Horses gallop across the wilderness.
Long ago, during the southern pioneering era, it was said that vehicles had difficulty traversing the wilderness, so people rode horses instead.
They were born marksmen, outlaws, and at the same time, executors of justice. Those who fought their enemies with extraordinary skill while riding horses. People called them cowboys.
Leather hat. Leather vest. Boots with riding spurs. And even a poncho with a red scarf around the neck.
That cowboy has now appeared again.
"What the hell is that guy!"
[What did the strike team do!]
It would be surprising enough if a real cowboy appeared, but what emerged now was no ordinary cowboy.
In one hand, instead of a gun, he held a sword, and on his face, he wore a black gas mask covering the lower part of his face. Most notably was the horse he was riding.
White flames scattered from its mane, and inside its translucent body, interconnected constellations shimmered. Following the running horse's tail, a white trajectory remained in the air like a meteor.Could this be like a mirage encountered in the hot wilderness heat? The sight of starlight descending to earth transformed into a running horse was enough to astonish everyone.
"Take that bastard down first!"
The gangs from District 49 instinctively recognized Osian as a threat. The vehicles at the rear broke away from formation and rushed toward Osian.
The first to charge was a car armored with sharp steel spikes. As they rushed toward each other, the distance closed in the blink of an eye.
An extreme game of chicken where whoever turns away in fear first loses. And in a game of chicken, no one could beat the madness of District 49 gang members.
That is, if their opponent wasn't a knight.
"You hope I'll turn away out of fear, is that it?"
Osian read his opponent's intentions and muttered coldly. The Starlight Warhorse, having read its master's subtle anger, ignited star-fire above its eyes.
Osian pulled the reins upward. Just before their distance closed, the warhorse leaped high.
Jumping several meters high, the warhorse trampled directly on the roof of the oncoming vehicle. In the slowly flowing time, the vehicle's body crumpled and debris flew in all directions.
The eyes of the gang members who were following to assist widened in shock. Silent astonishment resonated among everyone.
The Starlight Warhorse used the crushed vehicle as a stepping stone and leaped up once more. Immediately after, with a time delay, the crumpled vehicle's engine ignited and exploded.
Lightweight off-road vehicles, buggies, approached both sides of the landed warhorse. A gang member sitting in the rear aimed a rifle at Osian and pulled the trigger.
Osian drew his sword and swung. The bullets flying from the right slid along the surface of the blade and flew toward the driver of the buggy on the opposite side.
-Thud!
The buggy on the left flipped and shattered. The mohawk-wearing leather-clad gang member who had fired the gun opened his eyes wide, wondering what had happened. What reflected in his eyes was the intense body slam of the Starlight Warhorse.
-Crash!
The shattered buggy instantly disappeared into dusty sand. Instead of retrieving his drawn sword, Osian swung it toward the air.
-Clang!
A harpoon aimed at the warhorse bounced off after hitting the sword. After seeing Osian's previous feat, they decided to aim for the horse instead.
"Annoying bastards."
Any other gang would have underestimated Osian's skills and recklessly charged in, only to be finished off. But District 49 gangs didn't. They may throw their lives away like people about to die, but sometimes they moved more cunningly than anyone else.
Especially when engaging in races of death like this.
'They know suicide attacks won't work against me, so they've changed their approach.'
They were incredibly quick-witted. Whenever the warhorse turned its head or set its sights on a target, they would instantly swerve away to increase distance.
This is their front yard. Their experience of speeding through this land for decades is not to be underestimated. In fact, they were even more challenging than a corporate strike team.
"Kill that bastard slowly!"
"The horse! Aim for the horse first! That's no ordinary horse!"
"How much could we get if we catch and sell that thing!"
These bastards dare to target the Starlight Warhorse? Osian frowned. He needed to rescue Neo, who was being kidnapped up ahead, and the chaos created by the gang's involvement made it worse.
As he was pondering what to do, that's when it happened. From behind came the sound of a horse's neigh, accompanied by the intense roar of an 8-cylinder engine. Osian, removing the mask he wore over his mouth, smiled.
"You're late."
-Neigh!
Breaking through the sand dust, the iron knight revealed himself. The knight thrust the jousting lance in his hand, piercing the engine of a gang vehicle that was harassing Osian.
-Boom!
An explosion occurred. But the iron knight emerged unscathed through the explosion.
"I, Don Quixote, Knight of La Mancha, have come here for justice!"
"What the hell! What's that now!"
"Damn! It's that crazy knight we've only heard rumors about! That bastard came here!"
The gang's rear fell into confusion at Don Quixote's appearance. His steed, Rocinante, produced tremendous output as it caught up with other vehicles. Steel hooves trampled and crushed the vehicles.
-Vroom!
David drove his muscle car and stuck to the rear of the gang vehicles. The muscle car, with its intense engine and horsepower, struck the vehicle's rear wheels like a fierce beast.
Just from that, the modified vehicle lost balance, staggered, and flipped over. David skillfully turned the steering wheel to the side, moving to find another prey.
"You bastard! Die!"
As the muscle car approached, a gang member sitting in the back seat drew a gun and fired at David. David raised the shield he had prepared in advance to protect himself.
-Ping ping ping!
Some bullets hit the car body, but they only caused minor scratches without inflicting significant damage.
David, who had stuck close to the gang vehicle, threw a grenade through the open window. The gang member who caught it was startled and tried to pick it up to throw it back outside.
-Whoosh!
A deflating sound came from the grenade, followed by smoke. Just as the gang members breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.
David, who had lowered his shield and switched to a sword, stabbed the tire of the running vehicle. The tire burst. The vehicle wobbled, lost balance, and swerved sideways. Gang vehicles running side by side collided with each other, becoming violently entangled.
-Rattle. Click.
David changed gears and turned the steering wheel.
-Whoosh!
The intake protruding above the engine inhaled air, adding oxygen to the engine. The 8-cylinder engine roared like thunder.
With the appearance of Don Quixote and David, the rear instantly turned into a battlefield.
"That bastard, that's the muscle car of an Oil Finger executive, isn't it?"
"Those bastards dare to steal our vehicles?"
"Flamethrower unit! Burn them all!"
The Oil Finger gang recognized the muscle car David was driving. Having lived a life of plundering others' belongings, their rage was triggered by being plundered themselves.
The Oil Finger's massive tanker approached, its eyes rolled back in fury. It was a huge battle-modified vehicle with two long oil tanks connected.
On top of the massive oil tanks, Oil Finger members held flamethrowers connected to hoses.
-Whoosh!
Hot flames spread like a net, targeting Don Quixote and David. The two quickly split left and right to avoid the flamethrowers, but the flames didn't stop. It wasn't easy to break through the tanker and move forward with a fiery gate blocking the way.
"Sir Osian!"
"I'll handle it."
Osian sprang up from the saddle of his warhorse. Leaping high like a bird, Osian landed on top of the oil tanker's fuel tank.
"Huh?"
As Osian suddenly dropped from the sky, the Oil Finger gang member couldn't react in time. Before their expressions could change, a flash of sword light gleamed. Two severed heads, along with their masterless bodies, rolled onto the oil tank.
Osian held his sword in a reverse grip and raised Starlight. Then, he stabbed it into the oil tank and rushed forward.
-Scratch!
Even the sturdy tank designed to hold caustic oil was useless against the Starlight. Following Osian's trajectory, the chrome tank turned red-hot, becoming malleable before sequentially causing red explosions.
-Boom! Kaboom!
The rear oil tank containing thousands of liters of oil exploded. The explosions continued one after another, engulfing even the front oil tank. As the oil ignited again, explosions occurred in a chain reaction. The explosion that started from the tail consumed the truck's head.
Osian, wearing a poncho, emerged from that explosion.
Leaving the sticky red explosion behind, Osian settled back onto his Starlight Warhorse.
"What the..."
"Crazy..."
Everyone was shocked by the sight of one person literally grinding up a moving fortress like the oil tanker. Even the ferocious District 49 gangs lost their fighting spirit for a moment.
"Damn it! What the hell is that!"
The gang leaders felt like they were losing their minds. In front, the corporate minions were spreading magic. Behind, monsters of force who could grind up oil tankers single-handedly were chasing them.
At this point, the only option was to somehow seize the item inside that truck.
"Stop that magician!"
"Stick to the truck first! We just need to secure that!"
Gang members approached the truck carrying Neo. Bravo and Charlie teams opened fire, but they couldn't stop the rushing mob all at once.
"Haha! I'm first!"
"Damn it, Bison! Pull me up too!"
"Idiot! Climb up yourself!"
Just as a gang member who had climbed onto the truck shouted in joy. With a crushing sound, Bison's face was smashed, and he flew backward.
The expressions of the gang members climbing up behind him soured. Those who had climbed onto the truck's cargo bed could see what had thrown Bison off.
"An automaton?"
It was an automaton with a black luster. It stood about 2 meters tall, and its armor looked as solid as obsidian. Above all, its red eye light appeared quite threatening.
Unlike other automatons, this one with its sophisticated curved design was a combat automaton manufactured by a corporation. Commonly known as [Soldier]. These specially made ones had enhanced output, armor, and firepower.
There were a total of 4 Soldiers on top of the truck. As soon as they recognized enemies climbing onto the truck, they extended their arms.
-Click. Rattle!
Multi-barreled gun muzzles protruding from the back of their hands rotated fiercely, spraying bullets. Gang members who had climbed up without any special equipment fell off, spraying blood.
One Soldier extended its left arm and with a clicking sound, its hand transformed into a barrel. As bluish magical power condensed inside the barrel, a magic bullet flew out and hit a vehicle.
-Boom!
The vehicle exploded and was totaled with a single shot. The Soldiers, using compressed magical power storage devices along with etheric water as power, exceeded mana users in capability per unit.
-Clang!
One of the few mana users among the gangs infused mana into a weapon and struck the back of one's head.
However, the Soldier was unaffected. Instead, its head rotated 180 degrees and looked at the gang member who had attacked it.
-Crack!
"Aaargh!"
The Soldier's crude hand grabbed the mana user's head and crushed it with force. A mutant with activated beast genes was suffering the same fate.
Even mana users and mutants couldn't last even a minute against the Soldiers.
"Move aside!"
Stepping forward was a skinny man in his 40s engulfed in flames. It was Creek, the leader of the Oil Finger gang.
Proving he wasn't a gang leader for nothing, he wrapped himself in flames and used them as propulsion to leap high. His alias was Mad Fire. And naturally, he was a pyrokinesis mutant who could freely manipulate fire.
Engulfed in flames, he plummeted like an eagle toward a Soldier that had just minced a gang member with its Gatling gun.
-Crash!
The Soldier embedded in the truck ceiling struggled. Creek extended both hands and spewed flames at maximum output. The Soldier naturally had resistance against flames, but Creek was a powerful mutant who ruled over a district.
Under that firepower, the Soldier's movements slowly ceased, and its exterior armor began to melt and drip. The melted Soldier fused with the truck's ceiling.
"These guys are nothing! Hurry and stop the truck!"
Just as Creek shouted this, he could see another shadow climbing onto the truck.
"And who are you?"
[I have no name to give to vermin.]
Unlike agents from other corporations, the one who climbed up exuded a strange atmosphere.
The suit he wore looked more sophisticated and solid than those of other agents. With a hissing sound, white steam erupted from the seams of the suit that clung tightly to his body.
This person, who looked as if he was wearing armor, was the leader of the Alpha team currently leading the corporate group. Commonly known as Alpha One.
"Die!"
Creek stretched out his arm and spewed flames toward Alpha One. Nothing remained where the high-temperature crimson flames had passed.
"Stupid bastard! Acting all cool, but left without a trace, killed in one hit."
[Who?]
"Huh?"
The voice came from right below. From the blind spot in his vision, hidden by his extended arm. Creek instinctively tried to lower his arm but couldn't.
-Slice.
His arm was cleanly severed by a sharp cutter.
Simultaneously, a sharp blade pierced below Creek's chin and ripped through his brain.
-Gurgle.
Creek glared at Alpha One while spitting bloody foam. Alpha One stared back at Creek through his emotionless helmet and kicked him in the stomach. Creek's corpse fell from the truck, rolled on the ground, and disappeared into the distance.
After eliminating one leader, Alpha One's gaze turned to Don Quixote, who was rampaging behind.
[To think I'd encounter you in a place like this.]