CHPT 234: F***k Your Rules.

"AAAARG!!"

WOOOSH!

SPLSH!!

"WELL!....At LEasT WE!.....Erhm...At least we know we took the right path...." Ursula said in between exhausted sighs as she heaved her axe out of the head of another Nightmare Beetle.

Twip!....Twip!..

SQLCH!

"I'm low on arrows guys!.....If I end up having to knife fight a giant beetle I promise you i'm gonna lose it." Warren announced from behind her after two of his arrows sunk into the eyes of a smaller Beetle.

"There aren't many left. I can't hear much combat anymore...." Claude said to the group as the final batch of their newest wave of Nightmare Beetles hit the ground at his feet. Frosty chewed on its severed leg as if it were a chitinous toothpick.

"Well....that was fun." Isaac said to the group as they took their first relaxing breaths among the pile of Beetle corpses that littered the path.

Following their first fight against the Nightmare Beetles, they took the path that they assumed would bring them face to face with more of the monstrous bugs...they were right. Almost to a fault.

In less than half a mile of traveling the maze-like canyon, they passed turnoffs that peered into areas where other teams of students were in combat, loud flowing rivers tinged with red, and smaller clearings full of already dead beetles that were being eaten by smaller and less developed ones. Children that were consuming their weaker parental members in an attempt to become stronger and survive amidst the chaos within the Tangent. The thought disgusted Claude in a way he couldn't accurately describe.

He channeled that disgust for the Monsters into their next battle that took place on the path. Rows upon rows of Nightmare Beetles-- heated by the sun climbed over the canyon walls and skittered down towards them only to be left in piles of steaming blood, ichor and guts.

With nothing of the fight left, he trudged through the bloody path to reach the rest of his team and plan their next move.

Ursula and Isaac stood closest together at the center of the madness, using their bulk and heavy attacks to draw the masses of the waves. They looked rough.

Ursula's bulky exposed arms were covered in small scratches and colored a shiny green with the Beetle blood that froze around her shoulders and forearms to now function as armor. The armor over her chest, quads and shins was in similar shape and her axes let off beetle blood colored snowflakes and frost like a freshly opened freezer. Ice had more combat applications than he ever considered.

Isaac's armor was much like his rage-fueled teammate and beads of sweat covered his face in a way that mimicked the monster blood dripping from his armor all over. With an angry grunt, his eyes flashed an intense shade of reddish orange followed by hot steam rising from his body all over. The monster blood that riddled his armor bubbled and steamed up into nothing as he raised his body temp high enough to evaporate even the coldest liquids.

His armor continued to steam shortly after as he shuddered, "Awe.....that shit's disgusting."

"You guys ok?" Claude asked after hopping over another dismembered beetle.

"Fine as wine, man. But I will say, I now understand Warren's hatred for these things..." Isaac replied calmly.

"I second that." Ursula interjected.

Behind them, Warren and Maris closed in while seeming to be arguing over something. They did that alot, so Claude didn't think much of it. Not until the smell of fresh human blood rose up beyond the old strong scents of insectoid carnage.

They all turned to face the Archer and Swordsman after the sounds of their bickering rose too high to go unnoticed on the slim quiet path.

"Come ONN, you psycho. Why do you always have to try and be a hardass? Take the bandage like a normal person. Who even refuses bandages?! What does that prove?! See, this is what the fuck I mean, Maris...." Warren raged while he held out bandages to Maris.

She walked beside him with her chest out and head held high while her shoulder length black hair swayed, accentuating her almost regal demeanor that contrasted greatly with Warren's urgent expression, "I am a....hard..ass. I don't need bandages because I can stop the bleeding on my own. And I don't feel pain so go worry about someone else."

Warren made a tired expression, "Oh you can't feel pain now? What are you a shark? The hell out of here with that nonsense. Take the damn bandage....or would you like to bleed out WHEN A DEMON MONSTER COMES?!.....IF WE DIE BECAUSE OF YOU....I'M GONNA KILL MYSELF OR SOMETHING!" With the frantic rise of his tone, his limbs began to move to further express his words while the scent of fear spilled from him infinitely like the rushing waves of a waterfall.

Despite Warren's doubts. Claude knew Maris wasn't lying about not feeling pain. He could still remember when he first entered her overrun village. After helping her off the torture table, she stretched her scarcely clothed body and casually ripped open every cut on her that only recently healed in a gruesome show of blood and puss. She didn't feel a thing. But, her injury could become a problem, whether she could feel it or not.

By the time he was finished speaking, the two reached the rest of the group. Maris stopped and faced the Archer before turning her head the way dogs do when their confused, "....Mentally ill children at the Orphanage act this way often. Are you mentally ill, Warren?"

With a sigh, he threw the bandage to Claude, turned around and began to kick a beetle corpse, "I can't do it. I just can't with her, guys. DO something!"

Isaac smirked at Warren who was busy mumbling curses at Maris while Frosty attacked the beetle corpse with him.

"What is he talking about, Maris?" Ursula asked the Swordsman.

"Beetle pincer cut me. I got too relaxed. This is why I don't like easy targets." Maris replied.

"Where? Are you alright?" Ursula's protective manner came to light in an instant as she looked over her friend. Maris tried to shoo her away with reddened cheeks and explain that she was alright, but the Berserker wasn't hearing it.

"It's her leg. Upper thigh on the left." Claude suddenly said.

Ursula stepped back and observed her legs, finding the blood-soaked portion of her black pants was easy. It would've been severe if she wasn't holding the blood within herself.

"Maris, you have to take the bandage. Keep the wound closed off from any chance of infection. And with an injury like that you can become a liability." Claude explained.

Maris's slim black eyebrows furrowed, "I'm no liability. I can still fight."

Claude shook his head with a smile forming on his scarred face as he remembered how she acted in a similar way when he found her in the village, "You know...you're stubborn to a fault." He explained as he took a step closer to her.

"How much Mana do you have?" He asked.

"....Four seventy five." She replied flatly.

"[Impressive.]" Arne mumbled.

"How much do you have left?" Ursula added with her bug-blood armored arms crossed at her chest.

"Thirty five percent...."

Claude nodded in understanding, "Erhm...The battle isn't close to being over for us. You know that, you know whats coming. Do you think you can use your Mana to stop the bleeding while also fighting for your life against a Demon? Do you think you can use your Mana for other things during the fight? If you're not confident in that answer it makes sense. Because you can't. We need you in this fight, the whole fight. So.....uhhh, we can't let you bleed out to prove a point."

Maris let out a sigh after a few tense moments, "I don't like your words, but they make sense. I too would like to participate in the whole fight."

"Thought so." Claude said with a faint smile before tossing her the bandage.

***

A few minutes of silence passed as they waited, anxiously listening to the echoing sounds of nearby combat as Maris wrapped her leg sourly. The longer they remained inside, the closer they came to possibly meeting another member of the HellBreeder's children.

"Ok, let's go find more." Maris said while she flexed her leg with the bandage.

The group nodded briefly before taking off further down the path.

During their run, beetles trickled in one at a time looking to ambush them mid-run, only to be easily countered and executed. Their run stayed like this all the way down the path until they reached a fork in their rocky roads.

"Which way?" Ursula asked from behind him.

"Whichever way is loudest...." Claude mumbled before approaching the split in the path and dropping to one knee to feel the ground as he activated, (Sensory Focus).

In a matter of seconds, the volume of the world around him raised as if controlled by a remote. The sounds of his friends breathing behind felt like it was right beside his ears and the falling of pebbles sounded like atlas stones snowballing down mountains. His nose told the same story of blood and fear-- two staple smells in places of combat. But, his hand on the floor became hyper sensitive to feeling movements.

Each finger-- pointing in different directions, picked up different rumbling waves of quaking movements that would more than likely lead them to different scenes of combat between man and monster. Everything was normal.

"Anything?" Ursula asked in a whisper.

Claude shook his head, "N--"

BOOM!

Something heavy hit the ground with the abrupt destructive power of a small explosion. It rumbled across the ground and spread across the canyon like a tidal wave that rattled Claude's senses and gave him a dizzying migraine.

For a few silent moment, he laid against the ground in a concussed state. Then the world came back to his senses.

BOOM!...BOOM!....BBBOOOOM!

The quaking sounds of impact continued, shaking the rocky ground and sunny clear sky with devastating force.

Claude surged to his feet and looked around in search for the origin of the sound. The smell of fear was now at an all time high.

"It's here....isn't it." Warren asked in a grave tone.

Claude shook his head. "No. I would've felt it."

"What then?" Isaac asked.

DING!

[The Tangent Boss has been found! Use your strength and wits to to work with your team and defeat the Chitinous Nightmare!]

As if responding to them, everyone got the system notification and read it over in a rush.

"So this wasn't a Mob Tangent. Great. Who do you think found the Boss?" Isaac asked.

Claude ignored his question and dashed at the left wall of their path where he placed his ear in a hurry.

".....ere's Goren?! Stacy needs healing, now!"

"How am I supposed to know? I've been a little occupied kicking the shit out of these overgrown pests!"

"We'll be fine if you let me take the hits, Conroy."

"No....we won't."

BOOM!...BOOM!....CRAWWWWWK!

Claude jumped from the wall as the earsplitting sounds of the Boss erupted from the other side of the wall.

"What did you hear?" Ursula asked.

"Chase and Conroy's team. They're in trouble. Their Healer's missing and Stacy's injured....." He trailed off now deep in thought.

"[Speak.]" Arne announced.

"Taking on the Boss is a risk I'm not sure we can afford. But I can't just leave them-- I can't. But what if we burn all our energy and resources on the Boss and then the HellBred comes?.....FUCK! Why is trying to do the right thing so hard?"

"[Part of life, Claude. The right decision is often tested against the strongest wills. This is a reflection of the confidence you hold within your team. Do you think your team can take two possibly incredible threats? Or are you willing to let the others die to secure your own teams life? Remember your core values before you answer, It's essential to you as a Leader and Lupine of Romulus.]"

Claude sat in silence for a moment, he couldn't make a solid decision and that disgusted him, but he did know what he wanted to do. "Do what feels right..."

Before his thoughts could solidify, Ursula appeared in front of him with a determined expression, "Why are we here?" She asked, knowing he'd finish the sentence because he'd said it to her before.

".....To be Heroes." The reminder set his decision in stone. Sure he strongly disliked most of the students on the other side of the left wall, but he was also still striving to be a hero-- even if he felt like the option was slowly fading for him. He couldn't let them die-- but he had to be smart in his approach. And his failsafe was still waiting to be used. Transformation was always an option...

Ursula nodded in agreement.

"Then I guess its time to go practice what we preach..." Isaac said with a smack of his shield.

"Exactly." Claude replied before they headed back down the path in search of the Bosses entrance.

"What about the rule?" Warren asked.

"Rule?"

"We're not allowed to interrupt students during Boss fights...."

Claude made a angered expression as he thought over the rule.

"Fuck that rule, they need help. Lets go."

With that, they jogged through the maze in search of the entrance to assist Chase and his beaten team in slaying the Chitinous Nightmare.