“No problem!” He assured them, not wasting any time.

With a [Blink Step] he appeared on the leftmost wall, utilizing his agility as an assassin to run along its side in a defiance of gravity, swiftly approaching the bug-eyed, gray-skinned Defect.

Before he could reach it, its cheeks swelled before spewing an acidic, black liquid towards him.

“…Oh crap!” He let out.

At that distance, in the midst of a wall-run, there was nothing he could do to avoid it, watching the malicious substance launch towards him.

“Cast: Luminate Shield!”

It was the second time he’d seen that seraphic, beautiful shield of light appear in front of him, accompanied by the serene, yet serious yell of the silver-haired girl.

Against the acid, the shield managed to stop it fully, though its integrity was greatly damaged by the corrosive substance.

Nice save! He thought._.

It was enough to give him time to utilize another [Blink Step], adjusting his footing and placing himself above the high-sitting, bug-formed Defect, holding both of his newly-crafted, black-handled daggers in his hands.

With a spinning strike, he tore against the insectoid enemy, slicing its wings off and knocking its balance off enough to cause it to plummet downwards.

“Nice assist!” Myung-Hee yelled out with a smile, already preparing for a swing of her trusty claymore as the shrieker fell directly down above her.

He used another [Blink Step] to move out of the way of her swing as he fell too, reappearing behind both of the women as Myung-Hee’s blade was clad in flames at the call of her invocation, “Cast: Flame Blade!”

The fiery swing enveloped the dewinged Defect, bisecting it fully and cleanly.

“Nice!” Kamou let out in celebration, hopping up a single time.

“Phew…that’s my first time dealing with a flying-type,” he sighed out.

“It won’t be the last, so keep it up!” Myung-Hee gave him a thumbs-up.

As they were in a party, each defeat of an enemy was shared between them, prompting an experience notification to appear in his interface:

[“End Shrieker” Defeated. EXP+100. Current EXP: 900/2000.]

Before they could fully seep in their triumph, the sounds of various, all-encompassing footsteps appeared from beyond the reach of the alleyway, coming from all directions.

“What the hell is that…?” Myung-Hee muttered, looking and turning around in each direction.

“Don’t tell me…” He began to say.

“What is it?” Kamou asked worriedly, bringing both of their attention to him.

He gulped, adjusting his glasses as they had been fogged up slightly, “The shrieker probably screams out like that as a signal to nearby Defects. It wasn’t meant to be a difficult enemy–it was an alarm system.”

“You’re saying those sounds…are all Defects comin’ for us?” Myung-Hee asked.

“I’d say we’d better start running before we find out!” He responded.

Before another word, they all took off in a sprint, pushing down the narrow alley as the rapid footsteps continued to seemingly come from every direction; at the entrance of the alley, various corners, and even within the building neighboring their position.

“Kamou!” He yelled out, running alongside both of his companions.

“R-right!” She held her staff up, “Cast: Haste-All!”

The shouted magecraft encompassed the three of them in the amplification spell, enchanting their speed to a heightened level as they sprinted hard enough to bring themselves out of the alley, finding themselves stationed at a peculiar cross-section.

Cars were stacked high, smashed together and intertwined into a mountain of melded metals as they were blocked off. It almost seemed intentional, but there was no rhyme or reason to it; overgrowth had grasped the bundled colossus of meshed steel, standing as a skyscraper of its own.

“Where the hell do we go now?! Myung-Hee yelled out, impatient as the yells and footsteps of the approaching Defects grew loud.

“Through!” He said, finding an opening in the large graveyard of vehicles.

As they managed to squeeze through, they had to crawl on their hands and knees to fit into the unorthodox path, crawling through opened crevices in the impaled, shredded, and crushed vehicles.

“Agh…!” Kamou quickly covered her mouth.

“What is it?” He glanced up at her, as she was at the forefront.

It was a limp, rotten body of somebody who was unfortunate enough to be inside one of the cars; her hand had accidentally set itself on the blood-soaked body.

“You’ve got to keep moving, Kamou…!” He urged her, trying to reassure the girl.

She slowly nodded with trembling eyes, “…R-right…I know…I know.”

As the three of them crawled through the graveyard in the middle amidst the city, they could hear the weight of the trailing Defects land atop the ceiling of the mountain of metal.

They each fell completely still, not having to exchange a single whisper to do so as even their breaths were concealed out of fear and anxiety.

This is bad. They’re going to have us completely surrounded! He thought.

Glancing back, he saw that even the fearless, short-haired woman behind was feeling stressed in this situation, prompting him to crawl forward as Kamou finally pushed forward as well.

It was an uncomfortable pathway, but it could hardly be registered through the adrenaline flowing through his body, listening to the stomps and howls of the Defects up above the tunnel of melded cars while they pushed through.

They did their best to move silently, and without sound, but it was a straining process as each and every movement against the metallic, unstable walls made it an arduous task.

“Ahh–!”

Kamou yelled out as one of the sharp, spear-like limbs of a pale-skinned Defect pierced through the tunnel of meshed vehicles, promptly causing him to act without hesitation as he covered her mouth from behind her.

“Shh!” He put his finger to his lips.

Sweat was visibly trailing from both of them as Kamou gave him a quiet nod, allowing him to move his hand away as the silver-haired young woman slowly began to move again just as the Defect withdrew its limb.

They can’t sense exactly where we are. That’s our one benefit, at least. Still…this situation is really bad, he thought.