“Erm…” Angelina finally awoke from her unconscious state. Her rosy eyes were greeted by a friendly countenance.
“A.J, you’re awake!” The excited relief in Fluffy Tanya’s voice made Angelina immediately aware of how concern she had been for her wellbeing.
“Hrm…” Motioning her body in an upright position, Angelina glanced at her surrounding as she asked: “What happened? Did that monstrous Ghoul die?”
Fluffy Tanya responded truthfully. “Of course! That octopus monster bit the dust right after you blasted it with that powerful Ghoul Trigger of yours. I’ve never seen anything like it. Your Ghoul Trigger is amazing, A.J!”
“Oh… thanks I guess. So, ah…” Angelina poke her head through the Medic Cube and glanced around. “Where are we?”
“At the bottom of the huge hole created by that monstrous Ghoul. Armoured Hero and the others thought it was best that we rest up here for a bit before setting out again on our expedition.” Fluffy Tanya helped Angelina to her feet as she explained the situation. “Too bad we can’t stay here much longer though.”
Hearing this prompted an enquiry from Angelina’s parched lips. “Huh… why?”
Fluffy Tanya directed Angelina’s gaze towards the multiple emerald crystals illuminating the abyss. “You see those glowing rock things over there?”
“Yes, I do. What about them?”
“Supposedly they possessed some sort of deadly fume that can turn us insane. That one over there has already popped. It is currently being contained by a containment Soul Insignia but it is about to wear off soon. The rest of us are already packing up to escape from here. You should also get your motor in gear girl, now that you’re awake and all.”
“So that’s what happening…” Angelina took her time getting out of the Medic Cube. Her mind was still a bit dishevelled. The first face that greeted her as she came outside was none other than Unruly Ban’s.
“You finally decided to get off your lazy ass? Tsk, took you long enough. Here… take this.” Unruly Ban tossed Angelina a red Motors Cube then vanished towards his adaptable Press Roller, looking angry and perturbed. ‘Effing bitch…’ he whispered.
“What’s his problem?” Angelina asked as she perused her crimson Motors Cube. “Huh…? It is repaired?”
“Yeah…” Fluffy Tanya explained. “That Unruly Bastard was the one who caught you when you were falling. He took the liberty of repairing your damaged Motors Cube while you were out cold. He seems to care about you. I don’t know why he has to act so repulsively though…”
“Hmm…” Angelina took a while to reflect on what Fluffy Tanya told her. ‘That Unruly Cur rescued me from falling? Moreover, voluntarily repaired my Motors Cube while I was unconscious…? Is he…’
“Girl, what’s up?” Fluffy Tanya realized Angelina staring in Unruly Ban’s direction for a while and alerted her attention. “Earth to A.J! Hey!”
Angelina identified a waving hand before her and roused from the depth of her thoughts. “Oh… Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“Now is not the time to space out like that, girl. We should get going. Most of the Tomb Riders are gathering over there in the Dragon Slaughterer’s motor. Let’s go join them.”
“Alright…” After packing up the Medic Cubes along with other essential gears, Angelina accompanied by Fluffy Tanya join the Tomb Riders who were entering Meliodas’s expansive motor.
“Hurry up, we don’t have all day people!” Meliodas and his surviving underlings were escorting Tomb Riders into his motor. His eyes went fiercely stiff after he recognised Trisha stepping by him with a disgusting glance.
“Fhm… at least you’re not completely incapable.” She said scornfully.
“What…?” Meliodas overheard Trisha’s insult. He was about to retaliate, however, he was interrupted by Armoured Hero who came along shortly after.
“Is this everyone?” Armoured Hero took one last glance around the expansive abyss. After verifying that every Tomb Riders from both groups were on-board, he told Meliodas to get his motor in the air.
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“Everyone hold on to something, it’s going to be a bumpy flight!” Meliodas didn’t tarry at the bottom of the abyss with his draconic motor. As soon as he finished warming up the Ghoul engine, he began ascending the expansive abyss apace.
5 minutes later, a monstrous motor showed its presence at the entrance of the abyss. It took Meliodas this long to get his motor outside due to the excessive weight that was slowing him down. He roughly alighted his motor in the snowy expanse above.
“Alright, you smelly trashes hurry up and get out! My motor is in dire stress because of all your heaviness!” Meliodas didn’t care to spoil his words. He ran everyone out of his motor as soon as it landed.
Tomb Riders began exiting the draconic motor in droves. Most of them weren’t offended by what Meliodas said for they were used to his abrasive language.
“Woo… I forgot just how cold this Ghoul Graveyard is…” The moment she stepped outside, Angelina felt uncontrollable shivers overtaking her body. “I might turn to ice at this rate.”
“Out of my way loser!” Unruly Ban shoved Angelina out his path. Afterwards, he tossed out his Motors Cube which transformed into a warm and comfy Press Roller. “Ahh, that’s more like it.”
Angelina was angered. “Why do I want to chop that infuriating bastard to pieces whenever I see him?”
“That’s because he is super disrespectful not to mention hella annoying.” Fluffy Tanya stated outright. She also activated her Motors Cube and went inside. “Aren’t you freezing A.J? You should hurry and enter your motor.”
“That’s what I’m about to do.” Angelina quickly activated her Muscle Thron motor then sat inside.
After the Tomb Riders had alighted their bottoms into their motors, they all gathered around in a circle, waiting for their respective leader’s direction. Seeing as how Meliodas has lost a majority of his crew, moreover, rescued by Armoured Hero’s squadron, he had no complaints letting Armoured Hero be the leader. Thus all eyes were fixated on the gallant knight poised on his sapphire horse-motor.
“Where to now, Armoured Hero? It isn’t wise for us to stay in the open like this. Those Ghouls can easy pick us off.” Someone directed the gang’s attention to an unorganised spread of Ghouls who were traipsing about afield.
“Hm?” Armoured Hero recognized those lurking Ghouls from afar. Their 2-metre long beak coupled with their lengthy lizard tail was quite difficult to miss. “Those are Lower-Rank-C Ghouls, aka the Skesis. They aren’t that frightening by themselves. For now, we should avoid getting into needless battle as much as possible until we meet up with another team.”
“So is that our main goal, Armoured Hero? To reunite with the other teams?”
“Yes, it is our best bet of surviving this Ghoul Graveyard until the gate opens again. As the situation stands, many unpredictable foes are dwelling on this frozen field. Our numbers have declined significantly due to that unprecedented Ghoul we faced earlier. If by some unfortunate chance we run into one of those S-Class Ghouls again then we would certainly meet our end. Hence, I proposed that we track down the other teams. They might even be facing the same difficulty as us. Does anyone oppose this idea?”
“….” For a lengthy minute, all Tomb Riders were silently staring at Armoured Hero. They had no complaints with his suggestion. The more people they had in their group, the higher their survival rate would become.
“Then this matter is settled. We shall meet up with another team closest to us.” Saying this, Armoured Hero operated his Automatic Guiding Cube. He used its cutting edge tracking technology to locate the whereabouts of other nearby teams.
“I think I’ve got something. This group is…” The penetrating lasers of his Automatic Guiding Cube connected with another Automatic Guiding Cube that belonged to Water Lilly’s banner. She was engaged in fierce combat upon the snowy slope 12.6 km away from Armoured Hero’s current proximity.
A dishevelled group of Tomb Riders were tossing attack type Soul Insignias in all angles to fend off the marauding horde of Mantis Ghouls.
“Water Lilly! They are Ghouls ambushing us from behind as well! What should we do? They are too many of them!” A scared Tomb Rider shouted. Her resounding screams were quickly buried by deafening environmental explosions. However, it didn’t prevent the expert tactician, Water Lilly from hearing her squad's distressful plea.
“The situation is indeed dire. We’ve never been ambushed to this magnitude on our prior campaigns. Something has definitely changed within this Ghoul Graveyard. I have to get my people to safety.” While thinking of a suitable strategy to escape her current predicament, Water Lilly realized that her Automatic Guiding Cube was responding to a familiar signal.
“Is this…?” Water Lilly brought up a guiding interface which depicted a visual connection of her Automatic Guiding Cube. “That’s Armoured Hero’s group… The Dragon Slaughterer is with him as well. Is he trying to make contact? This is perfect.” Water Lilly immediately thought of a strategy for her crew to escape certain death.
The Mantis Ghouls were vicious tyrants who usually hunt their prey in packs. Their lanky limbs of sharp intensity could cut through several layers of concrete as simple as a baby’s stomach. Hence the reason the Tomb Riders had to be extremely careful when dealing with a pack of these creatures. Almost all of them possessed a singular blue halo, except for the 3 pack leaders who had 2-red halos. They were the ones giving orders to the weak.
Water Lilly was doing her best to keep her gang from getting chopped to fine pieces. “Everyone listen to my command!” She relayed her plan to her surviving squad members over the intercoms. “There is another team heading our way from below the mountain. We’ll direct the Mantis Ghouls towards them then together exterminate our pursuers with brute force!”