Disclaimer: I do not own God Eater, and any contents already in the game.

Chapter 30: Scars of the Past

Already awake in the Female Cabin with her overhead bed lights on, Lulu was reading her zoo book while still laying under her warm blanket, and finally finished the last page.

'Already done,' Lulu sighed. 'I finished reading all my biology books. What else could I read? I wonder if the owner has any…'

Then she suddenly heard a soft thump, and turned her head. It was Trista who recently woke up, and jumped out of her bed to stretch.

'Always jumping out of her bed,' Lulu grimaced. 'Can't she have a bit more courtesy?'

Watching her quietly, Lulu saw her bend down on Frida who was still sleeping before pausing for a brief moment as if something caught her eye, and then she slowly stuck her hand in. Slightly alarmed by whatever Trista might be planning as a wake up prank, Lulu slowly began slipping her blanket down, and steadily climbed down as Trista pulled out a small object of what seems like a novel. She did not seem to notice her, but not that Lulu cared as she would prefer Trista not to notice her presence when she climbed down, and while taking a few steps towards her, she saw her smile at the book cover.

"Aw, a romantic story..?" Trista quietly snickered.

"What are you doing..?" Lulu whispered.

"Trying to see what she's reading about, obviously..," Trista whispered back with a grin. "Let's see…Here's the bookmark…"

Then she opened the book from where the bookmark is. "And…"

After reading a few short paragraphs, Trista's eyes slowly widened before covering her mouth, nearly gasping.

"Um..what is it..?" Lulu tilted her head as she watched Trista's face begin to flush before slowly passing it to her.

Lulu carefully held the book in her hands, and as she read through a few paragraphs, her eyes also widened with a hot flush on her cheeks. "Oh, my…"

Then Trista grinned.

"My god..," Lulu froze. "Is this how men and women actually…mph!"

"I got it..," Trista whispered while covering Lulu's mouth.

"Mm," Lulu nodded again before they heard Frida moan, who seemed close to waking up.

"Oh, shit..!" Trista froze. "Gimme that, quick..!"

However, Trista moved so hastily that she fumbled Frida's novel before it fell flat on the deck, making a loud slap.

"Huh..?" Frida sat up before rubbing her eyes, and then glanced at the direction of the noise. She saw two older women kneeling down trying to grab a small object laying on the deck with the book cover facing up.

Recognizing the book as something that belonged to her, Frida snapped herself awake, and instinctively slapped her hand on her lap to see if her book was still with her only to find that it was gone. Now realizing that the book laying on the deck was hers, she suddenly blushed.

"W-what are you doing with my novel?!" Frida squeaked.

"Uh..we're just curious, and..," Trista paused.

"Wait..WE?!" Lulu grimaced.

"Hey, you read it, too," Trista hissed.

"Please, just…give it back..!" Frida pouted.

"Okay..," Trista shamefully picked up her book while Lulu remained silent, not knowing whether she should apologize or not. "Here…sorry."

Then Frida quickly snatched it from Trista's hands, and hugged it on her chest. "With due respect..please don't touch other people's belongings without asking."

"OK, I got it," Trista curved her lip close to a grin. "Still, though. I didn't know you liked those kinds of stories. Romance, and…"

"Mm..!" Frida puffed her face as Trista finally released into a laugh while Lulu turned away, and covered her mouth.

Then Misha moaned before sitting up. "Will you guys keep it down..?"

And the three turned to her, and saw that her face was covered with her ruffled long hair before slowly stroking it up.

"What's this all about, anyway..?" Misha groggily groaned. "You're a bit too noisy…"

"Uh, we just..took a look at Frida's book, that's all," Trista chuckled.

"Huh..?" Misha wearily furrowed her eyes. "And what's so funny about that..?"

"Mm, well..," Lulu closed her eyes before Trista laughed again, and Frida glared at her more intensely with a flush on her face.

Puzzled, Misha kept her eyes at her. "Oh, whatever. It's not like I can sleep again, anyway. Thanks a lot…"

Then she stretched her arms, and yawned.

"Psh, it's time to wake up, anyway," Trista shrugged. "It's 0630."

And Claire finally hissed. "I agree with Misha."

Then she turned to face them. "I don't care about myself, but you should be more mindful of Phym. She could have needed more sleep."

And Phym finally yawned behind her.

"It was worth it, though," Trista's grin started shifting into another repressed laughter before finally bursting, and Frida puffed herself flush again.

Also, Lulu finally giggled while covering her mouth.

Now with the two recently awoken girls watching them bewilderedly, Misha rubbed her eyes. "Seriously, big sis? What's so funny now?"

"Okay, we just found out that Frida likes reading adult love stories," Trista tried repressing her laugh again. "Satisfied now?"

"H-hey..!" Frida froze in red.

"Huh?!" Claire and Misha also froze.

Then Misha turned to the younger blue haired girl who was still helplessly sitting on her bed. "Wow..I had no idea. That's pretty cute."

"Um..," Claire closed her eyes. "Nothing wrong with that..I suppose."

With Claire's comment, Frida felt a slight sense of relief, especially from one of her superiors.

"But both of you, please respect others' privacy, even though she's our friend," Claire warned her.

"Ah-dolt love stories..?" Phym murmured.

"I can't read those for you yet," Claire murmured. "Not until you're much older."

"Okay..," Phym nodded.

"Okay, okay, I got it," Trista waved her hands.

"Guilty as charged," Lulu shamefully stroked her bangs.

"At least we got to know you a little better, frankly," Trista smiled.

Then Frida plainly closed her eyes, and slipped the novel under her pillow. However, unbeknownst to her, Lulu has been intriguingly watching her…

"Think about it, Lulu. Are you feeling OK now?" Trista turned to her. "You're moving like normal now."

"Hm?" Lulu blinked her eyes. "Now you mentioned it, you're right. Do you all mind staying back a bit..?"

"Uh, OK?" Trista nodded before taking a few steps back.

Lulu glanced around until she spotted one of their clothes hanging freely in the room, and she faced it before assuming her southpaw stance.

"Haa!"

Making a thrust attack with her left straight palm, she made the hanging outfit move with the wind.

"Whoa..," Trista paused.

"Oh, my," Claire blinked her eyes.

Then Lulu swung a twelve o' clock kick with her left leg, and once she lowered it, and swung her right up in turn, a ripping noise was heard. "Well, that was embarrassing…"

And she carefully lowered her right leg.

"Did you just rip your pajamas?!" Trista laughed before the rest in the room followed.

"Yes," Lulu blushed. "But that's fine. I'll just sow it back together before storing it in my dirty bag tonight."

"Still, though. It was amazing how far you can stretch your legs," Claire giggled. "I'd like to do that."

"Just stretch your arms and legs as much as you can everyday, especially before exercise," Lulu smiled. "You'll eventually get there."

"I'll keep it in mind," Claire nodded.

"That just reminded me of what you tried to do to Shin last night," Trista put a hand on her waist. "That kick would have definitely done a number on him."

"Right, but I knew he could defend himself from it," Lulu replied. "However, I would never use it on him in that scenario in a real fight. It's quite a devastating move, but also risky."

"I can see that," Trista nodded. "You would have broken him for good, if that hit."

"Oh? Did that worry you, big sis?" Misha smirked, who already climbed down from her bed, and was already combing her long hair. "Your precious vice captain..?"

"...Yeah, of course," Trista grimaced. "I don't want to lose a dependable right hand." 'You cheeky little..!'

Then they heard a few hard knocks from their entrance.

"Oh, what the hell?!" Trista grimaced. "Whoever that is, he didn't have to knock that hard. That's just rude!"

And she stood up, and walked to their entrance door before pressing a button. Then the door slipped open.

"Whaddya want?" Trista quickly asked as the door opened. "The hell..?"

She peeked outside, and found Hugo and Levin on her left. "Sup, you two?"

"Ah, good morning," Hugo waved his hands. "You're already awake?"

"Just a while ago," Trista replied. "So, what's your business here?"

"Yeah, I'll cut to the point," Hugo placed his hands on his waist. "Amy just told us that we have a mission that popped up, and it's from Ein."

"Whoa, you serious?" Trista blinked her eyes.

"Yes, and we have 4 hours to arrive in the area. Our vessel is already on course to that location as we speak," Levin explained. "Amy will explain the details on the bridge once we muster there, and we have to wake the rest up in our cabin, so please wake everyone in there."

"They already are," Trista scratched her ear with her pinky. "I'll get them up to speed, but how about our breakfast? Can't fight out there with an empty stomach."

"Amy is on a hustle to prepare our sandwiches right now so we can eat while driving there," Hugo explained. "So please get everyone ready, and geared up. Do what you need to do before going up there."

"Gotcha," Trista nodded. "Wake the rest of the boys up. I got the girls."

"Thanks, we'll see you up there," Hugo waved before him and Levin ran to the other side.

Trista quickly stepped back into their room, and closed their door. "Girls, we got a mission this morning, and Amy will tell us once we're on the bridge, so do what you gotta do. Bathroom stuff, quick wash, whatever. Hustle! Let's go!"

"Right," Misha gasped.

"On it," Lulu turned around, and began pulling her clothes out of her storage before the rest followed.

In the Male Cabin.

"Everyone, wake up!" Hugo started loudly clapping his hands. "Zeke, Keith, Jerad, Shin. Up!"

"Already awake," Shin jumped out of his bunk bed.

"Huh? What's up..?" Jerad groaned as he scratched his head.

"Man, what the hell..?" Zeke groaned as he weakly turned to Hugo. "Could you wake us up better next time..?"

"We just got a mission request from Ein," Hugo explained. "I wouldn't wake you guys up like this, if there was no urgency, and Levin and I would've done our morning exercise instead. I would have kept you guys sleeping for another half an hour. Now get up, already! You still have to dress up! Take a piss, wash your face, whatever you need to do before going to the bridge!"

"Shit..! Got it," Zeke forced himself up.

"Now I'm getting excited," Jerad smiled before swinging out of his bunk bed, and started dressing. "I miss killing already, and I'll strike it big. Gleipnir Bankruptcy, Day 1. Haha!"

"For sure," Zeke whined as he wore his purple sleeveless shirt.

As Jerad was about to wear his left boot, he glanced at Levin who was making his bed.

Last night in the Residential Block hallway.

"So, why'd you want to meet up here?" Jerad leaned on the bulkhead with his arms crossed. "Talk to me."

"I'd like to talk a little bit about Frida," Misha murmured. "It's about her training."

Then Jerad chuckled. "Are you already worried about that kid? I can't say I'll go easy on her, but like I said earlier, I'm not gonna break her. That also won't bode well with Sofia, if I do."

"That's not it, but..," Misha paused.

"Hm..?" Jerad blinked his eyes. "Then..what is it?"

"Earlier, Hugo and I had a plan to use Engage with Frida, and Levin once we're out in the field," Misha explained. "It would be to finally confirm his theory that Engage helps us learn from each other."

"Ah, I get it," Jerad nodded. "So, you're going to get those two up to speed by Engaging with them, to hopefully 'copy and paste' your fighting experiences into their heads like a computer."

"Yes, exactly," Misha nodded back.

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea," Jerad shrugged. "Might make our job whooping up Friday easier. By the way, how long ago did you two plan this?"

"Um, about two days ago..?" Misha replied.

"So, you left me in the dark for two days," Jerad curved his lips. "I'm so heartbroken, sis. How could your husband hide anything from his brother-in-law like that? I just gave him my blessing."

"B-brother, stop it!" Misha blushed. "This is serious, OK? It's not like we're purposely hiding this from you."

Then Jerad laughed. "I was just messing with you. This night's drinking must have gotten me a bit. So, why tell me this? It's not like I'll get in your way."

"Since we're gonna be training her, I figured you should be in the loop," Misha replied.

"Alright, I got you," Jerad murmured. "Once we're in the field, I won't Engage with any four of you, but I'll cover you if you need it."

"Thanks," Misha smiled.

"No problem," Jerad shrugged, "Always that way since we're kids. We better keep an eye on that Little Reaper, by the way…"

"Hm? What's wrong with her?" Misha paused.

"I'll give her that she has experience, but compared to what we're about to get our asses into, she's not there yet," Jerad explained. "That She-Wolf just showed her."

"Right," Misha nodded.

"If something happens to her..," Jerad frowned. "I can't look Sofia in the eye when we get back. This is also part of the reason why I stepped in to train her. She's not going back to House Victorious in a bodybag. I fucking swear it..!"

"I see," Misha nodded. "You know? You seemed oddly very fond of her."

"Hm?" Jerad raised his eyes.

"Is it because of Claire?" Misha murmured.

Then Jerad snorted. "...She's just nice to me, and even asked me to fight in this stupid reclamation even if I had no choice, anyway. Can't let her down with that...that's all."

"Oh," Misha blinked her eyes.

"Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?" Jerad sighed.

"No, that's it," Misha shook her head. "Thanks, brother."

"Alright, that's the plan," Jerad smiled. "Do what you gotta do for those two. I got your backs. Good night."

"Good night, brother," Misha smiled.

"Come on, Zeke. Don't you wanna show how much of a mad hammer you are?" Shin chuckled. "Gotta live the title your girl gave you!"

Then him, and Jerad laughed.

"Oh, shut up already," Zeke finished wearing his shoes. "Now you mention it. Yeah, it's freakin' hammer time."

"Hell yeah!" Jerad, and Zeke did an armlet bump.

"Got something I wanna try with my acceleration trigger," Shin grinned. "Also can't wait to be out there."

"Oh? What is it?" Jerad smiled.

"Can't tell you until I do it, but I hope it will blow you guys away," Shin grinned. "Like quite literally."

"Better show me, then," Jerad smirked. "Let's go before my sniper gun blows up."

"Sniper gun?" Shin laughed again.

"Yeah, damn beer," Jerad snickered before finally standing up, and almost held his crotch. "Oh, fuck! Now I really have to go!"

"Seriously..?" Zeke grinned. "For a fire hose that you have there, you must be holding enough to put a fire out."

"Shut up," Jerad grimaced before everyone in the cabin laughed.

"You know, Zeke? You make good catch phrases sometimes," Hugo chuckled. "Pretty amusing, I'll have to give you that."

"Heh," Zeke grinned at his compliment.

"Oh, fuck it! You guys are too slow," Jerad gritted his teeth. "I'm outta here!"

"Hey, we're almost finished!" Zeke cried. "Wait for us, dammit!"

But nevertheless, Jerad bolted out of the room, and as he was about to dash across the Residential Block as luck would have it, he saw Claire and Phym across the hallway.

'Crap..!' Jerad tried to resist holding his groin. "Good..morning."

"Good morning, daddy!" Phym happily waved.

"Good..morning?" Claire blinked her eyes.

"Sorry, but I gotta go..," Jerad almost grunted. "We got an urgent mission right now, so..please excuse me."

''Excuse me'...?' Claire quietly mused before she saw him dash into the men's bathroom, and she giggled. "Please don't drink a little too much next time…"

"Hm?" Phym glanced at her, and then they saw Zeke, Keith, and Shin also run across the hall without seemingly noticing them.

In the bathroom.

"Oh, man..finally," Jerad muttered to himself before hearing the three stalls next to him were loudly opened in haste.

"Damn that She-Wolf," Shin murmured. "She said one drink per person last night, right? She drank three, and even nagged me to drink another one. 'Self-control' my..ASS! At least she didn't get herself hungover, or else the owner would really have our heads, if she finds out."

"Oh, yeah," Jerad wearily murmured. "I don't remember her being like that in prison…"

"She turned drunkard after we got into our Port," Shin zipped himself. "After we got our first salary from the owner, she squandered her paycheck for drinks. Didn't take me that long not to trust her with them."

"Heh," Jerad smiled.

"Damn, bro," Zeke suddenly cried. "We all just finished here, and you're still pouring? Do this ship a favor, and save our fire extinguishers with your piss when we get fire in here."

"Shut up," Jerad murmured. "The hell you know about fire extinguishers, anyway? Not even me."

"I do," Keith suddenly replied. "I taught Zeke the other day, and it's not really hard. The most important part is using the right one, and there are four types of fires: Class A, B, C, and D. 'A' is solid, 'B' is liquid, 'C' is electric, and 'D' is combustion."

"OK, please tell me more about that later," Jerad flushed his commode before the four of them left their stalls, and headed for the sinks. "I'd like to know because I definitely ain't pissing on fires."

Then everyone laughed as they began washing their hands.

"Let me ask you something now we're talking about this," Shin grinned. "You think Claire can..'handle' you once you get down with her? You better slow down on that…"

Then Jerad silently glared as Shin laughed.

"The hell you guys talkin' about?" Zeke furrowed.

"Oh, fuck you, Zeke. Figure it out," Jerad shook his head while still washing his hands, trying to hide his blush. "That's your homework, remember? I'll feel sorry for Lulu once you get down with her, and you still don't know how. You gonna have her do all the work?"

And Shin laughed again.

Then Keith cleared his throat. "Anyway, this is important, but our fire extinguishers also had simple written information in tags on them, in case you want to learn them yourself, and in addition, I know where each of them are in all compartments now."

"Oh, that sounds better," Jerad kept washing his hands with soap before preparing to wash his face. "I'd rather read about them myself. Thanks."

"Ricardo also had me, and Trista studied them when we just got here," Shin grinned. "That way, we can put fires out quickly if something happens. I'd say, try to know where they are, too."

"Good point," Jerad shrugged.

"I just can't forget how she had a hard time memorizing those fire extinguisher locations," Shin laughed as he started wiping his hands dry with paper towels. "I got them all after a couple of runs finding them, and it took her a hundred tries to finally get them down. I just hope she hasn't forgotten them."

"I sincerely hope so," Keith finished wiping his hands. "Remembering that or not could mean a huge difference between saving this vessel or abandoning ship, but more importantly, life and death."

"Hm," Jerad suddenly paused.

"What's up..?" Keith murmured.

"...Nothing," Jerad shook his head as he finished wiping his face. "Let's just get geared up, or Hugo's gonna be pissed."

"Uh..," Keith paused.

"Oh, you WILL come with us, Keith," Zeke furrowed his eyes. "You gotta learn how to fight, too, and you didn't even participate in our tournament yesterday. You owe us that."

"Wait, but I was never..," Keith paused again.

"I ain't taking any damn excuses from you," Zeke cut him off. "You have a God Arc for crying out loud. Use it, and if you're scared, I got your back, OK? Just stick with me."

"Alright," Keith sighed before they both left the bathroom.

"Jeez. Zeke was a bit overbearing, huh?" Shin chuckled.

"Tch. I have no opinion for that," Jerad murmured. "Who am I to, anyway?"

"...Oh," Shin paused. "Yeah..I still remember. I was there."

"Let's just get out of here," Jerad forced a smile before they also left the bathroom.

On the bridge.

"Now everyone is here," Amy smiled. "Let's start the briefing. During our training for the Fenrir HQ Reclamation Initiative, Ein ordered his fleet of supply caravans to depart from Dusty Miller, and are already en route to Arrowhead. Your objective is to clear their route from any Aragami threat, and ensure their safe transit. We have 30 minutes until we arrive at our combat zone. Here, I will show the route for the fleet."

Then she displayed a map in their resonance radar, and then a red line began tracing across the map. "This will be their route, and you will deploy in three trailers once we are 5 miles from the area."

"Heh," Hugo proudly smiled. "Ein already started using the information we sold him a few days ago."

"Yes, and this will be your chance to further prove your value to him," Hilda said. "I also believe Ein might be testing you, so look as good as possible, and make sure this mission goes smoothly. The supply caravans are very important for this reclamation so we cannot afford a single loss of any of his ships."

"And how many of those ships are out there right now?" Zeke turned to her.

"There are three supply ashcrawlers currently in transit," Amy pointed at the three green dots in the resonance radar. They are currently 60 miles east of us, and heading southwest."

"Hmph, this looks like easy money for day 1," Jerad chuckled. "But I gotta admit, this just looks too simple. Kinda creeps me out in a way."

"I would like to advise you to please be careful," Claire closed her eyes. "This is not a good time to end up in the Medical Ward at the end of the day."

"Oh?" Jerad paused before grinning. "I thought you enjoyed that."

Then Claire pouted as Misha, and Levin quietly laughed.

"I don't plan to, anyway," Jerad shrugged. "Gotta stay on top to fight another day, and rack some more money."

"Alright, anyone have any questions?" Amy glanced at everyone.

"None," Hugo shook his head. "I think we're all ready to go once we reach our destination."

"I'm ready to rock," Zeke grinned.

"Ricardo, please accompany them for this mission," Hilda turned to him.

"No problem, ma'am," Ricardo made an informal salute.

"Jerad's comment hit me a bit earlier," Hilda whispered. "The mission does look too simple for a training operation like this, and I have a bad feeling about it."

"I see," Ricardo nodded.

"Hey, Friday. Stick close to my sister, OK?" Jerad smiled. "Don't worry about your VIP for now. We got him."

"Y-yeah," Frida nodded.

"Hm..?" Hugo suddenly glanced at his friend for his unexpected advice before seeing Misha give him a slow nod. "Oh…Levin, let's also stick together."

"I'm sure I could hold my own, but I have no qualms about it," Levin nodded. "Acknowledged."

"Friday? What kind of name-calling is that?" Trista chuckled.

"It's obvious," Jerad smiled. "Plus, I also used to like Fridays when I was in elementary school. Lots of playground time."

'Playground..,' Claire mused as she felt a faint familiar feeling to it.

"Pshh, what do you do in playgrounds? Start fist fights?" Trista snickered.

"...Been there once," Jerad glanced at Misha. "Knocked another kid out once in school."

Then Misha raised her eyes.

"Oh, interesting," Trista grinned. "Please tell us that story tonight."

"Sure," Jerad plainly replied.

"You still have 15 minutes until deployment," Amy said. "Make preparations as necessary, and I will bring your meals to the loading dock so you can eat during transit."

"Roger that," Hugo nodded. "Ready guys?"

"I can't wait," Jerad replied. "I think my body has been stiffening from lack of fighting. I need to brush up."

10 minutes later outside the God Arc Storage Vault.

"OK, do function checks on your God Arcs, just to be safe," Hugo said.

"Alright," Jerad murmured before he started shifting his god arc to gun mode, and then shield deployment before every followed. The check only lasted for a few minutes.

"OK, find any issues?" Hugo glanced at everyone.

"Everything is satisfactory," Frida replied.

"Got no problems here," Jerad added.

"I'm ready to smash," Zeke grinned while resting his hammer on his shoulder.

"Everything is A-OK," Keith smiled.

"Aw, I'm sure your sword misses you so much," Zeke also smiled.

"Keith, you're going to be OK, right?" Lulu asked.

"He'll be fine," Zeke replied. "I forced him to since he didn't join our tourney yesterday, and he's got to grow some muscles especially with that chest he's showing. I also told him I got his back."

"I…see," Lulu murmured. "Please stay together."

"No worries," Zeke grinned. "Mad Hammer's got him."

"Hey, be careful with inspecting your blades, Shin," Trista grinned. "You turning those shiny things around like that, you're gonna blind someone."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Shin grinned back.

"Kinda missed this scythe already," Ricardo rubbed his chin. "I guess I'm glad the owner sent me again. This old man's gonna need some workout."

"Where were you yesterday?" Hugo asked.

"I was cleaning your rooms, remember?" Ricardo chuckled.

'Our room did not look like it was cleaned yesterday,' Hugo's eyes furrowed. "If we're good to go, head to the loading dock, and bring your God Arcs to our trailers. Trailer 1 will be me, and Zeke. Trailer 2 will be Jerad, and Claire, and Trailer 3 will be Shin and Trista."

"Did you do this on purpose..?" Jerad murmured. "Fine…"

"I thought you enjoyed our ride together last time," Claire smirked as Trista quietly laughed. "Shall I drive again?"

"...I got it, thanks," Jerad smiled as Phym giggled.

"Come on, man. Why not just let her drive?" Zeke grinned.

"Because I just want to," Jerad replied. "I love driving…"

"Ohh, look! You like something else other than kicking Aragami ass for once!" Zeke pointed at him.

"Tch! It's nothing special. Give me a break," Jerad winced.

"Here you go, everyone," Amy finally entered the compartment. "I could only make one sandwich for each of you. I'm sorry."

"It's OK, Amy," Hugo smiled. "Better than nothing."

"I'll have to return to the bridge immediately since we'll be at our destination soon. Good luck everyone, and I will continue to support you as best as I can," Amy smiled.

"We'll appreciate it," Hugo waved before she left the room. "Everyone, load your God Arcs, and stand by. Zeke, do a check on our truck to make sure we have full gas, and oil level good."

"Got it," Zeke grinned.

"Hm, I almost forgot mine," Jerad murmured.

"Can I help, daddy?" Phym smiled.

"Sure, just don't try drinking the oil," Jerad smiled.

"Ooh," Claire curved her lip.

After several minutes later, everyone in the loading dock felt a rumble, a known sign that their ashcrawler is reducing speed.

"Everyone, on board!" Hugo signaled his queue before everyone started boarding their trailers.

"Attention, all crew! This vessel will open the loading dock access in 2 minutes!

"I repeat! This vessel will open the loading dock access in 2 minutes! You are cleared to depart once the access is open! Please stand by!"

"Zeke, get all navigation equipment ready once you're in," Hugo ordered.

"Right on it," Zeke replied before he opened the door, and hopped in.

"Ready for this, Claire?" Jerad smiled.

"Always," Claire smiled.

"Phym, behave yourself a little more this time, OK?" Jerad also smiled at her. "No distractions, this time."

"Okay," Phym waved with a smile.

"Ready to rock this, Shin?" Trista grinned.

"Like always," Shin grinned back as the rest began boarding the trailers, and their giant access door began humming, revealing the morning sunrise in the ashlands with the outside breeze entering the dock. Once the access door was opened halfway through, they started their three trailers, and their headlights lit.

"Please fasten your seatbelts, and relax," Zeke turned back to his passengers with a grin before Hugo pressed his clutch pedal, and shifted his stick to first gear.

As a queue from Hugo's engine roaring, Jerad also pressed his clutch pedal, and shifted his stick to first gear. "We're going everyone! Hang tight! Don't eat yet until things settle down!"

"Understood," Lulu nodded.

Then as Hugo's trailer started moving, Jerad also followed suit, and turned right to drive behind Hugo's.

"Let's go, Shin," Trista also pressed her gas pedal after Jerad's trailer departed, and followed behind him.

The three trailers finally left their ashcrawler, and shortly after, Shin looked back behind their trailer to verify that their loading dock access door began closing.

"Chrysanthemum, Hound 9," Shin tapped his radio after looking back. "Request heading towards the mission area."

"Roger, steer convoy to heading 050," Amy replied.

"Acknowledged, Chrysanthemum," Shin also replied.

"Zeke, let me have a quick look at the map," Hugo turned to him as he kept driving.

"Here you go," Zeke held the digital map in front of him which also had a live display from their resonance radar.

'She's directing us to the middle of the mission area,' Hugo mused after glancing at the map a few times to keep his attention on the road. 'And Ein's fleet right now is east of that, and is about to approach a ravine towards the end of our area.'

"Amy, request report of all Aragami density in the combat zone," Hugo kept driving.

"Roger, wait one," Amy paused for a few seconds. "Aragami density is lower in the west area, but higher in the east."

"Roger, request a slight change in direction? I'd rather deal with the ones closest to Ein's fleet eastwards first, and fight our way going west. There's a ravine that they will likely have to cross going west, and I would rather protect those ships while we're still there. We will act as escorts, if we have to."

"Definitely approved, Amy," Hilda nodded. "Give it to them."

"Yes, ma'am," Amy nodded.

Back in the Ashlands.

"Approved, Hound 3," Amy responded. "Proceed to new course."

"Roger," All three trailers replied before Hugo steered his trailer slightly to the right as the rest followed.

"Good call, Hugo," Jerad said from the radio. "Kill off the biggest herd, first."

"Yeah, and despite the ravine being the least dense, it would be the toughest to fight them off so I would rather be there by the time the ships pass," Hugo replied. "Nothing will ever touch Ein's ships. Let's blow him away."

"You might make him pay us extra for what you're doing," Hilda chuckled.

"Please tell him he doesn't have to, if he brings it up," Hugo also chuckled. "We're doing this out of goodwill."

"Very well. I'll let him know, if he talks about it," Hilda replied.

"I'd rather do it like this, anyway," Jerad added. "That ravine has been giving me creep vibes…"

"I definitely agree with you," Hilda chuckled. "Predators always hunt their prey from above…"

"We'll play prey by being in the ravine before Ein's ships arrive," Hugo smiled. "And then we'll make those predators the hunted ones."

"The ravine as a meat grinder for Aragami?" Jerad snickered. "Sounds fun."

"We'll lure them around the area to us by making them think we're vulnerable," Hugo smiled. "And then we'll kill them all off at once in one small area. More efficient I'd say."

"You are really mental, Hugo!" Zeke slouched on his seat. "But whatever."

"Don't forget that we also have a card in our sleeves," Hugo glanced at Misha behind him with a smile, and in return, she blushed.

Then Jerad laughed. "Ohh yeah, my good reaping sister. Our team's deathscythe. Sis, you're listening, right? Do your thing."

"Please don't forget there are two others for crowd control," Ricardo chuckled.

"Yeah, and especially that little reaper with us," Jerad replied. "You hear that, Friday? I know you've been in a field before, so you better show me and my sister what you can do."

"Y-Yeah," Frida replied from the radio.

"Hey, don't be too nervous, OK?" Jerad almost yelled. "I already told you to stay with the 'real one.' You'll be fine."

"Right," Frida replied.

"I also took measures for that with custom rounds," Shin added. "I'll share them with you when we get down. I'm already making them."

'Making them?' Hugo glanced at his left side mirror.

"In the meantime, Amy will maintain close watch with the resonance radar, and will warn you if an ashborn is present, even if it's near our combat zone," Hilda said.

"Roger," Hugo replied.

"Chrysanthemum, out," Hilda closed her radio.

Then as they kept driving, the terrain finally settled, and Jerad heard rufflings behind him. It was Lulu opening the bag Amy gave them.

"Yeah, perfect time to chow," Jerad murmured before reaching his right hand back. "Could you give two for me, and Claire?"

"Of course," Lulu smiled. "Here, Phym."

"Okay," Phym nodded as she took the two wrapped sandwiches. "Here."

"Thanks," Claire smiled before taking them.

"Eat up now, too," Jerad glanced at Phym. "One per person, OK?"

"Yeah," Phym smiled.

"Good girl," Jerad patted her head as she giggled.

A few minutes later, Jerad already ate half of his sandwich, but Claire already finished hers.

"Claire..," Jerad made a hand gesture to turn her radio off. "Just for a bit…"

"Oh, OK," Claire nodded before tapping her earpiece off. "What is it..?"

"OK, good. I want to ask you a few questions about Frida," Jerad kept his eyes forward before glancing at her. "How much experience does she have..?"

"Well, she's been fighting longer than me, ever since she was 15 after she was rescued," Claire murmured.

"Rescued..?" Jerad stared at her for a moment before turning his eyes back on the road. "I remember her talking about that once. How long ago..?"

"Two years," Claire replied. "And every now and then, she would deploy with Elias whenever Levin is involved in a patrol mission with our family."

"Two years, huh?" Jerad bit his sandwich, chewed a few times, and then swallowed it. "And 'every now and then?' Hm."

"What is it?" Claire raised her eyes.

"That girl is starting to worry me, being nervous all the time.., which is why I told her to stay close to my sister," Jerad murmured. "I think she knows what she's about to get into won't be anything she's dealt with so far, and she's not sure if she can handle it. 'Every now and then' is nothing to us 'Pennywort dogs.' We fought tooth and nail every single day, sometimes even in the middle of the night, and that girl hasn't seen true hell yet."

"Well, I would quite beg to differ..," Claire frowned.

"Hm?" Jerad glanced at her.

"From what Levin told me shortly after he finished his first patrol with one of our ashcrawlers..," Claire paused for a few seconds. "Frida lost her parents in the ashlands. She was with a group of refugees traveling together to find Arrowhead until a pack of Aragami attacked and devoured them in front of her. It was already too late by the time aunt sent her rescue unit, including Levin, and she was the last one."

"Hm," Jerad turned a sharp eye at his navigator, and Claire could not tell what he might be thinking. At least, his brief sharp gaze before staring back on the road did not have the same hostile gesture he once gave her when they first met...

"I got it…I know how that feels," he murmured.

And Claire blinked her eyes.

"Our parents also died when that damned big black cloud came," Jerad continued. "They hauled me, and my sister while they fended off Aragami behind our backs with their God Arcs until they put us into a truck, and…"

His face scrounged. "My mom, and..dad..made me promise that I would protect Misha..before he finally told the truck driver to drive on. The truck was already packed with other kids like us at that time, and they had to stay behind. It was the last we've seen of them…Misha wouldn't stop crying at that time..always calling for them, and all I could do was keep holding her…until we met Hugo."

"Was Hugo in the same truck as you?" Claire asked.

"No..," Jerad shook his head. "A day later, we met another group of trucks, and stuck together until we're attacked by a group of Aragami. Those damned Ogretails, if I remember correctly. Our driver was eaten alive, and then the other kids. It was the first time I saw how heartless the Aragami are, tearing and eating kids alive like nothing. I had to get Misha alive somehow, even if I'm going to get eaten along with them, and then that's when we met Hugo. He luckily found an abandoned wrecked facility nearby, and dragged me, my sister, and along with other few kids who followed him, and hid inside. Well, the rest is just history, and I'd rather not talk more about it. The three of us have stuck together since."

"I'm sorry about your parents," Claire frowned. "I also lost my mother to the calamity, and my father, and..aunt wouldn't stop grieving for her for a few months. She was just traveling to another satellite base with Levin's parents to help the needy, and the calamity took them."

"I see..," Jerad continued driving. "And Levin, too, huh?"

"And ever since then, aunt raised us as if we were her own children, including Frida," Claire murmured. "The three of us grew up together, and Frida eventually felt indebted to our aunt that she enlisted in the House Victorious ranks to fight for her shortly after."

"Alright," Jerad nodded. "Turn your radio back on."

'I better keep an eye on that girl…she could turn out like some people I knew in prison. Shit..!'

30 minutes later.

"Chrysanthemum, report distance to the combat zone," Hugo said.

"Distance to the combat zone is two miles," Amy replied.

"Roger," Hugo nodded. "Everyone, listen up. We'll stop our trailers about a quarter of a mile in a small cave to our first combat zone to keep our trailers safe. Start prepping whatever you still need before we stop, and unload. We'll walk to the area by foot."

"Roger," The other two trailers replied.

"Get packin,' everyone," Trista yelled at the crew behind her. "You ready to see some action, Friday?"

"Um, yeah," Frida nodded.

"Before we enter the cave, one scout per trailer before we enter, and park," Hugo added before finally stopping his trailer.

"Roger that," Jerad replied.

"Keith, you go out there, and check around us to make sure no Aragami is around," Zeke turned back to him.

"Wait, me?" Keith pointed at himself.

"Yes, you!" Zeke grimaced. "You gotta start having more experience, but don't worry. I'll jump out, and back you up if anything happens."

"Okay..," Keith shrugged. "I have your word, brother."

"We're stopped now. Get moving," Zeke urged him.

"Levin, I'll send you out since you have more experience," Trista turned to him.

"Acknowledged," Levin nodded before grabbing his suitcase

"Wait, that should be-!" Frida protested.

"No, stay here," Trista argued back. "This part tends to be dangerous, and I'll send Ricardo as back up if shit happens."

"Uh, OK," Frida frowned.

"The missy is right," Ricardo tapped his God Arc suitcase. "I'll back him up. No worries."

"Lulu, you're the quickest person here, so you're up," Jerad turned to her.

"Roger. I've been hoping you'll send me, anyway," Lulu grabbed her God Arc suitcase. "Hound 6, going out."

Then she hopped out of their trailer.

"...Is it just me, or was she kind of…pissed?" Jerad glanced at Claire.

"I'm not sure," Claire shook her head. "I can't see a reason why she would…"

Then the three started walking in front of the trailers as the three scouts gathered.

"Keith, eyes open, and stay close to me, OK?" Lulu advised in monotone.

"Sure," Keith nodded as they carefully looked around the landscape, especially a few heights around them where Aragami could pounce at them at any time, and with a refined hold of his long blade, Levin sharply glanced around before pausing, ensuring that their area was safe.

"All clear in my perimeter. Lulu, Keith, report?" Levin turned to them.

"No Aragami in our perimeter," Lulu replied. "Let's check the cave next. Keith, stay behind me."

"Agreed," Levin shifted his sword to assault gun before Lulu and Keith followed. They turned their built-in flashlights on in their God Arcs before entering, and after scanning the small area up, and down, they lowered their barrels.

"All clear here," Lulu sighed. "Send the signal."

"Roger," Levin nodded before turning around, and signaled the trailers to proceed. The trailers rear parked in the cave, and once their engines stopped, the rest of the crew began disembarking and unfolding their God Arcs.

"Keith, please forgive me for what's about to happen next," Lulu turned away from him before passing her God Arc, still in sniper gun form, to her left hand.

"Huh? What do you mean..?" Keith turned to her, but Lulu did not respond as she only continued walking towards Hugo and Zeke's trailer.

Behind another trailer, Jerad opened his God Arc suitcase, and lifted his spear out. It steadily unfolded itself, and then he was mysteriously reminded of something that happened during his desperate counterattack against a Nuadha. A voice of his father in his mind, and then his spear deploying its shield ahead of his own input before he narrowly blocked against what could have been a fatal blow. It was like he never needed to press a button in his shaft to deploy it, and could have nevertheless done so without it. Then he wondered if his God Arc luckily malfunctioned in his favor, but also could not remember when it ever did, and as much as in some ways he hated it for being a reminder of his past in Pennywort, his spear never failed him. It has always been reliable; every input, every command he makes, and it would always obey him without fail.

"Are you alright?" Claire paused with concern after finishing her God Arc inspection. "You've been staring blankly at your God Arc for a while…"

"Ah, no. It's…nothing," Jerad held his God Arc down. "I'll finish checking this real quick."

As Hugo, Misha, and Zeke in their respective order were unfolding their God Arcs while facing the cargo area, Hugo and Misha saw a shadow pass in front of them before stopping besides Zeke's, and then they heard a 'wack.' Startled, the two turned to the direction of the noise, and saw Lulu angrily glaring at Zeke, who was clutching the back of his head.

"Oww!" Zeke turned to the direction of the person who hit him, and was shocked to see it was Lulu. For a moment, he thought it could have been Jerad. "The hell you hit me for?!"

"To hopefully fix that dimwitted, head of yours!" Lulu kept her angry gaze. "Why did you send your little brother ahead to scout for us?! What were you thinking?!"

"Whoa, what the hell?" Jerad paused after he finished preparing his God Arc. "Is someone yelling..?"

"Ooh, man. Someone is really pissed," Trista chuckled. "Is that Lulu?"

"And dammit, I knew it..," Jerad groaned. "Phym, stay behind me, OK?"

"Okay," Phym nodded.

"What am I THINKING?!" Zeke glared back at her. "He needed more fighting experience, that's what!"

"On a dangerous task like this?!" Lulu gritted her teeth. "Especially in this cave?! There could have been a Vajra resting here, and you fully understood well that your brother lacked experience! Have you put some thought into that?!"

"And I told him I'll be his back up, if anything happens!" Zeke yelled back.

"Ooh, that has got to be the worst lover's quarrel I've ever seen," Ricardo chuckled with Trista, and Shin.

"With you as a navigator while your God Arc sits in the back?!" Lulu pointed at his cargo area. "I did that job for YOU, no need to thank me, but you should have sent someone more experienced like Misha, instead! Not to mention, your brother is still YOUNG!"

"Hey, hey! That's enough!" Hugo stood in front of them. "I get your point now, Lulu. I'll take half of the blame from him because I could have stopped Keith from going out, too. We're on a mission right now, and we can't afford any fights like this. Got it?"

"Fine," Lulu snorted. "If you'll excuse me. I have a few other items to grab."

Then she turned around.

"Wait, there's something I have to tell you..," Hugo murmured before she paused. "Well, this applies to all of us from now on, and I was also guilty of it, but I don't condone any of us hitting each other for whatever reason. It has to stop now…"

Then he could see that Lulu raised her head a bit. "...Understood."

And she continued on.

"Damn..," Hugo sighed.

"Don't worry too much, brother," Jerad grinned while tapping his spear on his shoulder. "We still got this. I'll pick up the slack for them, if you want. More cash for me."

And he snickered.

"I'll definitely appreciate that when it comes down to it," Hugo chuckled.

"I've never seen Lulu get so upset like this," Misha murmured. "She's always been so composed."

"Me, either," Hugo murmured. "Anyway, finish your preps, and let's move out."

"Tch..! Damn that woman..!" Zeke kept rubbing his head. "That really hurt…"

"Like I said, this is also my fault, buddy," Hugo patted his shoulder. "I also should have thought better. Just take the lesson to heart, look at the bright side, and move on, OK? Become the Mad Hammer Zeke in this mission."

"Shit..as if reminding me it was that woman who gave me that name would help," Zeke sighed before smiling. "But I get ya. Let's do it!"

"There you go, buddy," Hugo smiled before patting his back.

"Hey, buddy. I have some custom rounds to share with you, and Lulu," Shin tossed a round up before landing on his hand. "Sticky high explosive rounds."

"Sticky..?" Jerad paused.

"Yep, they'll stick on anything first before blowing up," Shin grinned. "We're gonna make some fireworks. Sniper guns only, though."

"Sounds fun," Jerad grinned.

And 15 minutes later, they started walking outside the cave, and as a precaution, they constantly scanned the area, especially any higher levels for Aragami on the prowl, and as well as those that might be airborne.

"Heyyy, Lulu. Are you OK?" Trista smiled.

"Yes, for the most part," Lulu kept scanning the nearby canyons.

"That display you had earlier, I've never seen you get so pissed off," Trista chuckled. "You're not having a period, are you?"

"No..!" Lulu abruptly replied. "But thinking about it now, I think I overreacted, and went too hard on him."

"Well, you're not wrong," Trista smiled again. "But that was quite sisterly of you, especially to Keith. Protecting him, and all…"

"Hmph..! What do I know about caring for blood relatives, anyway?" Lulu winced.

"You're telling me," Trista chuckled. "I don't even know my mom and dad. Most of us here are in the same boat."

Then Lulu glanced at her. "I had them, but they left me…"

And Trista paused before Lulu turned away as they continued walking. "Uh, so..are you going to look for them?"

Then Lulu bitterly glanced at her. "No, and I don't care what happens to them."

And she turned away. "If it wasn't for them, I would have never gone through this hell myself…Why should I? If they didn't want me, they should have never brought me into this world in the first place…"

"Hey, hey. Don't be talking like that," Trista whispered. "Be glad that you're still alive to have a chance to experience real life, and you don't need blood relatives to have a family. You can make your own, like us and everyone in Chrysanthemum. Most of us here are not even blood related, and look at Jerad, Claire, and Phym."

"Y-you're right," Lulu frowned. "Thanks…Maybe I should apologize to him after this mission. I shouldn't have done that."

"Nah, let that get beaten into his head," Trista chuckled. "You already know Zeke does do things without thinking..sometimes anyway."

"From where I was from, they would send their weakest, and injured ones to scout for them," Lulu bitterly murmured. "It made me sick each time. I just don't want that same practice being done here."

"Come on. I know there's more than that," Trista smirked. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be that angry…"

"Hey, Keith," Zeke wrapped his left arm around his brother while carrying his God Arc on his right shoulder. "Sorry that I sent you earlier, alright?"

"Nah, it's good," Keith murmured.

"Just stick close to me from now on like I told you earlier," Zeke grinned. "Your Mad Hammer Bro's got your back."

"See..?" Trista grinned.

"Hm," Lulu resisted her urge to smile.

"Lulu?" Phym suddenly ran up to her with her God Arc. "Are you still mad at Zeke? Please don't be mad at him."

Then Trista chuckled.

"...Not anymore," Lulu giggled, and patted her head right before she glanced at him, and he quickly turned back forward to start another conversation with Keith. "I'm alright now."

"Okay," Phym nodded before running back to Jerad, and Claire.

"Heh, that girl," Trista smiled.

In their Ashcrawler, Amy was closely tracking the Hounds' movements in their resonance radar, and heard repeating beeps before boxes of texts appearing around their location.

Then she gasped.

"WARNING! Sudden Oracle responses detected in your vicinity!" Amy cried. "Engage immediately!"

"What?!" On alert, Hugo glanced around before masses of green sparks began converging on the ground, and several Blast Spiders jumped out. "Everyone, Arcs up!"

"Blast Spiders?! Are you kidding me?!" Zeke quickly grabbed his brother in his arms, and moved him behind him before deploying his shield. They were surrounded by a mass of Blast Spiders already shooting lasers at them from all directions, and dust from projectile explosions began covering them.

"Annoying bastards..!" Jerad held his shield up while also protectively holding Phym behind with also Claire taking cover behind him. "Claire, fire back!"

"Right," Claire shifted her spear to gun, and began spraying her gun while still taking cover behind Jerad's shield.

Seeing this, Hugo turned to Misha behind him. "You, too, Misha!"

"You got it!" Misha also shifted her scythe to gun, and also began firing back from Hugo's right side. Levin also took cover behind Hugo, and crouched down before shifting sword to assault gun, and began firing from Hugo's left.

"I have the biggest shield here, so you kids fire back while I cover you," Ricardo held his Laguardia tower shield in front of him. "Go!"

"On it!" Trista shifted her God Arc to ray gun, and fired her small laser stream on the nearest spider which its intensity began to build up until her first target was incinerated, and then she began her waving motions as her laser continued to intensify, incinerating more spiders faster.

Frustrated by his kill rate compared to his captain, Shin grimaced. "You want explosions? I'll give you one!"

Then he switched his sniper gun to custom, and aimed his gun at a group where the advancing spiders were closest to each other. He spotted three of them advancing directly from Ricardo's 12 o' clock while Trista continued sweeping them in his right. Willing to briefly compromise his cover, Shin moved directly beside Ricardo, and fired his first custom round at a Blast Spider walking between the other two before hiding back. The Aragami flinched for a few seconds with a round sticking on its head before it made a large explosion, also destroying others around it.

"Good job, Shin!" Ricardo cried.

"I'm not done yet!" Shin popped on Ricardo left again, and fired another round on another tight cluster of Blast Spiders. It also resulted in a large explosion, obliterating both the target, and the rest around it.

"Jerad, I'm out of Oracle!" Claire cried after taking cover behind him.

"Let's switch! I'll shoot them next!" Jerad kept holding his shield before Claire deployed her shield beside him. "Phym, stay behind her, and keep firing back! Go!"

"Okay!" Phym moved behind Claire before Jerad shifted back to his spear and crouched behind her, and shifted it to sniper gun.

"I'll help you!" Lulu suddenly slid behind them with her sniper gun.

"Thanks, let's do this!" Jerad switched his gun to custom. "Time to start my gold rush!"

He grinned as he aimed his gun beside Claire, and seeing Shin earlier, fired his first custom round that he gave them earlier. It also resulted in a large explosion, obliterating four advancing spiders.

"I'm loving this! Woo!" Jerad laughed after hiding back behind Claire. "Four kills in a single round! Here's another one!"

Then at the same time, he and Lulu fired their custom rounds. However, being too excited, Jerad aimed slightly too low that his second round landed beneath an advancing spider, and just as he grimaced, the round nevertheless exploded underneath it, and sent many mangled bodies flying in all directions. Due to the nature of its death, they also exploded, and also destroyed a few more around them.

"Oh, crap. I guess that's not so bad! Twelve small Aragami kills now!" Jerad laughed before intentionally firing another round beneath another Blast Spider, which produced the same result. A large explosion followed by small explosions around it, killing a few additional ones.

"Good job!" Lulu cried as she kept firing a few more custom rounds.

"Not my idea!" Jerad fired his third round. "My aim just sucked! Oh ho ho! That's eighteen kills now!"

"Do you really have time to be thinking about your kills now?!" Claire glared at him.

"Of course!" Jerad grinned. "My wallet rides on this!"

Then as the Hounds were becoming more effective in pushing the horde of Blast Spiders back in a roughly formed tortoise shield formation…

"WARNING ALL HOUNDS! Another Oracle response detected in your vicinity! Brace yourselves!" Amy cried.

"Really?!" Zeke cried as he watched another masses of green sparks begin falling towards the ground fast, and he also glanced behind them to see them also raining behind their shield formation. Then as new Aragami emerged from those sparks, including behind them, Zeke gasped.

"Oh, shit! Ogretails, Zygotes, and Axe Raiders behind us!" Zeke cried. "They're in front of us, too, and they're already charging! Keith, defend my back! I got your cover up front!"

"Crap! Are they trying to break our formation?!" Hugo's eyes widened. "Misha, you're the best one for this! Wipe them out behind us! Frida, Levin, and I got this! Frida, Levin, prioritize fire on Blast Spiders in front! Once you take enough of them out, we'll start fighting them in CQ!"

"Got it! Be careful!" Misha switched to her scythe, and ran to engage the rear Aragami.

"Are you mad, friend?!" Levin kept blazing his gun behind him. "We still have many Blast Spiders shooting at us!"

"That's why I told you to concentrate fire on them!" Hugo cried back. "We have no time to argue, and they're already charging close! Shin, spare us some custom rounds to help Frida! Quick!"

"No problem!" Shin reloaded his gun. "Doing cover fire, two rounds!"

Then he imitated Jerad back, and fired two rounds beneath two Blast Spiders far from each other. The rounds exploded, and hurled a few spiders around before impacting the ground, tripping some of the approaching Ogretails and Axe Raiders before exploding. Some were still recovering from the trip.

"Now is our chance! Slaughter them! Go!" Hugo shifted back to sword. "Charge!"

Then Levin, and Frida also switched to their CQ weapons, and followed Hugo. Frida made the first strike, slicing several Aragami in their right front with her stretched scythe as Hugo activated his devour, and bit an Ogretail's neck, decapitating it into two before entering Burst. Levin also slew both Axe Raiders and Ogretails alike in one strike each, targeting their chests, decapitating them, and at times, slicing their legs off to stop them in their tracks.

"Shin! Help Misha wipe those out in the rear!" Trista cried. "Ricardo, and I are about to switch, and he'll keep mowing the front! Get to it!"

"Roger..," Shin switched to his biting edge, and activated his acceleration trigger before dashing out in a blur.

Meanwhile, an Ogretail managed to push through Phym and Lulu's fire, and charged close enough to Claire before jumping over her.

"Daddy!" Phym cried as the Ogretail was already above her before seeing it get bitten by Jerad's devour.

"You bastard!" Jerad had the leaping Aragami in his God Arc's jaws before hurling it upside down behind them. The impact crushed the Aragami's head before crunching its body into two, and he entered Burst. Glancing back, he saw two more Ogretails charging close to Claire, and he leapt in response with his spearhead pointing forward before it could also bite Phym.

"I got your backs!" Jerad buried his spearhead inside an Ogretail's head before shoving against the ground, crushing it. Worried about the other, he glanced at Lulu's direction as the Ogretail also jumped above Claire, and holding her twin blades at the ready, Lulu jumped up in a spinning motion in the air, seemingly dancing, and sliced the leaping Aragami into three.

And with a snarl, Jerad charged a few yards in front of Claire, and slew several Aragami in front of them with Spear Requiem.

"Phym, please do me a favor!" Claire cried. "Grab an O-Ampule inside a pouch behind me, and pass it!"

"Okay!" Phym quickly opened the pouch wrapped behind Claire's waist while her 'mother' held her shield against Blast Spider fire. "Here!"

"Inject it!" Claire told her before Phym stabbed the ampule on Claire's God Arc, and she watched her gauge while holding her shield fill back to 'FULL.' "Thank you!"

Then Claire retracted her shield, stood up, and shifted to assault gun.

"Here," Claire handed her another O-ampule. "Let's support your daddy!"

"Yeah!" Phym cheerfully nodded.

"We'll take the front from here, Lulu!" Jerad aggressively sent a few Aragami flying with Double Threat before charging his spear for Brave Soul. "Help the ones behind us!"

"Understood, be careful, you three!" Lulu activated her acceleration trigger before taking off.

"Warning! Medium Aragami detected from the front!" Amy cried. "Tracking three Kongous, two Barbarius, and two Chi-Yous in resonance radar from the high cliffs, and joining the horde attack from the rear!"

"Haha! So, those guys heard our epic battle, and want to join in the fun?" Trista grinned while holding her shield for Ricardo.

"Heh, looks like we have a little more work cut out for us," Ricardo chuckled while he continued spraying his ray gun.

"I'm already aching for hack n' slash, Ricky," Trista cried. "You almost done?! My beloved heavy moon is hungry!"

"Haha! I just finished keeping them at bay just as my gun ran out of juice," Ricardo grinned. "It's CQ from here. Let's go, She-Wolf!"

"Awooo! Finally out for the real deal! Let's eat them alive!" Trista lifted her shield, and turned it back into a large God Arc. "The Mad Hammer over there is already making bowling pins out of them himself! Can't let him outdo the alpha wolf in this!"

"Hey, don't be howlin' here," Ricardo chuckled. "It's not like your pack will come running here from our Port."

And he laughed. "Well, you lead, missy. A reggie like me can't do as much, so after you."

"Fair enough," Trista smiled before the two charged in. Once she is close enough, she excitedly raised her massive God Arc. "Woohoo! Look at all those Fenrir Credits running toward me!"

Then she slashed two Ogretails out of her way as Ricardo laughed, and then he also sliced a few more with his scythe.

"Claire, Phym, mop the ones on the left flank!" Jerad cried. "I'll take the rest of the front, and that monkey or two are mine. Let's go!"

Then Claire and Phym began blazing their assault guns while Jerad charged alone at their direct front.

"Hiyah!" Slicing multiple Aragami with one strike, Misha swung her Slaughter Fang before glancing up to see several Zygotes diving for her, and just as she was about to prepare to defend herself, Shin jumped from behind her, and sliced all of them in one pass.

"Thanks," Misha sighed.

"I got you!" Shin posed with his twin blades to prepare for oncoming Axe Raiders. "Here they come! Let's go, and watch your scythe!"

"...Got it!" Misha nodded, but wondered if Shin remembered the time she once almost accidentally struck him in Pennywort which was followed by her brother's scolding, afterwards.

"Gghh..!" Gritting his teeth, Keith held his short blade against an Ogretail's salivating jaws.

"Keith!" Zeke cried nearby Jerad's battlefield after sending another Ogretail splattered against a rock, and desperately rocketed himself towards him.

"I got him!" Lulu arrived just in time to stab Keith's would-be predator on its side with her glaive.

"Get the fuck away from my bro!" Zeke continued his flight as he turned his acceleration trigger on. "GRRRRRRAHH!"

He smashed one Axe Raider's head before spinning himself, and sent an Ogretail flying with a homerun swing. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah!" Keith nodded in sweat.

"Cut the chatter! Eyes front!" Lulu cried. "Two of us are already exterminating the rear. Focus on defending the middle!"

"Gotcha..!" Zeke nodded before the three saw green sparks falling on the ground again before three Blast Spiders started emerging. "Oh, hell no! Not those things again..!"

Then he smashed all three of them before they could completely unburrow, and then wiped a sweat. "Woo..! I can't stand these things…"

"ZEKE, YOU IDIOT!" Jerad screamed from several yards away. "Get out of there! NOW!"

"Wha-?! Whoa, whoa..!" Zeke almost stumbled himself before the three partially burrowed Aragami exploded behind him, and he fell on his face.

"Hey, are you OK?" Lulu held his arm to help him stand up as Jerad, Claire, and Phym began blazing their guns while converging with them.

"I'm fine..," Zeke grunted. "I think my back kinda hurts a little."

"You suffered some first degree burns!" Claire finally arrived as she kept firing. "I'll give you first aid later."

Then after a few spinning swings with her heavy moon, Phym jumped before rolling forward into a saw wheel, and started cutting Aragami in her path.

"Phym, don't go too far ahead of me!" Jerad cried as he blasted a few Zygotes as cover for her, and then he fired a Burst round at her. "Here!"

And Phym entered Burst, and began hacking more Aragami with Carnage Moon. Thinking about it now, Jerad paused, and watched Phym acrobatically slice Aragami around her with a massive weapon. For a weapon too large for her tiny height, she seems to have quickly figured out how to use its size and weight to her advantage, and he will have to admit, she looked cute doing that which also does not help when accompanied by her high pitched battlecries. Why does she have to look so adorable in every way?

Hearing a Kongou's roar, Jerad glanced up, and saw a medium Aragami jump over the thinning horde to land its fist on Phym.

"No, you won't!" Jerad also dashed, and jumped to intercept the Kongou in mid-air before he stabbed its chest. "You ain't laying your filthy hands on my little girl! Your real opponent is ME, monkey!"

Then he laughed as both crashed on the ground, and Kongou managed to shove him back a distance away before landing and slicing two more Axe Raiders from his left and right.

"That's twenty-eight!" Jerad grinned before turning back, watching Claire provide cover fire while Zeke, Lulu, and Keith retreated to help exterminate Aragami in their rear. "Phym, help mommy, and stay close to her. Daddy will handle this."

"Okay," Phym ran off to Claire's direction.

Then Jerad smiled. "Now then. Time out is over. Let's play again."

And he charged, and thrusted his spear at the medium Aragami, but caught it after his spearhead already penetrated its chest, and just as before Jerad could thrust it further, he saw a shadow loom over him, and backflipped before another Kongou slammed itself on the ground. While in mid-air, Jerad shifted to sniper gun, and headshotted his injured opponent as soon as he landed before the next Kongou turned to him.

"So, you've come to play, too?" Jerad grinned as the now dead Kongou fell back. "Sorry to kill your buddy, but you're gonna be my second medium kill, too. You'll join him next."

Then the Kongou pounded its chest in rage before it charged at him, and Jerad returned in kind, also charging head on.

"Twenty-one booze! Twenty-two booze!" Already in Burst, Trista slew two Axe Raiders. "Ooh, I'm getting so excited sleeping on my pile of brand new bottles. Haha!"

Then as she continued slaying more small Aragami alongside Ricardo, a Kongou suddenly leapt from the battle dust, and swung its fist down on her.

"Nice try, you damn ape," Trista blocked its fist with her moon's flat side. "But you didn't hit me hard enough. Want me to show you what REAL strength is?!"

Then she shoved the medium Aragami back before dashing and spinning for a swing, also transforming her God Arc into an chainsaw axe, and swung her heavy weapon at it with Moonlight Blade. The medium Aragami was struck on the torso before its momentum from her heavy God Arc shoved it against a small boulder. Trista laughed as her God Arc continued sawing the medium Aragami in two, also cutting the bloody boulder behind it before finishing her swing. "Ooh, that medium kill alone would be worth a whole pack of them. Twenty-three!"

"Sheesh..," Ricardo murmured. "No need to be that violent."

"Hrrrah!" Jerad downward swung his spear before the medium Aragami blocked it with its tough arm. "Heh, you're quite a bit more of a challenge..!"

Then the Kongou swung its other fist down at him, but Jerad easily jumped back, and countered with Deathbringer. With a blinding burst of speed, he successfully impaled its chest, and the Kongou whimpered in pain, but Jerad activated his acceleration trigger and ruthlessly began shoving it across the battlefield. He laughed as he continued pushing the medium Aragami with others being knocked out of their way until he hit a large boulder with two small Aragami crushed with it in a corner.

"Two mediums down, and two small extras," Jerad snickered as he began charging his spear. "Thirty-TWO!"

With a loud boom accompanied with a slight quake, Jerad finished the three Aragami off with Mocking the Gods, and left a burned, bloodied crater on the boulder behind them. There was nothing else left inside it.

"Ah, the murder afterglow. I love it," Jerad licked his lower lip with a grin as he rested his spear on his shoulder, and then the remaining Aragami started gathering around him. "You know? The Devil is here to collect. Which one of you bastards wants to pay me tribute, first?"

Then he snickered as a few Aragami roared before charging at him.

"Ngh..!" Levin blocked an Ogretail's jaw wanting to bite him, however while fighting for a while, he saw a faint yellow glowing around his hands, but never had the time to ponder. He shoved it forward before thrusting his long blade through its hungry mouth, and then a Chi-You followed him with a side slap, but he also blocked it with his sword.

"Curse you..!" Levin gritted his teeth.

"Levin!" Frida activated her acceleration trigger, and rushed for him. She struck the Chi-You's shoulder with her stretched scythe, and with her blade stuck in it, she began pulling the medium bird Aragami away from him. Attempting to resist, the Chi-You began gripping her blade, and then taking it as an opportunity, Levin screamed as he thrusted his long blade forward, and stabbed the bird through its chest.

"Are you alright?" Levin breathed heavily.

"Y-yes," Frida wearily replied. "But Levin…"

"What is this..?" Levin stared at his glowing hands. "I'm…glowing?"

And after Hugo struck a Barbarius down with Swift Slash, he glanced at his nearby teammate, and his eyes raised. "I guess it's time…"

"Huh..?" Levin blinked his eyes. "What do you mean..?"

"It's time to Engage," Hugo replied.

"Engage? With a regular God Eater like me..?" Levin paused with disbelief.

"Yeah, remember seeing your cousin, and Jerad back home?" Hugo nodded. "It's possible."

"But how?" Levin glanced at his hands again.

Then Hugo glanced at the battlefield, and saw more Aragami coming for them. "Try to concentrate, like sending your energy, or opening up your emotions to me so we can resonate. Hurry! They're coming!"

"Right," Levin nodded before doing his best to calmly close his eyes, and then a bright yellow light flashed.

On the other side of the battlefield, Jerad jumped and slaughtered a few more Ogretails before glancing at the yellow light's direction.

"So, they finally hit it," Jerad muttered before skewering another Ogretail behind him with his spear without looking. "Thirty-six."

"Levin, let's go!" Hugo readied his sword.

"W-what's this..? I feel..," Levin paused.

"I'll explain later!" Hugo turned back to the approaching herd. "They're here! Let's slay the rest of them!"

"Okay..," Levin hesitantly nodded before an Ogretail jumped above Hugo to pounce him, and to his amazement, he swatted it to his left with ease, leaving the fresh corpse with a large gash on its chest.

"Let's do this!" Hugo said after slaying an Axe Raider with Morning Calm. "Frida, stay behind us as we advance as cover. Don't let any pass us!"

"U-understood," Frida hesitantly nodded, still awed by her first witness of Engage.

"Hiiyah!" Misha shredded another small group of small Aragami with Heaven or Hell. "That's the last of them!"

"Agreed," Lulu nodded before all of them glanced at the yellow light.

"Wow, did Hugo Engage with Levin?" Lulu murmured.

"I think so," Misha smiled.

"Let's mop the rest of them," Zeke tapped his hammer's shaft on his hand. "Can't let the guys on our front have all the fun. Damn that Demon! He's taking on all that himself?"

"Right," Lulu nodded. "Misha, you ready?"

"More than ready," Misha smirked.

"Heh, I'm probably more than ready," Shin also smirked. "The distance is perfect. Just leave the right front for me, and I have something..new to try."

And he snickered.

"Hey, that area is mine!" Zeke grimaced. "You ain't stealing my kills."

"Well, try to catch up to me, if you can," Shin grinned before activating his acceleration trigger, and flipping his twin blades in reverse hold. "Here goes..!"

Then he ran fast several yards towards the horde before disappearing with a sonic boom.

"Whoa!" All four of them gasped.

"D-did he just vanish while running..?" Lulu froze before they saw Aragami in Shin's direction getting sliced apart by seemingly nothing.

"Oh, hell no! I ain't letting him steal my money!" Zeke cried. "Damned ninja! You think you're the only bad ass here? Well, I got my own badassery, too! All of you, stay back! It's Mad Rocket Zeke time!"

"Wha-?" Lulu blinked her eyes with bewilderment before Zeke's hammer began powering itself with a loud turbine noise before he launched. "Ahh!"

The three remaining Hounds covered their faces before watching Zeke flying in a wide arc towards Shin's position.

"Wow, that was so cool," Misha beamed. "Keith, did you teach your brother that trick?"

"Not at all," Keith shook his head in awe. "I'm in no way creative enough in combat to tell him that. He just invented that himself."

Then he shrugged.

"Ah," Misha paused. "But still, calling himself a 'Mad Rocket' all of a sudden..? Pfft!"

And she broke into a laughter while Lulu simply stared at her before letting out a giggle herself.

"It's pretty childish of him, but I'll give him credit for his..combat creativity," Lulu let a few more giggles out.

Then Keith chuckled. "At least he's starting to use his head for once."

"Well, I think we've rested here long enough," Misha dusted herself. "Let's get back to the frontline with Hugo, Claire, and my brother."

"Sounds good," Lulu nodded. "Let's move. Stay behind us, Keith."

"Gotcha," Keith nodded. "After you."

However, around the same time.

"HRRAH!" Trista slammed her axe to smash a Barbarius down, and a few small Aragami caught in her onslaught before preparing to follow up with a spin. "Go away!"

Then she sent them all flying in chopped pieces in front of her with Roaring Axe Combo.

"Ah, that home run swing just felt so great," Trista chuckled as she hung her heavy moon on her right shoulder. "But dammit. That Barbarius was a pushover! Did Hugo and Jerad lie to me about them? I was expecting it to be at least a bit tougher!"

"Looks like you got the last few kills here, She-Wolf," Ricardo rested his scythe on his shoulder. "We should move on close to where Hugo or the Devil is."

"Tch! Fair enough," Trista winced before she saw a fast, flying object arcing over the battlefield several yards away. "What the..HELL?! Is that Zeke?!"

"Huh, looks like it," Ricardo chuckled before they both watched him land on another horde that resulted in several small Aragami bodies flying on impact.

"Whoa! The hell does he think he is? A shooting star?!" Trista began laughing.

"I guess so," Ricardo also laughed.

"Big Sis..!" Misha called from afar as they approached the pair.

"Heh, you're a little late for the party," Trista smiled. "Ricky, and I just wiped them out here. Let's go help your boyfriend next."

"Got it," Misha nodded.

In the other battlefield in Burst, Zeke and Shin were exterminating the rest of the Aragami in their vicinity. However, Shin has been slaying the creatures at a rapid rate, almost invisible in his movements, and briefly stopping and appearing to either rest or pick his next few targets before disappearing in thin air again, slicing more Aragami with his twin blades, and decapitating most of them.

"Dammit, Shin!" Zeke swatted an Ogretail's head with his boosting hammer before crushing a Dreadpike. "Quit hoggin' all the kills! Save some for me, will ya?! I need to buy some more underwear!"

"No way, buddy!" Shin stopped in front of him to snicker. "I'm having too much fun in this!"

"Crap! What are you? Like Trista now?" Zeke cried before Shin disappeared again. "Oh, damn you..!"

Then he saw more small Aragami coming for him. "Wait, I just got the bright idea..!"

And he activated his acceleration trigger, and waited until he was closely surrounded. Then he jumped straight up, and shook the ground with Lost Memory. The shockwave sent the surrounding Aragami flying.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Zeke laughed. "Mass free kills for me now!"

"I almost lost my footing for that, you know?!" Shin grimaced.

"Hah! Too bad! Some ninja you are!" Zeke smirked. "They're all mine, so you better back off!"

Then he launched himself, and began smashing Aragami while they were disoriented.

Quite a distance away from them, Lulu was running to join them before stopping.

"Looks like this is the time to try," Lulu murmured shortly after her Burst expired. "Here goes..!"

Then a devour appeared from her left blade with a faint growl. "Looking good so far."

And she also activated her right devour. "Here goes! Haa..!"

Then she launched the two devours with their gaping jaws to bite their closest prey.

"Forty-two! Forty-three!" Jerad slew an Ogretail, and an Axe Raider with Berserk Rush. "My numbers will just keep adding! Come at me!"

Then he speared another Ogretail's chest before lifting it up, and swinging it down in a 180 degree arc head first before laughing. "You all gotta rush me harder than that!"

Then he slaughtered another two small Aragami before jumping straight up as three more lunged at him. His spearhead opened, and with a grin, dove straight down with Fallen Tear. On impact, he slammed the ground and sent the few remaining Aragami flying in all directions, and shrouded the area with dust, also stopping an approaching Barbarius in its tracks and covering its face.

Nearby…

"Um, mommy? Should we help daddy?" Phym tugged Claire's hand.

"Hm," Claire turned to Jerad's direction and saw him in midair before spear diving.

"Ah!" Claire and Phym covered their faces before seeing his surroundings covered with dust. "Maybe not…With all the dust now, it's too dangerous to go in there."

"Okay," Phym nodded before glancing back.

"Don't worry, daddy will be fine," Claire smiled as she caressed her cheek. "Let him enjoy himself."

Back in the dust covered area, a Barbarius swung its hand, and heard sounds of small Aragami cries from all directions in the dust before falling into silence one by one. Meanwhile, a pair of Ogretails were still searching for their prey while still blinded by the shroud, and were quickly sliced down without being seen before another one nearby turned to the noise. However, before it could react, a black monster with its opened jaws suddenly appeared from the dust, and bit its spine. With the Ogretail's pained cry, the black monster nevertheless dragged its victim back into the dust before crunching noises were heard which was quickly followed by a burst of light. A still confused Barbarius rushed into the scene, and blindly pounded its fist down in hopes that its prey would still be there, but all that it saw was blood and a few parts of the mauled Aragami. Then as it turned around to keep searching for him, a dark figure suddenly leapt out of the dust, and grasped one of its front horns with his left hand.

"Boo!" Jerad laughed before thrusting his spear to its face. He further buried his spearhead in the medium Aragami's blood gushing face twice before it began falling on its back, and then jumping away.

"My fifty-second kill," Jerad rested his bloodied spear on his shoulder with a snicker. "That was fun. I haven't played hide-and-seek in a while. 49 smalls, and 3 mediums."

"Daddy!" Phym suddenly latched onto him.

"Phym…?!" Jerad gasped before protectively wrapping his arm around her, and quickly glanced around to make sure there are no Aragami left. "How long have you been here? I told you to..!"

"Are you done with your fun little rampage?" Claire curved her lips.

"Heh, fifty-two kills," Jerad grinned. "With three mediums in it."

"Mhm," Claire nodded. "I hope you've had enough."

"Enough..?" Jerad raised his eyebrows. "Far from enough. We even just got started."

"Hah..! Things finally quieted down a bit," Trista hung her bloodied Manticore Moon on her shoulder. "By the way, how many kills did ya have?"

"Fifty-two," Jerad flashed his eyebrows.

"What?! You serious?" Trista glared. "I only got forty-seven!"

"Better work harder, then," Jerad smirked.

"I got umm..," Phym counted her right fingers. Twennie..won."

"Oh…that's not bad," Jerad chuckled. "If you fight harder like me, your numbers will go up. We have more fights to do."

"Yay," Phym excitedly jumped.

"Jerad, no, please," Claire shook her head. "Do not influence Phym with your bloodlust."

"I'm not," Jerad also shook his head. "But she's gotta learn to fight better, too. My little devil…"

Then he patted Phym's head as she giggled which Claire only sighed in response.

"No more Oracle responses detected," Amy reported. "Glad you're all safe."

"Roger," Trista replied. "Now where are the rest of the others?"

Then they glanced around to see the two other groups were starting to walk towards them with Hugo swinging blood off his sword.

"I guess we all just meet up in the middle," Trista shrugged before they also started walking. "So, Rick. How many kills did you get?"

"Ah, I never bothered counting," Ricardo scratched his head. "I just want to do my job."

"I've kept kill counts for everyone just in case," Amy added. "Ricardo's kills numbered forty-nine."

"Wah..!" Trista froze. "You, too?"

"I guess so," Ricardo chuckled.

"Finally back together," Hugo rested his sword on his shoulder.

"Hell yeah," Zeke grinned. "Shin and I rocked the area together.

"Oh, that!" Trista chuckled. "Was that you flying across the area like a rocket earlier?"

"Hell yeah, that's me," Zeke pointed at himself. "Mad..Rocket..Zeke..!"

Then Trista laughed. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know," Zeke shrugged. "I just felt like being badass, that's all. Shin even went super fast, and sent a lot of Ogretail heads flying."

"Well..he's always been fast," Trista glanced at her vice captain only to respond to her with a wave and a grin.

"No, like super..FAST!" Zeke continued. "He just went running before going BOOM, he's gone, and you can't even see him."

Then Ricardo chuckled. "You kidding? You're telling me that Shin went so fast that he caused a sonic boom?"

"Yeah," Zeke nodded.

"Crazy," Ricardo commented. "What are you now? A fighter jet?"

"Maybe," Shin grinned.

"So..sis. How many kills did you get?" Jerad asked her with anticipation.

"Um..," Misha glanced up. "I..don't know."

Then Jerad snorted. "Bet you killed so much that you couldn't count."

"According to my tally, Misha had seventy-two," Amy reported.

"W-what..?! Seventy-two?" Jerad blankly stared at her. "Undefeated…"

"Hee hee," Misha cutely stuck her tongue at him while pulling her left lower eyelid with her index finger. "The only thing you can't beat me with."

"Oh, you better stay on top of your game," Jerad grimaced. "Because I'll outkill you later on."

"Give your best shot," Misha smirked before Hugo and Levin laughed.

"And you, Jerad. Have you done anything badass yet?" Zeke bent towards him.

"The hell you talkin' about?" Jerad glared back. "I'm always badass. You never racked more kills than me…ever."

"No, you dolt!" Zeke spat. "Like, doing some badass moves, just like me and Shin just did."

"Zeke, please be careful what you ask for?" Lulu facepalmed.

"That's it, huh?" Jerad furrowed. "You want badass? I'll give you one."

"And you have until the end of this mission to do that," Zeke pointed.

"Challenge..accepted," Jerad provokingly swung his spear down from his shoulder. "You're gonna eat those words."

Then Levin quietly chuckled. "This is quite…intriguing."

"Oh, them?" Hugo whispered. "They do that time to time, and Zeke would often get floored in the end, but he never learns."

"I'll have to admire his grit, then," Levin whispered.

"Right, I guess I could also put it that way," Hugo chuckled.

"Hey, Hugo," Jerad suddenly called in a serious tone.

"What's up?" Hugo responded.

"As much as I had a fun time barbecuing these bastards here, something about this has been irking me," Jerad murmured. "Am I the only one?"

"What do you mean?" Hugo blinked his eyes.

"Don't you think this attack felt..unnatural?" Jerad furrowed his eyes. "These bastards usually attack us as if they got no brains at all, but this one here..felt a little different. At least it was until we finally slugged it out with them up close…I just can't explain it well."

"Hm, now you mentioned it," Hugo paused. "It did feel weird. Their attacks seemed..coordinated. As if they devised some strategy to take us down."

"Yeah, that's the better way to put it," Jerad nodded. "These things usually aren't that smart."

"Huh, that reminded me of what Shin and I thought about that white Ashborn when we're rescuing Phym," Trista added. "We somehow knew it was smart enough to ambush us, or even wait for us to let our guard down, but like Jerad said, these smalls and medium's aren't that usually bright. They just mindlessly attack you at first sight. Do you think that there might be some 'boss' type Ashborn somewhere?"

"Hm, I've never heard of an Aragami that can control others," Hugo held his chin. "But an Ashborn of that type could exist. They are the smart ones…"

"Oh, man..," Zeke scratched his head. "An Ashborn that can control packs of Aragami, and smartly send them to us in hordes? That's gonna be scary."

"Mm," Frida quietly clutched her arms without noticing that Jerad had been watching her.

"I wish aunt was here right now so we could ask her," Levin murmured. "She's a seasoned veteran, and knows an immense amount of Aragami through her experience."

"Then let's keep our guard up for now as we continue on," Hugo stood up. "If there's some commander type Aragami out there, then there's a good chance it's watching us right now, waiting for another chance for us to slip."

"Tch..! It would be nice if that bastard sends us more of them now," Jerad murmured. "Because it will definitely show itself once it runs out of minions, and I'll just rack more kills out of them. Then I'll just stick it."

Then Hugo chuckled. "Just..hold yourself for now, OK?"

"I get it, brother," Jerad raised his spear back to his shoulder with a grin. "Mission comes first, right? Is it wrong to have fun at your job? It's been exhilarating so far."

Then he laughed.

"I'm just telling you to keep your guard up, buddy," Hugo smiled.

"Hey, guys!" Zeke waved his hand while looking through his binoculars. "I'm seeing smoke out there. What is it?"

Then Hugo rushed onto him, "Let me borrow."

He took the binoculars from Zeke, and peeked through it.

"Those are not smoke, that's dust," Hugo murmured before he began scanning to the left. "Those are likely Ein's ashcrawlers, and they're definitely heading to the ravine! Are they serious?!"

"Reviewing the resonance radar right now, it seems very likely," Amy reported by radio. "Looks like they're a bit ahead of schedule. You guys have to hurry."

"Roger," Hugo nodded before giving the item back to Zeke. "We gotta go. Let's get moving!"

"Hugo, wait! I detected something in our resonance radar!" Amy stopped him. "Oracle responses detected 3 miles from the ravine entrance in the Dusty Miller convoy's direction, and density from earlier increased..Is this meant to be an ambush?"

"Hmph..!" Jerad furrowed his eyes. "Interesting. Really, interesting."

"I'm starting to think you're right, friend," Levin smiled.

"And that also means more fun for me," Jerad grinned.

"Please intercept them before the convoy arrives!" Amy exclaimed.

"Roger. We're not about to botch this job for Ein!" Hugo also exclaimed. "We gotta move. Now! Back to the trailers!"

"Wait, what?" Zeke blinked his eyes.

"We won't make it on time on foot!" Hugo explained. "Our next location is still about five miles away. We gotta hustle!"

Another hour later.

"Here we are! Luckily we found at least a couple of boulders to shelter our trailers in the shade," Hugo sighed. "I just hope the ash won't eat these too fast…"

"We'll worry about that later," Keith replied. "I'll do inspections on them after we get back."

"Count me in, kid," Ricardo smiled. "I'll help you out."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Keith smiled.

"It's also my job," Ricardo smiled back.

"Let's move! The convoy's getting closer!" Hugo cried before running several yards to a chasm. "There they are. Listen, I want all long range shooters to stay up here. Jerad, Lulu, and Shin, give us cover fire from above and pick them off, same for Trista and Ricardo since you use ray guns. The rest of us will take them on the bottom, and then we'll just climb back up here once we're finished."

"Roger," Lulu nodded before shifting to her sniper gun. "I got you."

"Tch, seriously..," Jerad shifted to his sniper gun. "Fine. Shooting gallery for me."

"No complaints here," Shin smiled before also shifting to his sniper gun.

"Go! Ricky, and I will start sweeping now!" Trista began firing her rail gun down. "Move it!"

"Alright, let's mow them down!" Hugo exclaimed before him and the others shifted to their guns, and jumped down.

"Um, daddy..?" Phym paused.

"Phym, go with mommy!" Jerad fired two rounds. "I'll cover you from up here. Move!"

"Let's go, Phym!" Claire grabbed her hand before jumping to the bottom of the ravine entrance together. The assaulters were sliding down hill as they began firing their guns for a head start.

"Ooh, got a bright idea for this," Zeke shifted back to hammer halfway down. "Watch this!"

Then he suddenly launched from the slope with his rocket hammer, activated his acceleration trigger midair, and slammed the ground. His impact sent the Aragami flying in all directions.

"Good job, Zeke!" Hugo cried before he began firing his slug rounds at the ones still standing. "Everyone, finish the rest! Prioritize the ones still standing!"

"Roger!" Misha nodded before spraying her gun at Aragami still approaching Zeke. They are still too far into her effective range, but still kept firing to hope for the best.

A few seconds later, Hugo finally landed at the bottom of the ravine before shifting to his long blade, and sliced the first Ogretail lunging at him. Then Misha, Levin, Frida, and Keith followed behind him. Misha still had a quarter of her Oracle left to shoot a few Aragami down after landing, and then her gun finally emptied. She switched to her scythe before slicing another three to help Hugo's lead.

"Everyone, concentrate your fire around Zeke!" Lulu paused. "He's surrounded right now until Hugo and the team reach him!" 'That idiot..!'

"Gotcha, sister!" Trista grinned. "No problem!"

"Hurah! Huah!" Zeke swooped an axe raider. 'Dammit! The hell's taking Hugo so long?!'

Then he uppercutted another axe raider, and waited until the Earth's gravity quickly pulled it back down. Then swung it into a home run, sending the bulky Aragami spinning into the ravine wall. "Haha! Yeah!"

And he turned to see more small ones coming for him. 'Crap!'

Just as he readied his hammer for a last stand, a stream of thick laser suddenly swept in front of him, instantly incinerating all Aragami caught in its path.

"I got ya, Zeke!" Trista boomed from the cliff as she continued sweeping. "Keep hammerin'!"

"Thanks, Tris!" Zeke gave her a thumbs up with a grin before winking, and then he turned to the remaining ones. "You bastards..! You really thought you had me there with your numbers, did ya?"

Then he readied his hammer again, and charged forward.

"Jerad, three medium Aragami spotted from the other side of the ravine!" Shin cried.

"What?!" Jerad glanced at him before turning to the opposite cliff, and saw four larger figures sliding downhill like Hugo and the others did. He briefly squinted to identify the oncoming threats, however, due to distance, he narrowly identified two kongous, a Nemain, and a Chi-You.

"You three, deal with those bigger ones right now!" Trista kept waving her screaming ray gun downrange. "They're too far for me and Ricky to hit them! We got our guys down there. Do it!"

"Alright..!" Jerad nodded. "Shin, Lulu, get those four bastards going downhill!"

"Understood," Lulu nodded before pointing her barrel at the horizon.

The three started shooting at the four medium Aragami still sliding down, and being the closest and possibly the most threatening of the four, Jerad aimed at the Chi-You and fired. His first shot missed.

"Fuck..! Too damn far..!" Jerad grimaced, now remembering his mother's importance on every firearm's effective, and maximum range. 'They're about 1,300 yards away, and my gun can only hit up to 1,000. Dammit all!'

"One Kongou down! That definitely felt like a lucky shot..!" Lulu cried, and Jerad glanced at the headless corpse rolling downhill.

"Heh, a headshot at that," Jerad grinned before taking a now careful aim, and inhaled a small amount of air before slowly letting some off his chest. Once his aim steadied, he fired three rounds at the Chi-You. The first two rounds missed by a few feet, but the third managed to hit.

"Oh, god dammit!" Jerad growled after seeing the Chi-You shielded itself with its steel wing, and his shot bounced. He understood well from his late mother that muzzle velocity decreases at farther distances. "Fuck it! I'll get the other three!" Jerad cried.

"Target hit!" Shin cried as the medium Aragami also rolled down with a large hole in its chest. "Nemain down!"

"Good shot. The monkey is mine, then." Jerad aimed his gun at the last medium that just landed on the bottom. 'And you're close enough.'

Then he fired a round at the Aragami pounding its chest only to suddenly get hit on the head, and its stopping power slammed it back against the slope.

"Heh," Jerad grinned before glancing back at the Chi-You.

"Hm hm hm. So dear, from where you are to that anti-Aragami wall, how far do you think it is?" Catherine asked with a smile.

"Oh, jeez. I'm not even going to try guessing," Emil shrugged with a chuckle. "Son, you deal with this."

"Misha, you are listening, right?" Catherine gave her daughter a firm stare. "You need to learn this, too."

"Y-yes, mom," Misha stood straight. "I'm listening…"

"Um," Jerad tapped his chin with his finger. "Maybe eight hundred yards..?"

Then Catherine giggled, "That's quite close, sweetie. That's about one-thousand yards."

And she held her Kurogane Sniper E up. "This is how far my beloved sniper gun can accurately fire, so with me, you're safe within one-thousand yards. Any Aragami closer than this will be shot dead. I never miss."

"Whoa," Jerad stared at his mother in awe. "Can you…teach me how to shoot?"

"Of course, dear," Catherine giggled again. "I'll make both of you better marksmen than your father. The only thing he's good at is swinging his scythe."

Then Emil groaned as his wife laughed.

"So mom, where did you learn to shoot?" Jerad asked.

"Ah, when I was still a recruit in America, I used to practice with an eye-patched colleague all the time," Catherine smiled. "She was amazing.., but also quite eccentric, always bragging about never missing her targets."

"I remember that weird woman," Emil paused. "She transferred to the Far East, did she? I wonder how she's doing."

As if a turret fixed its barrel firmly at its target, Jerad aimed his gun back at the Chi-You with his finger just hovering under his trigger. 'And you're close enough now. You're mi-!'

"WARNING! WARNING! Oracle activity detected in the rear!" Amy suddenly cried. "Hound 1, 6, 8, 9, and 10, brace yourselves!"

"What..?" Jerad growled before turning his head back, and saw several Blast Spiders crawling out of the ground before gasping. "Shit! Bastards..!"

Then he quickly aimed his gun, and shot the first Blast Spider that almost finished charging its laser.

"Crap..!" Shin quickly shifted his sniper gun into twin blades, and swung them apart with his two hands. Then he activated his acceleration trigger, and vanished. In a split second, he reappeared, and passed behind them, causing four of them to fly in two cleanly sliced parts before exploding in midair.

"Guess I have no choice again..," Lulu grew two monsters from her twin blades. "Haa!

The two black creatures flew from her blades, and grabbed one each with their jaws, stopping them from firing their projectiles before crushing them into two. Lulu retracted her two God Arcs back, and entered Burst. She shifted back to her sniper gun.

"Jerad, Shin, take these!" Lulu fired her Burst rounds at her two teammates.

"Thanks! That's what I need!" Jerad was already running with his active acceleration trigger towards the more newly spawned Aragami, and he began charging his spear. "Eat this! HAAA!"

With Mocking the Gods, he unleashed as much Oracle energy as he could, and obliterated several more in a straight line in front of him.

"Shit..! That was damn close..," Trista shivered. "I'm just glad they got our backs by reacting fast. I honestly thought we're fucked..!"

Then her ray gun's beam faded. "What?! Are you serious?!"

"Here," Ricardo tossed an O-ampule at her.

"Oh, I have some myself, but thanks," Trista caught the green syringe before injecting it in her God Arc. "I owe ya. I'll give you one after this."

"Keep it! I stocked quite a lot myself," Ricardo kept waving his ray gun. "Keep the firing rate up!"

"Roger," Trista aimed her ray gun again. "Here goes!"

Meanwhile at the bottom with Trista, and Ricardo's lasers sweeping around the battlefield like searchlights, Hugo struck an Ogretail down, and then another on his right before seeing three more Axe Raiders charging at him only to see them incinerated by Ricardo's sweeping laser. Then he turned to his left to check on Levin, Misha, Claire, Phym, and Frida fighting together.

"Help Zeke! The six of us will handle this front!" Levin cried before decapitating an Ogretail that tried to lunge at him.

"Got it," Hugo nodded. "Keith, you're coming with me, and stay close!"

"Gotcha!" Keith also nodded before the two began running to Zeke's direction, slicing any Aragami that stood in their path.

As his two friends were closing on him, Zeke continued pounding every surrounding Aragami with his hammer, and his acceleration trigger has been active for some time.

"Shit..!" Zeke breathed hard as he kept his hammer up. He felt his arms shivering, possibly due to fatigue, or over usage of his acceleration trigger. 'Saul. Rhys. Can you hear me? Please help me out..! I can't die here..!'

Then he gritted his teeth before gripping his hammer against the more oncoming Aragami. 'At least not until I get Neal back together with Keith…'

Then with a howl, Zeke charged with little strength he had left, and smashed an Ogretail's head. Then just as he gasped at two more lunging at him, he suddenly saw a small shadowy figure jump behind one of them, and thrusted his short blade through its spine.

Zeke blinked his eyes a few times to see that it was Keith.

"Keith..," Zeke murmured before Hugo's God Arc caught the other Ogretail in midair with its jaws, and pulled it back. Then it mauled it against the ground into two. Hugo slid besides Zeke just as he entered Burst.

"Don't you dare ever give up, Zeke!" Hugo cried. "Our dream! Remember it!"

"Did it look like I was?!" Zeke readied his hammer again with a refreshed spirit, seeing his friends on his side again. "Problem is, I'm a little too damn tired. I must have used up too much acceleration trigger."

"Then there's only one way to keep you going," Hugo smiled. "Ready for the pump? Turn that off, and Engage! Let's do this!"

"Oh, right," Zeke finally grinned, and deactivated his acceleration trigger. "Let's Engage! I'm ready for another pump!"

"Let's go," Hugo closed his eyes before a yellow light flashed from the two.

A few minutes earlier.

"Hiiyah!"

With the Chi-You crippled at her mercy, Misha struck it with Cleave Fang before shearing it in two with Heaven or Hell.

"Wow, that was truly amazing," Levin almost breathlessly commented. "Your Burst Art seemed to have effortlessly sliced that Aragami down despite its armored skin. Was it the one your brother once talked about?"

"Um, maybe..?" Misha mused with her finger on her lip. "I use it quite a lot, but it's also the hardest to use. Get distracted a bit while you're at it, and it becomes a dud. Almost guaranteed kill for me, though."

Then Levin laughed. "I see."

"Oh, think about it. This my first medium kill in this mission," Misha grinned.

"We finished our search. No more Aragami left in this vicinity!" Claire reported. "Shall we help Hugo and Zeke?"

"I wished there were more," Phym whined. "It was so fun."

"Phym, fighting is not a game," Claire scolded her.

"Sorry..," Phym murmured.

"Come on, Claire. Let your daughter have a bit of fun," Misha teased as Levin chuckled. "Niece had to live the life."

"Yes, I do," Claire argued back with a pout. "But not this. You're starting to sound like your brother, too!"

"Of course, dear sister," Misha smirked. "I'm sure he would definitely agree."

Then Levin, Frida, and Misha laughed while Claire pouted more.

"But..daddy can have a lot of fun," Phym murmured. "What can't I..?"

"Because he's…different," Claire also murmured. "Ooh, let's just keep moving on, OK? Onto Hugo! Chop-chop!"

"Right, cousin," Levin laughed before the group moved along.

With the other team already approaching them, Zeke and Hugo have been slaughtering the remnants in the ravine left and right as Keith protected their rear.

"Ohhh, hell yeah! Engage is givin' me a new pump!" Zeke swatted an Axe Raider off. "I feel so damn unstoppable!"

Then Hugo chuckled before cutting an Ogretail's throat. "Call it what you want. It's what we use it for. Leave none of them alive!"

"Gotcha!" Zeke smashed a Dreadpike. "Keith, you following? Kill 'em all!"

"Right behind you, bro," Keith slew an Axe Raider. "I'll keep up. You guys keep pushing."

"That's my lil' bro," Zeke grinned

And after fighting as a trio for several more minutes, Claire, Levin, Frida, Misha, and Phym finally arrived. With Claire's gun blazing, and waving her line of fire to mow the rest of the Aragami, the other three took the front. Misha swung her deadly scythe left and right while Frida in her left rear paused to swing a few Round Fangs before running again to stay behind her, and Levin in her rear right striking any approaching Aragami in single swings as he kept running.

"Hey, looks like Claire and co. are here!" Zeke cried.

"Good! Keep pushing!" Hugo nodded. "Let's finish this!"

"Right on!" Zeke turned to face a handful of more Ogretails before swatting one that lunged at him.

Meanwhile on the cliff.

"Hahaha! You bastards just wanna keep at this, huh?" Jerad spear dove an Ogretail through its spine, and after pinning it down, pulled his spear out before crushing its skull with its spearhead. "You're my seventieth kill! Once you scatter, and reform somewhere else, tell your damn leader to give it up, and just show himself so I can kill him! He's just making me richer!"

He laughed again before taking a quick glance at a charging Axe Raider, and then he shifted to his sniper gun. Once the Aragami reached him, he shoved his barrel inside its jaws, and fired, sending the mangled Axe Raider tumbling towards an oncoming herd, tripping them.

"OOUUUUU! That felt so good! Maybe I should build a custom bullet for that!"

Then he pulled his charging handle before letting go. "I wonder if I can do that with my spear, too. Gonna be awesome!"

"I'll finish the rest of them," Lulu jumped from behind him.

"Be my guest," Jerad shrugged before Lulu finally sliced the last four.

After making sure there are no more Aragami around, Lulu sighed. "I hope this is all of them for now."

"Confirmed. No Aragami detected in your area," Amy reported.

"Thanks," Lulu smiled.

"Tch, damn hope so," Jerad shook some blood off his right arm. "I want the big guy to show up already. I bet he hates me right now."

And he laughed.

"You kids done having fun?" Ricardo chuckled.

"Hey! How about those guys down there?!" Jerad exclaimed.

"No worries, they're done, too," Ricardo chuckled again.

"I never had so much fun ray gunning them full time," Trista grinned.

"You know, this was really abnormal," Jerad smiled. "Just when the three of us got too carried away blasting those four mediums down, more Aragami just had to spawn behind our backs. Coincidence?"

"I think not," Shin smiled. "Maybe Hugo has been right."

"I definitely hope so," Jerad chuckled. "And once the leader shows up, he's mine. I'll have him stick it."

And Ricardo laughed. "Just hold your horses for a bit, alright? It will definitely show itself once it's tired of you. So, shall we get going and meet the others?"

"Sure," Jerad shrugged. "Not worried about them, to be honest. They got two reapers down there to wipe them out."

"Yep, and next time, I hope I get to do more CQ," Trista grinned. "I don't want my God Arc's sawing teeth to rust off. I wanna do some more chainsawing."

"Hell yeah," Jerad grinned.

"More FCs, more booze," Trista grinned back.

A few minutes later.

"Woohoo!" Misha cheerfully jumped. "We've won!"

"Heh, yep," Hugo smiled. "Is everyone OK?"

"We're fine," Levin waved his hand.

"Good job so far," Hugo smiled again.

"Hell yeah, Zeke is rockin' right now," Zeke grinned. "By the way, where the hell is Jerad?"

"Right here," Jerad suddenly spoke behind them with the rest of the support team. "Damn those bastards, suddenly spawning behind us while we went shooting gallery on those mediums. Who took that bird out for me?"

"I did," Misha proudly waved.

"Oh, nice job," Jerad chuckled. "First medium kill in this mission, right?"

"Yep," Misha nodded with a smile.

"Just got my fifth," Jerad smiled back.

"Everyone is OK, right?" Hugo rested his long blade on his shoulder.

"No injuries here," Trista shook her head. "But I gotta admit, that surprise attack got me spooked, but good thing these three got our backs while we wiped Aragami for you."

"Heh, you're welcome," Jerad grinned.

"Hey, you better give me and Ricky our turn next time," Trista warned. "Can't say our last job wasn't fun, but CQ is where I'm at."

"Yeah, hopefully we could fight a bit more conventional," Hugo chuckled.

"Warning! Oracle activity detected 1 mile west of your location," Amy suddenly reported. "There's…a lot of them. They're spawning in masses!"

"Hm," Hugo furrowed his eyes. "And even deeper into this ravine, too."

Then Jerad laughed. "This is really interesting, brother. I hope this is gonna be a showdown."

'Why..are you calling him brother?' Misha pouted. 'Ugh!'

"Surely hope so," Hugo chuckled. "Well..if that's going to be the case, then let's meet this last battle head on."

Then they began walking deeper into the ravine.

"And once this bastard shows up, our battle will be legendary," Jerad laughed.

"Yeah! I'm super excited, daddy!" Phym latched onto him. "Let's have fun."

"Aww, that's my little Devil," Jerad proudly stroked her head. "Yep, let's dance with the Aragami together."

"Jerad! I told you earlier!" Claire growled. "Do not feed her any bad influences!"

"Bad..?" Jerad paused. "What part of that is bad?"

"Are you serious?!" Claire grimaced. "That fighting is not child's play!"

"I get it," Jerad murmured. "But our Little Devil here is strong. Daddy strong. Won't you have more faith in her?"

"Ooh! I can't believe you!" Claire pouted.

"Hey! Will you two stop?" Hugo glared at them. "Remember what I said a few months ago: No quarreling while on mission."

"Mhm, mhm," Misha covered her lips.

"Tch. Fine, whatever..," Jerad shrugged.

"Let's go!" Hugo started jogging. "Double time! Let's finish this up. Seriously..!"

Several minutes later, an Ogretail's head was suddenly blown off.

"You bastards are such annoying pests," Jerad chuckled. "Like damn cockroaches..I hate them! But that's fine. More money for me!"

Then he continued firing.

"I'm just glad we've been keeping our kitchen's sanitation on top form," Amy giggled. "I hate those, too."

"I'd stay up all night to do pest control for our kitchen, if we had them," Jerad kept firing. "I'm just glad no Aragami I know looks like them. I'd kill them on sight!"

"Rush in while he's giving cover fire!" Hugo cried. "Everyone let's go! Misha, Claire, help Jerad's supporting fire!"

"Got it," Misha nodded.

"Phym, come here!" Jerad smiled. "Practice shooting with me."

"Okay," Phym smiled as she shifted to assault gun.

While standing on top of a boulder together spraying their bullets, Misha and Claire remained below, keeping both left and right flanks at bay while the rest were charging the front in close combat. Hugo made first contact with the newly spawned horde, and slew a Dreadpike with his long blade before Levin closely followed.

"Phym, you're aiming too high," Jerad paused. "Aim at center mass!"

"Sent-her mass..?" Phym touched her lower lip.

"Their chests," Jerad further elaborated. "Point your gun at their chests, and shoot! Don't think too much."

"But you always aim at their heads..," Phym argued.

"Because our guns are different," Jerad kept firing. "Listen. My gun is high powered and meant for accuracy. Yours is less powerful and accurate, but fires faster and you have more to shoot before reloading. A headshot from your gun ain't gonna do much, and it's not worth taking your sweet time trying to land hits on heads. It's meant for spraying, and hitting a large area. Aim at chests, and I promise you that you'll rack more kills doing that. You get this?"

"Um, I'll try," Phym murmured.

"Good enough," Jerad reloaded his sniper gun with an O-Ampule. "Get shooting. Chop-chop!"

"Okay," Phym smiled before lifting her assault gun back up.

"Huuah!" In Burst, Hugo chopped an Ogretail in two with Swift Slash.

"Haa!" Levin sliced another behind Hugo. "They just keep coming."

"Yeah, but we have to keep going," Hugo nodded before slicing an Axe Raider. "The only way is forward. Keep pushing."

"Right behind you," Levin nodded.

After slicing a few Ogretails with her scythe, Frida held her scythe firm with a pause and was shivering, being unaware of a Kongou behind her.

"Phym! Get that monkey over there!" Jerad pointed. "I'm too busy covering your uncle right now, and it's after Frida! Tear that thing apart, or-!"

Before he finished, Phym quickly pointed her assault gun, and opened fire. A long straight stream of bullets flew straight to a Kongou, and to his surprise, all her rounds hit. The medium Aragami twitched in a frenzy from her hits, and Frida turned around in shock to see the Aragami falling.

"I did it," Phym cheered.

"That's my gurlll," Jerad proudly patted her head. "Two bags of candy for you tonight, and here!"

He injected an O-ampule in her God Arc. "Keep firing!"

"Alright," Phym nodded before she continued firing.

'Dammit, Friday..!' Jerad grimaced. 'This isn't the time to be dozing off. Whatever the hell you're thinking. Shit..!'

"HRRAH!" With a loud boom, Zeke homerunned an Ogretail against the ravine wall. "That'll teach ya! Keith, how's your end?!"

"Still with you, bro," Keith held his short blade forward.

"Hah! Good to see ya gettin' the hang of it," Zeke grinned. "I haven't seen you using your acceleration trigger yet. Why aren't you using it?"

"It's my trump card," Keith sliced a Dreadpike. "Not gonna use it till' I need it."

"Heh, fair enough," Zeke turned back to face an Axe Raider.

"You should consider using it more, Keith," Lulu shot a Zygote down. "It's a tool like the ones you always had for fixing our ship, and you know better than all of us about their limitations. Use it!"

"Understood," Keith nodded.

"HIIYAH!" Only several yards behind Hugo and Levin, Misha struck a Nemain's shoulder with her scythe before shredding it with Heaven or Hell.

"Misha!" Trista cried before she turned around, and saw the She-Wolf struck a Chi-You behind her with her axed heavy moon. Then sawed it through its steel skin. "Got your back!"

"Oh, thanks, Big Sis," Misha smiled.

"Never a problem," Trista smiled back.

"Haayah!" From their right flank, Frida swept three Aragami.

"Oh, my. Here's the Little Reaper," Trista chuckled. "Now where is that fool..?"

Nearby, and with his acceleration trigger on, Shin blocked a Nemain's arm thrust with the flat side of his left blade, and in a flash, dashed past it before its blood gushed from several lines from its chest.

"Huh, I guess he got the last kill in our area," Trista shrugged.

"W-wha-?" Frida froze. "How did he even do that..?"

She continued watching the Nemain fall. "I didn't even see it…it was too fast!"

"Huh? Is this the first time you've seen him fight?" Trista chuckled. "Listen. He's everyyything you can think of for a ninja…except he doesn't eat pizza."

Then she laughed.

"Huh?" Frida furrowed her eyes. "Pizza..?"

"Care to explain that logic?" Shin grimaced.

"Are you both serious? Especially you, Shin?!" Trista froze with disbelief. "Jeez. Frida, maybe you should entertain yourself with more than just reading sexy adult novels."

"H-hey..!" Frida pouted as Misha giggled.

"I used to watch this old TV show about these four teenage reptiles who are also ninjas," Trista continued. "I think you'll like one of them, Shin. No, even two. One of them is also a genius nerd like you."

"Uh, OK..?" Shin plainly nodded. "Teenage reptiles? Whatever."

"Give it a try, Shin. Come on," Trista teased. "You also gotta complete yourself by eating pizza. Haha!"

"No, thanks," Shin shook his head.

"Tch. How boring," Trista shrugged.

"Is everyone alright?" Claire jogged to them.

"Nah, just takin' a few second break," Trista grinned. "We just finished here. Can you still keep going?"

"Um, yes?" Claire paused.

"Nice. I guess your boyfriend has been giving you a good workout," Trista chuckled.

"Hush! This is not the time for this!" Claire pouted.

"Ah, well. Let's regroup with Hugo, and co," Trista pointed at them. "Can't let them rack all the cash, can we?"

"Right," Claire nodded.

"Levin..," Frida murmured before she ran off.

"Hey! Don't go off there on your own!" Trista called. "Dammit..! Off she goes…"

Nearby, Hugo and Levin were still slaying Aragami, now regrouped together with Zeke, Lulu, and Keith.

"We're almost done. Keep going, guys!" Hugo slew two Ogretails with sweep of Whirlwind Sword.

"Hah, is that how you do your home run?" Zeke laughed. "I'll show ya how it's done. HURYAHH!"

Then he swung an Axe Raider flying against a wall, leaving a bloodied crater. "Haha! That's how ya do it! Seeing them splat on rocks is so satisfying."

"Impressive, but I'm not interested in contesting flashy moves with you, Zeke," Hugo blocked an Ogretail's jaw. "All I care about is what works."

He pushed the Aragami back before decapitating it with a single swing.

"Hiyah! Haa!" In two swings, Frida slew a few Aragami in their rear.

"Frida, you're back," Levin paused. "Been wondering where you've been."

"I'm very sorry," Frida breathed. "I got separated earlier."

"Hah! Guess the honor of the last kill is on me this time," Zeke chuckled after smashing an Axe Raider's head against the ground.

"Yeah," Hugo nodded. "I guess our job here is do-."

"Warning all Hounds! Unidentified Aragami detected nearby!" Amy exclaimed.

"Huh?" Hugo paused. "Just now..?"

"It suddenly popped out of the resonance radar!" Amy continued. "It must have been hiding somewhere before it finally came out! No! Four other large Aragami detected with it. Four Vajras along with the unknown Aragami approaching the cliff west of you!"

"The cliff..," Hugo murmured, but before he could turn to look, he saw four large shadows suddenly loom from the cliff's beside him. He turned to see four Vajras watching them from above, and then an unfamiliar, fiery four legged wolf-like Aragami walked and stood at the center of the four large ones like a wolf leader standing before his pack.

"What the hell..?" Hugo's eyes widened. "Never seen that before..Is that an Ashborn?"

"Oh crap..," Trista murmured. "I've never seen that kind, either…Looks like a Vajra, but…"

"Hmph..!" Jerad furrowed his eyes, still far away from the group. "Interesting. I've never seen your kind before, but looks like the gig is up."

Then he turned to Phym. "Phym, we're moving in. Stick with me, and then regroup with mommy. I'll take on the big boss myself."

"Hm?" Phym turned back to him. "But…I want to go with you. It's fun, daddy."

"It's too dangerous," Jerad shook his head. "I don't even know what this thing could do. Remember, two bags of candies for you tonight, OK?"

"Um, OK," Phym frowned before Jerad hugged her.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," Jerad smiled. "You have the strongest..daddy in the world."

"Best daddy," Phym murmured.

Then Jerad paused for a moment before smiling again. "Yeah…Let's move."

"Okay," Phym nodded.

"So, you ready for a showdown, Hugo? I'm dying to see what this Ashborn could do," Trista licked her lower lip.

"Heh, have fun but stay cautious," Hugo smiled. "We've never seen this Aragami before, so there's no telling what it can do."

"That's the thrill," Trista grinned. "I love fighting the unknown."

"I don't share the same thrill-seeking lifestyle as you, Tris," Hugo chuckled.

"Hmph..! Spoken by a man who likes being reckless," Trista also chuckled.

"You're scared of Ashborns before," Shin teased. "Why not now..?"

"Because I'm over it, numbskull," Trista grimaced. "I'm way better than I used to now!"

Then as they stared back at the fiery Aragami, it abruptly raised its head, and made a deafening howled like a wolf calling for its pack, also emitting a bright red aura around it. Everyone covered their ears until it finished, and then the four Vajras began running downhill, eager for their meals.

"Here they come!" Hugo held his sword firm. "Everyone, draw your God Arcs!"

"Warning! Oracle responses detected in your vicinity!" Amy exclaimed.

"What..?" Trista grimaced before more Aragami unearthed themselves. Besides Ogretails, Axe Raiders, and Dreadpikes surrounding them, there are now mediums: Nemains, Kongous, Chi-Yous, and Havakiris.

"Hoo boy..," Ricardo shook his head. "That's a hell of an army…"

Meanwhile, Jerad and Phym were sprinting together to regroup, and then he noticed yellow sparks forming around them.

"Phym, halt!" Jerad cried as they stopped in their tracks before a swarm of Aragami jumped out of the ground, and then one of the four Vajras jumped behind the newly spawned horde. "Crap..! Listen, Phym. Let's kill this kitty as quickly as possible, and once it's dead, we'll hack our way to where mommy is. You get me?"

"Yeah," Phym smiled. "I'm getting…pumped, daddy."

Then Jerad chuckled. "Please don't try copying me…and more importantly, don't let mommy hear you say that."

And his smile faded. "Ready..? Go!"

"Holy shit..!" Zeke took a step back as the battlefield is now filled with intense cries of Aragami. "Keith, stay freakin' close to me, and don't you EVER wander off, you got me?"

"Yeah," Keith nodded before holding his short blade with two hands.

"Hmph.! You think you can simply trample us with mere numbers?" Trista began snickering. "I'm actually getting pumped for more money. It's showtime."

Then her devour generated from her God Arc. "HRRRAH!"

And her God Arc flew at high speed, and grasped an Axe Raider with its jaws before crunching it in two. Trista began retracting her devour back, and once it did, she spun back and entered Burst before also activating her acceleration trigger. "Now come at me!"

Two Ogretails began charging at her, and she quickly sliced them with Carnage Moon. Then she charged into the herd to begin the slaughter.

Meanwhile, Hugo was clashing with a Nemain while Levin was engaged with a Chi-You. Hugo parried both of its arms before side slicing its torso. While kneeling from its injuries, he spun his long blade into reverse hold, and stabbed the injured Aragami through its shoulder. Without being given a moment of rest, Hugo quickly saw two Ogretails lunging at him, and using his acceleration trigger to increase his attack speed, sliced them while still in midair with a single sweep. "Misha! Frida! Kill those small Aragami fast!" Hugo turned to them. "We can't let them overwhelm us!"

"You got it!" Misha drew her scythe, and swiped several more small Aragami rushing at them, and then with a slight creativity, she swung her scythe in another direction with her devour deployed. It sliced a few more Aragami with its fangs, and a few more caught in its jaws before crushing them into two, causing her to enter Burst after retracting. "Hugo!"

She quickly shifted to assault gun, and fired a Burst round at him.

"Thanks, I owe you one!" Hugo turned back to his next opponent, a Kongou before swiping it dead with a single Swift Slash.

Nearby, Levin successfully downed a Chi-You, feeling a brief pride that he was able to handle this same Aragami a few hours ago with greater ease alone, and then he turned to slay a Dreapike behind him. 'Frida…Where are..?'

He turned to another direction to see that she was fighting beside Misha and Claire, and suddenly, a loud boom was heard and then a headless Vajra was seen standing on its hind legs among the horde before falling on its back.

"Oh, man. I know only ONE person who kills like that," Zeke chuckled. "That damned Devil. He already beat us on the first large Aragami kill in this mission. Dammit..!"

"Zeke, stay focused!" Lulu reminded him. "More coming!"

"Right!" Both Zeke and Levin nodded.

In their area, Misha and Claire have their assault guns blazing as they are starting to push the horde farther from their group, leaving small piles of corpses in their wake.

"I figured you girls could use some help," Ricardo began sweeping his ray gun.

"Right on time, thanks. I'm about to run out." Misha smiled before shifting to her scythe, and then she turned to Frida.

"Uh, Frida. Are you alright?" Misha paused as she saw her friend frozen, also somewhat hyperventilating, and shaking. She also blinked her eyes a few times as if she was trying to shake some thoughts off. "Frida!"

"A-ah!" Frida turned to her.

"Are you OK?!" Misha asked again.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," Frida hesitantly held her scythe. "I can keep going..!"

"If you need to fall back, and rest for a bit, do so!" Misha advised her. "Ricardo, Claire, and I got this in the meantime..!"

"N-no, I'll keep fighting!" Frida gripped her scythe.

"Alright, don't doze off again," Misha warned.

Failing to cover her right flank quick enough, Claire saw an Ogretail already lunging at her, and it was already too close for her to react. Helpless, she braced herself with her assault gun.

"Phym, cover your aunt now!" Jerad cried before he activated his acceleration trigger, and began firing while running. Without a response, Phym quickly stood behind Misha and Frida, and began spraying her gun.

Just as the Ogretail was about to land on Claire, she suddenly heard a splatter in front of her followed by a loud fire before she was abruptly swept from behind, rolling a few times, and slid together against a rock. Hugging Claire tightly with his left arm while leaning against a wall, Jerad fired and killed a few opportunistic Aragami with a sniper gun in his right hand before the last three lunging Ogretails were sliced in two by Misha's Slaughter Fang.

"Hey! You alright?" Jerad gave her a light shake. "I'm here."

"Y-yes..," Claire nodded with her head still on his left chest.

"Let's go," Jerad released her before both stood up, and Claire dusted herself.

"Where's Phym?" Claire suddenly paused.

"She's with Misha," Jerad replied. "I'll come after the big boss. Just work with Phym together."

"What..?" Claire blinked her eyes. "Alone?!"

"Uh, yeah," Jerad plainly replied. "Boss killing is my forte, but there are a few bastards I want to get out of the way, first…"

Back in the ravine.

With a loud fury, Trista struck a Vajra's head down with her axe, and slammed the whimpering Aragami down. "Hah! You think sending your minions to distract me before moving in for the kill would work?!"

Then she held her axe back again before it protruded a spinning saw wheel. "I'm too good for your generic tricks. Die!"

And she swung her sawing axe down, and in a few seconds, the Vajra's head was sawed in half. Feeling an ominous air behind her, Trista quickly reactivated her acceleration trigger, and raised her moon up to block a Havakiri's surprise attack with a single hand.

'Just when did I suddenly become as sharp as Shin..?' Trista mused.

"Well, look at that, a Havakiri."

Then she chuckled with a grin. "I remember Shin had a hard time killing one of you before, and I wanted a taste of that challenge. Thanks for choosing me as your opponent."

And in response, the Havakiri hummed before it swung its other sword sideways, but Trista ducked, and counterattacked with a backwards spinning swing only to block it with its other sword. "Yes! This is gonna be fun. Try not to disappoint me."

"HAAA!" Rocketing forward, Zeke uppercutted a Vajra, stunning it before he jumped, and swung down, slamming its head back to the ground. "You're definitely mine now."

Then he started hammering the stunned Aragami's head with Doom Hammer, and after a few pounds, he powered his God Arcs turbines before smashing its head with Grand Finale. "Hah! One large Aragami kill for me!"

"That. Was. Brutal..," Lulu murmured.

"Is that a problem..?" Zeke murmured.

"I can't say so," Lulu plainly replied.

"Alright, then let's move on. Let's see if I can also claim the last one," Zeke grinned.

After swinging the Havakiri a few laps in a circle with her devour holding it, Trista tossed it against the wall. "Are you kidding me?" She grimaced. "It took Shin, and a few other of my guys to kill one, and I'm kicking your ass myself? Do you really suck, or..?"

Then she glanced at Shin's direction after hearing his voice, whom by convenient coincidence, was also fighting another Havakiri.

In Shin's duel, the Havakiri pointed both of its swords together at him, and once it fired its electric beam, Shin suddenly vanished in thin air and reappeared right in front of it before stabbing its head with his left sword. Hanging on it, Shin shifted his eyes down to its chest, and held his right sword back. "HRAH!"

Quickly burying his sword on its chest, Shin waited for its reaction until it started slumping before jumping a back somersault from it. "So, that's where your CNS core is."

Then he stood up. "The chest."

"I guess it's the latter..," Trista murmured.

"Need help with that?" Shin turned to his captain.

"Nah, you stay out of this!" Trista replied before her opponent launched itself from the wall in an attempt to quickly strike her, but she quickly raised her heavy moon to its direction, and was instantly strangled in its tracks by her devour. "This maggot is mine!"

Then she ran the Aragami back to the wall where it came from while her devour kept its grip with its jaws, and slammed it. "I've had enough of this."

With the stunned Aragami in front of her, Trista retrieved her devour, and pulled her heavy moon back before she thrusted it forward like a brass knuckle with her right hand, cutting the medium Aragami with the wall with it. "Oh, well. At least I had a bit of fun."

After the horde was finally reduced in much smaller numbers, the fiery Aragami finally decided to jump down, and after it landed, it began advancing towards the Hounds, taking steady steps.

"Here it comes," Hugo readied his sword. "Ready everyone?!"

"Hell yeah, I'm about to give this Ashborn a nice pounding," Zeke grinned. "Charge!"

Then unexpectedly, the wolf Aragami leapt towards them in a somersault, and pounded the ground with its paws. Everyone jumped in different directions to avoid its impact, and then it swept its claws to the left, knocking Hugo, Levin, Keith, and Zeke off, and then it quickly followed with the right sweep, also knocking Misha, Phym, Lulu, and Frida in turn.

"Frida!" Levin cried after recovering from a fall.

"Phym! You..!" Jerad growled as he sprinted towards their target with Claire following him before a Vajra suddenly landed in front of them, barring its sabertooth fangs. "Tch..! You wanna die that badly?! Get in my way, or suffer!"

"I'll provide support fire!" Claire armed her assault gun. "Take the front!"

"Roger..," Jerad scrunched his face before activating his acceleration, and rushing.

"A simple sweep won't be enough to hit me!" Shin began diving towards the wolf from above with Trista charging at it from below in his right flank, and as it turned to him, it began emitting embers from its paws. "What..?"

Then he widened his eyes as the embers quickly intensified. "Trista! Back off! That thing is going to-!"

And the wolf Aragami caused an explosion.

"AAAAARGH!"

"Shin!" Trista cried as she watched her vice captain crash into the ground in smoke.

Leaving a deep gash on its face, Jerad watched the stunned Vajra fall. "It's yours, Claire! Finish it!"

"Understood!" Claire aimed her gun at the incapacitated Aragami, and planted her bullets in it, ending the large beast. Then she also sprinted to catch up to him, who was already in pursuit of the infernal wolf.

"You'll pay for this, bastard!" Zeke rocketed himself towards it, and successfully landed a hit on its head. It only recoiled down a few inches before it irritably rose its head up in, sending Zeke in midair before he was quickly swatted down with its paw, pinning him against the ground. The impact caused him to choke out a small amount of blood.

"Zeke!" Hugo began charging with his sword drawn to help his friend as Lulu began firing her sniper gun to its face in hopes of pushing it away from him.

"Haaa!" Hugo swung his sword in full strength with his acceleration trigger, but the wolf Aragami blocked his strike with its other paw.

"Keith, get your brother out of there! I'll cover you!" Lulu cried. "Now! While Hugo is keeping it busy!"

"Right," Keith nodded before bravely running towards the fiery Aragami.

While Hugo was keeping hold of his sword against the wolf, he heard Misha shrieking from his right, also with her acceleration trigger on, and struck its shoulder with vertical fang before injuring it with cleave fang, successfully pulling the Aragami away from Zeke, and rolling it sideways with her scythe.

"Get him out of here, Keith!" Hugo cried.

"I got him!" Keith held his brother's arm over his shoulder. "He's still conscious!"

"Good!" Hugo glanced at the back. "Claire is over there! Take him to her!"

"Roger," Keith nodded before he began walking his brother who was still conscious enough to hold his hammer, and let it drag.

"Levin, Frida! Ready?" Hugo held his sword back.

"Right with you!" Levin also held his sword. "Let's go!"

Then the three charged in.

"Phym!" Jerad was only a few yards away from her while running. 'Phym..! Phym! Please be damn alright! '

And then he suddenly saw her do a Chinese get-up. "Oh…"

"That meanie..," Phym whined while dusting herself before seeing Jerad paused in front of her. "Daddy..? Daddy!"

Then she suddenly latched on him.

"Hey..!" Jerad watched her snuggle with him. "This is not the time for this, you know? No PDA during missions!"

"Pee Dee Ey?" Phym glanced up at him.

"No Public Display Affection," Jerad replied. "Go with mommy! Help her take care of Zeke!"

"Okay," Phym nodded before she took off.

"Hey!" Jerad cried before picking up her heavy moon. 'Damn, this thing is really heavy.' "Your God Arc."

"Um..," Phym hesitantly took her God Arc from his hand.

"Never, EVER go anywhere out here without it, you got that?" Jerad grimaced with his index finger raised. "Your God Arc is YOUR life. Get that mindset in your head."

"Okay..," Phym murmured.

"...OK, good," Jerad patted her head. "Now you can go."

"Okay," Phym smiled again before she ran to Claire's direction.

Jerad sighed before finally heading towards his target.

Meanwhile…

"Shin! Shin!" Trista was running towards a higher level before she jumped up, and paused. "What the hell..?"

She saw Shin rolling himself on the ground. "The hell you doing, Shin?"

Then he finished rolling in another direction before standing up. "Uh, putting the fire out, of course."

"Huh?" Trista furrowed her eyes.

"You ever heard of stop, drop, and roll?" Shin picked up his blades.

"Oh, whatever. You're OK, at least," Trista shrugged.

"Dammit..!" Shin examined his clothes. "It's all burned. Now I have to replace this?"

"Uh, aren't you ninjas always the type to wear rags?" Trista smiled.

"Definitely not me," Shin grimaced. "You seem to know too much about them…"

"What? You gonna kill me?" Trista rebuked. "I'm not exactly a fan of them, but they're popular as hell in the old western movies besides cowboys and cyborgs. Year 80s or something."

"Oh," Shin paused. "Alright."

"Go watch more TV, you nerd," Trista chuckled. "You can still learn a thing or two from them, and still have fun at the same time."

"Guess I'll try later," Shin tore a burned fabric off his scarf. "Anyway, let's get going."

"Roger that," Trista chuckled.

In Ashcrawler Chrysanthemum.

Amy continued observing the resonance radar before she suddenly heard static in her headphones.

"As…awle….. ...an..uo..ear me?"

"Hm?" Amy quickly turned to her console, and suspicious of this unknown transmission, she hesitantly turned the radio frequency knob. "Radio check. This is Ashcrawler Chrysanthemum. I read you weak with static. Identify yourself."

"Th…s..usty Miller. Radio check," A familiar voice was finally heard.

"I now read you loud, and clear," Amy replied. "Identify yourself.

"Good, I can hear you now. This is Dusty Miller One, and I have an urgent message for your God Eaters in the field! I'm picking them up in my resonance radar, and it's very important!" Ein said. "Can you relay this information for me?"

"Sure, please!" Amy held her headphones. "Anything that will help them! They already got all their hands tied!"

"Calm down, and listen carefully. Take notes if you have to," Ein warned. "Their lives could depend on this."

"Is this all you got? I'm not even at 100% yet," Jerad held his spear against the wolf's claw with a grin. "Don't tell me spamming minions is all you're good at. You're quite a pushover for an Ashborn, and I was expecting something a little more fun. Well, whatever. Your head would still be worth a pretty penny."

Then with an activation of his accelerator trigger, Jerad shoved the fiery Aragami back, and quickly rushed in with a stab to its face. "Eat shit, you fucker!"

And he thrusted with all his strength, and sent the wolf Aragami rolling back.

"Aah..!" Zeke shook his head. "Oh, man. Am I dead?"

"No..," Keith shook his head. "You're still among the living, bro."

Then Zeke suddenly sat up.

"Hey! Don't make sudden movements," Claire warned. "You could have a broken bone or two right now."

"Well, I think I'm alright," Zeke opened and closed his hands, and then moved both of his legs. "I think I can still fight again. Hah! Let's regroup!"

"Are you kidding..?" Jerad plainly stared at his spearhead. "I pushed this thing on you as hard as I could, and I'm surprised it didn't bury itself that much. I honestly thought you'd be done for…Did my spear become dull from all this killing, or is your head that thick?"

Then he chuckled. "I don't care, either way. That means I can toy with you a little longer."

And the wolf began lifting itself up with its paws.

"Hey! You be careful, alright?" Hugo stood beside him followed by Misha, who are now rejoined by the rest. "That monster can still fight..!"

"Of course," Jerad murmured. "I just stabbed this bastard straight, and didn't even crack its skull."

"Brother, please just finish this," Misha pleaded. "No more playing around."

"Heh, that goes without saying," Jerad shrugged. "I just told you I tried to skewer its head. I guess I'll just have to take it to a new level, and…"

Then they paused as the Aragami stood up before it made its ear piercing howl again. Everyone covered their ears until the howl subsided.

"Tch..! Annoying bastard..!" Jerad held his ear. "I better not have any ringing in my ears tonight!"

But before he can charge in, and attack, a new horde of Aragami suddenly popped out of the ground along with yellow sparks still gathering down, spawning more Aragami. This time, with several more mediums, Nemains, and Chi-Yous. A pair of Vajras also jumped down from the ravine's surface, guarding Marduk before the Hounds took a few steps back.

"No way! Are we ever going to run out of these critters?!" Zeke held his hammer. "Is there really any end to this?!"

Meanwhile.

"Holy shit! It just called more Aragami as if all our efforts are just wasted!" Trista complained.

And an Ogretail suddenly unearthed behind them.

"Shin!" Trista cried. "Behind you!"

But Shin quickly turned around, and effortlessly sliced its head off with a left back swing.

"Oh..," Trista paused. "Good reflex."

"Hmph! They'll never learn when to stop attacking me from behind, don't they?" Shin grimaced.

"Attention all Hounds!" Amy suddenly transmitted. "Dusty Miller just contacted me, and he wants to relay this information to you!"

"Dusty Miller..?" Hugo paused. "Ein..? Make this quick! The horde could attack us at any time now!"

"That Aragami is NOT an Ashborn!" Amy said. "It's a Psion!"

"What..?" Jerad held his earpiece. "Psion..?!"

"That large Aragami in front of you is identified as Marduk," Amy continued. "A Psion type known to have the ability to control Oracle cells in its vicinity, and summon nearby Aragami! The only way to stop it from spawning and summoning more of them is to slay it. Eliminate it as soon as possible!"

"Understood!" Hugo nodded.

"Ho ho, this is just perfect," Jerad grinned. "I figured killing this big boss would be the way to beat this stage. Boss killing is my thing."

"Stage..?" Hugo furrowed his eyes. "You mean MISSION?"

"Oh, I guess you don't get it, then," Jerad replied. "I'll tell you later…"

"Wow, I've heard stories of these a long time ago..," Ricardo murmured. "This is the first I've seen one…"

"Huh..?" Claire turned to him.

"Uh..never mind," Ricardo scratched his head with a chuckle. "Just mumbling to myself…hey."

He called Frida who was staring blankly at one of the two Vajras…

Three years ago, a silhouette of an Aragami from afar was seen howling from a cliff while the refugees were running.

"Frida, don't look back!" Her father cried. "Stay with me! Keep going!"

"Hey!"

Frida suddenly felt a slap on her shoulder.

"You alright, missy? This is NOT the time to be dosing around, OK?" Ricardo admonished her.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," Frida held her scythe, and then Jerad glared at her.

"So, are these fuckers gonna attack us, or what?" Jerad grimaced. "Then I guess we get the first serve. Sis, Little Reaper, it's time for both of you to shine. Bring death to them."

"...Right," Misha nodded before holding her scythe.

"Y-yeah..," Frida firmly held her scythe.

"Ready, Levin?" Hugo turned to him.

"Always," Levin readied his sword.

"Do it..!" Jerad ordered before both girls activated her acceleration trigger, and swung their round fangs, slicing several Aragami who have been creeping towards them that are now caught by their scythes. Then the horde charged.

"Levin, Engage!" Hugo cried before a yellow light flashed between them, and during that time, the twins already devoured Aragami to enter Burst.

"Go get 'em, brother!" Jerad shot a Burst round at Hugo.

"Help yourself!" Misha shot a Burst round at Levin. "I'll cover both of you!"

"I'm coming for you," Jerad grinned at Marduk's direction. "You're mine!"

Then he dashed as Misha began swinging her Inferno Rush to support Levin, and Hugo.

"Shin, let's go!" Trista jumped down.

"Right," Shin also jumped down, and activated his acceleration trigger as he ran. After a few steps, he suddenly vanished with a sonic boom.

As the two were approaching to regroup, Jerad was confronting two Vajras, and one of them fired a stream of thunder balls at him. Backflipping from the blasts and missing him, he grimaced as in the midst of their two on one confrontation, Marduk lunged at him.

"Damn you..!" Jerad gritted his teeth as he responded against its leap with a devour, strangling its neck with its jaws before swinging it over him, tossing it amongst the horde. Then a Vajra lunged at him which was following closely behind Marduk, and having his devour still out, Jerad directed his God Arc to bite its chest before slamming it against the ravine wall into submission.

In the meantime, after Frida slew a handful of Aragami to protect Levin's flank, Marduk landed only a few yards in front of her before it stood up, and having a more clear look at the beast, she froze in place…

"Frida, go!" Her father cried as the Marduk and the two Vajras chased them into a corner.

"B-but, Dad..!" Frida froze. "I'm not..!"

"Dear, please forget about us, and live," Her mother tearfully said.

However, before Frida could argue, her father suddenly grabbed her, and threw her into an alley with all his strength. She rolled several times, and when she raised her head, she saw Marduk and the two Vajras lunge at her parents' direction at the end of the alley followed by the screams of her refugees left before some of the blood splattered on the entrance. Being spotted by one of the hungry Vajras, it quickly tried to squeeze itself through the alley to grasp her with its claw, and frightened, Frida ran to the other end of the alley as the Vajra pulled itself out and ran around the building in its pursuit.

"You..!" Frida almost sobbed, gritting her teeth. "You took them!"

Then she rushed towards it with her scythe raised, and struck it, but Marduk blocked her with its armored paw and swatted her. Frida rolled a few yards back, and determined to stand up again, she kept her eyes on the beast. Marduk quickly melted the ground beneath its paws, and slung magma at her. Frida managed to shield herself against it, but quickly lost her grip from the magma's heat, dropping her God Arc, and with the way God Arcs were programmed, it automatically switched back to weapon form. Marduk quickly lunged in front of her and she quickly stumbled back down, shuddering as she stared at the beast towering over her.

"Mom…Dad..help me..!" Shivering, Frida's tears began seeping down from her wide eyes before she screamed…

Everyone froze at the sound of their friend's voice.

"That voice..," Levin quickly turned to Frida's direction, and to his horror, saw Marduk raising its paw above her as his bodyguard still sat frozen. "Frida!"

Still in Engage with Hugo, he sliced an Ogretail obstructing his direction, and began desperately running towards Marduk, slicing any Aragami that stood in his way.

"Misha! Help her!" Jerad cried while still pinning a Vajra against the wall with his devour. "ENGAGE WITH HER NOW! SNAP HER OUT OF IT!"

"I'm on it!" Misha began running behind Levin while concentrating her mind. "Brother! I can't Engage with her! I couldn't get my mind into her!"

"FORCE IT, DAMMIT!" Jerad quickly released the Vajra before charging his spear, and with a desperate cry, he delivered a fatal blow with Mocking The Gods. Much to his frustration, another Vajra lunged at him, and he avoided its pounce by jumping up high before landing on its shoulder. He quickly buried his spear on its upper spine, and the Aragami cried. Remembering the time he rode on a Barbarius in Pennywort, he pulled his spear back, and as he had hoped, the Vajra ran towards Marduk in panic, swatting any Aragami that stood in its way.

'Frida, please!' Misha held her head after slicing a few Aragami in her way. 'Calm down even for just a bit! Open your mind!'

Then she heard Levin in front of her make a desperate cry before jumping behind Marduk, activating his acceleration trigger, and landing and stabbing its back.

Frida suddenly blinked her eyes at the sight, being reminded of the time she saw a human silhouette with a long blade stab a Vajra in front of her before the rest of the House Victorious squad finished the beast off.

Seeing this, Misha held her head again, and concentrated. 'Frida! We're here for you! Just open your mind, and..!'

Then she felt her mind flow into her, like pressurized air finally flowing through an opened valve, and Frida suddenly gasped as a yellow light covered her. Marduk was flailing itself before Levin's sword finally lost its grip, and flung him to the side, then the Aragami turned its attention to him.

Seeing him about to be in harm's way, Frida quickly grabbed her scythe, ran a few yards with a scream, and Marduk turned back to her, but as it did, she jumped, activated her acceleration trigger, and swung her scythe upwards, striking the Aragami's left eye before landing back. The scarred wolf growled with rage before it lunged at its would-be prey, but Frida deflected with a swing of her scythe, and quickly followed with a round fang, striking its chest with immense force, and followed it with another round fang. For a few seconds, she relentlessly sliced the Aragami from all directions until she inflicted enough pain until it collapsed, and then as she raised her scythe to finish it with a vertical fang, she felt her arms throb before whimpering in pain, losing her grip of her scythe. She held her tingling numb right arm, and helplessly stared up as Marduk quickly recovered and began melting the ground beneath it…

'I'm so weak after all,' She bowed down with closed eyes. 'I'm not worthy of him, but as long as he's safe, I…'

And hearing another growl, she opened her eyes, and stared up in newfound relief as Jerad's Vajra collided with Marduk as it was about to fling magma at her, pinning it down with its claws until Marduk shoved back. Jerad kept tilting his spear in hopes of keeping control of the Vajra's movements.

"Frida..are you OK?" Levin suddenly knelt beside her from exhaustion, no longer Engaged with Hugo, and she turned to him. "I'm so glad…"

And he wearily placed his hand on her shoulder.

Then out of impulse, Frida latched onto him just as her Engage faded, ignoring the pains of her spasmed arms, and buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing.

"There, it's OK..," Levin embraced her back with one arm.

"Frida!" Misha ran up to them. "You're OK, right?!"

"Y-yeah," Realizing what she just did, Frida pushed herself away from him. "I'm fine…Ugh!"

"You must have suffered muscle spasms!" Claire exclaimed. "You need to rest, and we'll treat you with a careful massage when we come back."

"I'll be fine," Frida held her right arm, gritting her teeth.

"No! I will NOT accept that as an answer!" Claire argued. "You will be treated accordingly. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Frida murmured in defeat before an Ogretail cry was heard.

"Misha! Phym!" Claire cried.

"We got you," Misha held her scythe before slicing several approaching ones while Phym sliced a few with her heavy moon.

"Cover us, we need to pull Frida out of the area!" Claire held Frida's arm above her shoulder. "Levin, cover their rear. The rest will take care of them."

"Understood," Levin grunted while he stood up.

'If only I could make this fucker fry it with thunderbolts!' Jerad held his spear until Marduk pounced, and seeing that he could no longer keep up the fight, he pulled his God Arc away before jumping off. The two large Aragami fought for a few seconds, clawing and biting each other until Marduk pinned the exhausted Vajra down, and crushed its skull with its paw. While still trying to regain its bearing, Jerad took advantage of it by jumping again, and landing a successful hit against its head with Stardust Rain, pushing the Marduk back.

"It's just you, and me now, bastard!" Jerad charged his spear. "Let's go!

"Here's my favorite Burst Art!" Zeke jumped with his hammer raised. "Enjoy it!"

Then he finished a Chi-You with Lost Memory, and he laughed. "Quite a tough nut to crack, but still not tough enough to withstand the Mad Hammer."

"This was really quite the chore," Ricardo wiped his head. "Just glad the Devil is keeping it busy now. Can't call more of its friends like that. Haha!"

"We just exterminated all Aragami in this area," Lulu said. "How about…?!"

"Claire, and company are pulling Frida out," Hugo arrived followed by Trista and Shin. "You guys help them out, and we'll assist Jerad in taking Marduk down! Let's split again!"

"Understood!" Lulu nodded.

"Trista! Shin! We're heading in!" Hugo turned to the Marduk's direction. "Let's finish this!"

"Right on!" Trista smiled.

"Grrrah!" Jerad held his shaft against the exhausted Aragami before it swatted him back. "Stubborn bastard. Why not just give it up, and let me claim your head."

Then Marduk attempted another howl, but due to its fatigue, Jerad was able to stop it.

"Shut up!" He landed another Stardust Rain, and pushed Marduk a few steps back before it made a quick jump towards him.

"What the..? Ugh!"

Gliding in midair, Marduk blasted him up close with its paws, sending Jerad rolling back before Marduk made a follow up pounce for him. Bracing himself, Jerad deployed his shield to prepare for the worst, but in time with his acceleration trigger on, Hugo swatted it, and sent it tumbling back.

"Told you not to play with it," Hugo smiled.

"Tch..! Did it look like I am, brother-in-law?" Jerad furrowed his eyes. "Been dying to kill this thing, and add it to my score!"

"Score..?" Shin chuckled.

"What..?" Jerad turned to him.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later," Shin chuckled again.

"How's that Little Reaper, by the way..?" Jerad turned his murderous sight to Marduk, which was still recovering.

"Don't worry about her, anymore," Trista shook her head. "Your fiancée is taking care of her."

"Good," Jerad murmured. "Now, let's get this over with."

"Right," Hugo held his sword. "Let's do this!"

Then the four rushed in as Marduk roared.

"There," Claire placed Frida against the wall. "Let me massage your arms a bit to help ease your muscle tensions."

"Sheesh, you're one lucky gal, you know that?" Zeke grinned while resting his hammer on his shoulder. "Fighting that dog like a demon until the real Devil rodeo'ed that Vajra and saved your ass from being its lunch…Oh, speaking of that."

Then he held his chin. "Riding a freakin' Aragami?! Who would have thought of that? I never ever imagined that could happen! That's a new level of badass, I tell ya, and I give him ten outta ten for that one."

"Then I hope you're happy," Lulu closed her eyes.

"Ho ho, I just remembered, this wasn't the first he did that," Zeke's grin widened.

"What..?" Lulu raised her eyes.

"I can't believe we forgot to tell Sofia about this, but back in Pennywort, he rode on a Barbarius' back to save Hugo's ass. Remember that, Misha?" Zeke laughed, who was soon followed by Claire.

"Yeah..," Misha blankly nodded.

"Man, he must like gettin' his kicks riding Aragami around!" Zeke laughed again. "What is he? A cowboy?"

"Cowboy..?" Claire blinked her eyes.

"Well, he is North American, isn't he?" Levin chuckled before turning to Misha. "Aren't you?"

"Um, that's what our parents told us," Misha frowned. 'Mom, and dad would probably be laughing if they were here.'

"Haha! That would have been hilarious if Jerad were to scream, 'YEEHAW!'" Zeke held his stomach. "I would have given him eleven out of ten with that."

Then Zeke, Keith, Ricardo, and Levin laughed.

"Yeah, I wanna ride Aragami with daddy next time!" Phym cheerfully raised her hands with her God Arc. "YEE-HA!"

"Atta girl!" Zeke patted her head. "Do it!"

"Good lord, you kids do the craziest things all the time, you know that?" Ricardo held his head.

"We definitely love to live dangerously," Zeke proudly grinned.

"So, what is this cowboy thing, anyway?" Keith rubbed his chin. "A guy who takes care of cows?"

Then Ricardo, and Zeke laughed.

"I'm…curious, myself," Lulu murmured.

"Hah, you need to watch some movies, Keith," Zeke grinned. "Old western ones are the best, and I'm sure the She-Wolf would agree."

"From what I know, it's a big historical culture thing in North America," Ricardo explained. "Basically rugged men riding horses during those old times with their hand guns blazing. Garret, and Amber from the She-Wolf's unit are probably living proof of that. I heard they used to ride them together in America when they're kids."

"Whoa, that must be hell of a lot fun!" Zeke exclaimed.

"Humans riding animals..?" Lulu mused. "I never heard of this.., and riding horses?"

"It's been historically practiced around the world," Ricardo added. "In some of the Far East regions, they even rode elephants."

"Elephants?!" Lulu gasped. "Those things are enormous!"

"Well, humanity will always find ways to tame the the wildest beasts," Ricardo stared up. "It's always been our nature. Maybe one day, we'll even tame Aragami."

"Aragami, huh..?" Lulu murmured. "Very compelling..but I can't comment on that yet."

"Heh, if you ask me, we already have someone who can," Zeke snickered. "Claire."

And he burst out laughing.

"What do you mean..?" Claire grimaced.

"You and the Devil," Zeke smirked. "Or should I say, the Beauty and the Beast."

And Claire pouted as Misha started laughing, who was soon followed by Levin, and then everyone.

"Have you read that folktale?" Levin chuckled.

"No..!" Claire shook her head, still pouting.

"That's..quite surprising," Levin grinned. "Considering the myriad of books you have read."

"Well, I don't read a lot of stories," Claire winced.

"Serious talk, but we do have you to thank for," Zeke murmured. "Jerad was like a rabid dog before he met you. An unstoppable one, sometimes."

"Well..you're welcome," Claire crossed her arms, blushing.

Then Zeke turned his attention to Frida. "By the way, why aren't you laughing?"

"Excuse me..?" Frida replied while wincing from Claire, and Misha's massages.

"Yep," Zeke flashed his eyebrows. "You're allowed to laugh, you know? You should be glad you're still alive."

"Zeke, please allow her to rest," Claire sighed. "I understand what you're trying to do. Thank you."

"Oh, fine," Zeke shrugged. "I'll tell you what. You're really lucky, you know?"

"Hm?" Frida looked up again.

"Just remembering some dark pasts, but you're the first one Jerad managed to save..or more like WE saved," Zeke frowned. "We've seen people like you before…"

"Huh..?" Claire paused.

"The only difference is, they weren't as lucky," Zeke turned away. "Those people would break down in the middle of an Aragami skirmish, screaming for their moms and dads before getting eaten alive by those bastards…We did our damndest to try saving them..but in the end, the only ones left were us."

Then he shook his head. "We lost too many buddies than we can count..guy or girl, Aragami just never cared, even Pennywort didn't give a single shit. Seeing how desperate Jerad was...I had this gut feeling that he saw them in you…"

And he turned back to Frida. "That's why I really think you should be happy to be still here, so don't look so glum, OK? Just keep getting better, and kick some more ass. We all got better because we're still alive."

"OK..," Frida looked down.

Then a yellow flash loomed from a distance.

"Hoo, boy. Looks like they'll be done soon," Ricardo chuckled.

Trista laughed. "Engaging with you?! That's a hell of a rush I'm feelin'!"

Then she swung her axe at Marduk's face, causing it to flinch with a whimper.

"Oh, we're not finished with you yet!" Jerad followed with a spear thrust in Marduk's face. "Dammit! Your stubbornness is as hard as your skull! Maybe I should borrow Zeke's hammer to break it!"

And with an immense amount of force, Jerad continued thrusting his spear until he sent Marduk flying against the wall. The Aragami fell on the ground a few seconds after before standing back up.

"Wow, you're still alive?" Jerad snickered. "I thought Ashborns would be more resilient than you are."

Then Marduk unexpectedly glanced up, and began jumping up the wall.

"Shit! It's trying to get away!" Trista cried. "Shin!"

"No need to tell me," Shin readied his sniper gun the same time as Jerad and Hugo before they started firing. They aimed at all the ledges Marduk tried to climb on until their shots caught up to its movement, and one of their explosive custom rounds exploded below its feet before falling back down.

"Hm, I guess this is all yours, buddy," Hugo rested his shotgun on his shoulder. "You did most of the work for it, and punish it for almost killing Frida, too."

"Gah, I think I got enough for more booze today, anyway," Trista clicked her tongue before her Engage faded.

"And please no torture this time," Hugo furrowed his eyes. "End it…now."

"Much obliged..," Jerad began walking towards his prey.

"Torture, huh?" Trista turned to Hugo only to see him quietly shake his head.

Still in Burst, Jerad glared down at the weakened wolf before activating his acceleration trigger, and charging his spear. Realizing now that there is no escape, the Marduk made its last charge at the Devil, and lunged with its molting paws before Jerad countered it with Mocking The Gods, almost obliterating its upper torso, and sending the rest of its charred body back to the wall. Due to the incinerating nature of his Oracle energy, the rest of its body began fading into ash.

"Heh, finally," Jerad said with a faint smile. "At least this thing still died trying…"

And he began rotating his right arm. "Ooh, I'm so tired right now. 80 kills. 72 smalls, 6 mediums, and 2 larges."

"Holy shit..!" Trista froze. "With all the craziness around here, you still managed to keep count?"

"Uh, yeah," Jerad made a plain smile. "Gotta keep counting because my money has been riding on this."

"I will say this again, please don't worry," Amy giggled. "I kept count of all your kills. Hound 8, you tallied up at 74 kills. 70 smalls, 3 mediums, and 1 large."

"Thank you," Trista sighed. "I was a bit worried."

"You're going to make one hell of a secretary, you know that?" Hugo chuckled. "I can only imagine how hard it was to keep track of each of us fighting in the resonance radar."

"Thank you," Amy smiled. "I truly appreciate the compliment."

"Alright, you all finally caught up to your breaths, right?" Hugo smiled before turning to Jerad. "You're satisfied now?"

"Hell yeah, brother," Jerad grinned. "I wanna get out of here, already."

"Um, sorry to hustle you a bit, but..," Amy paused. "Dusty Miller's supply fleet is still en route to your position, so I recommend egressing out of there as soon as possible. Please."

"Oh, almost forgot that," Hugo almost gasped. "Let's regroup with everyone, and then get out of this ravine! Let's board our trucks, and drive back here. I want to keep escorting them until we're sure they're safe!"

"That was really ambitious, Hound 3," Hilda suddenly said. "Going beyond the call of duty, but yes please. I'm sure the Dusty Miller's owner will appreciate that."

"Right," Hugo nodded.

A few minutes later.

"Hey, guys. Is everyone OK?" Hugo and the other three ran to them.

"We've had more than just a nice break," Zeke grinned. "It was fun watching you guys kill that thing…Hey you, man!"

"What..?" Jerad blinked his eyes.

"Badass move for the day!" Zeke armlet banged with him. "10 out of 10 for that one. Riding a Vajra like that? If only you screamed "YEEHAW!" during that rodeo, you could have got an 11 out of 10 for that!"

"...Ha?" Jerad froze dumbfounded before everyone laughed, especially Shin.

"Oh, man. That reminded me of those two," Shin chuckled. "Especially Amber. She says that time to time."

"Oh..," Jerad blinked his eyes. "I do remember that."

"C'mon, act more like a true American," Zeke put his arm around his shoulder.

"And what do you know about being an American..?" Jerad gave him an awkward smile.

"You know? Like..being warlike, that's definitely checked off your list," Zeke grinned before Claire suddenly laughed

Then Jerad glanced at her for a few seconds. "Uh, OK. Happy to have that checked off, then."

"I gotta agree with him, kid," Ricardo laughed. "I've met a few American God Eaters during my time, and I gotta say…some of you guys really don't take fighting Aragami seriously."

And he chuckled. "It's like it's in your blood to fight..You guys wanna live the moment each time."

"Oh..," Jerad paused. 'Is dad like this..?'

"Annd one more thing," Zeke smirked.

"Mhm?" Jerad replied with lack of enthusiasm.

"Eat more hamburgers..," Zeke flashed his eyebrows. "Be a burger man…"

"Burgers, huh..?" Jerad's face slightly fell.

"Zeke..," Lulu facepalmed. "That is so stereotypical..Enough."

'Dad..,' Misha watched her brother.

"Daddy, can we try hambuga?" Phym cheerfully tugged him. "Does it taste good..?"

"Uh, you ate one before, remember?" Jerad let his spear lean on his shoulder before plainly making a hand gesture of squeezing the top and bottom of a hamburger.

"Ah! I wanna eat one again," Phym smiled. "It was GOOD!"

"Anyway, that's it," Zeke turned to his friend. "Hey..you OK? You look a bit gloomy."

"Huh? No, whatever," Jerad shook his head. "How's the Little Reaper?"

"She's OK now, but I don't think she can continue fighting for today," Claire replied.

"Good," Jerad turned his eyes on Frida. "Still among the living, huh?"

"T-thank you..for saving me," Frida shyfully murmured.

"Heh, no problem. You're still with us," Jerad flashed his eyebrows with a smile. "You won't be like this, next time. We got that boot camp going on tomorrow for you with sis, remember? You still up for it?"

Then as Jerad gave her an expecting stare while waiting for her answer, he recalled watching old videos of his homeland's military training regimen, and why they trained their recruits the way they always did before he went to sleep last night. It was even amazing for him that they still carried this tradition in training their recruit God Eaters, and the only answer he knows of this reason is so they could handle stress in the face of battle, even death; something he knew Frida must learn better. Perhaps, Ricardo's claim of most American God Eaters being warlike has some credibility to it.

"I am," Frida gave him a resolute gaze. "Anything. Anything I have to do to get stronger! Please train me!"

Then Jerad made a sinistral snicker before Levin turned to him.

"Good answer," Jerad flashed his eyebrows. "I won't go easy on you, so you better give it your all. Whatever training you got from House Victorious, it's going to be different, to say the least. Starting tomorrow at 0500, we'll start making a Devil out of you, both my sister and I. Be sure to rest up tonight."

'Damn right, you will. I'll grill you so much that killing Aragami would be something you'll live for…even crave for. You're not even in shape enough to fight like Misha, that's why you cramped. It won't be anything like with Claire, but this is the only way.'

Then he clicked his tongue as he walked off, and then feeling the pressure, Frida clutched her arms.

"Frida, please don't worry," Misha held her shoulder. "He's already just trying to scare you, but…don't let it get to you."

"It's…OK," Frida murmured. "I can't…settle for this anymore. I have to get better..whatever the cost. Miss Claire.., I'm ready."

"Oh..yes," Claire stood up. "Do you need help?"

"I'm fine…thank you," Frida struggled to use her arms to shift her weight to her legs, and after a grunt, Claire reached out to help. "No..! Please..!"

She took great pains to also pick up her scythe, and Jerad watched her with a faint smile.

"Let's move out!" Hugo pointed at the nearest path to walk to the top of the ravine, and for miles of jogging back to their trailers, Frida endured the lingering ache and numbness of her arms for a few miles before they reached their trailers. After they packed their God Arcs inside their vehicles, Frida tried to use her arms to lift herself with the handle to enter the back of her trailer, but Levin unexpectedly gave her a lift before both sat inside. The trailers started, and with Hugo and Misha's trailer leading them, the other two followed, heading back to their previous battlefield.

A few minutes later.

"Here we are," Hugo stopped his trailer near the chasm.

"I see dust ahead," Misha pointed at the window. "That must be them."

"Everyone, listen up," Hugo held his earpiece. "Once the Dusty Miller convoy arrives, we'll drive along with them from here on top, keeping the same speed as them, and be on the lookout for any Aragami in the area. Alert all of us right away if you spot one. Understood?"

"Roger," Jerad responded.

"We got you," Trista followed.

"If possible, have one lookout sitting on top of each trailer as our eyes and ears," Hugo added. "We'll escort them until they exit the ravine."

"Attention all Hounds. Ravine escort will be about 10 miles until they exit," Amy also added.

"Ho ho, definitely going in for that," Zeke grinned. "Ten miles of sightseeing. Thanks for taking over my navigator spot, Misha."

"No problem," Misha shrugged. "Have fun up there."

"Shin, obviously you're best for this," Trista kept driving. "Get up there."

"Roger," Shin unclipped his seatbelt, and moved to the back to retrieve his God Arc.

"I'll also be the rear gunner, if that helps," Ricardo also pulled his God Arc out as Shin swung himself to the top with his sniper gun.

"Anything helps," Trista replied.

"That's a good idea," Lulu suddenly said. "Keith, could you also be our rear gunner?"

"No problem," Keith loaded his God Arc. "Ready, and on stand by."

"Levin, do you mind being our rear gunner?" Jerad glanced back.

"No problem, friend," Levin readied his God Arc.

"Here they come," Hugo shifted his stick to gear 1 as the convoy's dust passed them below, and they started feeling the rumble caused by the behemoths. "Let's move!"

Then the three trailers drove along the three ashcrawlers traveling in the ravine in a single file line.

"Chrysanthemum, this is Dusty Miller Two. We greatly appreciate your extended service, and our governor would like to extend his thanks to you. You'll be compensated accordingly."

"Uh..," Hugo paused. "You're…welcome."

"All Hounds, be advised that I will continue observing the resonance radar for any potential threats," Amy said. "Convoy speed at 15 knots constant. Continue your escort."

"Roger, thanks," Hugo responded.

Then for the next 3 miles, the trailers drove along the three ashcrawlers safely traveling through the ravine.

'Man,' Zeke squinted at the convoy below him. 'Looking at these things from up here, they really seem bigger than I thought. '

He continued admiring the three large ships cruising inside the ravine, following each other for a few hundred yards apart, and smoothly turning around the curves before their engines roared louder after the apex of each turn.

"Warning! Small Aragami density detected approaching the ravine from bearing 020," Amy exclaimed. "Ogretails identified."

"What? Where?" Zeke stood up, and started looking around.

"From the other side of the chasm, northeast," Amy replied.

"Shin, and I got this," Lulu responded. "Just sit tight, Zeke. Keep watching the close proximity!"

"Oh, man," Zeke sat back down. "That's no fun."

"Hah, if only you're a sniper like me," Jerad laughed as gun fires were heard.

"Oh, shut up, you're missing out," Zeke rebuked. "I'm having the best view out here right now."

"Whatever you say," Jerad chuckled.

"Cut the chatter, both of you!" Hugo admonished them. "We are still on duty. Keep your eyes out."

"Tch..! Yes, sir..," Zeke murmured.

"Threat cleared," Amy reported. "Continue your escort."

"Roger," Hugo replied.

And 5 miles later.

"Warning! Aragami herd approaching the ravine detected from bearing 100," Amy reported.

"Shit..! That's on our side!" Jerad exclaimed. "Lulu, do you see them?"

"Not..yet," Lulu replied.

"There, I see them!" Zeke pointed while looking through his binoculars. "They're coming for us! Fast!"

"Good thinking, Zeke!" Lulu pointed her gun at where Zeke was pointing. "I have them on visual now! Fix your God Arcs in that direction!"

"Everyone, let's drive into side by side formation!" Hugo held his earpiece. "They're all behind us, and we can maximize our firepower with all our rear gunners against them that way! Let's go!"

"Ooh, smart," Trista grinned before she saw Hugo's trailer steer to the side before Jerad, and then herself drove side by side.

"Ready?" Lulu fixed her aim as she waited for the herd to run within their range. "Fire!"

"Finally, I can at least blast a few of those!" Zeke aimed his shotgun before their guns from all three trailers started blazing. The first few Ogretails were hit before stumbling down, and tripping others, but also a few others managed to run around them.

"Hell yeah, take that!" Zeke began firing his slug rounds, and blasted a few Ogretails that managed to run through their rear gunners' fire. Nearby, Ricardo waved his ray gun laser to others lagging behind, preventing the rest of the herd from running any closer.

"This will totally stop them," Shin loaded his sniper gun with a custom round, and fired an arc several yards in front of the stampede before exploding, leaving nothing but dust.

"Woo!" Zeke flexed his right arm. "Nice shot there, buddy."

"You're welcome," Shin grinned as he pulled his charging handle back to discharge an empty case.

"We're almost finished, guys!" Hugo called out. "I can see the end of the ravine now!"

"Chrysanthemum, this is the captain of Dusty Miller Two. Thank you again for your extended service, and we will take it from here. You are now homefree."

"Hell yeah," Zeke flexed his arm again. "Finally goin' home!"

"Good job, guys!" Hugo smilled. "All lookouts, get back inside the truck before we turntail home."

"Goodwork everyone," Amy said. "Egress at bearing 150 to exit the combat zone. We'll be waiting for you back home."

Then after all the lookouts, and rear gunners settled safely back in their trailers, they turned south, and drove together in a single file.

Several minutes later, Hugo was quietly driving, and took one glance at Misha, who was quietly resting her cheek on her palm, staring out the window.

"Hey, sis. Guess what?"

"Hm..?"

"I'm going to be a God Eater…just like mom and dad! I want to be the best, and protect people just like them!"

"Oh..really?"

"Yeah! Do you know that mom and dad are actually the leaders protecting this base from Aragami? This one old man from Fenrir who knew dad told me, and it was so cool! Do you also want to become one so we'll fight Aragami together like mom and dad, and keep everyone safe?"

"Um, no. Not really…"

"Then, that's cool. I'll protect you, instead. Someday, I'll wear that uniform..just like dad! I'm gonna work for it."

"YOU DAMN MONSTER!"

"Heh, God Eater, you say? Don't make me laugh. You AGEs are not even human. You're nothing but dogs, and dogs only exist to obey humans. NOTHING MORE!"

"We AGEs were always looked at as monsters, anyway. What gives?"

"You know we aren't well liked. Plus, I'm a real mess, and if that's what you're looking for, then I don't think a relationship with her will fly. I don't think she'll be happy being together with me."

"You know, sometimes when I think about mom and dad, I've wondered from time to time what would they think of us, if they're still alive?"

"You are the Scion of House Victorious. Avoid any and all deeds that will sully that name."

Then Misha sniffled. 'I'm so sorry…'

"I'm starting to remember all our good times together, especially with mom and dad, but didn't you and dad also used to practice together? Just like what we are now?"

"What's wrong? I don't get it! You and dad were so close. You looked up to him! I just remembered you told me that you also wanted to be..!"

"Enough! I'd rather not talk about that. More importantly, I want to forget about it. Don't remind me again."

"Hey…"

'Mom..dad..,' Misha bitterly shut her eyes. 'Please..talk to him!'

"Hey!"

Then Misha gasped before she felt Hugo's hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see him staring at her with concern.

"You OK?" Hugo murmured. "You're totally spaced out, and…"

"Oh, I'm..fine," Misha shifted herself more comfortably, and turned her gaze back outside.

"You don't look like it..," Hugo turned back on the road. "If you don't mind, tell me. What's bothering you?"

Then Misha stared at him for a few seconds before turning her head back to her side window. "I was just thinking about my brother…"

"Hm?" Hugo took a quick glance at her. "Did something happen?"

"It's about what he said yesterday while we fought," Misha murmured. "You heard it, right?"

"Hmph..," Hugo continued driving. "I can't say I heard everything..but something about him, and your dad..?"

"Mm..," Misha nodded. "My brother…once wanted to be a God Eater like him."

"Huh..," Hugo glanced at her. "Really..?"

"Before that, our parents hardly ever told us about their jobs. They simply said they're working to keep us safe," Misha continued. "Until my brother met someone who was one of dad's colleagues, and that's when he learned what their real jobs are. They were actually in charge of not only protecting us, but everyone who lived behind the walls that were used to keep Aragami away. They have been fighting Aragami together for years, probably before my brother and I were even born. They were also high ranking officers in Fenrir."

"Whoa..," Hugo glanced at her again for a few seconds. "Amazing..! You two are really blessed."

"Our parents were excited when my brother told them that he wanted to follow them," Misha continued on. "My brother has been happier since…it was like..he had something bigger to look forward to, and would get excited whenever dad would find a spare time to practice with him."

Then she giggled. "Even our mom would drag me into it whenever she gets the chance each time they do."

And Hugo chuckled. "I see…but something about this is off."

"Hm," Misha glanced at him with anticipation.

"You mentioned 'once' earlier about your brother," Hugo murmured. "He is a strong God Eater now, isn't he? Just like your mom, and dad?"

"I don't think he sees it that way," Misha frowned. "Remember the time he told Claire that we're all monsters? That's how we've always been singled out. Always being told that we're not anything human anymore. I was even told how tainted I was..! And after that, I'm starting to know better how he feels."

Then Hugo bitterly groaned.

"And one time before we came to Chrysanthemum, my brother once asked me what our parents will think of us, if they're still here," Misha bitterly shook her head.

"That's just…wrong," Hugo grimaced.

"Which is exactly why I told him that they'll definitely be proud, if they're watching us right now," Misha continued. "But I don't think he's convinced. It became even more clear to me when I saw him in Arrowhead once…when we learned that Claire was nobility. That must have been really devastating for him…I started thinking that I shouldn't have pushed them together in the first place…all I did was hurt him. It all made sense to me now why he left us, and went on slaughtering Aragami alone when that Port was attacked later. He was definitely hurt…and just wanted to fight so he could cope with all this. What have I done..?"

And she sniffled. "Is there something I could do to help him? I've known for a while that he's been going through great lengths for my sake..but what have I done for him in return? I definitely owed him a lot, and yet here I am still pushing them together. I'm starting to think how stupid I've been..! If only mom and dad were still here…"

"Hey..hey..it's OK," Hugo held her shoulder again. "You're not tainted, OK? None of us are, we're just different just like other God Eaters. I think you're doing fine for him because if you weren't, then he wouldn't be caring about you that much, that I can tell you. He rarely even gets mad at you."

Then he placed his right hand back on the steering wheel. "Listen. We'll just keep trying, and moving forward, OK? One day, he'll understand. I know he eventually will. He's stronger than that. He is just being too stubborn at the moment, and it will just take time until he gets it. For me, I don't even regret forcing Phym on him one bit, he needed it…and I honestly think neither should you about him, and Claire. I think you've been going on the right path on that. It was still funny to me how we both managed to fit them together, though. Haha!"

"...You think so?" Misha murmured.

"Of course..I mean that," Hugo grinned. "Though, there is at least one good thing I could say about him."

Then Misha quietly glanced at him.

"He had a dream once, so he knows what having one felt like," Hugo smiled. "Those must be his best moments. All that pride he had in his skill fighting Aragami. He needs to reopen that chest that he locked away long ago, and pick up your dad's torch again. Becoming the Devil of the Chrysanthemum..was a big step on his part whether he takes it or not."

'So, this is how you came up with an idea of being a God Eater defense unit in some run down base before Pennywort...You were still chasing it..until...'

And then he smiled at her. "So cheer up, OK? Maybe one day, your brother will look back, and thank you."

"Thanks," Misha faintly smiled.

Then Hugo scratched his head. "Plus, I can see our ship waiting ahead of us now, and I don't want your brother seeing you like that once we dock. We wouldn't want him asking questions."

"Yeah," Misha giggled before rubbing her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll think of something if he asks," Hugo chuckled. "Though, I'm glad I got to understand him better…"

"Hm..?" Misha blinked her eyes.

"That same day…I asked him who taught him how to fight with a spear," Hugo murmured. "He said he taught himself, but I was suspicious of that look he gave me. I knew he was definitely hiding something."

And he chuckled.

"Mm," Misha frowned.

"Your brother was such a bad liar," Hugo smiled. "There's definitely no shame in that, I mean that's from his dad.. but I can see why. He's gotta learn how to keep his poker face like he does in the game itself."

Then they both chuckled.

"Still, a part of me thinks I would have gotten along with your dad," Hugo smiled. "I never had parents myself, but he seems pretty mentory. I could learn a thing or two from him seeing how good your brother is."

And Misha chuckled. "I wouldn't be sure about mom, though. She was quite strict, and one wrong move, you could get grilled."

'H-he wants to meet our parents?!'

Then Hugo laughed in turn. "I think I could get used to that. That's only part of learning."

Almost 30 minutes later, the three trailers parked inside their ashcrawlers, and the hatch was completely shut. It was still mid afternoon, a relief Hugo had as this would give them more time to both resettle themselves back in, and sit and relax before cooking for dinner starts.

"OK, guys," Jerad shut his trailer down. "Unload."

And he turned back, and grinned. "You still with us, Little Reaper?"

"Um..yeah," Frida murmured.

"Hang in there, and don't let your soul leave you," Jerad grinned before glancing at Phym, who is still asleep on her lap. "Aww, that's so cute. Look at her, Claire."

Then Claire giggled. "Please head to the Medical Ward after we stow our God Arcs. I'll need to check your vitals as soon as possible."

"Understood," Frida nodded.

"I have to tell Zeke, too. He suffered burns," Claire closed her eyes. "I almost forgot…"

"I want to get off this truck already," Jerad grunted. "My ass HURTS from this long trip. Ugh! I can also feel my back stiffening."

"Maybe you really should have let me drive," Claire smirked.

"Maybe next time," Jerad smirked back. "Hey, Phym. Wake up."

Then Phym groaned. "Are we home yet..?"

"We are," Jerad smiled. "Quite a while ago, actually. Unload your God Arc."

"Okay," Phym sat up from Frida's lap, and yawned, also stretching herself.

"I'm out of here," Jerad finally opened the door, and jumped out before slamming it back.

"Attention all crew! We are preparing to depart. I repeat, we are preparing to depart!"

After hearing this, Jerad grunted as he stretched the rest of his somewhat sore body before he saw Misha already walking with her God Arc case.

"Hey, sis. Quite a long trip, huh?" Jerad waved before pausing. "You alright..?"

"Huh, what do you mean..?" Misha furrowed her eyes.

"Your eyes are a bit swollen..," Jerad also furrowed his eyes.

"Well..I'm definitely OK," Misha kept her face plain. "I think you're just…"

"Hey, guys," Hugo waved at them. "Finally home, huh? How about we-?"

"Brother. In. Law..," Jerad turned his plain gaze to him. "Did you make my sister cry?"

"Uh, no. Why would I?" Hugo pretended to be surprised. "Your sister just fell asleep, and had a bad dream so I woke her up. That's all."

"Oh, OK," Jerad let out a small sigh. "Well, I'll see you all in the God Arc Vault. Still had to grab my spear."

Then he waved back as he walked off. After he was finally out of sight being behind his trailer, the two glanced at each other, and smiled, trying not to laugh before walking together though the entrance door.

In the Medical Ward.

"Please sit, and relax. I'll attach a few contacts on your body," Claire said.

"Um," Frida paused.

"Great, shouldn't we have been here?" Jerad quickly turned away.

"It's fine..as long as you don't look," Claire murmured. "Frida won't have to remove her clothes."

"U-understood," Levin also turned away.

"Misha?" Claire raised her hand.

"Right here," Misha handed her the contacts before attaching one to Frida's wrist. "You can attach one on your chest yourself, if you want."

"Thank you," Frida took one contact, and slid one under her shirt."

"There," Claire finished. "I'll go ahead, and start the scan."

"Uh, we're good, right..?" Jerad kept his eyes away.

"Yes," Claire giggled before turning to the monitor. "All vital indications are fluctuating, but still within the stable threshold."

Then she turned to her patient. "You definitely suffered from shock, Frida. Are you really feeling OK?"

"I'm..," Frida shuddered, and inadvertently looked at the two men watching her. Jerad gave her a slight nod. "I'll be fine…at least we're here now."

"Still shaken?" Jerad smiled. "Do you drink?"

"No..," Frida shook head.

"Hmm…?" Jerad's smile slowly widens to a grin. "Really..? You gotta try it."

"Jerad, that's OK," Claire grimaced. "We'll brew tea after dinner tonight."

"Tea is good. Relaxes you," Jerad kept his smirk. "But alcohol makes you forget your problems, and makes you even unwind. The She-Wolf would agree with me on that."

Then he laughed.

"Jerad, that's enough," Claire gritted her teeth.

"Why? What's wrong with that?" Jerad shrugged. "I'm just trying to help. Jeez…"

"Now where's Zeke?" Claire grimaced. "I told him earlier to come here."

"Probably still in our cabin," Jerad shrugged. "He also probably forgot. Should I drag him here for you?"

30 minutes later in the Bridge.

"Welcome home," Amy smiled. "Once again, good work everyone."

"That was a very splendid work," Hilda also smiled. "It was rough, and I was worried."

"Yeah," Hugo scratched his head. "But Psions? What are those?"

"Oh, yeah. Ein sent us the database about them after his last transmission," Amy said. "Feel free to read about them later."

"Got it," Hugo nodded. "Thanks."

"I bet you guys could use a rest for the time being," Hilda chuckled. "So, please indulge yourselves a bit before the cooking starts."

"Thanks," Hugo chuckled.

"And Jerad, good work out there," Hilda smiled. "You saved a life..again."

"Oh…no problem," Jerad shyly closed his eyes. "Just..doing what I can."

Then Hilda chuckled. "Please keep up the good work. Sofia would definitely be very pleased."

And Frida frowned.

"Just glad everyone here is back and safe," Ricardo chuckled.

"Likewise, thank you, Ricardo," Hilda smiled. "Reliable as ever. Don't worry about the paperwork tonight. I'll take care of them."

"Hoo, yeah. I could definitely use a little break," Ricardo rotated his right arm.

"Does everyone want to hear their kill counts?" Amy held her notepad up.

"Hoo hoo," Trista turned to her with a grin. "Hit it up, Amy."

"Very well. I also went out of my way to type these up so I can display them on the screen for you to see," Amy smiled. "Turn around and look at the middle screen…and tadaa..!"

Then a simple display of their kill numbers appears on one of the screens.

Jerad(H1): 72(S) + 6(M) + 2(L) = 80

Misha(H2): 85(S) + 3(M) + 1(L) = 89

Hugo(H3): 50(S) + 3(M) + 0(L) = 53

Zeke(H4): 48(S) + 3(M) + 1(L) = 52

Claire(H5): 34(S) + 1(M) + 1(L) = 36

Lulu(H6): 50(S) + 4(M) + 0(L) = 54

Keith(H7): 20(S) + 0(M) + 0(L) = 20

Trista(H8): 70(S) + 3(M) + 1(L) = 74

Shin(H9): 74(S) + 3(M) + 0(L) = 77

Ricardo(H10): 44(S) + 3(M) + 0(L) = 47

Levin(H11): 39(S) + 4(M) + 0(L) = 43

Frida(H12): 35(S) + 2(M) + 0(L) = 37

Phym: 47(S) + 2(M) + 0(L) = 49

Small = 100 FCs

Medium = 500 FCs

Large = 1,000 FCs

Ashborn = 10,000 FCs

"I swear, sis," Jerad chuckled. "You'll always kick my sorry ass when it comes to kills. Can I borrow your scythe later?"

"Oh..but can you handle it?" Misha smirked.

"Ditto on that," Jerad smirked back. "I hope my spear isn't too heavy for you."

"Jerad, I thought you'd know a little better at math. Please try looking for unseen positives for once," Claire sighed. "Think about it. You had 3 more medium Aragami kills, and 1 more large one than her which if you look at that chart and Gleipnir's bounties, it will be 72 x 100, 6 x 500, and 2 x 1,000. That totals to…"

"Twelve…thousand two-hundred," Phym suddenly raised her hand.

Then Claire gasped. "Yeah..you're right. Twelve Thousand Two-Hundred FCs."

"And auntie has Eleven Thousand," Phym giggled.

Then Misha's jaws dropped. "That was…superfast! I can't even calculate that fast, let alone just my head!"

"Me, either," Jerad shrugged with a laugh. "I could have done that in my head, but I definitely would have taken more time."

Then Phym cutely snickered. "Am I good, daddy?"

"Yeah," Jerad chuckled.

"More candy..?" Phym grinned.

And Jerad laughed in response. "You little..! C'mere!"

He snatched the little girl in his arms, and started poking her side.

"Daddy..!" Phym wiggled while laughing. "Why..you punishing me?!"

"I'm not punishing you," Jerad chuckled before releasing her. "Fine. You get three bags now."

"Hmph..! Damn you, Hugo..," Zeke murmured. "You only beat me by just one kill?"

"Hey, I don't care about my kill counts, OK?" Hugo glared at him. "You're competing against someone who isn't competing. To me, a job is just a job. I already told you once this isn't a sport..!"

"You totally outdid me, though," Lulu suddenly said.

"Huh? You had two more kills than me," Zeke argued.

"Did you just see what Claire just did to Jerad? You made more money than me, in case you don't get it," Lulu argued back. "Doing a little rough math myself, I only had two more small and one more medium kills than you, but that's only small in comparison in bounties, but your single Vajra kill overall trumps my profit. If I also had a large kill myself, then that probably would have been a different story. Do you get it now?"

"Oh yeah..you're right," Zeke embarrassingly rubbed his head.

"Jeez, Zeke. You need to start studying," Keith chuckled.

"Oh, shut up," Zeke groaned.

"I've been reading books myself ever since we came here," Keith grinned. "I also agree with her. You made a few hundred FCs more than her."

"Okay, okay, yeah I get ya," Zeke murmured. "Now quiet."

"Hm, looking at my kills compared to everyone," Levin scratched his head. "That means I have more ways to go..indeed."

Then Hugo chuckled. "Don't worry, buddy. You'll get there. You're doing good, and I've been trusting you in watching my back last mission. We'll just keep training."

"Certainly," Levin smiled.

"Holy shit, Shin!" Trista gazed at his kills. "How the hell did you get your numbers that high?! Even more than me?! You're only roughly below these two demons."

"Heh, thanks for the compliment," Shin teasingly grinned.

"Whoa, really? You didn't see his new badass move?!" Zeke grinned. "This guy ran and took off like a fighter jet earlier, and started hacking Aragami to death. I could barely even see him, and then before I knew it, Ogretail heads started flying around!"

"Well..I saw that jet part earlier, and you even roosted me with dirt," Trista grimaced. "But you didn't kill that much before we got to that..Mad-Duke or something!"

"Oh, sorry about that," Shin shrugged with a grin. "But I'll definitely be more considerate of that next time."

"I'm surprised I racked up more kills than I thought I did," Ricardo chuckled.

"What do you mean? Haven't you been fighting as long as Captain Daris?" Trista argued.

"I guess you got a point in that," Ricardo laughed. "Not to mention our ray gunning support earlier."

Amidst the lively crowd, Jerad watched Frida stare up at their screen, and then frown before quietly watching Levin and Hugo talk.

'A VIP racking more kills than his bodyguard..,' Jerad grimaced. 'I feel a little sick..but don't worry. Since you already Engaged with Misha before, I'm sure you got her skills somewhere inside your little head that all I have to do is light a fire under your ass until the Grim Reaper in you becomes second nature. You'll be racking more kills than him before you know it..! Just..don't give up on us…'

"Daddy..?" Phym tugged.

"What is it, Phym?" Jerad smiled.

"When do we buy candy?" Phym gleefully asked.

Then Jerad chuckled. "Just wait for a few minutes, OK? Until everyone is done talking, and then we see Faith."

"Okay," Phym smiled.

In the lobby.

"Hey, Faith. Got some candy for us?" Jerad smiled.

"Ah, I guess it's for the little cutie here?" Faith sat up from her stretcher, and squeezed Phym's cheeks with her palms. Phym simply just took it with a giggle.

"Yep," Jerad nodded. "Two oranges, and one strawberry please."

Then after a few minutes, everyone sat on the couches.

"So, who's down for a little poker?" Zeke pulled a stack of cards out of his pocket.

"I'll pass," Hugo pulled a tablet out of his pocket. "I wanna read about something."

"I guess I'll go," Jerad raised his hands.

"Me, too," Shin smiled.

"Me, three," Misha sat up.

"Oh, yeah. Buddy, gotta follow up on that," Shin chuckled.

"On what?" Jerad took his own stack of cards.

"I heard your conversation with Hugo from our radio earlier," Shin grinned. "I think I got the reference, but that was hilarious. Do you play video games?"

"Huh," Jerad paused. "Looks like I've been caught…"

Then Shin laughed.

"Ah," Hugo suddenly spoke beside Shin. "So, that's what it was all about."

"Yeah, I was gonna tell you that I used to play them before prison," Jerad chuckled. "I was also gonna ask you the same thing..but Shin beat me to it."

"Yeah, you're right," Hugo held the back of his head. "I never played one. I was just a kid picking up scraps in the streets back then."

"So wait. What do you play?" Shin eagerly asked.

"Can't remember anymore," Jerad slouched. "Though, one of my favorite games was about our job."

"Whoa, you serious?!" Shin almost gasped. "That game is still a huge hit right now considering how our world is. There are even rumors that old Fenrir made that game as some sort of recruiting propaganda to get more people to become God Eaters."

Then Jerad chuckled. "Really? I had no idea. My parents just bought it for me, and I got kinda addicted."

'You mean 'dad' right..?' Misha glanced at him. 'I remember that…'

"It was hard to even study for school, and do my homework," Jerad laughed. "I spent so many hours with that game. Just kill Aragami, get their parts, and then upgrade my God Arc."

"Now you mention that," Shin added a few more cards in his hands. "What's your favorite type of God Arc?"

"...A charge spear..definitely," Jerad curved his lips before Shin exploded with laughter.

"I freakin' knew it," Shin kept laughing. "You're a spear freak."

"Proud of it," Jerad flashed his eyebrows. "How about you? What's your God Arc?"

"There's no biting edge in their latest game so..," Shin shrugged. "Had to use a short sword."

"That sucks," Jerad chuckled before turning to Claire. "How about you? You play games?"

"Unfortunately, no," Claire replied.

"Books are her video games, my friend," Levin chuckled before Frida made a small giggle. "She did that all day."

"Hush, both of you," Claire raised her nose high. "Education to me is more important."

"You can be both," Jerad shrugged. "I did that when I was a kid. Just a little hard to do. Most of the time I just played it while trying to go to sleep."

"No, thank you," Claire sighed.

"And sometimes you keep me awake with your button mashing?" Misha complained.

"Ho, you actually remember that," Jerad chuckled. "Sorry again."

"Whatever," Misha shrugged. "You even mutter things like, 'Take that!' 'Eat this!' or 'Die, bastard!' I couldn't sleep..."

Then everyone laughed.

"I can't believe you act like this even in those games," Shin laughed.

And Jerad only snickered with pride.

"Hey, maybe you could play with me, Eryk, and Gustav when we get back," Shin grinned. "Just know that I'm the King of PvP."

"He's not lying, Jerad," Trista organized her cards. "Shin will floor you in any games, like the fighting ones. Round One Fight, and you won't have a chance to fight back. And then, 'Fatality.'"

"Huh," Jerad paused. "I guess I'm up to the challenge."

"Video games, huh?" Hugo lowered his tablet. "Maybe I should try that. I need a hobby."

"Hell yeah, brother. Do it," Jerad flashed his eyebrows. "Try the game that Shin, and I just talked about. Two brother-in-laws killing fake Aragami together."

Then he laughed.

And a few minutes later.

"Hey, guys. Since you just finished, I wanted you all to have a look at this," Hugo flipped his tablet in his hand for everyone to see, and the screen showed a picture of Marduk with text below it. "It's about Psions. Quite interesting."

"Psions..?" Zeke paused. "You mean, there are more of them?"

"Yep, come take a look," Hugo placed his tablet on the table before everyone leaned in.

"So, this one is a Marduk, the only one currently seen right now, and we just slayed one," Hugo placed his index on his screen. "Now, look at these."

Then he slid his finger up, and more pictures of Aragami they had not seen before showed.

"You're kidding me, are there really more of those guys?" Zeke murmured.

"Yep, but luckily according to this database, Marduk seems to be the toughest of all of them," Hugo explained. "If we can beat this one, then most of the others should not be much of a problem to kill."

"Hm," Zeke rubbed his chin. "Kabbala Kabbala, Mag..atsu Kyuubi..? Nyx Alpha, Spartacus, and..Yan Zhi? Some of these got some weird names."

"Yeah, because most of them were found in the Far East so far," Hugo explained again. "And also so far, only Marduk has been found here."

"It must have been through migration," Lulu replied. "Most animals in the old days would travel from place to place depending on a lot of factors, like the changing of climate through seasons, or invasion of other species."

"I can pitch into that," Shin murmured. "Magatsu Kyuubi caught my eye on that. Magatsu literally means 'calamity,' and Kyuubi is the name of a nine-tailed fox in my home country's folklore."

"Nine tails?" Zeke blinked his eyes. "What the hell does an animal need nine tails for?"

"Beats me," Shin shrugged.

"And how about that..Yan Zhi," Zeke pointed at the blue bird Aragami. "What does that mean?"

"That, I honestly don't know," Shin shook his head. "It's definitely not in my vocab. I do know for sure that the Far East had several countries with different languages. Mine is just one of them."

Then Zeke read a few texts. "Holy shit. This Yan Zhi thing can summon its minions, too?"

"Right, just like Marduk can," Hugo leaned back on the couch.

"Heh, looks like you got work cut out for you, and the Little Reaper if we ever fight this bird, sis," Jerad chuckled.

"Count on it," Misha smiled.

"However, other psions can also control Oracle cells to their own advantage besides calling minions in. The Spartacus in there can absorb Oracle cells to power itself up," Hugo pointed at the green lizard-like Aragami.

"That is just dangerous," Levin murmured.

"That looks like a…Hannibal," Lulu slowly froze.

"Guh! U…aaahhhh!"

"We will start a demonstration experiment of a remote-controlled aragamization."

"I'm sorry...that it ended up like this, Lulu."

"Someday, you're going to meet people who will accept…the real Lulu. You will get there, I promise…I'm sure you'll be able to find your way there…ahhhhhhhhhh!"

"Nique…"

"Hm? Did you say something? Nick?" Zeke murmured. "Hey, your eyes are kinda..red."

"No..it's nothing," Lulu bitterly winced.

"Okay..," Zeke slowly nodded.

"About this Nyx Alpha..," Jerad pointed at the screen. "It says it can't be hurt with melee, and can only be hit with guns. What is this thing? A ghost?"

Then Hugo chuckled. "Maybe."

"How annoying," Jerad grimaced. "But fine. If we run into this thing, I'll deal with it."

"Good thing is they're not that resilient, though," Hugo smiled. "Maybe a few sniper shots from you three could take it out."

"I'll be mindful of that," Lulu murmured.

"Is it just me, or do they also look familiar?" Zeke rubbed his chin. "This Kabbala thing here looks like something we fought before..in Pennywort."

"Ah, good observation," Lulu smiled. "That must be a Gboro-Gboro, right? A fish-like Aragami?"

"Yeah, that," Zeke nodded.

That Magatsu Kyuubi is creeping me out a bit," Shin murmured. "That Aragami can debilitate us if we're close to it. I don't think I could agree that the Marduk is the toughest, Hugo. I see this one as a bigger threat."

"Hm, you might be right," Hugo replied. "Oh, one scary thing about them..it's not our concern anymore, but they used to be able to shut God Arcs down."

"What..?" Jerad turned to him.

"A lot of God Eaters almost a decade ago were sitting ducks fighting them, but as you all know, that didn't happen to us," Hugo explained. "I don't know how we got away from it, but thankfully we did. Obviously, we wouldn't be here anymore if our God Arcs did. I don't know how that worked, but my best bet is Fenrir or Gleipnir might have modified the God Arc technology so they can't do that again. We dodged a bullet."

"Yeah..," Misha murmured.

"Daddy..?" Phym tugged him. "Those Pee-scions. Do they taste good?"

"No..," Jerad shook his head. "Candy tastes better."

"So, anything else you guys want to talk about?" Hugo sat back.

"Hm..," Jerad rubbed his chin. "Something about this is bugging me. If most of these Psions are from the Far East, then…how did Ein get so much information about them?"

"A good question..," Hugo commented. "But we don't know much about him yet..other than he's also a God Eater. He also seems way older than us, though..and that scar you guys might have noticed in his left eye, that..speaks of something. He's probably been through more than most of us, but I'd rather not ask."

"Fair enough," Jerad murmured.

"Well, that's enough time I've been taking from you guys," Hugo sat up. "You guys still playing poker? I'm down this time."

And one hour later.

"Cooking time," Hugo stood up. "So, who are our chefs tonight?"

"I am," Lulu stood up. "Far East ramen tonight."

"Guess I can't say 'no' to that," Zeke shrugged.

"No objections," Jerad chuckled. "Ramen fills me up real good."

"Hah! I can vouch," Shin grinned.

"Of course, you ching-chong," Trista chuckled. "Think about it, but you always eat one in that small Far East restaurant in our Port. What's his name..? I'm having a hard time remembering it."

"Ah, that's Junichiro," Shin laughed. "The ramen shop owner."

"Yeah, Juni..Chi-You..Ah, dammit. This is why I can't remember his name," Trista facepalmed.

"Everyone just calls him Juni," Shin grinned.

"Whoa, you didn't tell us about this?" Hugo chuckled.

'A small Far East ramen shop,' Lulu quietly mused. 'That's interesting.'

"Sorry, I didn't get to tell you guys," Shin murmured. "We didn't have much time back there, remember? Damn, I did him a great disservice not introducing new potential customers, but I'll treat you guys there once we get back. My tab. He cooks some of the best ramen."

Then he grinned again.

"Looking forward to it," Hugo smiled. "Far East food isn't so bad, I'll be honest. Zeke, Lulu, you're up. Let's hit the kitchen."

"Understood," Lulu stood up. "Leave it to us."

In the Galley, everyone is cleaning and setting up the tables while Zeke and Lulu were preparing the ingredients. Unbeknownst to him, Lulu has been observing him to make sure he will not make any silly mistakes, and as she had seen, Zeke has been very careful with every step. At times, pausing for a few moments before moving.

"Zeke..," Lulu murmured.

"...What's up?" Zeke finished cutting his cabbages, and like earlier, carefully poured them into the pot. Lulu can see that he was clearly nervous.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Lulu closed her eyes.

"...About what?" Zeke hesitantly glanced at her.

"That I hit you..," Lulu murmured again.

"Oh..that," Zeke turned back, and began slowly stirring the pot. "Don't worry about it…You're right, anyway..I should not have sent him there."

Then Lulu kept listening.

"I just wanted him to have more experience so he can be better. I can't have him just be a mechanic and not be able to fight. How is he gonna defend himself..?" Zeke kept stirring. "And yet, I still screwed up…I failed him."

"Everyone makes mistakes..like I just did," Lulu turned away, and resumed her work in cutting beef. "At least you're still trying to better him. Just keep doing your best because I still think you're doing fine with him."

Then Zeke chuckled. "Alright, got it. What's done is done, anyway. Just have to keep moving forward like Hugo always says…"

And 30 minutes later.

"Whoa, another batch of ramen," Ricardo chuckled. "Not complaining, though. I could use some carb recovery after all that grueling mission."

"Then, please enjoy Lulu's cuisine," Hilda giggled.

"Gonna eat 10 servings this time. I fought hard for this," Jerad snickered before glancing at Claire, who was blowing her spoon to cool her soup. "Sorry, Claire. Bear with me."

Then Misha chuckled.

"Then please enjoy yourself, glutton," Claire teased back. "I simply hope you can keep your weight."

"Glutton?" Jerad laughed. "My weight? Oh, you have no idea how hot my stomach burns them. Can't even call it a stomach, I got a black hole in here."

And Claire groaned to his amusement.

"So Hilda, do you think we'll have another mission tomorrow?" Hugo said after swallowing his food.

"I don't think it's quite likely," Hilda replied. "That Aragami you fought pretty much brought the others to you guys, and you slayed them."

"Like a meat grinder," Zeke chuckled.

Then Hilda laughed. "Yes, that's an accurate way to put it."

"Oh, man," Jerad slurped his ramen. "No gold rushing for a while?"

"Can't say so," Hilda shook her head. "If you guys want, you can deploy in the field where we find a few Aragami just for skirmishes, and Gleipnir can still count them as your kills. Remember, those prices are bounties. Every Aragami in this operation has a price on their heads."

"That's interesting," Hugo chuckled. "Maybe we could use that as training. You guys up for it?"

"Yeah," Lulu nodded.

"I definitely have no objections," Levin smiled. "Live training with no other pressuring objectives to consider. I can't refuse that."

"Time to keep trying my new move, then," Shin grinned. "My sonic boom."

"Don't you dare roost me again, Shin," Trista warned. "Or I'll drag you back by the scarf next time."

Then Hilda suddenly laughed. "Why? What happened to you two?"

"He blasted himself into some speed with his acceleration trigger just beside me while running together, and kicked dust on me, ma'am," Trista explained.

And everyone laughed.

"Yeah, you also did this to us, Shin," Zeke added. "Me, Lulu, Misha, and Keith."

"You're just as guilty, bro," Keith called him out. "Launching yourself with your hammer, and also blowing dust on us."

"Ho ho, that was awesome! Ricky and I saw that!" Trista started arching her hand across the table. "Zeke flying across the battlefield like a rocket, and crashing Aragami around."

Then she continued laughing.

"In our resonance radar, I saw two people moving across the combat zone at such a high speed," Amy giggled. "It took me some time to figure out that it was you two."

"Oh, my. Please be more considerate of your surroundings, and others next time," Hilda giggled.

"I will do my diligence, ma'am," Shin smiled.

"I heard ya," Zeke added.

"Finally, my last and tenth serving," Jerad gave Claire a grin as he scooped another full amount on his bowl, and she pouted in response. Then she felt a comfortable lean from someone beside her.

"Please, don't be mad at him, dear sister-in-law," Misha softly teased. "My brother just likes you very much."

"Mph..!" Hugo looked away, and covered his mouth to hide his laugh.

"Fine, then," Claire scooped another full amount on her bowl, and then Jerad snickered.

"Above all, please eat only as much as you can eat," Lulu warned. "I don't want any of you wasting food."

"Yes, that's right," Hilda chuckled. "Also, feel free to indulge yourselves a bit tonight. I really doubt we'll have any mission this next morning, really."

"Indulge, you say..?" Trista turned to Hilda, excitedly beaming.

"Yes, but still no hangovers," Hilda smiled. "We are still on mission. Have self-control."

"Heh, self-control..," Shin murmured.

And another 30 minutes later.

"OK, I still have some paperwork to finish tonight," Hilda sighed.

"You need help, ma'am?" Ricardo smiled.

"That's OK. It's not too major," Hilda smiled back. "Please take a break."

"Thanks," Ricardo smiled again.

"Amy, please pack an extra serving, and wrap it with aluminum foil," Hilda smiled.

"Right away, ma'am," Amy smiled back.

"Ready, guys?" Hugo smirked. "Brooms, dust pans, mops, buckets, and rags. Break them out."

Once back in the lobby.

"So, Faith. How much booze ya got?" Trista grinned.

"I have about 8 packs stocked in here," Faith pointed at her merchandise.

"Then they're sold out!" Trista flipped her FC card with a wider grin.

"W-what?!" Faith sat up from her beach stretcher. "Then that will be 8,500 FCs total..?"

"Don't care!" Trista smirked. "I'll be rained with gold after this whole operation. Bring 'em!"

"Hey, save for us, will ya?" Zeke cried.

"Who said I'll be hoggin' it all to myself?!" Trista snickered. "I'm treatin' you guys a bottle or two each. Knock yerselves out!"

"Ugh! Here you go," Faith lifted the last four packs. "Your card?"

"Here ya go!" Trista passed her card. "Oh, hell yeah. Can't wait to start chuggin.'"

"Hey, She-Wolf. Wanna hear me out?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows.

"What?" Trista said in monotone.

"The Little Reaper told me she doesn't drink," Jerad snickered.

"Ohh, really..?" Trista also smirked.

"Mhm," Jerad jokingly nodded his head. "So..what do you say?"

"Hah, she gotta learn at least one can if she wants to keep up with us," Trista chuckled.

"Just be careful of Claire," Jerad warned before he helped carry the beer packs.

After they brought them to the table…

"Here you go, boys and girls," Trista slammed the four packs on the table. "My treat. Knock yourselves out."

"Oh, hell yeah," Zeke grabbed a can.

"Me too, of course," Jerad took a can. "Where is sis?"

"They're brewing tea together for their tea time," Lulu replied.

And Jerad glanced at their direction, and besides Phym, Claire, Levin, and Misha brewing tea, he also saw Frida among them. "Tch…"

"Hm?" Lulu paused.

"Don't worry about it," Jerad replied before glancing back at Frida's direction. 'Heh, you're not off the hook yet. Maybe tomorrow. That would be perfect…'

"Hey, guys. Before we get our first sip," Hugo opened his can. "Open your cans first, and let's all have a toast for our first successful mission for the reclamation."

"Sure," Jerad opened his can with a hiss.

"Ready?" Hugo held his can up. "For finally taking a real step forward in proving our value, and having a business partnership with Ein! He saved our lives, too!"

"Hell yeah!" Zeke eagerly cried. "Getting more pumped for this. Let's keep kicking some more Aragami ass!"

"Let's do this, everyone!" Hugo raised his can before the rest followed.

"Cheers!"

"Hoo yeah!" Zeke began drinking.

And after everyone finished drinking, Trista turned to Jerad, and tugged him. "Hey..!"

"What..?" Jerad finished drinking.

"Since we all gonna be boozin' in here, now's the perfect time to be tellin' funny stories," Trista grinned. "You gotta tell us about that fist fight you had as a kid, but first, let's have everyone here."

"It's not anything funny, really," Jerad shrugged. "But whatever…"

"Hey, you guys over there!" Trista waved at them. "You done making your tea yet? Get over here ASAP!"

"We just finished, big sis," Misha came over along with the other four. "What is it?"

"Y'all siddown," Trista chuckled. "Jerad gonna tell us something."

"Heh, Misha was involved in this, you know?" Jerad smiled.

"Huh..?" Misha paused.

"Anyway, yeah, I did get into a fight with some other kid in a playground a long time ago," Jerad continued. "This one stupid guy was shoving people around…"

"Get out of the way!" A tall, plump boy grabbed a girl by the shirt, and threw her aside.

"H-hey..!" Misha tearfully glared at him, sitting on the sand.

"That's my sister, you know?" Jerad stood in front of him. "Go wait in line like everyone else!"

"And what're do about it, punk?" The plump boy chided.

Then Jerad only silently glared back before turning to Misha. "Sis, let's get out here. Mom, and dad might get mad at us if we come home late again."

"Aww, look at that, a momma's boy, and a daddy's girl," The plump boy mocked.

And in an instant rage, Jerad walked straight to him, eye to eye. "Don't you insult my mom..and my dad..you hear me?"

"And if I do?" The plump boy stuck his nose up. "What're gonna do? Cry to your mommy and daddy, and tell them?"

Then with a growl, Jerad tackled the bully, and grappled with each other on the playground sand. The other children gathered around them to watch as Misha also ran towards the scene.

"Brother, please stop this!" Misha cried.

Then at some point, Jerad manages to pin the bully against the sand.

"Cry to my mommy, and daddy, huh?!" Jerad punched his face a few times in rage. "Maybe I'll make you cry to yours instead!"

And he punched him a few more times before the bully threw sand to his face, and Jerad cried in pain, clutching his face before the bully recovered, and punched him back. Jerad stumbled on a nearby stair rail on his back before the bully lifted him up by the collar.

"Damned bastard!" The bully growled. "I'll beat your face so bad that your mom and dad won't recognize you!"

Then he started punching Jerad's face with his right, and then his left as Misha helplessly watched, covering her mouth.

After suffering a few hits with a bloodied lip, Jerad desperately caught his left fist with his right hand. "Go to hell!"

And with a snarl, he swung his right hand at the bully's face. Already too exhausted to land a hard enough hit, he nevertheless kept pushing, and only when he fully exerted himself did he suddenly feel a surge of more strength in his right arm as if a car's engine hit its high powerband. Then in a split second, the bully was sent flying and dragging on the playground sand a few yards while Jerad fell on his butt.

"Brother..!" Misha ran to help him, and as soon as her brother caught his breath back, they watched a few other kids staring down at the bully, who remained facedown on sand, and not moving.

"Whoa..," One of the children froze, aghast about the sight. "Is he OK? He's not moving."

And one of the kids turned to him. "Jerad, what did you do, man..? How did you even..?"

"...I don't know," Jerad shook his head before staring at his right hand. "I don't know…"

"Whoa, that was gnarly, man!" Zeke froze.

"You're telling me as a little kid, you sent him flying?!" Trista asked dumbfoundedly. "Not even I was that strong when I was a little girl!"

"How old were you?" Zeke further asked.

"Hmph..! Maybe about eight?" Jerad shrugged.

"Eight years old, and you already have that much strength?" Zeke's eyes widened. "What are you, man?"

"Hell do I know," Jerad shrugged again. "I couldn't believe I did that myself, too. I'm not making this up. My sister could probably tell you."

"He's…right," Misha murmured. "I still remember…that did happen."

'Strength at eight years old..,' Claire deeply mused.

"M-Miss Claire! Did you move these couches?!" A maid froze. "And that large table?!"

"Um, yes," Claire smiled. "I just want a better place to read, that's all."

"My god..!" The maid covered her mouth in shock. "Miss Claire, next time you want to move these large, heavy pieces of furniture, please ask us for help. It is dangerous for children of your age to be doing such things. Your mother would be shocked if she sees you doing this, so please ask us to help you."

"I will," Claire proudly giggled.

"So..what happened to that bully?" Hugo asked.

"Tch! Who cares about that bastard?" Zeke scoffed. "He hurt Misha, remember? I would have smashed his face in if he picked on Keith!"

"That does not mean you should wish ill for him," Hugo argued. "Or anyone."

"Hugo, come on," Trista facepalmed. "You're TOO nice, sometimes. Some people just need some good ass kicking to be taught a lesson!"

"To answer your question, medics came and took him to a clinic," Jerad shrugged indifferently. "Stupid fat bastard was out cold, and then I heard I almost broke his jaw, too. I got in trouble afterwards, though. Heh."

'That time dad scolded you..,' Misha frowned. 'You also cried at that time, and then you talked to each other for hours after…'

"Anyway, looking back now I don't regret it," Jerad took a sip. "Taught that bastard a lesson not to lay his filthy hands on my sister again. He even leaves the playground whenever he sees us around. Yeah, he better stay the hell out of my territory."

Then he laughed.

"Um, daddy fight when he was small?" Phym murmured.

"Fighting is bad, OK?" Jerad quickly turned to her. "Unless you really have to…"

"Phym, please avoid this situation at all times," Claire shook her head.

Then Trista nevertheless chuckled. "That was a story worth telling. Glad I followed up with you on that!"

"Heh, not completely proud of it, but yeah," Jerad shrugged.

"Would have been quite a different story if that happened to me," Shin grinned. "I'll break that guy into millions of pieces."

"Ugh! Please don't tell us how," Trista rolled her eyes.

"Hah! Part of me thinks that bastard in Arrowhead was lucky," Zeke grinned. "You would have shown him what it means to disrespect your sister."

"He definitely is," Jerad made an evil grin. "If he's stupid enough to show his face to me outside of that Port, I'll just say, I hope he's a masochist."

Then Zeke laughed.

"You stood up for your sister, that I can at least admire you for," Levin smiled.

"Yep," Jerad took a sip. "Disrespect my sister, and someone will get hurt. Simple policy…I'll have to admit, but I'm glad your aunt stood for me. I honestly didn't think she would…"

"Quite nonsense, my friend," Levin waved his hand. "Aunt is a great person, and treats everyone equally regardless of background. House Victorious runs heavily in meritocracy."

"That, I figured later on," Jerad smiled. "So, you guys down for poker?"

"Let's do it," Hugo nodded.

And two hours later.

"Ooh, I'm tired," Hugo stretched and yawned. "I'm ready to hit the bed."

"Me, too," Zeke also stretched his arms. "I'm also dying to hit the sack. What a day."

And Hugo chuckled. "Yeah, and hopefully it gets better from here. Ready to hit the showers?"

"Hell yeah, time to refresh," Jerad sat back, and glanced at Phym, who is now sleeping on Claire's lap. "My Little Devil is already asleep, too."

"My Little Devil?" Trista chuckled. "That's cute."

"Right?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows.

"Phym, wake up," Claire stroked her hair. "It's time for a shower."

"Mm?" Phym moaned. "Shower..?"

"Yes," Claire smiled before everyone stood up.

After they greeted Faith a good night, and left the lobby, everyone walked across the bridge and noticed that Amy is no longer there. Their ship has been set to autopilot.

Once in the Residential Block.

"Um, Frida?" Lulu whispered while the two were walking together behind everyone. "You read books, right?"

"Um, yes?" Frida whispered back.

"I've ran out of books to read, so I would like to ask if I can borrow yours," Lulu murmured. "All I've been reading are documentaries, but maybe I should try reading stories. Do you mind if you lend me one? Just anything is fine."

"Um, sure," Frida nodded. "I could recommend you a few to start on."

"Thank you," Lulu smiled before the group split into their respective cabins to prepare turning in for the night.

Meanwhile.

"Jaffar, could you do me a favor?" Sarah crossed her arms.

"What is it, ma'am?" Jaffar turned to her.

"If something comes up between Inukai, and Chrysanthemum, inform me immediately," Sarah murmured.

"If I may ask..is something the matter?" Jaffar murmured. "Werner did tell us to continue our watch on him."

"As much as I don't like that snake doing business with us..there is also something about Chrysanthemum that I feel compelled to help," Sarah frowned. "Remember Werner saying that they house a lot of kids..? I also have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah," Jaffar slowly nodded.

"This is not part of his orders, but I'd like to make sure those guys are safe, at least," Sarah murmured. "I got the feeling that's what he would probably want, anyway."

"I see," Jaffar nodded. "Anything for you, ma'am. I'll keep you notified."

"Thank you," Sarah closed her eyes. "Good night."