***
The giant tree straggler fell down with a thud, headless.
Mei dropped down with her chopsticks in hand.
She had dealt the final blow to the creature, devouring the head into her sub-dimension.
Josh smirked and faced the lion straggler that he had been battling against. It looked at the fall of the tree and growled. It didn't seem to care. It only had its eyes on Josh who kept eluding it.
The tank near the base of the Safe Zone turned its turret towards the lion.
An Invigorated stood above one of the buildings and signalled to Josh.
Josh looked at the hand signal he was being given and shook his head.
'The firework show began a long time ago. Quite the long overdue signal,' he thought.
He began backing away and faced the direction of Mei.
"Another meal is coming right up," he said to Mei who immediately faced the lion.
"NOW!!" Ana yelled as she placed her hand on the tank.
The tank jerked back again as it shot another shell forward.
The shell flew through the air and arched towards the lion straggler.
The straggler noticed the incoming danger and with its fast reflexes, it opted to flee from the impact zone.
Unfortunately, the shell began following, as it flew from above, like a homing missile.
Josh rushed towards the straggler with incredible speed. The straggler saw him coming and growled, preparing to attack.
Josh leapt in the air, heading in the direction of the creature. When he was five meters within its range, still suspended in the air, he activated Lonely Bastard which pulsed from his body with an intense force that blew the straggler back!
The lion couldn't balance itself well, and when it skidded on the ground with its back, the shell found its way to its chest.
There was an explosion that released flames and raised the dust. A shockwave also blew out from the point of impact, accompanied by the pained growl of the straggler.
When the dust cleared, all that was seen was a burnt straggler, with most of its fur gone. Its flesh was released the sizzling sound of being roasted by the heat.
However, it still stood up and tried to attack any that it saw in its way.
Unfortunately, it's half charred face met a pair of chopsticks. The half that was charred vanished instantly, leaving only a bloody half that portrayed the expression one gets when they meet something unexpected.
Mei gracefully placed the chopsticks back in her utility belt.
"Finally decided to join a fight?" asked Josh as he walked up to Mei.
"Yeah, in a way," she replied. "There's no time to rest. The Panel wants us to have a meeting. You'll have to join alongside most of the reinforcements that came here to discuss anything that you noticed that was weird."
Josh looked up, and after not finding what he was looking for he asked Mei.
"Did you by any chance see a large bird flying around? It was definitely a grade A straggler."
"Ummm no. The skies were clear when we arrived," replied Mei.
"I see."
He looked around and saw the absurd number of both human and straggler, dead on the ground. In the air, the sky that was normally blue in the Safe Zone was starting to change, bordering on purple.
This battle had not gone according to plan. This was a large scale attack, the second one of its kind where a Grade S didn't even show up. Safe Zone 4 was the smallest out of all the Safe Zones, but still for it to be ravaged like this left a bad taste in his mouth.
There were still a lot of mysteries as well.
Ana fell down after controlling the last shot to hit the lion straggler. Managing such a high speed shot over such a great distance was draining for her.
Nicholas caught her before she hit the ground and smiled.
"Great job," he said.
"Thanks. I am super drained."
"You see, we are the perfect team. You'll have my back with your incredible aim, and after you're down and drained, you'll be the perfect criteria for my innate ability, a damsel in distress. I'll be able to use much more power," said Nicholas.
"Screw off! I'm going to make sure I don't keel over after only two shots like this."
"Hehe. Good, we have a lot of work to do then we get back home."
A great distance from them, a burly straggler was watching all the interactions. It turned and left the scene, avoiding the Invigorated as it took a different route.
***
Back at the base, a giant wolf carrying a young lady ran up to some of the Invigorated.
They took Yang Hai who was on the wolf's back and proceeded with her inside for treatment.
Bernard was still on the pillar, doing his best to keep himself slapped against it. The pressure was constant, and he knew that one slip and he would be in big trouble.
He had witnessed the incredible prowess of Aryan's ability, but unfortunately, he had only felt a zeal when the encouraging words reached him.
There was no effect on the penalty he had received. From the relaxed expressions and the triumphant talks he had heard, he knew the battle was over.
Guns were still firing, no doubt dealing with the remaining average Stragglers. Most of them had been taken out by the tree when it went on a rampage, attacking indiscriminately.
Paul walked up to Bernard and saw his struggling face. He knew something was wrong so he asked.
"Hey man what's wrong?"
"Umm.... please can you ummm call someone who can keep me in place? Because if I leave this pillar I'm gonna started flying backwards," said Bernard.
"Wh...what?"
"Damn it, Paul, please just do it!"
"Okay, okay!" Paul rushed from his position.
The helicopter that Mei and Aryan had come in finally landed. Aryan came out and many of the Invigorated rushed up to him to thank him for helping in the attack.
He smiled sheepishly and walked over to Amelia who was running around and checking the aftermath. She helped with taking down the bodies that had been impaled on the roots by the giants tree.
Her heart pained her as she watched the chaos all around her. Logically, she should be happy that many survived but she knew that there was a problem with that kind of thinking. She had been dealt a very bad hand from the start and for a long time she didn't consider speaking out because her Zone had yet to experience a grand attack such as this. But now...
"Amelia!" Aryan called.
The woman turned to him and briskly walked towards him.
"What the bloody hell took you so long?" she said in a fit of rage.
"Don't even think of blaming us for this. I was shocked by the sheer amount of destruction in this place, not to mention the atmosphere in the Safe Zone looks to have deteriorated by a great deal. How on earth were you done in so badly?" said Aryan
"That's something I want to discuss with the Panel. There's a great shortage of Invigorated with powerful abilities here!" she said angrily.
"You'll have your chance. There's gonna be a meeting with the Panel. We have matters we need to discuss."
Right then, Paul reached the two and respectfully spoke.
"Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt but I have a friend who needs your help right now," he said pointing at Bernard who was sweating bullets and gripping the pillar with his back stuck on it.
"Huh?" Aryan was surprised. He walked over to Bernard and looked at him closely.
Amelia also followed, and when she saw Bernard she frowned and squinted her eyes. Of course she remembered this bastard.
"What's wrong?" asked Aryan.
"Umm.... that's quite a long story. Can you please move me somewhere I can be chained or maybe laid under a giant boulder?"