บท 11: Headshot.

When making his choice, Mark went straight for the cars at the very back of the street. He spotted an SUV with the doors open and prayed that whoever left it there had also left the keys inside.

"The SUV near the corner!" He told the silver-haired maid. "Put them in the back and buy us some time!"

"Understood!" Lara caught on to his plan pretty quickly and got to work right away.

Being faster, she went ahead and placed the two boys in the back seats. She fastened the seatbelts around them then went back to face the monsters before her master even arrived.

Mark was wheezing by the time he reached the vehicle. He glanced at the ignition and couldn't help but smile when he saw the colorful keychain still hanging under the steering wheel. Another plus was that the car had a baby seat in the back, which was exactly what he needed right now. When he tried to place the toddler in it she refused to let go of him.

The kid was petrified, but the situation didn't allow him the leeway to handle it delicately. He forcefully tore her away from him and strapped her to the baby seat before rushing to the front of the car only to stop when he heard the sound of gunfire nearby.

With an entire dragon and its minions on their back Mark no longer cared if anyone found out what his maid was capable of. It was only after he saw her shooting the monsters with an AR-15 did he realized he should've told her to not hold back on using her abilities.

The maid was running around with a rifle in her hands firing at the monsters and drawing their attention away from them her master and the rest. The bullets seemed to bounce off of the Lizardmen's scales, but the same couldn't be said about their wounds so Lara focused her aim on the scorched flesh.

'Don't think!' Mark told himself. 'Just get the car going!'

The sound of the engine starting brought so much joy to his heart but that changed the next instant when he heard the black dragon's roar. Not a second later, a shadow suddenly shot up to the sky. It continued to rise to a certain height, and once its speed died down the gigantic abomination seemed to open up, spreading its majestic wings and turning into the very image of the fantastical creature that spelled disaster wherever it went.

[Lara has defeated Malarak's Spawn (Fallen).]

[+15 AP]

More lines of text appeared in his field of vision, but Mark didn't notice them at all. Lara managed to kill one of the lizardmen as she retreated into the car. She smashed the window with her bare fist before closing the door then peeked the upper half of her body out of it and continued shooting at the the remaining monsters.

The shooting sounds helped Mark snap back to reality and he slammed the gas pedal with everything he got. The wheels made a shrill cry before the entire vehicle moved back, knocking off a nearby light pole as it spun around then took off.

Mark didn't have much experience driving besides when he used to practice with his father's car. Fortunately for him, no one cared about traffic laws in the apocalypse so everything was an option as long as he didn't crash.

[Lara has defeated Malarak's Spawn (Fallen).]

[+15 AP]

A third kill. Mark felt a strange sensation well up in his chest and for a moment he believed they were finally going to get out. His hopes were almost shattered when another abomination came out of nowhere blocking the road ahead of them, but he didn't come this far just to be stopped by an oversized gecko walking on two legs.

"LIKE HELL I'M GONNA LET YOU!!!"

Grabbing the steering wheel, he rotated it all this way to the right, and just when the car started turning he rotated it in the opposite direction then hit the brakes, causing the whole vehicle to drift around the beast just as it charged at them.

In the short instant they passed beside each other, Lara placed her arms on the roof of the SUV, pointing the rifle at the abomination. She fired a single bullet that went right through one of the monster's four eyes, and as soon as Mark stepped on the gas again the lizardman went limp and fell to the ground.

[Lara has defeated Malarak's Spawn (Fallen)]

[+15 AP]

"WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!"

Mark shouted at the top of his lungs, feeling the adrenalin set his brain on fire. His face was split by a wild grin and his heart seemed like it would burst out of his chest at any moment, but he didn't care anymore. The terror he felt before was replaced by overwhelming excitement and all it took was a desperate gamble on something he had never done before.

They left the remaining lizardmen far behind so Lara quickly slipped back in the car. Though she didn't show the same excitement as her master, her lips curved into a small smile as she gazed at the rifle in her hands.

"That was crazy!!!" Mark yelled, unable to control his excitement. "Were you always this badass!?"

Lara seemed confused for a moment but her smile returned right away.

"Isn't that why you hired me?"

"Damn right!!!"

The maids he had created for his game were all skilled combatants so it was only natural that she could do what she did. That said, there was a world of difference between chibified 2D sprites and a real flesh-and-blood human doing all those crazy things.

Mark went on to navigate his way through the messy roads with unbelievable skill. He felt as if he was inside a movie and that only drove him to be more adventurous, taking a shortcut through one of the buildings by driving straight into the glass doors of the shop at the corner and exiting on the other side.

More monsters appeared to block their way but they managed to get past them safely. Everything seemed to be going well for a while, but then they saw one of the fighter jets from before hurling into one of the tall buildings.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

As if to pour cold water on their excitement once more, the distinct cry of the black dragon came from above. The terror returned and the smile disappeared from Mark's face, an angry frown taking its place right away. He didn't want to believe it, but for some reason he was sure that monstrosity was chasing after them right now. As if to confirm his suspicion, night seemed to fall out of nowhere.