It was Luna and Andre, running in their direction with pale faces, their eyes were visibly red and swollen. They looked like frightened deer that had lost their direction. When Caleb witnessed such a scene, he felt a foreboding feeling.
'What the fuck happened!?'
"Hmmm... These two kids. What's the matter with them? They look as if it was the end of the world." Dunn scratched his chin with a worried expression. "I feel like something bad happened."
'No shit Sherlock! It doesn't take an idiot to deduce that!'
Caleb sighed. Then he glanced at the Fushigiro who gave Miles a look. "Well, bring the two here. Don't stimulate the kids and calm them first."
"Yes, captain!" Miles nodded obediently. Then he ran towards Luna and Clifford, who saw Miles.
"Johan, you're familiar with them, right?" Fushigiro asked.
Caleb nodded.
"Yes, captain."
Fushigiro sighed. "Then, do you have any idea what might have happened?"
Caleb shook his head. Inwardly, he was already feeling nervous and panicked, but he didn't want to let those emotions affect him. As an adult, he needs to keep his emotions in check. Just because he looks composed doesn't mean that he wasn't worried about them.
"Well, here they are," Jin said as Miles appeared, carrying Luna and Andre on his back.
Luna's silver hair was messily scattered, and her blue eyes looked lost. But when she saw Caleb, she began to show a reaction, jumped from Miles's back, and walked beside Caleb.
Caleb didn't say anything, but just hugged her and patted her on the back. "It's okay... Let it out and will talk later..."
As if a dam was broken, she broke down and sobbed in his arms. Caleb felt the continuous stream of tears pours down through his clothes from his back.
'Damn, it seems something serious happened. And there's only two of them? Where is Fatty and Clifford?"
Seeing such a scene, Athena, Rina, Jin, and Fushigiro went silent. Miles brought down Andre, who was looking at Luna. He has an expression of despair on his face, but he still looks in a better state emotionally than Luna.
"Well, you rest first, kid," Miles said to Andre. But the latter shook his head and said with a resolute expression.
"No, there's no time for that. Although I'm a kid. I'm not as soft as Luna. Every time we waste might cost my friends' lives! I'll tell you what happened!" Andre wiped the tears that were about to come out of his eyes and looked directly at Miles's eyes.
"Your friends' life?" Miles asked, which made the expression of every hunting party grow solemn. Miles looked at Fushigiro hesitantly.
"Very well. Tell us about the situation." Fushigiro took a strip of white cloth and gave it to Andre.
Andre took it and began to wipe the corner of his eyes for a minute. Unbeknownst to him, each member of the hunting party looked meaningfully at each other.
"Andre... What happened? Is it about Fatty and Clifford?" Caleb, who was trying to comfort Luna, asked. He felt a lump in his throat, but he didn't let it affect his voice. Now, he knew that his foreboding feeling was damn right!
"T-the four women and the four elderly... They died. A ten-meter Apokalip discovered the house A-And slaughtered them. I, Luna, Fatty, and Clifford escaped as the monster devoured their bodies. We can't do anything! I-I'm scared to do anything!!" Andre's voice grew more and more agitated the more he recounted.
Fushigiro stood behind Andre and patted him on the back. "Calm down, Andre. You are in safe hands now. Tell us slowly."
"It's not your fault, Andre." Caleb sighed, not letting a hint of sadness in his voice. Although he hasn't been with the four women and although he hates the guts of the four old bastards. The thought of wanting them to die didn't cross his head. Still, he felt a bit of relief when he heard that Fatty and Clifford weren't among them. "So, what about Fatty and Clifford?"
Andre clenched his fist, then he began to continue while choking on the tears that uncontrollably streamed down his cheeks. "Clifford, he wants to fight the Apokalip even if he dies. He wanted to save the four women and buy us time. But I knocked him unconscious. I know that his sacrifice would be futile and he will only lose his life. Then we escaped, and the Apokalip chased us. However, Fatty suffered a sprain on his knee so he couldn't run. I had to carry Fatty while Luna had to carry Clifford. Then we threw them down to the well."
An expression of guilt appeared on Andre's face. "Now, they are trapped at the bottom of the well. W-we couldn't carry them or the Apokalip would have reached us and tore us all down. We didn't have a choice."
"You did the right thing." Rina sighed. "Don't blame yourself. More importantly, you save those two."
"That damned abomination won't be able to reach Fatty and Clifford at the bottom of the well with its big body. It's your timely decision that saved your lives, Andre. If you didn't throw them down, all of you would have died instead. Not to mention, if Clifford ever woke up, he would still rush towards the Apokalip due to his hatred of them."
"I-I," Before Andre could even finish his sentence. He lost his consciousness. Fushigiro stroked Andre's neck with a harmless chop. "You need rest, kid."
"Thanks, captain." Caleb knew that Fushigiro did it for Andre's own good. At this time, Luna had already calmed down. She looked at the unconscious Andre then shifted her gaze at the members of the hunting party with a pleading look on her face. "Please, save my friends." Then she bowed at their feet.
"Captain..." Caleb gave Fushigiro a look. "Can we help?"
Unexpectedly, Fushigiro shook his head. "Fight an Apokalip? That must be at least a Tier 9, according to his description." Seeing Caleb's disappointed face, Fushigiro clenched his fists and said indifferently. "I'm the captain of this team. I'm responsible for your lives. I won't make a decision that might get all of us killed. Even though I want to help. But your lives is my responsibility. If it was any of you who were trapped, I would help. As the captain, this is my responsibility. Don't blame me."
Hearing this, Caleb just remained quiet and bit his lips. He knew that Fushigiro was right. Fighting the Tier 9 Apokalip would risk to everyone's lives. He couldn't really blame them.
"But Captain, those kids' lives..." Athena asked hesitantly.
"No, is a no..." Fushigiro remained resolute. "Do you think I will agree to something that might send my members to their death doors? Don't try to convince me."
"Then... I'll quit this team if I have to. I'm not your responsibility anymore. I will go there alone... Please, don't stop me, Captain." Caleb said.
"Are you crazy Johan!? It's a suicide!" Dunn scowled. Then he shook his head helplessly and said with a wary smile. "Well, if you want to go. So am I."
"Count me in..." Jin said with a smile.
"Me too..." One by one, each member decided to join Caleb.
Caleb felt warmth in his heart at this moment. "You guys..."
Seeing this, Fushigiro looked at the sky bitterly. "You punks are making it hard for me... As the captain, I can't let my members walk to their death doors, am I? Well, count me in. However, I already did my best as the captain to stop you, but since you guys are stubborn. I can't do anything, can I?"
"HHAHAHA! Don't worry, captain! We don't blame you. We know that you only want the best for us." Dunn laughed boisterously.
Caleb also nodded at this moment.
"I also don't blame you."