. Gray clouds covered everything in sight, stretching across the horizon. Erina hadn't seen anything around them but trees for what felt like hours. The concrete roads and equally spaced streetlights had ceased a while back. The car traveled down packed dirt and earth, bumping and rumbling as it went. These mountains were far from any sign of society.

  Akira stared out the window, golden eyes watching the scenery go by. The road wasn't far from a steep descent, giving them a view of the untouched forests and other mountains around them. There wasn't a single car that had come the other way in ages.

  Erina couldn't fall asleep. She sat anxiously with her hands in her lap, trying not to fidget the whole way. She hated how long the ride was because it gave her so much time to overthink her situation. What was going to happen when she got there? They were going to fight, weren't they? Erina was going to be in danger again… What could she have done to avoid this situation?

  Green eyes flicked over at the tiny patriarch. Nothing. The answer was nothing. Erina didn't even have the luxury of making the decisions that ended up with her in this car at this second. Her chest hurt.

  "…Oi." Akira suddenly spoke up. "That car's been there for a while now."

  Erina turned around in her seat. A sleek black car with tinted windows trailed them from far back. As soon as she saw it, it stuck out like a sore thumb against the rough off-road terrain.

  "It hasn't changed its distance," said the driver.

  As soon as he said that, the car sped up. The headlights flashed as it hit a bump in the road.

  "Go faster," said Akira.

  Bit by bit, the chasing car closed the gap. As it pulled up beside them, Erina felt her heart pick up the pace. Several more cars had been following behind it, picking up a small entourage in single file.

  The car rolled down its window—

  Akira grabbed Erina's head and shoved her down as the bullet shattered their windows. The second shot painted the empty passenger seat red with their driver's brains, his body slumping against the wheel. Their car blared its horn as it drifted off course, veering into the side of the attacker's car.

  "Great welcoming party, really appreciate it!" Akira lunged forward, grabbing the wheel and pulling them back. Their car kept speeding up, the man's foot still on the pedal. "Erina!"

  "Y-Yes!" She steadied her nerves as best she could in half a second. Live firearms in a high-speed chase. Likely other magic yakuza, meaning they were almost certainly mages and youkai—foes that could withstand her own firepower and live.

  But if they weren't…

  …No. Erina didn't have any room to hesitate if she wanted to make it out in one piece. She swallowed down her fears and focused on what needed to be done.

  She got up and beat the gunman to the draw, her laser smashing the rest of her window on its way to him. The next bullet tore through the metal of the car beside her, his aim knocked off course.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Erina steadied her aim and fired again. A shot to the neck brought his sights away, clutching the wound. The next shots went to both tires in her sight with a loud bang each, the attacker's car swerving back and forth.

  Akira finally got the driver's door open and shoved the body out. Erina winced as he fell right under the attacker's tires, the car veering way off as it struggled to regain control.

  Erina yelped as the entire car shook. Another car had pulled up to the opposite side and butted into them. Akira crawled forward into the driver's seat and pushed back, the cars grating together as they rushed down the road. "Erina! Get them off us!"

  Erina took aim. The first shot smashed the driver's window and left spiderweb cracks on the windshield from inside. Erina didn't get a second shot before the glass window of their own car broke. Shielding her face from the glass shards, she looked over her arm to find a man crawling through the windows into their car. One hand gripped the door tightly under him and warped the leather with supernatural strength, ensuring their cars remained anchored together.

  A spear to the face put an end to that. Erina heaved with all her might, pushing his upper half back into his car—

  Akira yanked the wheel, briefly parting the two cars. Erina's spear crunched and got stuck in his face, pulling the goon in question out of his car before she couldn't maintain her grip and sent him tumbling to the dirt to be run over by the third car tailing them.

  Erina lost her balance as the car smashed into them again. Now that Akira had given up space by pulling back, they were closer than ever to the tree line rushing by on their left. Erina pulled herself along the seat before finally getting up, leaning into the front so she could level two fingers directly at the driver's face.

  One, two, three shots, and Akira pushed their car all the way back. He flew off the road, his car flipping and crashing end over end down the mountainside as Akira got them back into the middle of the road.

  Erina jumped as a gunshot split the air. Akira's face hit the wheel with a horrid splat, the car's horn blaring again. The bullet had gone right through her headrest from behind.

  "Akira!" cried Erina.

  "Don't look at me!" Akira snapped back. Crackling static blurred her features as she pulled her limp body out of herself and threw it out the door.

  Another gunshot, and Erina crumpled between the two seats. Bright green ether stained the cushions. Adrenaline pounded through her veins, her head spinning as she slunk into the back seat in a low position. Her back felt as if she'd just been kicked as hard as possible.

  Erina wrestled down her terror, forcing herself to get back up and return fire. One beam struck the gunman's hand, the rest finding only the dirt, but that was enough for his exposed arm to withdraw back into his car.

  "I can only do so much!" said Erina. Three more cars were still on their tail. Caught out on the Surface, she could only access a fraction of her arsenal.

  "Tch!" Akira swerved away as one of their pursuers tried to ram the car from behind.

  Holding on for dear life, Erina saw her moment and took it, firing a shot into the gunman's tire while she had an angle. The tire burst with a sharp bang and then the rubber unraveled itself, twisting and pulling free from the assembly. The gunman's entire car dipped and then swung away wildly, coming to a brutal halt as a tree trunk split its front in half while Akira sped away.

  "To hell with it!" Akira left a clone at the wheel as she crawled back into the rear seat with Erina. "Watch your head!"

  Erina ducked as Akira sank down, bracing her back against the seat below her. One kick dented the ceiling above them. She twisted her heel in on the next, the metal groaning. The third blew off the roof of their car, exposing them to the howling wind.

  "Akira?!" Erina yelled over the rushing air. "What are you—"

  "Hold on tight!" Akira grabbed Erina and pulled her close. Wordlessly, her clone spun the wheel, and deliberately crashed them into the tree line.

  The entire car snapped up and forward with its momentum as the front smashed to a stop in an instant. Erina glimpsed the hard wood flying up to meet them before she squeezed her eyes shut.

  The conditions were satisfied. Crushed between the solid surfaces of the tree and their car, Akira entered the Reverse with Erina in tow.