“She did it. She actually took care of that monster on her own.” Armoured Hero was amazed after witnessing Angelina’s skilful performance in defeating the Snow Ghoul. “I underestimated that girl due to her previous uncooperative behaviour. I see now that she’s quite capable.”
Armoured Hero undid Castle Camelot’s barrier then landed on the slope. Exhaustion was quite evident on his face. Not only him but also the fearful Tomb Riders who fought tirelessly to save themselves.
“Wow! That was an intense battle! I still can’t believe a lower-tier Ghoul Monster was this powerful.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. A lot of our riders are injured from this bout. Some of them even lost their lives. I never expected blue halo monsters to tire us like this. Imagine if we had run into a Rank-B Ghoul Monster.”
“I don’t even want to imagine that. For now, I want to catch my breath.”
“We can’t linger here any further!” Armoured Hero came and spoiled the respite for the other Tomb Riders. “Our battle just now must have alerted the surrounding Ghouls. We need to clear out of here as soon as possible. Capture team collect the Ghouls’ corpses along with their Ghoul Souls and make it quick. I’m picking up on strange movements approaching our vicinity from the Automatic Guiding Cube’s scanner.”
“You can count on us, Armoured Hero!” The team responsible for collecting valuable resources started circulating the slope, quickly procuring the blue Ghoul Souls left behind along with the bodies. They had a specially built storage cube to accommodate their capture.
The Tomb Riders who had died have also been listed in the records of deaths. Aside from Armoured Hero, 41 persons remained under his banner.
“Alright everyone, gather your things and follow me.” Armoured Hero started leading the exhausted Tomb Riders towards an area that has yet to be explored by past expedition teams. Angelina stayed at the rear during their long journey which ate up 7 hours of their time. That was how vast a Ghoul Graveyard was, even with their evolved motors they were still travelling the singular mountain slope.
After hours of exhausting their motors’ energy, they needed to recuperate. Thus Armoured Hero led his crew to a gigantic monumental rift which overlooked a vast structural edifice below. Due to the thick fog, it was difficult for them to see ahead. They were travelling across a narrow path at the outer edge of the mountain. If they fell from that height then they would have fallen to their doom, hence the reason why they rode in singular line formation.
While looking afield, Angelina observed a flock of aerial Ghouls flying by. Each of them had more than one blue halos oscillating them. Because they were so huge they didn’t spot the tiny Tomb Riders who were crossing over a narrow path under the ridge. “Those monsters look like they could put up a good fight.”
“Don’t even think about it, Ms Slutty.” Unruly Ban rode his Press Roller beside Angelina. The path was too narrow to accommodate 2 motors side by side. “You’ve caused enough trouble as it is.”
“The only trouble I’ve caused was saving your tired ass back there.” Angelina retorted brazenly. “If you’re upset with living pitifully then roll off this cliff. Otherwise, back up your unruly presence from beside me.”
“Fu-ha-ha-ha! Enjoy your moment of glory while it last.” While backing up his motor, Unruly Ban spitefully rammed his Press Roller into Angelina’s Muscle Thron. If it weren’t for the strict friction of her tyres, she would have certainly fallen off the edge.
“Oops, sorry. Fhm-mh-mh.” Unruly Ban snickered as he deciphered Angelina’s unpleasant nature.
“This damn maniac. If we weren’t travelling across this narrow road I would have beaten his ass silly.” Angelina realigned her motor properly on the narrow path. “Geez, such a lunatic.”
“We’re almost across the ridge. Keep it going.”
As the Tomb Riders continued making their way in single file along the cliff path, a mini Aerial Ghoul that logged behind its flock noticed them. It flew closer to the ridge side to analyse the strange beings. The tiny creature wasn’t hostile against the Tomb Riders, rather it was fascinated with them and their peculiar motors.
“Look at the cute little guy. I guess not all Ghouls are violent monsters.” Fluffy Tanya slowed her motor to appreciate the Aerial Ghoul’s presence. She reached out her hand to pat it on its back. “Wow! I wasn’t expecting it to feel so warm. This sensation is surreal.”
“Really? Let me try.” Other Tomb Riders also fondled the amiable Aerial Ghoul. Due to this, their strange behaviour caught the attention of Armoured Hero.
“Why is the line moving so slow all of sudden? Huh?” Glancing behind him, Armoured Hero noticed some Tomb Riders petting the Aerial Ghoul. “You guys, stop messing around with that creature. Just ignore it and hurry across. The other side is already in view.”
The Aerial Ghoul felt dejected as a result of the interesting Tomb Riders ignoring its presence. It got prepared to return to its flock ahead when suddenly apart of the narrow path broke apart.
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“Oh shit, I’m falling!” Unruly Ban’s outburst caught the attention of the Tomb Riders. The path crumbled underneath him, allowing his motor to slip through.
“The path is collapsing! Move faster!” The Tomb Riders who were following behind Unruly Ban didn’t offer their aid to help him up. They just hurriedly rode their motor across the path that was still intact.
“You mean bastards! Help me up!” Everyone ignored Unruly Ban’s cry for help, they were too busy trying not to fall over themselves. His Press Roller began tumbling down the steep cliff. The Aerial Ghoul who was watching from above comprehended that he was in danger and started swooping downwards to rescue him. The creature latched its talons on one of the thrusters whereas it began pulling up.
“The hell is this monster doing! Piss off you sack of shit!” Unruly Ban initialized a Sapphire Soul Insignia which decorated his motor in heavy artillery all around. He used them to shot up the Aerial Ghoul who came to his rescue.
“Die bitch! I don’t need help from a monster!”
“SCREEEEEEE!” The hurting Aerial Ghoul gave off a resounding cry of death which alerted its mama, papa along with the other members of its gigantic flock that had gone on ahead.
“Freaking monster! Hand over that Ghoul Soul!” After viciously reaping the amiable Ghoul’s soul, Unruly Ban activated levitation mode on his motor. Many thrusters appeared underneath it which kept him afloat.
Unruly Ban returned to the narrow path where he started cursing at the Tomb Riders who ignored him earlier. “You stinking sack of shits! Think I need your help? From now on you will be chasing after my shadow!” Finished spilling his abusive tongue, Unruly Ban motioned his hovering motor to the front of the formation. However, while he was going there, a huge shadow cast over him.
“What the heck is it now?” Looking above, Unruly Ban identified an angry flock of massive Aerial Ghouls swooping down. “Holy hell! Look at the size of those things!” After trepidation bombarded his unruly mien, he dashed back into the formation of Tomb Riders, trying to conceal his presence from the incoming monsters.
The head of the goliath flock noticed the remnants of its kin tumbling down the ridge side, lifeless as a log. It searched its deadly eyes around until it located the scent of its kin’s Ghoul Soul somewhere among the formation of Tomb Riders. Due to how tiny they were in comparison, the Aerial Ghouls couldn’t accurately tell which one of them had reaped its kin’s soul. Thus it decided to slaughter every single one of those invading humans.
“RAAAAAA!” The flock of massive Aerial Ghouls started spitting out balls of freezing snow at the frightened Tomb Riders. Many of them were unlucky to suffer direct hits which turned them to instant Popsicles.
“Shit! We’re all in danger! Why the hell are these things attacking us all of a sudden?”
“It’s all that damn unruly idiot’s fault who is at the back! He killed one of their kind and now they are taking out their anger on us.”
“Dammit! This is why I hate rookies!”
“Everyone protect yourselves! We’re pushing forward to the other side!”
“We’re not going to make it across! These assaults are too vicious! The path his crumbling too quickly! Armoured Hero! Please save us!”
“Those who have aeronautical ignitions installed on their motor vacate the ridge! We are going to distract the Ghouls so that the others can cross over safely.” The moment Armoured Hero gave his command, he along with the elite Tomb Riders started activating their aeronautical ignitions.
“We’ll draw their cover! The rest of you get across quickly!”
“Thank you, Armoured Hero!” The Tomb Riders along the narrow path increased the velocity of their motors while trying their best to avoid getting smashed to death by the vicious snow bombs.
Angelina was among the group on the ridge. She was madly operating Muscle Thron to vault over the crumbled pathways while evading the Ghouls attack. Unruly Ban was on her tail even though his Press Roller was capable of versatile flight. Due to this, the Aerial Ghouls started delivering vicious attacks towards Angelina for they sensed that their kin’s soul was nearby.
After evading couple more snow bombs, Angelina gave her brusque tongue to her tail. “You unruly bastard! Stop following so closely up my ass! You’re their target, not me!”
“Bitch you think I don’t know that? I simply refused to die alone. Here hold onto this for me!” “What?”
Unruly Ban took out the Blue Ghoul Soul that he had reaped from the amiable Aerial Ghoul Creature and stuck it onto the rear end of Muscle Thron. After he did this, he rode off the ridge with his motor. Now all of the vicious Ghouls’ attention was placed on Angelina.
“That damn parasite! If I make it out of this I will surely skin him alive!” Angelina was under a lot of pressure now. Even though Armoured Hero along with the other flying motors were assaulting the flock, they kept their main focus on Angelina. They wanted to decimate her entire complex for reaping their kin’s soul.
“RAAAAA!”
“Oh, God! There is no avoiding this one. Then I’ll just have to fight my way out.” Angelina strengthened her resolve, deciding not to flee anymore. Not like there was anywhere for her to escaped to. The Ghouls were attacking her from all angles. In light of this, the other grounded Tomb Riders managed to cross over the ridge successfully, Unruly Ban was among them.
“I’m done playing nice girl! Time to slice and dice me some monsters!” Saying this, Angelina withdrew her Ghoul Trigger from her helmet’s inventory. It still had 5 unused Soul Insignias attached. “Muscle Thron get smaller for me!”
Angelina returned her vehicle to a Motors Cube. Now that her body was free, she dashed off the edge, sliding downwards the slope. The atmosphere’s amplified gravity helped her descent a lot quicker. She had to use her Dark Chaos to prevent her legs from getting hurt.
“What is she planning this time?” Armoured Hero noticed the Ghouls diving downwards. That was when he realized that they were chasing after Angelina. He decided to capitalize on this moment of opportunity. “Listen up riders, the enemies have given their backs to us! Now is our chance to eradicate the flock. Follow my lead!”
“YAAH!” Armoured Hero’s valiant shout roused the hovering Tomb Riders into action. While chasing after the creatures’ rear, they unloaded the full force of their attack type Soul Insignias. They were delivering deadly blows to the Ghouls’ posterior, some of them even vaporized into thin air.
“Keep up the assault! Their numbers are drastically dwindling!” Armoured Hero wasn’t letting up on the Ghouls. Whenever he noticed an opportunity for victory he took it. He rained down assault after assault onto the ferocious flock. However, the creatures at the forefront were completely unfazed. They continued to chase after Angelina down the slope.
Angelina’s feet felt like they were on fire due to how roughly she was sliding down the slope while evading frozen projectiles. “These monsters aren’t easing up. They desperately want to reclaim this broken soul. Probably I can use it to my advantage.”