Chapter 65
(Third person POV)
As if to shut out the arrogant mental voice of a certain idiot fugitive, a bullet struck right into the left side of his back, resisting the pain of the impact, Desmond could only thank he had put his new armor under his tunic as he left the house. But seeing that the movies once again lied to him that all soldiers shot badly, he decided to channel his defensive ability while he considered stopping using movies and series as a reference for his decision making.
As he rounded the corridor towards the exit of the military building, he was received by multiple shots colliding against his defensive ability, feeling the pressure exerted on his reverse spiral mana ability and as it began to give, he remembered that the ability worked best used in conjunction with rising mana storm. It’s something he’d only tried a couple of times in the past and certainly hadn’t while running into a hail of bullets, but surrendering now wasn’t an option, Desmond knew what he was risking when he decided to reject the military and escape in its place.
It may seem that Desmond was reckless in his handling of the situation, but this was because he was more aware than most about the way the military operates now, not wanting them to use him as a pawn just to get rid of him. When they no longer need him his only real option if he wanted to have a life where he could care for and love Claire was to escape from this military base and make them lose track before shedding the disguise.
Precisely because Desmond knew the way the military operated, I suspected from the beginning of their intentions when inviting him to the high command meeting, for that reason he had left a couple of security measures discreetly on the way here.
Drawing both mana from within him and from the atmosphere through the rising mana whirlwind, he channeled it all creating a layer of mana around him spinning in intense spirals of highly concentrated mana. When the bullets hit this protective layer, it is as if they had entered quicksand as they slowed down at the same time that they changed their course going away from Desmond’s body, once their course stopped targeting Desmond they escaped from the influence of their defensive ability and flew away from him.
From the point of view of the soldiers, it seemed that all the bullets that managed to hit the masked man stopped briefly before deviating and completely missing their target, this made it clear that they were facing an Esper with unknown ability, unfortunately, it was too late to stop him when he completely ignored them and continued on his way to the exit.
Desmond soon felt exhaustion and a shortage of mana, unfortunately, he had overused the burst of mana in his fight against the lizardmen which drained his mana reserves, added to the accumulated fatigue of the battle and the wear and tear that his legs suffered. from the abuse of his ability, Desmond knew that he would or would not have to use his security measure unless he did not want to leave here.
.....
As he exited the front door of the military building, Desmond glanced back to see several dozen armed soldiers running after him, with a bitter smile he took a lighter from his pocket and tossed it into the planter to his left. In doing so I leave behind a couple of words before running on.
′′ Sorry guys, I’m not a fan of explosions either, but I have to get out of here. ′′
The soldier most in front found his words strange, for safety he checked what Desmond did in the planter, only to find a wick lighter lit with the flame burning a dark arrow stuck in the planter, the arrow seemed strange because of the color of the material from which it was made and by the fact that it glowed dimly as if emanating the energy of some kind. Having a bad feeling the soldier turned away from the planter and ran in the opposite direction to her, the others seemed confused by his actions, until the next event interrupted not only his thoughts but also the ongoing pursuit.
KABOOOOOOM!
A powerful explosion worthy of a big-budget in Hollywood, gave rise to the planter completely collapsing the entrance of the building, leaving all the soldiers following Desmond stranded inside the building as he escaped over the horizon. . . It almost looked like one of those over-budget movie scenes where the protagonist calmly walked away from a powerful explosion; Except for the fact that Desmond never stopped running like he was being chased by the tax office.