally different in this realm. I thought it was an abyss at first but could be part of it." They drove for hours, passing through abandoned checkpoints, overgrown villages, and the occasional set of ruins reclaimed by nature. Every now and then, Inigo would stop the vehicle for a brief rest. The MRAP idled silently, the engine’s warmth seeping into the metal walls. That evening, they camped beside a crumbling stone archway—what remained of a centuries-old imperial bridge. The MRAP stood nearby, silent and watchful like a sentinel. Korrik made a fire. Arienne prayed in silence. Lyra kept watch, her bow resting across her lap. Inigo sat atop the MRAP’s hood, looking at the stars overhead. "Do you miss your hometown?" Lyra asked, joining him. He hesitated. "Sometimes but I can’t do nothing anymore since I can’t return to it." "Why not? I thought it was just a long place from here. With that beast you summoned you could get back there," Lyra said, confused. "I know. But no means of transportation is capable of getting me home, let’s just leave it at that. What’s important is that I am alive and living in this place, beside you of course." "Things are going fast between us. It has never been a year but we are already tasked with killing the Demon King. Isn’t that absurd?" Inigo continued. "I don’t think so," Lyra replied. "And it was not the first attempt that a party was formed to defeat the Demon King, there were already others who had failed." "That is what I am keeping in mind. The failed attempts, making it a difficult mission and a long one. This mission is going to be a long adventure." She smiled faintly. "A long adventure indeed, which could take months or years, even if the Rift is there, we have no guarantee that it’s open when we arrive, and if it’s not, we’ll have to wait." "At least we get to discover parts of the world," Inigo said. "You are right," Lyra chuckled. Lyra leaned against his shoulder, her voice soft. "And no matter how long it takes, we’ll see it through." The fire crackled gently below them, casting dancing shadows on the stone arch. Down at the base of the camp, Korrik had finally laid down his bedroll and was snoring in thunderous intervals. Arienne remained awake but silent, her hands resting over her staff, eyes closed in quiet meditation. Inigo let out a long breath. "This spot... it’s quiet. No beasts nearby. No cursed air. Just open sky and old stones. It’s perfect." "It is," Lyra agreed. "Feels like the kind of place where nothing bad could ever reach us." He nodded. "We should enjoy that, while it lasts." Together, they climbed off the MRAP’s hood and returned to the campfire. Inigo laid out his cloak and armor, setting his weapons beside him in arm’s reach. Lyra lay close, her bow cradled in her hands like a lullaby. "Night," she whispered. "Night," Inigo murmured back, eyes fluttering shut. The stars above burned silently as the Rift loomed far beyond the horizon. But for now, the team rested—together, whole, and unbroken. Tomorrow, the road would call again.