"We're almost there!" Red shouted, encouraging everyone to pick up the pace.
The outclass humanoids were only a few meters behind them as they sprinted even faster. It wouldn't have been possible since most of them were already drained from constantly running but they had their adrenaline to thank. As adrenaline coursed through their bodies, they were able to keep up with the pace Red and Cat had set.
"Hah~! I'm dying!" Blond couldn't help but groan as his consciousness began to slip away due to exhaustion. Still, he kept on running.
That's when he decided to look back.
"AAHHH!" Blond exclaimed. His pace got even quicker as he caught up with Red and Cat. "Why didn't you tell us all of them were outclass humanoids?" He hissed at Red.
"Don't tell anyone. It would only make them panic." Red ordered him. "Besides, we're almost at the Forest section. Let's get out of here."
"Curl, can't you go any faster?" Blond shouted as he saw Curl slowing down.
Curl gasped a few times, trying to catch her breath but to no avail. Still, she tried to run as fast as she could but the fatigue finally overcame her. She looked at Red with a determined expression to run a few meters more but her body finally gave up as she fell to her knees. "Hah~ hah~ I'm s-sorry... " She said on the verge of tears.
"CURL!!!"
The outclass humanoids finally caught up to them!
With a swing of his arms, Red half-slapped and punched the humanoid that was about to jump on Curl. He then grabbed the taser from his pocket and slammed one on the humanoid's neck. The humanoid short-circuited for a few seconds before falling into a useless heap of metal.
"SCAR! TAKE CURL AND RUN AWAY!" Red screamed at the top of his lungs as he gestured for everyone to leave him.
"NO! I'M STAYING WITH YOU!" Scar engaged with a nearby humanoid and pushed it out of the way. "LET ME HELP!"
"FOLLOW MY ORDERS! ALL OF US WILL DIE AT THIS RATE!" Red snapped back at him. After locking his eyes at everyone, he continued screaming. "GO NOW! YOU'RE NOT READY! LET'S MEET BY THE FOREST LATER!"
The group stalled for a few seconds, trying to decide whether to stay with Red or not. They knew that they can't afford Red dying on them since he's their only hope, but on the other side of the coin, they were utterly helpless when it comes to outclass humanoids.
"SCAR! You stay here and help Red! We'll come back as soon as we secure a safe spot in the forest. Just hold them off for a few minutes!" Blond finally came to the conclusion.
Scar was more than happy to help Red so he nodded at Blond.
"AARGHH!!! I TOLD YOU TO GO! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!" Red infuriatingly raised his voice as he finished off yet another outclass humanoid. "GET OUT OF HERE!"
"Sorry, leader." Scar simply responded with a calm expression on his face. "I can't leave you behind. I may not be ready but I know I could be of some help."
"RED! SCAR! HERE!" Gadge shouted from a distance as he threw two pieces of metal towards them. Red recognized it as soon as it landed on the rooftop where they were fighting. Red smiled at Gadge in gratitude as he recognized the shrapnel of metal that he pickpocketed from Gadge yesterday.
"Thanks!" Red and Scar simultaneously said as they picked it up.
"We'll come back soon! Don't die on us, you hear!" Gadge shouted back.
Gadge's motivational words of avoiding death gave Red and Scar another burst of energy and adrenaline as they fended off the humanoids. By now, they were surrounded by hundreds of them. Not one outclass humanoid went after the rest of the group, much to Red and Scar's relief.
"Don't go running out of energy now, Scar, this is still far from over." Red gritted his teeth.
Another humanoid hurtled towards Red's groin but Red kneed him and brought the shrapnel of metal on its neck, snapping it in two and cutting it off from the server humanoid's signal. The humanoid didn't even flail post-death, it just completely shut down.
At the same time, Scar was holding off two outclass humanoids all by himself while parrying their attacks to keep Red's blind spot safe. The two of them stood back to back as they continuously kept the humanoids busy.
"You're doing great so far, Scar, just keep it up." Red encouraged him.
"I'm just glad I get to fight alongside the strongest person I know." He commended, dodging a punch on the face and returning a punch towards another humanoid in return.
"I'm not the strongest person here, you know. There are other people who've been in the Testing Room for years now." Red returned.
Red jumped in mid-air then rolled over to his side as he landed two consecutive kicks on one humanoid. Landing on his palms, he coiled himself like a spring and sprung upwards, leg-first. He then landed on one of the outclass humanoid's shoulders and twisting its head hundred-eighty degrees. He then jumped forwards and landed a double-kick squarely on one of the outclass humanoid's chest, bringing it down before Scar landed his metal shrapnel on its eyes, destroying its connection and rendering it immobile.
"Thanks for the assist." Scar forced a smile.
The constant grinding and 'clanging' of metals drowned any noise that Red and Scar could hear from their surroundings.
One minute... two minutes... Red and Scar lost track of times as waves upon waves of humanoids tirelessly attacked them. But one thing surprised Red more than most...
... and it's the fact that Scar could keep up with everything without suffering any injuries. It's as if his skin and bones were made of steel!
Once or twice, Scar would suffer a deathly blow on the head or the chest but he didn't even flinch. His attacks even got fiercer and wilder as the fight dragged on. He was a berserker— a berserker that would probably continue fighting if you cut its head off. Scar fought like a wounded animal on the verge of death and it frightened Red a little bit.
There was a monster residing within him... and Red didn't want to see it eye to eye. For once in his life, Red felt fear, sending chills down his spine as he watched Scar.
Unbeknownst to him, Scar was feeling the same thing. It was his first time seeing Red go all out in his fights and it terrified him. He concluded that he couldn't anger Red even a little bit in the future since he won't stand a chance if they fought head-on.
"Not bad." Red complimented Scar as he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. He was feeling tired but there was no time to rest. He landed a punch on another humanoid's head and proceeded to stab its core with the metallic shrapnel that Gadge gave him. Because the shrapnel was made out of the same metal that made up the humanoids, it easily slid through its core, penetrating it and destroying its wirings inside. After seeing that, Scar did the same thing and he was surprised how smoothly it tore the metal platings of the humanoids. "Not bad, Gadge." Scar muttered to himself.
Meanwhile, a rugged man could be seen hopping from one rooftop to another, stopping only to observe the fight Red and Scar were currently engaged in. He smiled to himself as he ruffled his sweaty brown hair before dusting his tattered clothes off. He had been running non-stop for the past hour now but there was no sign of fatigue on his face. After tightening the pieces of clothes wrapped around his biceps and calves, he set off towards Red and Scar's direction.
"Finally, some sort of warm-up to the day." He cheerfully said as he scaled the distance of three rooftops in a second.
He charged at one humanoid and plowed his way through the horde. The outclass humanoids didn't even realize what hit them as they flew off the rooftop, landing on the street a few floors below.
The man was like the counterpart of a juggernaut as it easily shoved a handful of humanoids in a flash. He didn't even break a sweat. He just perpetually pushed through the horde, finally arriving in front of Scar and Red.
He smiled, then reached out his hand behind him and snapped one of the humanoid's arms. "Hey, kids! Need a hand?" He lightheartedly greeted as he threw the hand at them. "Sorry about that, I didn't really think of a better entrance slash greeting. Get what I mean?"
Red stared at the man with keen interest. He wasn't sure if he met the man in the past but he sure looked familiar to him. "W-who are... "
"Veerius's the name! Well, let's cut the chitchat and get out of here." The man said, rubbing his stubble before hitting a humanoid, sending it flying towards the edge of the rooftop.
"Veerius?"