The crab arrived at their destination, but the area around it was far from inviting. A cloud loomed above the place and the trees, although large, were torn until the inner parts of it were visible to the naked eye. The entrance of the cave was just in front of them, with its own decorations.

Heaps of clothes, weapons, and pieces of wood were scattered at the front, creating a bizarre makeshift wall while a gap in the middle let anyone or anything in. The birds stopped chirping and the ambiance of the forest died.

The pungent and familiar smell assaulted their noses once more.

“I might need to wash these clothes, especially your cloak Ms Ikari, the rats are making it smell bad, that’s bad!” Lia remarked.

“Calm down feathers, the smell is normal, and it will go away after a while..” Ikari smiled. Ahead, near one of the large heaps was Mian’s team, one of them carried the explosive box. Mian waved to them.

“Let’s head out now,” Ishmael ordered, grabbing one of the boxes and placing it under her arm. Their feet landed on the hard sand, there was little time to think or prepare now.

Far beyond the team, a dark hole could be faintly seen, the entrance of the cave.

Ikari’s smile disappeared again once they got to Mian’s team.

“You took your time,” He laughed.

“Jumping in the trees doesn’t come with the risk of being attacked by horde rats along the way,” Ishmael responded, inciting another laugh from Mian.

“That is true, well the entrance is just up ahead. Cathy and Terik scouted around the area, it’s weirdly quiet.” He looked back at two other people from his team, both wore the least armor of the team and had short swords on their waists.

“Strange, nonetheless we should tread carefully. Those rats must be out hunting, or inside the cave-”

“Either way, we’ll seal the hole right?”

“Yes…”

“Cathy, Terik scout the surroundings. Rest of you follow me.” They obeyed, quickly running away from the group and heading towards the trees on the sides.

“Let’s go.”

Down the path, the smell worsened, as more heaps of clothes and even remnants of rotting meat were strewn about the path, with trees creating a wall on both sides with the only direction to head to now being forward or back. The sound of buzzing flies accompanied the smell, any more time here and Kayd would vomit.

“It’s awfully silent here,” He commented, covering his mouth with both hands.

“Silence is never good in the forest, seems that guy ahead of us doesn’t get it though.” Ikari responded. Unlike the rest, she didn’t cover her mouth, even taking in the scent as if a familiar or nostalgic odor to her.

“You really don’t like him huh?”

“Not a bit,”

“Why?” Ikari didn’t respond.

Best not to press her further for now.

The team arrived, standing at the mouth of the cave. Its entrance was larger than they expected. The team was hesitant to just enter without a plan. But Mian’s team seemed more carefree, continuing to walk into the cave with his followers in tow, seemingly uncaring for their own safety.

“Such an environment is a prime place for an ambush, remain close and away from areas we cannot see,” Quellin ordered.

The team silently agreed, huddling closer together with Ishmael at the front.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ishmael spoke.

“No sound of rats means there’s no rats. Right?” Mian asked. Beside Kayd, Ikari clenched her fist, opening her mouth to say something.

“Quiet down, speak only if necessary, especially in a risky environment,” Quellin warned, catching Ikari’s attention and snapping her out of her fear.

“Alright, sorry.”

Ishmael sighed and gestured for the team to follow behind her, entering the tunnel with Mian at the front.

The smell was replaced with a smell of acrid water and copper. Their path was lit up as Mian ignited a torch, handing one to Ishmael as they did.

The ceiling of the cave was not visible, nor were the walls of the cave, they were practically two small specs of light walking down this place.

Kayd’s breathing became more audible, glancing at all sides with an unsheathed sword, prepared to strike anything that may go near them.

—---

Further down the uneven and stony path, there was not a single moment of attack or a sound of a rat shriek, and the inside only felt larger than before.

Kayd’s feet, rather than walking straight onward, slowly started moving downward.

This place descends? This is really not going well.

Kayd felt the shivers again, his eyes pacing in all directions more than before, whether this was worth it or they picked the wrong person to join, perhaps there was another path, another way to gain these titles. The paper didn’t say that they needed Ishmael right? He can go his own, even if he has spent his life serving a leader.

A firm and hard smack to his head knocked him out of his thoughts. Quellin looked at him with an expressionless face.

“Remain on focus, focus is what we all need in this situation.” He advised.

“Sorry.”

The floor slowly became more angled to go down, making the team descend further down.

How deep is this place!?

—---

Once the ground turned normal again, Ikari walked towards Ishmael, whispering something in her ear, prompting her to order Mian to stop.

“I think we’re near the breeding area,” Ishmael spoke in a lower voice.

“What makes you think that?”

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“The smell, and sound ahead.” Mian took a moment to try hearing something beyond the trickling of water and wind passing through, turning back to them with a nod.

“Looks like those easy pickings are nearby. Elias prepare the bombs.” With a smile, one of Mian’s subordinates placed down the box and handed it to each of his teammates.

Ishmael followed suit, handing out the explosive sticks until the box was empty.

Kayd gripped the explosive stick with a small feeling of excitement like a child receiving a new toy.

“Prepare your weapons lads, it’s time to clean out these things once and for all.” Mian led the team forward with Ishmael behind.

Down the path, they finally saw the walls of the place, quickly realizing that the area they were in was quickly getting smaller as they walked on until a small gap was left.

Passing through, the squeaking of rats echoed beyond the darkness in front of them. The cursed enemy was just in front of them, better yet? Their breeding ground.

An accomplishment of this scale would have made me famous in the old world if only they had giant rats too

The amount of rats seemed to grow as the squeals were more numerous, and louder.

Finally, they exited they arrived at a new area. Cold winds greeted them and a bright light above gave decent lighting to show most of the area they were in.

They stood in a large area with a hole in the middle, the sounds of rats emanating from it. Looking around, Kayd spotted hundreds of holes that led to the area they were in.

Must be how they get anywhere. There’s so many…..

“The light is coming from the outside, I can smell the trees and leaves from here,” Ikari remarked.

“Hah, one of the people on your team sure does have a keen nose. Should make my guys learn that too.” Mian remarked.

“Just a basic skill.” She responded with a smirk.

Odd, thought she hated him, now she’s smirking?

“It seems they were resting, any second now they’ll start running out and find a new settlement. Prepare the bombs.” Kayd took out his stick, the others also, unsure of how it worked.

“Pull the string and throw down the hole, the queen is most likely down there,” Ishmael ordered.

“All that walking and no fight? What a shame.”

“We’re here to destroy the source like you said. The overseer would want them gone and in the fastest way possible.” Ishmael responded, her hand grasping the string on her stick, prepared to drop it

On her way to the hole, Mian and his team ran past her, his steps echoing through the area and causing the squeaking to die down.

“Eat gunpowder freaks!” Just at the edge of the hole, Mian and his team threw their bombs down.

Each explosion was accompanied by a large fireball that reached the mouth of the hole along with the shrieks of rats.

With all of them detonating in one place, the area started to crack and crumble, and bits of rock started to fall around them.

“I think that was all of them.” He laughed alongside his team. But one of them looked at a hole.

“Mian watch out!” He pointed at it, getting Mian’s attention just in time for him to take out his sword and catch a rat that was heading for him. The rat rammed directly into his sword, falling to the ground quickly.

“This is what I’m talking about!” He shouted. From the holes, rats emerged from them, his subordinates laughed in response, taking out their weapons with eager expressions on their faces.

Why are they laughing at this!? This is a classic case of a suicidal mission now!

“Those rats work fast, the footsteps and shout seemed enough to make them run towards us,” Ikari remarked.

Ishmael looked around with a calm expression, desperately hiding her worry about the situation they got into while glancing at Mian with clenched teeth.

“We need to destroy this place and get out of here.” She spoke. They only had five bombs left. Kayd looked at his environment, noticing the cracks that formed across the place, with many near the holes.

Those things are just a single smack away from breaking

Looking at the bomb in his hand, he mustered up an idea.

“We can throw the bombs into the holes, it should seal them and this cave!” No other choice was left, but the idea was logical.

The team spread out, they exerted more and more strength to run faster, fearful that at any moment they could be surrounded by rats.

Kayd reached one of the holes and pulled the string off. The stick made a sizzling noise before Kayd threw it into the hole.

After a few seconds, an explosion deafened his ears and a bright flame shot out of the hole before it began to crumble, rocks began falling inside it and other nearby holes, causing them to be sealed off and doom any rats once there.

Trying to get back to the group, rats from the remaining holes jumped out, stopping Kayd from moving forward.

From behind, Mian and his subordinates joined in, taking down the rats threatening Kayd while killing any heading their way.

The team fought with great sync, protecting each other while killing the threat at the same time. No moment of hesitation or fear, continuing to fight the horde as a group.

As one swung their sword, another killed a rat heading towards them.

The others found suitable openings, tossing in their explosives and watching the tunnels crumble further, sending big chunks of rock crashing down around them.

“I think that’s enough,” Ishmael spoke. Their explosives were used up now all that was left is to escape as the area started to cave in on itself.

‘Run!” Hearing her shout, Mian and the others finished their bloodlust-filled fight and started running, satisfied with what they did.

Prideful and crazy, this is a worse combination!

Through the gap, they could hear the cave crack, even through the gap, the entire cave seemed to have been affected. If they couldn’t escape this entire place, death was certain.

In the middle of their escape, one of Mian’s subordinates, a young girl was bitten in the leg and immediately began getting dragged through the gap.

A single second of seeing this, another one of Mian’s subordinates rushed forward and charged at the rats, slashing at them while another helped the girl up.

“Camaraderie, even in such a lethal place,” Ikari muttered.

Ishmael and Mian yelled at everyone to keep running, ignoring the loud echoes of rats being crushed under the rocks.

Behind them, the once large cavern got smaller and smaller with rocks shattering and burying the path they just took.

Along the way, one by one, people tripped or were struck by rocks, managing to survive and run purely on adrenaline.

The fatigue began to kick in, but just ahead, the light of the cave entrance was just a hundred steps away.

“Come on! We will not die to a damn cave-in! Not under my watch!” Ishmael yelled up, giving everyone motivation to run for longer as the falling rocks became closer and closer to them.

Just mere steps, Kayd felt extreme joy and relief, leaping out of the cave as rocks fell above him.

Outside, everyone crashed to the ground, taking in deep breaths and crawling away from the cave while it crumbled and buried itself, sealing the entrance.

“That…Was…Fun…” Mian spoke through breaths, gaining another laugh from his teammates.

Ishmael’s team though only breathed deeply with a smile on their faces, or in their minds, relieved to still be alive.

The two scouts Mian had dispatched rushed towards them, helping some off the ground.

But just beyond Kayd’s vision, a rat squeak could be heard…