BXBX NOVEL Chapter 181: Unexpected Development
Squad #1 faced more trouble along the way, ones that they couldn't avoid so they could only fight to eliminate them. The migrating Demon Beasts had completely forgotten what they were supposed to be doing, and it was because of the temptation of the dead Nightmare Worm.
The good news is, they're halfway out of the active zone. The bad news is that battles are getting worse, and it's draining their stamina pretty quickly.
Also, they're behind on their schedule because of the fights they had to go through. They're five hours in their patrol yet barely covering the 100th-kilometer mark on the route. They need to speed up or else they will fail this mission.
"Whew...there's just no end to them." One of his squad members sighed after killing the last of the hostiles, for now at least.
"And there will be more coming." Another one replied, "We're really gonna be busy here."
"Let me just remind everybody that we're behind our schedule." #5 announced to the team, not that anybody was surprised since they too know that. "So far, we've only reached the 100th-kilometer rank and it's been five hours. We have 11 hours left to cover 400 kilometers more. If we keep getting delayed like this, we might not be able to make it."
"We're moving out of the active zone, though." One of the scanners stated, "Beyond that, we shouldn't encounter this many demons. We could speed up past this point."
"That's the plan." Another scanner added, "But you know what they say, no plan survives the first contact with the enemy, so don't put your hopes into it."
"I'll take on an active role to remedy that." Cedric suddenly announced, causing the team to look at him. "I need some exercise anyway. Besides, we really need to get out of here soon. The meaner demons are starting to show up. Even they can't resist the allure of the dead Nightmare Worm."
Although the range of his senses was suppressed here, Cedric could still see pretty far ahead. Of course, he could tell that things were gonna get more chaotic here from the signs he saw.
Nobody disagreed with his decision. They knew that Cedric wouldn't make any rash decisions and once he decided, he already considered all options available and chose what was best for the squad, how can they oppose that?
So, from this point onwards, Cedric took an active role. He brought out his sword and cleaved through demons like he was harvesting wheat.
Because he'd be stuck at managerial duty, it's easy to forget how overwhelmingly efficient Cedric was at killing demons and how fast he was. He would take out dozens of demons before the scanners even saw them coming, reducing them to ashes with ruthless precision.
They were initially worried that Cedric was spending a lot of his ki and stamina to cover them but they were reminded of his frankly unfair amounts of it.
Right, this was the guy who could wrestle nonstop against a Cerberus all day long, what were they worried about? To Cedric, this was nothing but a light workout.
Because Cedric was active, the squad formation changed to the base one; allowing them to move faster. Sure, they're making a lot of noise and attracting more demons to their spot but Cedric handled everything, only leaving stragglers for them to take care of every now and then.
Their speed picked up and after an hour or so, they left the active zone and were back on track. They kept up with their progress too; reaching the 180th kilometer mark at the 6th hour of their patrol.
They slowed down at this point to minimize the noise they were making. Since they're out of the active zone and caught up with their supposed progress, they can afford to pause and rest up for a bit. Which was precisely what they did.
Cedric ordered the team to stop, eat, and drink some water. Then everybody closed their eyes to focus their energy on their recovery. Spells that hastened this process were used, as well as other supplements that would help.
It can't be helped, the drain on the team was considerable at this point. They've been harassed multiple times after all.
Like before, the squad rested for 20 minutes in total and managed to top off their reserves. Ignoring how dirty and haggard they looked, they're as good as new. Once they were sufficiently rested, Cedric ordered the team to move on.
**
Two hours later and they reached the 270th kilometer mark, which was a little bit ahead of their schedule. It also marked the conclusion of their 1st shift...supposedly. Only 8 more hours of this and they'd be done here.
They didn't experience any stressful situation within those two hours, proving that the real activity was focused on that area and that getting out of there as fast as they possibly could was the right move.
Because they chose to do a double shift, they have to continue still. They can't camp out somewhere because that would greatly delay their progress. All they could do was little rests in between.
Fortunately, all of them were still energetic even after 8 hours of patrol. The psychological drain is what they have to look out for, though. Because they won't recover as fast as their physical body could.
Even though the dense corruption of their surroundings couldn't do any real damage to them, it was constantly trying and cannot be stopped. Fighting against that on top of focusing on their duty grinds on their mental state whether they like it or not.
As conditioned as they were against this, they were bound to suffer from its effects. After all, they're not even proper cadets yet. It hasn't even been two weeks since they arrived.
They had another brief rest and were about to continue on the road when all of a sudden, Cedric felt a sinking feeling on his stomach.
A foreboding sense of crisis dawned on him out of nowhere, causing him to sweat coldly. Without a single word, he exerted himself to expand the range of his sensory field.
...and what he saw did not make him happy.
"All of you, listen carefully." Cedric uttered in a gritty tone, causing his squad members to tense up. "We will be speeding up now and go to the nearest extraction point as quickly as we can. I'm afraid that our mission is compromised."
"What!? Why? What happened?"
"No time! Move!" Cedric stressed, and so the team followed.
While running, the team couldn't help but feel nervous all of a sudden. And the fact that they suddenly felt their surroundings getting colder and the stench of corruption getting thicker, didn't help at all.
On the way, they heard Cedric's badge emitting a sharp buzzing sound. Cedric tapped it rhythmically and suddenly, they heard a voice coming out of it.
"HQ to #1, I repeat, HQ to #1, do you copy?"
"#1 to HQ, I hear you loud and clear." Cedric replied.
"Good. If an emergency occurs, take your squad to the nearest extraction point for retrieval and make it quick. A Demon Beast Horde is coming."
Every member of Squad #1 felt chills running down their spine when they heard that. The majority of them suddenly felt fear gripping their hearts and clouding their mind.
"Size and distance?" Cedric asked.
"Unclear." The person on the other line replied, "They have Smog Belchers obscuring them. But we have a feeling that it's somewhere between Medium to Large. They're moving fast, but still pretty far from your location. Anyway, just get your assess out of there if you wanna live."
"Will do, thanks for the heads up. We should arrive at the nearest extraction point within 10 minutes. I'll buzz you up once we're close. Over and out." Cedric replied.
"Understood. Over and out."
Cedric released a tense breath as he continued rushing out with his squad. He momentarily glanced at his team and saw their clouded expressions. He sighed once more and yelled:
"Pulse. Now!"
The team jolted in surprise before following his orders. 20 Ki Pulses swept over the team, with Cedric's being larger and stronger, it even contained a distinct warmth that provided them comfort.
"What's our new directive?" He asked the team.
"To reach the nearest extraction point, Sir." His squad replied in unison.
"#5 What's the likelihood of us reaching that place before getting swallowed up by the upcoming horde?" He asked again.
"95% of success, Sir, the remaining 5% is for unforeseen accident and unlikely happenstance." The man replied with confidence.
"Remind me of our ultimate goal." Cedric ordered.
"To finish our service and return to our normal lives alive and intact, Sir!!" His squad replied vigorously.
"And we're doing exactly that now." Cedric stressed, "We might've been caught off guard but we're making it. Straighten your backs and fix your faces, we're nearly there."
With the squad's spirit revived, they continued rushing out, not minding that they were making a lot of noise while moving.
Cedric said it himself. They're making it out of here. They've trusted him then and he hasn't failed them. There's no reason to start doubting him now.
They're gonna make it out here alive and intact. That's his promise.