"THERE THEY ARE! GET HIM!"
Lev and Hellspawn didn't listen at all, they just continued running, their armor wearing them down. Unlike Hellspawn, Lev wasn't used to wearing the heavy armor that Pyro-sync Class humans wear so it didn't take long before he ran out of gas.
"What's the plan now? haah~" Lev muttered as he tried to ease his breathing.
"We'll talk back at the Streamer." Hellspawn responded with a grunt. He too was getting rather exhausted.
The Ashen Assembly, on foot, started running after them with their Plasma Guns at the ready. Even though they could easily shoot at Hellspawn and Lev and fry them like marshmallows by the bonfire, they couldn't do so. They have a reputation across the entire known universe to uphold. They couldn't afford to include any civilians in a shooting exchange, much less bruise just a single one of them. That would be bad PR for the Council after all and there was already quite a percentage of people who were suspicious of them. Furthermore, they have no idea whether Hellspawn and his group have weapons with them. If they started firing off and they retaliated, injuring or worst, killing one civilian, then it won't take long before some sort of footage gets leaked out at the Hive.
In short, there was nothing they could do except give chase. Once they were out of the settlement, however, they'd be able to shoot at them without holding back whatsoever. Right now, they just have to maintain their tail and hope for the best.
"They're the Ashen Assembly, they wouldn't just blindly shoot at us. Even though they look flashy on those black clothing and they have their weapons at the ready, there's no way they'd shoot at us, not while we're in this settlement." Hellspawn said. "Even if we slow down, they won't even try to catch up to us. They're saving their energy for when we get out of the settlement."
"Are you sure about that?" Lev asked, stealing a glance towards the five Fighter Class humans who were chasing them.
"Yes, so save your energy. Don't run too much. Also, try to loosen your gauntlets and your armguards while we're running. Trust me, you'll need it."
Lev nodded as he started working on loosening his armguards and gauntlets. Although he decelerated quite a bit while doing so, he decided to trust Hellspawn since Hellspawn matched his pace. A part of Lev feared that the Ashen Assembly would quickly catch up to them and try to pin them to the ground and overpower them. But just like what Hellspawn stated, they didn't even bother. They even matched their pace and pretended as if they were running out of breath— as if that would actually fool Hellspawn and him.
"See?" Hellspawn said, almost letting out a chuckle.
"Yeah, what do we do now? We're almost out of the settlement." Lev asked, a bit anxious. He knew that he was on the verge of losing control of himself but he tried to rein his emotions in. One false move, one wrong thought, and there might be another person who'd get his head smashed with a strategy table— that's what Lev felt right now as he clenched his fists, all the while suppressing his rage which was about to explode any moment now.
"I know that body language, Lev, hold it in. You don't have to fight them. Let Dmitri and I handle this." Hellspawn said. "As soon as we get out of the entrance, you cover the ladies, run straight to the Streamer, and then wait for me. I alone can handle these guys."
"No shot, I'm staying with you. You told me to trust Dmitri with them, right?"
"Knew you'd say that."
As the two approached the entrance, the two Pyro-sync Class humans who were guarding it suddenly noticed the chase and they pointed their Pyroshooters at them. These weapons are like your old regular flame throwers, except they could burn almost anything, even a Pyro-sync Class human won't be off the hook if they received the full blast of it.
"Stop running or we'll shoot!" The guards exclaimed as they clicked the safety off their weapons. They were ready to fire.
"Hey, Lev, remember the armguards and gauntlets you loosened up earlier?" Hellspawn pointed out.
There was no need for Lev to nod, or ask Hellspawn what he meant when he said that. He immediately understood their purpose. For the first time after years of being apart from each other, the tag team that his Hellspawn and Lev were back in action.
As if they've rehearsed it before, Lev and Hellspawn removed their gauntlets and arm guards and started chucking them to the guards with the strength of a bull as their arms. Their pinpoint precision got the guards right on their faces and knocked off the Pyroshooters from their arms.
"NOW!" Hellspawn said before letting out a whistle loud enough to echo throughout the settlement.
Lev knew that what he shouted was the signal for the two of them to increase their pace, however, he couldn't understand why Hellspawn would let out such a whistle that would give away their position if there ever were other Ashen Assembly members nearby. Unbeknownst to him, the whistle was actually a sign to Dmitri who was quietly driving the rover right behind Lo'us and the others.
Fwoosh!
In an instant, Dmitri accelerated, literally sweeping the Ashen Assembly off their feet. The rover's force of impact was enough to kill a person but Warrior Class humans could be quite resilient. They were only dazed after getting hit. Dmitri didn't have to check on them to know that they were alive. He knew just how much force Warrior Class humans could endure, and so he was sure that they were still alive.
On the flip side, he could've killed them right then and there, but he knew that killing a member of the Ashen Assembly would simply put a large target behind their backs. There was no need for that, or at least, not yet.