Bryan had applied mana interference equipment onto Eugene and tied him up before dragging him along.
("I need to find the others- huh?") [Bryan]
He blinked twice as his eyes met Howard's. Of course, still waist deep in the ground.
"Hey! I could use a hand here." [Howard]
Bryan was at a loss for words.
"...What happened?" [Bryan]
"Radio broke. I also took this guy out, but uh… Yeah." [Howard]
Bryan let out a sigh and released Eugene for a moment.
"Alright. C'mere." [Bryan]
Stepping right out of the pit's range, Bryan extended a hand.
"Grab on." [Bryan]
"Don't have to tell me twice." [Howard]
Taking the helping hand, the two grunted as Howard was hoisted onto solid ground.
"Thanks." [Howard]
He gave Bryan a smile, which vanished the moment he saw Eugene.
"...Is that Eugene?" [Howard]
"Yep." [Bryan]
So he said with a smug look.
"How…? With your ability level, such a thing…" [Howard]
Howard was truly in awe.
"You know what? Impressive. I see you in a new light." [Howard]
For the first time in a very long time, Bryan felt pride in his chest..
"Thanks." [Bryan]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
After meeting up, they decided to only keep Eugene as their captive.
"Oh, I think I see Leo." [Howard]
Peering from afar, they saw Leo facing two opponents.
"He's being attacked! Hurry!" [Bryan]
The two then rushed to Leo's aid.
"Hm?" [Leo]
His gaze wandered to his squadmates.
"Woah! Why are you guys in such a rush?!" [Leo]
Upon arriving, Howard and Bryan were shocked to see that Leo's opponents weren't moving. In fact, it appeared that they were unconscious while standing.
"What is this?" [Howard]
"My ability. They'll wake up quickly if I don't keep it active." [Leo]
"...You can freeze people?" [Bryan]
Leo smiled mischievously.
"Close. Either way, it's sapping my mana. We need to get out of here quickly." [Leo]
Leo snapped his fingers, causing his opponents to fall.
"Ability released. Let's go call Adam and book it." [Leo]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
As they sprinted towards Adam's last location, bodies of unconscious soldiers began to appear more frequently.
("This must have been a hellhole…") [Howard]
The more they progressed, the more soldiers littered the ground. It was not until they caught sight of Adam resting atop a pile of foes.
"Took you guys long enough." [Adam]
His squadmates were speechless.
"Did… Did you do all this?" [Bryan]
"How many squads are there? There's just… so much!" [Leo]
"Around three. Maybe four." [Adam]
"...That's almost half of all the squads. How did this happen?" [Howard]
Adam motioned towards the air, attempting to draw the scene.
"So first, I was fighting two squads." [Adam]
"Okay. So when we first left." [Leo]
"Then I took them out after a bit." [Adam]
"I don't think it's that easy, but go on." [Howard]
Adam then pointed at the guys beneath him.
"Then these guys attacked me. No warning either." [Adam]
"And then?" [Bryan]
Adam opened his arms wide.
"This is the result." [Adam]
His squadmates glanced at each other.
"This is a bit much to process." [Howard]
To someone like Howard, it was a herculean task to do such a thing. Especially with a low level ability like compression. It felt like meeting Adam had expanded his world, if only slightly.
"Let's just rendezvous with Alice and Robert." [Bryan]
"Good idea." [Leo]