Chapter 17 South-east exit

All of the people that were in the hotel room got out of the hotel in a rush. Like the announcer said, they headed towards the southeast edge of town. The main road is full of people running. Both fleeing and running towards the danger.

Seeing as how the main road is crowded, they headed towards a side road.

The voice on the megaphone spoke again and said, "Estimated time of arrival: 10 minutes!"

"Alright, let's head there immediately." Chrys said, without slowing down.

Rose seemed to have recalled something. She pulled Chrys' gun from her waist, held it out to Chrys and said, "Oh, wait! Here, I still have your gun. "

"Keep it. It's more efficient that way. "

Rose nodded in confusion about what he meant. They quickly turned a corner. Amber hit the side of the wall beside her and groaned in annoyance, rather than pain.

Lilly begrudgingly let go of Amber when they got out of the hotel. Amber is now constantly wary of Lilly at this point. too wary, in Miya's opinion.

Amber hits everything on her way, because she pays way too much attention to Lilly. A bucket, planks of wood, and even a garbage bag. She groans every time she hits something.

Lilly and Miya gave her a look of concern, but Rose, who is her friend, ignored her like she didn't know her.

They turned another corner and saw a clearing. It was an exit out of town. The southeast exit, to be precise.

They headed outside of the exit and saw the surroundings. It was dry and hot. The ground is entirely made of sand. The exit passage is surrounded by two rocky cliffs on both sides. creating a bit of a choke point.

"Let's go on the right." On Chrys' command, they headed towards the right-side cliff.

The girls had a bit of trouble getting on top of the cliff. Well, Miya and Amber did. Rose just scaled the cliff with ease, like Chrys and the others. Miya figured that she and Amber were the physically weak ones.

With the help of Rose and Lilly, they finally made it to the top of the cliff. The cliff is about 20 meters high. From here, they could see a lot of the surroundings.

The entire southeast area of town is full of sand; there are sand dunes in the distance, as well as a huge group of beasts heading their way.

They all vary in size and appearance. It's hard to make out their features because of them being a fair bit away and also because of the dust clouds they are producing due to their rapid movements.

"Hmm, it looks like the others are quite experienced." Chrys commented on the other people who are also on the cliffside.

Chrys turned to look at Lilly and asked. "Hey, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Um? Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. " Lilly seemed to remember something upon hearing his question.

"Ha!" V let out an overly exaggerated little laugh.

Her coat transformed into a thin, white wrap like paper. It wrapped around her head. A moment later, it released and showed her face. Nothing really happened to her face, apart from the fact that her hair turned from white to black. The rest of the white sheet turned back into her coat.

"Um, what just happened?" Rose tilted her head and asked.

"I just changed the color of my hair, since it's too eye-catching." Lilly replied with a smile.

If you want, I can change your hair color too. It's just covering it, so you don't have to worry. " Lilly continued.

"Uh, I think I'll pass." Amber, do you want to change your hair or-"

"No!" Amber cut Rose off, who has also been staying away from Lilly this whole time.

"Okay..." "Lilly I said with a sad expression. Miya couldn't tell if it's because Rose denied her, or because Amber is evading her, or is it both?

"This place seems convenient." V commented on the landscape on this side of town.

"It is convenient, too convenient." Chrys added.

"Haaa, you're too worried sometimes. Learn to take Chill! " V spoke to Chrys.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who only knows how to "chill." Chrys replied mockingly.

"Touché," V said as he sat down on the ledge, dangling his legs.

"Goldie, what level do you think those beasts are?" Lilly asked.

"I don't know. They are a fair bit away from my range. Also, I have a name. Chrys answered.

"Pffft! Hela, what do you think? " Lilly disregarded Chrys and asked Hela, who is currently patting Loki.

"Huh? Oh, Uh, C? " Hela replied, with a questioning tone.

"Good job!" Lilly cheered, clapping her hands together. Looking like a proud parent

Hela looked relieved upon hearing Lilly's response.

"We should be fine, but what about the girls?" Lilly asked in a concerned tone.

"Well, they should be fine since it's just C-tier, but better safe than sorry." Let them have a go at them! " Chrys said, waving his hands, giving his approval.

Frustrated, Lilly asked. "What is your line of thinking?! They should be fine. Better safe than sorry. Then, let them have a go. What is that? "

"What I mean is, let them test their strengths on the weak ones." So if we encounter stronger ones, they can hold their own. " "Crys," he said in a slow and clear manner, as if he was talking to a child.

"You absolute bastard!" Lilly shouted and tried to hit Chrys with her fists, but it just bounced off of him due to his invisible shield.

Chrys smiled and began shouting to the others in a sarcastic manner. "Oh my god! Did you forget? "Wow, Lilly just forgot something you guys! "

"I hate you." Amber, come over here. " Lilly said to Chrys before turning to Amber.

When Amber heard this, she tried to turn tail and run, but she tripped on a rock before she could get going. Amber groaned while covering her face in frustration.

"Aww, you're so clumsy and so cute at the same time!" Lilly said as she picked her up and hugged Amber. Amber didn't struggle anymore, since she knew resistance was futile.

"Hey, the beasts are here." Chrys warned them.

The horde of beasts entered the narrow pathway between the two cliffs.

The other people that were on the cliffs looked to be waiting for something. Just as the beasts nearly made it halfway through the canyon, the people began to shout.

They then dropped boulders in front of the beasts, forming a barricade. The beasts rammed into each other due to the sudden barricade in front of them. Seeing this, the people all jumped down while letting out their battle cry.

"Alright, you girls go down there and try not to get stomped on." Chrys said to the girls.

"Ok! "Amber, you stay back." Let's go, Miya. I'll fly you down... Rose said as she began taking her jacket off, revealing the metal attachment on her back.

"No, don't do that. Try not to attract unwanted attention. Lilly! Let go of her and get them down there. " Chrys ordered.

"Hmph, fine!" Lilly said as she reluctantly let Amber go. Amber immediately distanced herself from Lilly.

"Origami – Orochi"

Lilly's coat transformed into a white sheet and formed a large metal snake's head the size of a person. It's attached to her arms via chains. There are a total of three snakeheads.

The snakeheadsgrabbed the three girls in their mouths and carried them down the cliff face before they could say anything. Once they landed, the snakeheadst them go and returned to the top of the cliff.

"Hey! Can you take Amber back? " "Rose ted towards the top of the cliff.

Amber looked displeased with Rose's actions. She gave him a gentle slap at the back of the head and shouted toward the top. "No, thank you!"

Rose rubbed the back of her head and sighed. "Fine."

"Okay, let's do this." Rose unholstered Chrys' gun and readied herself.

"Um, what exactly do we do?" Miya asked.

"Huh, isn't it just to kill beasts?" Rose asked, tilting her head.

Before they could go far, Amber stopped in her tracks and asked Rose. "Wait, Rose. I don't have a weapon.

"Uh... Yeah, That's a problem. Rose said, stopping and looking around her.

Not too far away, a man was impaled by a horned beast in the chest, instantly killing him. Rose's attention landed on the weapon the man dropped.

"Stay there," Rose said to the other two.

She moved stealthily through the chaos. She was moving low and fast, and soon she reached the corpse of the man.

She quickly grabbed the man's weapon without hesitation. Miya thought this reminded Miya a bit of Chrys but did not say anything about it.

She hastily went back and offered the weapon to Amber with a smile as she said. "Here you go!"

Amber looked down at the weapon with a complicated expression.

The weapon is a bloodied spear with a blade half the size of the entire weapon.

"Uh..." Amber grumbled, looking at Rose with a helpless expression.

Still smiling, Rose asked. "What's wrong, Amber? I thought you wanted to fight. Come on, I know you can use this. "

"Uh..." Amber continued gggrumbling grumblingewhileeeng to rearreachingngr the weapon.

"Umm, you can have mine, Amber." I can have that sword-spear hybrid thing. Miya said, offering Amber her claws.

Amber looked at Miya with a thankful expression. turning her back to Rose.

Suddenly, Miya felt a chill run up her spine upon seeing Rose's expression. Her face twisted into a truly terrifying expression once Amber turned her back.

However, she isn't emanating the aura of an angry person. Miya knew Rose was fuming with rage, but she thought it was only because of jealousy since Amber chose her instead of Rose.

Amber unconsciously pulled back her hand that held her claws, causing Miya to look at her with a confused face.

Seemingly realizing something, Amber quickly turned around and looked at Rose. Rose had a friendly smile, making Miya doubt what she saw earlier.

Amber looked at Rose with a hard, long glare. Sweat rolled down Rose's face.

Rose sighed, as she said with a defeated tone. "Fine, here you have the gun." I'll use this... mess. "

Amber grabbed Chrys' gun that Rose offered. Rose wielded the sword-staff, and Miya wore her claws.

"Ready?"

"Yes!"

They headed towards the beasts. The other people are already fighting their beasts. They formed groups to team up on one beast at a time.

"How about we do like they do? Pick one and team up on it. " Rose asked. Amber and Miya nodded in agreement.

They headed towards a four-legged beast, about 2 meters tall and 5 meters long. Its body is covered in ivory-white bone armor. It had a huge head with horns attached.

Just when they were about to begin their assault, a man with a huge hammer bumped into Miya. He turned around and shouted. "Hey, this is no playground. Go away, kids! "

Seeing how the man was looking down on them, Rose glared at him with a scary look in her eyes. She readied her weapon. The man saw this and glared back while holding his hammer firmly.

"Hey! We've got plenty of beasts to hunt! No need to get in our way! " Amber interjected before anything could happen.

The man looked at Amber with a cold glare and said Fine, you take this one! Don't say I didn't warn you! " "The man said before going to another beast to fight it."

"Come on, Rose. Focus! " "Amber said to Rose."

"Grr, fine. Let's do this! " Rose said before turning to face the beast.

Amber aimed at the beast and pulled the trigger. The nozzle emitted a faint golden glow before shooting off. It left a black spot on the beast's exterior armor. It didn't seem that effective.

The beast turned to look at them and began scratching the ground.

Miya's eyes widened and she thought to herself. "Wait, I think I remember seeing animals move like that before." Then, a memory of the time she got headbutted in the gut by a goat entered Miya's mind.

"Wait, it's going to charge out of the way!" Miya warned the others. They nodded to her warning.

After a couple of moments, the beast finally charged. All of them got out of the way in time. Due to its momentum, it kept moving forward, hitting the side of the cliff.

Miya began to charge at it while it was still recovering from the impact. She readied her claws and swung at its back. It made a scratch mark but didn't do any real damage.

The beast regained its balance and looked at them again. It began scratching the ground again. Before it could charge again, Amber shot it in the face, which stunned the beast.

Miya and Rose took this chance and attacked the beast. At first, Miya tried to hit it where the joints are, since that is where the armor's weak points should be. At least that's what she thought.

Rose hit it on the hind legs, attempting to incapacitate the beast first. Amber kept on firing shots at it. After a while, the gun finally made a dent in the beast's armor. Miya and Rose took advantage of it by making a hole in its head.

It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end, the girls won. Miya fell to the ground and began to catch her breath.

Miya's claw is broken due to repeatedly hitting a hard object. Miya thanked the original owner of this weapon, "May they rest in peace." She said inwardly.

When they were catching their breath, another beast with grey skin and a huge front horn began charging at them. They dodged it in time, but another one was charging straight for them.

They could not dodge it since they were tired and had just finished a battle. Miya felt like it was the end of her. I'm sorry, Ma, Pa, and everyone. I couldn't help you. Miya thought as the beasts got closer.

"Origami – Orochi"

Just when it was about to hit them, huge metal snakeheads grabbed them and lifted the girls to the top of the cliff.

"Good job!" Lilly, who is the one who pulled them away from danger, congratulated them the moment they landed on top of the cliff.

She went straight for Amber and hugged her. Amber didn't fight back. It's either because she was too tired or she was thankful for saving her.

"Hmm, I'd say C-tier per individual beast is correct. Together, I'd say about B-tier. " Chrys said, looking off into the distance.

"Yes," "It has to be an A. Can you find it?"Hela asked while looking off in the same direction as Chrys looked.

"A-tier" is quite rare these days. Not only will we make enough money to get rations, but we can get some good materials off of it too. To answer your question, "Yes, we are going to hunt it. Chrys answered, while still looking towards the horizon.

Curiosity got the better of Miya. She decided to look where they were looking, only to be terrified at what she saw.

A huge sandstorm about 50 stories tall is heading towards them. Inside the sandstorm, a massive winged silhouette is flying in the middle. The eyes of the silhouette seemingly glowed a bright red when she looked at it.