The squad ran with all their might towards a small river that lay some miles ahead. "Just a few miles ahead" Okuagu said to the rest of the tired squad as they forged ahead through the land of bones. The swarm of beetles were slowly gaining on them with a few appearing from bones right beneath them. With a savage kick, Lee sent a beetle crashing into the ground seconds before its head burst open from a stomp by Boaruss. Unlike their flying counterparts the ground beetles consisted of mostly D ranked beasts which were easy to deal with. "Something is wrong somewhere" Okuagu reasoned for he was currently seeing the heat signature of a massive beetle that lay curled up in a massive skull that lay on their path. "Guys I have found the S rank" Okuagu said to the others. "Where is it? The rest all asked as their eyes scoured the entire wastelands for any signs of a massive life form. "It's in the skull laying on our path" replied Okuagu. "If we keep running, we might alert it" Diamond pointed out though she inwardly sighed for stopping wasn't an option either. "Even if we run fast enough, the beast will eventually catch up for I have never heard of an insect ever getting tired" sighed Boaruss. "Do we fight it? Asked Emerald tasting the air for any other threat. Gale with a sigh replied: "That won't be an option either, for we are in no way ready to fight another S rank, I honestly have no idea of what we can do to escape for those beetles won't stop and we will eventually tire out". "Our best bet will be for us to make it into the river. "I doubt our stamina will hold out until then" Emerald sighed through pants as she felt an annoying weakness in her legs. "There has to be a way out of this" Okuagu thought to himself as he concentrated on all of his six senses and scoured the area. "Finally! Okuagu exclaimed when he saw a black area which signaled to him the location of a hole or opening. With a laugh he shouted: "Good news I have found some sort of tunnel". The rest of the squad's eyes followed Okuagu's outstretched hand to a massive spine that spanned more than fifty meters. "I see it" Lee added as the whole squad made a swift left dashing towards the spine. Due to this change in direction, the swarm of beetles instantly surged with incredible vigor as they slowly closed in on the fleeing squad. A loud rumble echoed through the wastelands announcing the presence of the S rank. "Sh*t" cursed Gale when he turned back to see a massive jade beetle flying at them from the unknown skull… "Come on guys you can do it" Okuagu said to the others before he slid into the dark tunnel under the spine. "Out of the fire and into the frying pan. I really should have stuck to killing people" Gale said to himself as he dove into the darkness with the rest of the squad members. AH! Emerald yelled out loud as she descended down the slippery tunnel, bumping into the walls every now and then. Boaruss tried to control the earth around them all to no avail for it seemed the tunnels weren't made out of ordinary earth. Okuagu who was currently trying to dust himself cursed out loud moments before a green light crashed into him. "You can drop me now" Emerald told Okuagu who was currently holding her in his arms. Okuagu reluctantly dropped Emerald carefully on her feet as they observed the luminous red forest that they had found themselves in. Diamond on the other hand was grateful that she had not sprained her ankle while Boaruss and Lee looked at the tunnel they had appeared from with disdain. "That was a nice experience" Gale said out loud as he slowly descended into the forest. "You could have at least used your gift to cushion our entire fall" Lee said angrily. "Unfortunately I am not capable of such a feat" Gale added. "Whatever next time try to break at least my fall. It's a taboo for princesses to fall on their a …umm" the princess stammered for fear of uttering the word. "Ass" Gale said with a laugh when he noticed the flustered look on Diamond's face. "You didn't have to complete it, you uncultured bast*rd" Diamond fumed stomping her feet in annoyance. "We'll deal with that later, now we have to ascertain what this place is" Lee interrupted breaking up their chitchat. "I know right? My sister used to tell me that trees don't grow in caves not to mention tunnels" Okuagu added as he broke off the branch of a crimson tree. "Duh? I mean where have you ever seen a red tree that lights itself? Emerald pointed out. "Then we will simply proceed into the forest, for I don't think we can get out of here" Boaruss said bringing their attention to the now closing hole that they had appeared from. "Just great" sighed Emerald.