Everybody straightened their backs unconsciously. They never spoke, as if having a tacit understanding. They now had a place to go, only waiting for the weird acid rain to stop.
Princess tried to connect with Nicholas's transmitter, but it remained offline. Adrian was out of reach as well. Slowly, the rain subsided. The trio waited another five minutes to be double sure that the rain wouldn't suddenly start pouring again.
Then, they made a dash! They ran frantically to the location pointed by the tracker. They feared that the rain would start falling again or Nicholas would escape. Currently, he didn't know that they were here!
As they ran, they didn't notice a few shadows approaching them in darkness. The putrid smell had gotten more intense after the rain. The ground had been cleared of any moss or insects. The lightning stopped flashing, making the forest look eerie in the dark.
As they moved, Princess, who was ahead, stopped suddenly, bringing the other two to a complete halt as well. Both Andrew and Arella remained quiet. Princess looked around as if searching for something. Arella too, made the use of vision and hearing senses but failed to catch up on anything.
Andrew stood like a wall, entirely shielding Arella from behind while looking around calmly. He took out the thermal gun and waved it around but didn't notice any anomaly.
Princess began to move again, dragging her roped partners along. But her every step became slower and slower, eventually stopping again. This time, Arella had a perplexed expression. What was wrong with the Princess?
Before Arella could ask, Princess quickly took a few steps back and ducked, bringing the entire team down. A shadow whipped past them!
Neither saw anything, but the slight wind brushing past them left them with goosebumps! Before they could arrange their thoughts, another shadow lunged toward them!
Princess wanted to slap that away instinctively. Her hand made the shadow slightly deviate from its path, but the momentum made the Princess fall back.
"I need light." Princess gritted her teeth in annoyance. She couldn't see anything, but it was clear that the opponent could. They couldn't be at a disadvantage at this time.
Arella already had taken out a torch. At the Princess's words, she switched it on, lighting the dark surroundings.
What met their eyes made them stunned. Around them, in a circle, stood salivating Hyenas!
They had a skeleton like body. Their heights barely reached the torso of the trio. They looked weak, but their eyes couldn't hide their desire. They looked as if they could gobble them up any moment! In the face of light, they didn't back up. They had a greedy and impatient look as if they couldn't wait.
Princess had a complex emotion in her mind. Even Andrew became tense. There were eight Hyenas around them, covering their exit points. Arella swiftly untied the rope around their waist to facilitate better movement. All of them took out different weapons.
All this took only a few seconds. And then, as if a switch had clicked, every Hyena attacked them madly! The situation became chaotic within seconds. The hyenas snarled their vicious teeth and lunged at them unrestrictedly. Andrew fired laser guns, but the Hyenas were too fast, dodging the intensive beams.
Princess Anna had metallic bullets, firing consistently, but the bullets couldn't even penetrate the Hyenas. Arella had a tranquilizer, used for animals to buy some time, but even that didn't work. The Hyenas kept coming toward them unrestrictedly.
They bit the foot, arms, and shoulders, but the trio didn't run or panic. Fortunately, the armor they wore was pretty effective against the sharp teeth. Hence, they threw the handy guns aside and pushed a button on their palm. A sharp metal claw extended from fingers. It was their close combat weapon. They ruthlessly hit the oncoming Hyenas.
The Hyenas that were busy salivating and trying to chew their food, didn't have their guards up. They only attacked the legs, biting furiously, giving the trio ample opportunity to wave their claws.
Learning from the experience, they knew the fur coat of these Hyenas must be very sturdy and thick. So, the claws aimed at the softer parts like eyes and ears, instantly piercing it by the metal claws. As an additional coating, the metal claws were soaked in a potent poison, capable of killing the victims within a few minutes. Growls and whimpers filled the air.
Princess and Andrew shielded Arella from back and forth, trying their utmost to kill as many as possible. But Arella's performance was way better than they had expected. She too, attacked, though weakly, but she did. The sudden yells sounded too loud in the quiet forest, attracting more and more Hyenas.
The Hyenas tried biting them, but their teeth couldn't penetrate their armor at all. Instead, they became the victim of the claws, being pierced to the depths and death. Sticky blood stained the claws, but the hand waving them didn't falter.
As they prepared themselves to continue the relentless attack, a wild gush of wind swept past them. Before they could react, another stormy wind whipped past them, bringing them to their knees!
Once they knelt, the pressure from the wind doubled. It flew away the weak Hyenas. Some still ducked, but the pressure increased, making them strapped to the ground.
The trio witnessed this scene blankly. Why did they feel that the wind was favoring them? They didn't have to do anything. The wind swayed the remaining Hyenas! Once the Hyenas disappeared, the wind stopped. Princess raised her eyebrows. Wasn't this too timely?
Before they could register, they noticed Nicholas' tracker flicking again. It was moving in their direction! They huddled together, looking ahead, waiting for Nicholas.
But only a swift wind greeted them from above. They looked up, only to find a giant Hawk flapping its wings above them. The tracker flicked once again, indicating that Nicholas was here.
Nicholas didn't change and didn't communicate. It only flew straight to Arella, and its claws clamped on her delicate shoulder and took her away!
Andrew's lips twitched at the sudden situation. He hurriedly took off his armor, gave it to the Princess, and changed into an Eagle. In front of Nicholas. he looked like a baby, but he was strong enough to carry one person.
He grabbed Princess and flew away, trailing the giant Hawk. Soon, they reached an abandoned cave. Nicholas dropped Arella at the mouth of the cave, went in, and came out fully dressed.
"Brother." Arella softly whispered.
"Are. You. Mad?" Nicholas was seething in anger!
At this time, the Eagle and Princess came in too. The Eagle took the armor in his beak and went into the cave, coming out fully dressed.
"What happened to your armor?" That was the first question that Princess Anna asked. She was quite concerned about the armor! It wasn't any ordinary piece! It was the light weighed, protective one, capable of stopping almost every weapon! They only had a few left on their planet!
Nicholas ignored the baseless question. It was ironic how the best on their planet couldn't even survive the acid rain!
"Have. You. Lost. Your. Mind? Nicholas asked again while gritting his teeth in anger. What was this? Why was Arella here? What was going on? Why didn't he know anything?
"Where is Adrian?" Arella, too, ignored his question and asked what concerned her the most.
Listening to Adrian's name, Nicholas's eyes flicked, and his temper mellowed a little.
"Arella, this place isn't safe. You go back first." Nicholas dodged her question.
"Stop wasting your breath and tell us what's going on." Princess Anna wasn't one to back off.
Looking at the picture, Nicholas heaved a sigh. He didn't know if Arella's presence was good or not.
"We met an accident," Nicholas spoke wearily.
"Where is Adrian?" Arella cut in and asked once again.
"He lost control." Nicholas closed his eyes, remembering what happened a few days ago.
"What do you mean by lost control?" Andrew asked skeptically. He had been with Adrian for ages and had never seen him lose control, ever.
"He broke through. He has upgraded to S rank." Nicholas croaked hoarsely.