The fifth hairpin turn was also the one with the trickiest angle and the worst visibility.
"They've caught up!"
Watson looked at the SUV in the rearview mirror; although its windshield was shattered, it was still in hot pursuit, his brow furrowed.
Wright's expression was grave, sweat streaming down his temples: "This stretch of road... is too dangerous. If we force an acceleration, we might drive ourselves off the edge!"
Holmes observed the terrain, his brain racing.
Steep slopes, sparse shrubs, massive rocks... His gaze suddenly locked onto a protruding spot on the cliff face inside the curve; it was a severely weathered giant rock.
"Wright, listen to me."
Holmes spoke quickly and clearly.
"At the next turn, enter at a normal speed, hug the inside, and the moment you exit the turn, accelerate with full power."
"Then, prepare for an impact."
"I will try to bring that giant rock down."
Wright instantly understood his intention: "Understood!"
The Ford station wagon rushed into the final hairpin turn. Wright controlled it precisely, sliding the car body close to the inner cliff wall. The SUV behind followed closely, accelerating into the turn, attempting to close the distance.
Just as the front of the station wagon was about to rush out of the curve!
"Now! Accelerate!" Holmes shouted.
Wright slammed on the accelerator, and the old engine burst forth with its final potential.
At the same time, Holmes quickly rolled down his window, leaned more than halfway out, and aimed the pistol gripped in his hand at several weathered and loose pivot points at the base of the suspended giant rock on the inside of the curve!
"Get... down!" Holmes muttered to himself, his hands not stopping, firing rapidly and accurately in succession.
"Bang! Bang! Bang..."
The bullets carried a whistling wind, hitting the most fragile support points at the base of the giant rock with extreme precision! Gravel flew everywhere!
The giant rock, already teetering due to weathering, emitted a rumble under the continuous precision strikes and its own weight!
"Rumble!!!"
A sound as loud as a landslide erupted!
That giant rock, weighing several tons, instantly detached from the mountain, carrying with it countless gravel and dirt, rolling and roaring like divine retribution, crashing down directly onto the black SUV that had just rushed out of the curve and was about to accelerate!
The SUV driver was clearly stunned by this sudden disaster from the sky, but he was still trying to accelerate and dash out of the range covered by the giant rock!
However, Watson leaned out of the window again, his shotgun aimed at the SUV's driver's cab, spitting fire!
"This time, you have nowhere to hide!"
"No!"
A desperate roar could be vaguely heard from inside the SUV.
The next moment, steel and rock collided violently!
"Boom!!!!"
The deafening sound echoed in the valley for a long time.
The black SUV was like a soda can crushed underfoot; the roof collapsed instantly, and all the window glass shattered!
The immense impact slammed it hard onto the road, pushing it to slide more than ten meters, breaking the guardrail on the side of the road, leaving half of the car body hanging over the edge of the steep cliff, swaying precariously, as billowing dust rose into the sky.
Under Wright's control, the station wagon narrowly avoided the falling rocks and stopped in a safe area tens of meters away.
The four of them looked back and saw the dilapidated SUV stuck on the edge of the cliff, its hood twisted and deformed, emitting black smoke and white steam. There was dead silence inside the car, and a burly man wearing a red mask had his upper body hanging out of the broken window, his life or death unknown.
Holmes took out the map and confirmed it once more.
"Let's continue; the road ahead won't be this dangerous."
On a cliff between Holmes' group and Clavius Seminary.
Two figures draped in red robes stood there for a long time.
"My lord, the people sent to intercept them have lost contact."
"...You know what to do now."
"Yes, my lord."
One of the red-robed figures flicked their sleeves and left, leaving only one lonely figure still standing there.
Soon, a station wagon appeared at the end of the horizon.
The remaining red-robed figure took out a twisted, grotesque wooden carving. The form of the statue was blurry and indistinct, engraved with a strange yellow sign that exuded an indescribable sense of blasphemy.
With a fanatical, hideous grin on their face, the figure used a hoarse, distorted voice, in a tone full of sticky, bubbling sensations that could never be produced by human language habits, and screamed frantically toward the sky shrouded in twilight and dark clouds!
"Descend! Servant of the Unnamable! Messenger of the Lord of the Starry Deep! Steed of the Stars! Tear these blasphemers apart!"
The yellow sign on the statue instantly glowed brightly, and the magic power within the red-robed figure surged toward the statue.
But whether due to insufficient magic power or a mistake in the casting method, the flesh on the red-robed figure began to fall off, surging toward the statue as well.
"No! How could this be! You lied to me!!!!!"
A shrill wail echoed through the valley, leaving only a tattered red robe lying on the ground and a broken wooden carving.
...
Inside the station wagon, the group, having shaken off their pursuers, relaxed quite a bit.
"It should only be a 30-minute drive to Clavius Seminary..."
Before the words could finish, an indescribable, massive fear stemming from the instinct of life instantly seized everyone in the car! The air seemed to solidify, and the roar of the engine seemed to be stretched infinitely far away.
Holmes felt a cold chill shoot straight from his spine to the top of his head; Watson's hand holding the shotgun trembled uncontrollably, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped by a cold hand.
Wright was even more struck by lightning; he almost lost his grip on the steering wheel, intense dizziness and a feeling of suffocation making his vision go black, while a curled-up Catherine let out a painful and confused groan.
Invisible fear, like a cold tide, instantly submerged the four people in the carriage.
"The sky... look at the sky!"
Watson's voice was hoarse, filled with unbelievable terror.
In the midst of the churning lead-gray clouds, a huge, indescribable shadow suddenly appeared!
It had no fixed form, appearing to be a mixture of flowing darkness and rotting flesh, its edges twisting and squirming, extending limbs similar to giant bat wings but covered in veins and cysts.
That was by no means a creature of Earth, but a twisted creation from between the stars, carrying endless madness!
It glided silently, with astonishing speed, bringing with it a nauseating evil wind mixed with the smell of grave dirt and rotting sweetness, diving straight toward the station wagon!
"Byakhee!" Catherine's expression was blank, a name slipping out of her mouth; this ancient and blasphemous name flashed like lightning through the minds of everyone, who were all stunned.
"...What? You know this... 'thing'?" Watson was stunned for a moment.
"I don't know... when I saw it, this name just popped into my head!"
Catherine shook her head, her face a mix of surprise and confusion; it seemed she really didn't know why.
"Accelerate, Wright! Drive through! Don't look at it!"
Holmes tried his best to remain calm, reaching out to hold the steering wheel that Wright had almost lost his grip on, keeping the car balanced.
Wright, relying on his last shred of willpower, suppressed the extreme fear of the monster overhead that was on the verge of breaking him, and slammed the accelerator of the station wagon, which was already at its limit, to the floor. The engine let out a dying wail, and the vehicle shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, sprinting desperately ahead!
However, the Byakhee was faster!
Like a diving vulture, the huge shadow exuding a foul stench instantly enveloped the speeding station wagon!
A huge, twisted "forelimb" made of viscous darkness and squirming granulation tissue, carrying an evil wind that tore through the air, slammed hard onto the roof!
"Clang!!!"
A deafening sound of metal tearing rang out; the entire roof was as if struck by a giant hammer, instantly caving in and deforming.
The car's structure let out a teeth-gritting groan, and the tempered glass sunroof and side windows shattered under the tremendous impact.
The fierce wind, carrying glass shards and the suffocating, foul-smelling breath emanating from the monster, poured into the carriage.
"Argh!"
Wright's vision went black from the violent vibration and the rush of wind; his hands slipped from the steering wheel, and the vehicle instantly lost control, swaying violently on the mountain road like a drunkard!
At the critical moment, Holmes braced his feet against the front and grabbed the seat with both hands, only then avoiding a serious collision.
Watson's arm was cut by flying glass, blood flowing freely; he gripped the door handle tightly, only then avoiding being thrown out.
Catherine was knocked unconscious by the sudden, terrifying impact, slumping onto the seat.
Staring directly at the Byakhee's blasphemous form, along with the physical impact from such close range, brought a mental pollution far exceeding before; Wright was on the verge of collapse due to withstanding the impact and fear at such close range.
"Steady, Wright! Watch the road!"
Holmes, forcing himself to endure the splitting headache and nausea, shouted hoarsely.
He turned his head and saw that Wright's eyes were unfocused, his hands resting limply on the steering wheel, and the vehicle was uncontrollably rushing toward the guardrail on the side of the road!
Just in this split second of life and death, Watson erupted with the grit of a soldier.
Ignoring the pain in his arm and the stench filling his mouth and nose, he thrust the shotgun out of the broken window, not even having time to aim, and relying on instinct, pulled the trigger toward the huge, squirming shadow that enveloped everything above!
"Bang! Bang!"
Two muffled, loud bangs almost blended together; a large spread of lead pellets bombarded the Byakhee's sticky, squirming body at close range!
There was no flying flesh, only a dull thud like hitting rotting leather, and a few pieces of foul-smelling rotting meat, carrying black slime, were knocked down, splashing onto the car body with a "hissing" corrosive sound.