Ten Shadows blessing this wonderful world.

12

— Well, that was a nice hunt, don't you think? — After we killed all the toads in our designated area, we arrived back to our SES to get back to city. After all, with a huge size comes huge wings, so traveling on Totality of Nue was faster in a long run, while regular Nue is better for short distances.

— It was a welcomed new experience. With such aerial support, any mission on the surface will be like a walk in a park, don't you think, Yunyun? — Eris asked, standing just beside me, while Yunyun sat herself, hugging her knees to look in the distance.

— Of course. Even though it was scary when some shots landed close to us, it was fun. I never expected I'll experience something like this. — Yunyun smiled, trying to see past the clouds. We were high in the sky, and with a thunder cloud covering SES completely, it was hard to see what was in front of us or even below us.

— We should probably check the surrounding of Axel just in case. I heard Megumin's recent explosion woke up toads living in the plains. — As I said that name, Yunyun suddenly turned to me, with stars in her eyes.

— You said Megumin?! — Eagerness in her voice was a sudden change for me and Eris alike. Yunyun is energetic only when she fights, given that she's shy to the bone, but hearing the name of fellow Crimson Demon she fired up.

— Yeah, I did. Why? You are her friend from the village? — I looked past the clouds, trying to spot any unusual activity from a huge distance, but, sadly, my eyes are not that of a Hawk, so all I could see is blur in the distance.

— W-well, I wouldn't call us friends but...we're rivals. I want to prove that I'm the strongest Crimson Demon in the village, so I often challenge her to duels...but I won only one so far. She's much better in everything I tried to beat her at. Except magic, that is. She only knows Explosion, and she rejects challenges based on magic every single time. — She explained, standing up to stand near me, gazing at the Axel from afar as well.

— I wouldn't blame her. Her explosion is strong enough to blow up a mountain. If it hits you, you're a goner with an 80% chance at minimum. She doesn't want to harm you, that's my guess at least, because well, I got to know her good enough to understand what she's thinking about. — Patting Yunyun, I let out a sigh, turning to Eris. — How about we look for Kazuma's party, in that case? He might have money to live for a while, but he should've picked the emergency quest anyways. A bird chirped me the news of Royal Prosecutor forcing him and the party to take care of the Toads.

— I don't mind. We already got a lot of them, what's a dozen more at this point? — Eris agreed, and so, given that we were rapidly approaching Axel, with the plains clear in our sight, we knew what to do.

— Alright then, we're close enough to drop. Get ready, Helldivers, it's time to dive. — Calling both Blitz and Gamamaru, I encased them into Hellpod, slightly pushing them off of SES, dropping right after them as soon as I saw no problems with the fall. We rapidly approached the ground, and, as I saw a clear enough zone without enemies in sight, we landed without a hitch, jumping out of our Hellpods. — Yunyun, backline, Chris, with me. We will clear the area from any Toads we encounter. If you don't see anything, then make sure everyone around is fine.

— Roger that! — Eris took her daggers, rushing ahead with me, and Yunyun, who was now faster due to her stats rising with her level, did her best to keep up with us, lagging behind due to difference in speed. To make up for it, I summoned Nue, which picked her up on it's back, and now, Yunyun was akin to a pilot of Eagle-1.

— I'll support you from the air! — Holding onto the feathers, and watching from above, Yunyun rose higher in the air to scout the surrounding. — I see 4 toads ahead! There are people, and it seems they're in trouble!