Demon Deathchase Read Online Free PDF Page B

searching the interior of the Shelter, but, if the outer walls couldn’t be breached,
     that was pointless. On the other hand, the voice explained that destroying the outer
     walls would be impossible.
    About halfway down the steel wall, the left hand halted.
    “Got it,” the voice said disinterestedly.
    D wasted no time going into action. Without taking his left hand away, he stepped
     back, reaching with his right for his sword. The blade seemed to drink up the sunlight.
    Drawing his sword-wielding right arm far back, D focused his eyes on a single point
     on the wall. A spot right between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand.
    But what had they got there? The instant an awesome white bloodlust coalesced between
     the naked sword tip and the steel—
    A pale light pierced the black wall.
    It was D’s sword that streamed forth. Regardless of how trenchant that thrust might
     be, there was no way it could penetrate the special steel of the outer walls. Be that
     as it may, the graceful arc sank halfway into the unyielding metal wall.
    That’s where the entrance was. D’s blade was wedged in the boundary between door and
     wall, though that line was imperceptible to the naked eye. With the mysterious power
     of his left hand D had located it, then thrust into it. Granted that there was a space
     there, how could the tip of his sword slip into an infinitesimal gap?
    “Wow!” The voice that said this came not from the interior, but rather from D’s left
     hand. “Now here’s a surprise. One of them’s human.”
    D’s expression shifted faintly. “Do they have Time-Bewitching Incense?” he asked.
     That was a kind of incense the Nobility had devised to give day the illusion it was
     night.
    “I don’t know, but the other one’s not moving. A dead man, at least by day.”
    “The girl’s okay then?” D muttered. Most likely she’d been bitten at least once, but
     if that were the case, destroying the one responsible would restore her humanity.
     Why then did a dark shadow skim for an instant across D’s features?
    The muscles of the hand he wrapped around the hilt bulged slowly. It’s unclear what
     kind of exquisite skill was at work, but the slightest twist of the horizontal blade
     sent a sharp, thin line racing across the steel surface.
    Blue light oozed out.
    D immediately ceased all activity. Silently, he turned his face to the rear. His cold
     pupils were devoid of any hue of emotion.
    “Earlier than I expected,” the voice said, as if it were mere banter. “And not who
     I expected at all.”
    Presently, the faint growl of an engine came from the forest, and then a crimson figure
     leapt over the crest of the hill.
    Raising a cacophony, a single-seat battle car stopped right at the bottom of the slope.
    The vehicle was an oblong iron plate set on four grotesquely oversized, puncture-proof
     tires. The vehicle was crammed with a high-capacity atomic engine and some controls.
     The product of humans who’d got their hands on some of the Nobility’s machinery, its
     outward appearance was a far cry from what the average person might call aesthetically
     pleasing. An energy pipe with conspicuous welding marks twisted like a snake from
     the rear-mounted engine to a core furnace shielded by studded iron-plate, and the
     simple bar-like steering yoke jutted artlessly from the floor. Churning in the air
     like the legs of a praying mantis, the pistons connected to the tires—and all the
     other parts, for that matter—were covered with a black grime, probably some harmless
     radioactive waste.
    Perhaps what warranted more attention than the appearance of the vehicle were its
     armaments and its driver. Looming large from the right flank of the rear-mounted engine
     was the barrel of a 70 mm recoilless bazooka, staring blackly at D, while on the other
     side, the left, a circular, 20 mm missile pod glowered at empty space. Naturally,
     the missiles were equipped with body-heat seekers, and naught