"RUN!" I shouted out the obvious but how the hell are we supposed to get away from this cavern, the only way is to jump up from where we came.

Damn it, I should've upgraded DK before heading off to kill the queen back then. The upgraded DK should've had more features that will come in handy in different kinds of situations.

'Zeno! please find a way to escape, I'm detecting multiple burrowing bugs coming!' Lilith alerted me

I looked around and noticed that the ground everywhere is showing crack

Goddamnit!

"Everyone! gather around me!" I shouted out, Gram, Brunhilde, and Fives followed my request

"Astarotia! chant an explosive spell underneath me!!" I shouted out, Astarotia nodded and started chanting a spell

I clasped my hand together and kneeled

"Come on, I'll toss you up!" I looked at the people around me, I was still in my strength mode so this should be easy

Fives was first to follow my request, he placed his foot on my clasped arm and I tossed him up. Fives did a backflip before landing beside Cynthia

'Protect Cynthia!' I gave out my order through the radio

He saluted before brandishing his energy sword

Brunhilde was next, I tossed her towards Astarotia's location. I did the same with Gram, I quickly ran and took the hollowed out Zephorus bug.

"Zeno! I'm going to cast it now!" Astarotia shouted out

I looked underneath and saw the ground crack as a reddish light came out from the cracks, I placed the exoskeleton underneath me. The ground exploded and sent the exoskeleton I was riding up in the air, I jumped from the shell and landed near Cynthia

"Let's go!" I shouted out before leading the way, everyone else followed closely behind me

I followed the route that led to the exit

'Zeno, left' Lilith alerted me

I ducked and grabbed whatever tried to pounce on my face, it was a Formar parasite. I slammed it on the ground and crushed it with my foot

'Above!' I brought my pistol and shot the ceiling and soon enough, a small larva filled with holes fell.

I sheathed Azazel and returned my pistol back to its holster near my left chest. I grabbed the M4 from my back and continued running

'something approaching on your right!' I stopped by the fork on the route and aimed my M4

I soon spotted a disfigured human crawling my way, I pulled the trigger twice and killed it.

I continued running forward

'A hole above! multiple enemies'

I slid and aimed my M4, I saw the small hole along with the numerous burrowing beetles erupting out of it. I emptied my entire bullet charge on them before proceeding forward, I put the M4 behind my back and pulled out my pistol.

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'Three more Formars in front' I aimed while running and shot down all three of them

'Another one, a soldier ant!'

I threw my pistol that was currently charging towards Fives before quickly pulling out Azazel and stabbing the large-headed ant that came pouncing towards me

'A huge blockade of worker ants coming up!'

"Astarotia, Cynthia, chant your spells!" I requested without looking back

Gram and Brunhilde was a bit curious as to why I asked this since there was nothing in front of us but as we proceeded further they understood, in front of us was a huge wall of worker ants. They were all biting each other, luckily, Astarotia and Cynthia's spell were ready the moment the wall came into their vision

"Get back!" Astarotia shouted out before unleashing a fiery snake that burned through the wall of ants

Cynthia also unleashed her spell, the lightning she unleashed coiled around Astarotia's fire snake. The entire wall of ants were wiped off the face of the earth and we were free to move forward, we didn't waste any time and ran forward.

I once again equipped my M4 since it fully recharged itself

'Behind our backs!' Lilith warned me

"DUCK!" I shouted before turning around and aiming

Everyone ducked and I saw multiple Formars with scythes raised up high, I shot them all down. Brunhilde also used her abilities.

My M4 was once again out of charge so I returned it and held Azazel, we continued running forward.

'...Zeno, Guardian Five and Cynthia can still keep these up but...' Lilith spoke out

I looked behind and saw Astarotia, Brunhilde, and Gram were all in a struggle to catch their breaths.

"I'm too old for this..." Gram spoke out as he supported himself with his sword

"I thought... *wheeze* my training was enough..." Brunhilde struggled to stand.

"Please... carry me in your arms again" Astarotia seems to still have some energy left

'Lilith, run some calculations on how much time we have left before this hive becomes a frenzied battlefield'

'I already did so earlier, you can see the timer in the upper left corner of your screen'

I looked and I can see that we still have 10 minutes and 26 seconds

"5-minute break" I spoke out

They all sat down on the ground and did their best to hasten their recovery, Gram wolfed down some food he brought along while Brunhilde drank some water from her flask

"Five, scout the area ahead" I ordered out

Fives nodded and walked forward until we couldn't see him, I, on the other hand, made Lilith scan the area to make sure that everyone can rest in peace

Fives returned 2 minutes later and reported

"The Area ahead is safe, no bugs or Formar controlled humans" Fives reported

"You guys good to go?" I asked

"Let's go" Astarotia spoke out

Gram and Brunhilde nodded, they stood up. We jogged forward this time. Good thing that nothing hindered us in our journey this time and we soon found ourselves traversing the tunnel towards the center of the city but nothing always goes my way.

In front of us was a Nicrophorus beetle completely blocking the way, it started shooting its digestive juices at our entire group. Gram with his experience allowed him to react fast enough, Astarotia, Fives, and Cynthia already knew what was coming and jumped back but Brunhilde... couldn't I had no choice but to take on the attack for her, I hugged her and let my back face the beetle.

I felt something burn on my back, my DK armor was broken through and I can feel my entire back sting with pain. It hurts, it seriously hurts.

"B-Blade Knight! are you ok?!" Brunhilde's stoic face broke and she started to get worried about my condition

"I'm good, just a little damaged" I stood up and faced the beetle

"Fives, distract it!" I roared out before enduring the pain and running forward

Guardian Five grabbed its attention by shooting it in the face with the pistol, I quickly approached it and switched to strength. I gripped Azazel with all my strength and activated its ability, Azazel was then covered with a super-heated plasma.

I threw Azazel like a spear and it pierced the head of the Necrophus beetle, I jumped up and gripped Azazel before using my weight to pull Azazel down causing it to enlarge the deep cut that was already in the Necrophus' head

I fell on the ground just as the Necrophus collapsed, there was now a small opening above its head.

'Lilith, scan the damage' I spoke out

'DK's back armor has been breached, we already started the reconstruction process and will need about three days and almost all of DK's energy to completely restore the Damaged area'

DK retained a self-healing ability from the material it was made of, Lilith activated that and started reconstruction of the damaged area.

Five's and Cynthia was first to support me as we all left, we all left the tunnel. Everyone outside had their eyes on me, they all whispered.

"We succeeded in our mission but only thanks to the Blade Knight!" Gram shouted out

Everyone looked at each other before raising their weapons and shouting in joy