Warfare Augmented Intelligent Frame Unit-Chapter 139 – Piggyback Highway
Chapter 139 - Piggyback Highway
As we witnessed the colossal war erupt between the WAIFUs and the relentless Cosmic Beasts, an uneasy knot twisted in my stomach. Despite their strength, I couldn’t shake off the dread gnawing at me—would Michelle and the others really make it through this? Thousands of those monsters had already broken past the barrier. The odds felt overwhelming.
“Raaaah!” roared Cindy as she hurled her massive cybernetic boar body straight into a crumbling skyscraper, shattering concrete and steel like paper mache.
The impact cleared a swath of destruction through the city. Cindy wasn’t navigating, she was stampeding. A living bulldozer with tusks of steel and zero regard for city planning, smashing down anything that stood in her way.
Building after building crumbled beneath her rampage. It wasn’t a shortcut she was making, it was a declaration: she goes where she pleases.
Our makeshift giant-boar taxi barreled across the debris-strewn highway, lurching over collapsed infrastructure and craters scorched into the ground. Every bump sent shudders through my spine. Above us, the sky was an unending ballet of chaos. The Vanguard clashed in orbit, their battle illuminating the heavens with streaks of lasers and trailing rocket fire.
Closer to the atmosphere, sleek Orbital Tech WAIFUs danced through aerial combat in the Xyraxis Airspace. Explosions flared like fireworks in a warzone, the hum of laser cannons and the roar of jet engines echoing like a deadly symphony in the distance.
“Getting worried?” Myrrh nudged me gently with her elbow, her voice light and teasing. I turned to face her, and despite the war unfolding all around us, she was smiling.
“Somehow… But I believe Michelle and the others will pull through,” I said, my voice firm despite the wariness in my chest.
Myrrh let out a small, grumbling pout, her cheeks tinged with a faint blush. “You’re really getting all chummy with that silver-haired bitch, huh…” she muttered, looking off to the side. “Sometimes, it feels like you forget I’m even here whenever she’s around.”
“Oh?” I leaned in with a teasing grin. “Are you really that jealous?”
“Of course not!” she snapped, spinning her head toward me before crossing her arms with dramatic flair. “What do you take me for? Someone who actually thinks about you?” she huffed, eyes darting away again. “Hmph.”
I couldn’t help but laugh—silent, breathless. Not because she wasn’t cute; she absolutely was, but because I was simply too exhausted to push the banter any further. My body had burned through all its adrenaline during the earlier battle, and now, the crash was hitting me hard. Limbs heavy. Eyes sore. My muscles ached in places I didn’t even know I had.
And yet, I could tell Myrrh was just as drained, if not more. That’s probably why she was trying to keep the conversation going with such obvious, almost childish jabs. She wasn’t trying to pick a fight. She just wanted to lighten the mood, to keep things normal. Familiar. Bearable.
I glanced toward Fei, sitting quietly beside us. Her body slowly relaxed against the worn leather seat, her chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath. A faint shimmer of sweat clung to her brow, and she clutched her chest lightly, recovering, but okay. When she noticed me watching, her golden eyes sparkled faintly, and she offered a small, endearing smile. It said everything without a word: I’m alright.
“Why don’t you guys get some rest?” Remuel suggested from up front, his voice calm and steady. “Cindy and I will take care of the rest. We’ll wake you three when we reach the capital.”
“I would,” I replied, stretching my neck with a yawn, “but this ride’s bumpier than a spacequake.” I flashed a smug grin. “Hey, Cindy! Can’t you run in a smoother, more lady-like way?”
“The audacity of this asshole!” Cindy bellowed, her synthetic voice crackling with indignation. “I’m giving you a free ride through a warzone, and you’re complaining? Keep talking and I’ll kick you the hell out myself!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It was just a joke,” I chuckled weakly, raising my hands in surrender. Her temper was as unstoppable as her charging hooves.
Just then, I glanced out the side windows, and the cityscape had vanished. We were now crossing the threshold of the Xyraxian Metropolis, leaving the protective shimmer of the Archonlight Tower’s barrier behind. This was the city’s edge. The end of safety.
Beyond it stretched a vast and desolate gray wasteland.
It was my first time seeing the surface of Xyraxis outside the metropolis. The contrast was haunting. No neon lights, no sky-rails, no towering architecture—just a lifeless, ash-colored expanse. Crumbling ruins lay half-swallowed by the sands of time. Rusted skeletons of broken machines dotted the horizon, their limbs frozen mid-collapse. It felt like we were passing through the graveyard of a forgotten civilization.
The only trace of order left was the long, desolate highway beneath us, fading into the misty distance, as if leading to nowhere.
Suddenly, a bone-rattling roar echoed from the skies above.
“(#$)!NFK!#(%!!!”
We all looked up in unison, and there it was.
A monstrous shape tore through the clouds: a pterodactyl-like Cosmic Beast with leathery wings and a grotesque octopus head. Tentacles writhed across its face, and dozens of alien eyes fixated on us with predatory hunger. With a deafening shriek, it folded its wings and dove straight toward us, slicing through the air like a missile.
“That’s bad news!” I shouted, heart racing.
“Cindy! Open the hatch!” Myrrh barked, her voice sharp and commanding. “I’ll take care of that thing!”
“Chill down and relax, Myrrh. Remuel, time to crank up the speed!” Cindy’s synthetic voice crackled through the comms, cool and commanding despite the chaos building behind us.
“Got it,” Remuel replied, eyes narrowing as he tapped on the holographic interface of his WEEB System. A grid of options blinked to life in front of him, and with one decisive press, his arm lit up with glowing red circuit patterns. He slammed his palm onto the cyber boar's dashboard. “Rollerblades, Equip!”
A ripple of energy surged beneath us. Massive cybernetic rings materialized around the cyber pig’s hooves, and in a flash of blue sparks, each foot deployed a gleaming set of high-powered roller skates. The engines roared to life with a metallic whirr, then we launched forward like a bullet fired from a railgun.
“W-whoaaa!” Fei gasped, jolted from her moment of rest as our ride rocketed ahead. Her hair whipped around her face, golden eyes wide in alarm.
The cyber boar skated with surprising agility, weaving through wreckage and torn-up roads at breakneck speed. The rush of air howled around us. But our enemy wasn’t giving up.
Above, the pterodactyl-like Cosmic Beast let out another guttural, otherworldly shriek, its tentacles flailing, its throat vibrating with dark energy.
“(Y%(@YNF123%!!!”
It wasn’t just a roar. It was a signal.
In seconds, the sky darkened, not from clouds, but from the sheer number of incoming enemies. Dozens of flying Cosmic Beasts snapped their wings into motion and hurtled toward us. They didn’t descend chaotically; they flew in formation, a deadly chevron arrow slicing through the air. Their movement was precise, aerodynamic, and intelligent.
“Remuel, it’s not enough!” Cindy shouted, alarm rising in her voice. “They’re gaining on us!”
“Then run faster!” Remuel shouted back, teeth gritted, fingers flying across his interface.
“Want me to eject you and turn you into Cosmic Beast bait?” Cindy snapped, her synthetic voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Please don’t!” Remuel yelped. “What do you want me to do?!”
“Jetpack,” I suggested quickly, gripping the armrest. “But use just the boost, don’t fly.”
Remuel nodded, already pulling up the WEEB interface. With a few swift taps, glowing runes scrolled across the holographic screen. “Jetpack, Equip!”
Another cybernetic circle flared to life on the cyber boar’s back, this time sparking with brilliant white-blue energy. With a mechanical roar, a massive V-shaped wing with twin jet engines unfolded from its spine, like some beast reborn into a fighter jet hybrid. The turbines spooled up with a high-pitched whine, syncing with the momentum from the rollerblades, and then we blasted forward.
The world blurred around us. We tore across the wasteland highway at a blistering 500 kilometers per hour, a rocket-powered beast on wheels. Dust clouds exploded behind us as debris and broken asphalt blurred into streaks of gray.
Myrrh clung to the railing with wide eyes, her voice trembling with the sheer velocity. “This feels like riding the Xyraxis Metrorail on steroids!”
“Wait, Xyraxis has a hyperspeed rail system?!” I shouted over the deafening wind, gripping the seat so hard my knuckles turned white.
“It’s underground! You probably missed it!” Myrrh called out, her voice full of adrenaline and excitement. Then she grinned, despite the danger. “I’ll show it to you after the war!”
“Okay then, after the war!” I yelled back, returning the smile.
“Look!” Fei suddenly shouted, pointing toward the back window. “We’re losing them!”
Sure enough, the swarm of flying Cosmic Beasts behind us was beginning to shrink, their chevron formation unraveling. The jet-boosted speed was too much even for them. One by one, the monsters faded into the dust, unable to keep up.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
We might just outrun them, if Cindy can keep this insane speed up all the way to Exestia.
