OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 364: Stampede

Chapter 364: Stampede

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***

Quinn's eyes were locked in place, staring at a scene so very foreign.

Men, once strong and tall... Women, once beautiful and deadly, were now nothing more than crying slabs of meat.

Limbless creatures that barely resembled humankind, bleeding out onto the dirty concrete.

Such a scene was taking place at the third drop-off point.

It was where her cohort operated.

In the first few hours, they were simply defending low-ranking hunters as they put up lightbulbs and blocked off holes, plugging them with foam-like liquid that expanded to fill every crevice.

With each point done, they headed to the next, picking up any leftover targets on the way, and adding them to their group as they continued their task.

They were judged as a weak cohort, so they were allowed up to six people and were given only the easy jobs.

It was a formulaic operation-a recurring one.

But that slow scene suddenly changed...

A terror emerged. A Tyrant-ranked construct.

Those Berta Scorpions they killed for the past how many hours were considered on the same level as Three-Core Fiends, so this certainly was a jump.

And that 'jump' was felt by all as Quinn, Max, Ava, and Arthur bolted out of there, quickly followed by their Watcher and Spotter.

By the time they reached this drop-off point, high-ranking hunters had already been sent to delay it.

They failed.

It made its own path through the walls and was heading directly towards them by the second, killing everything on its way.

But thankfully, it only had five cores, so the destruction it brought wasn't too abysmal.

Considering the damage a high-core construct could do, this scene that shocked her so much would, in all fairness, be considered light.

Yet to her, it felt like a world-ending event.

'This is too much, that bastard sent us here to die, I-'

"You kids are a waste of space!"

Her panicked thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a man twice her size brushed past her, almost knocking her to the ground.

"The fuck did you just say?!"

Max, her red-haired teammate, confronted the man, prompting him to turn around and face him.

"What? I said nothing wrong. You and your cohort are a waste of space. It'll take you all day to kill one Sheep!"

While his words were true for most kids in hunter groups, they wouldn't work against them as they were Academy students. First years or not, they were far stronger than the average hunter in that outpost.

But they couldn't reveal that, so Max did the best next thing, sucker punching the guy in the face.

"Ugh!"

"Eat that, you weak bitch!"

As the man staggered backwards, his teammate looked at Max and rushed at him, starting a two-on-one brawl.

"I'll teach you a lesson for hitting your elder, you little shit!"

"You dead brat!"

"Come at me, I'll kill you worthless bastards!"

Even more chaos broke out as other hunters joined the fight, defending Max, whom they thought of as a kid being picked on.

"What the fuck are you two doing?!"

"Stop the fight and run, you idiots!"

"Get back!"

Some tried to separate them from each other and end the meaningless fighting, but Max only saw them as a threat, his fists going for them all.

"I'll show you who you're dealing with!"

"..."

Quinn watched silently, not helping him out or caring if he died.

'Stupid.'

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

At that exact moment, the Cannonjaw Crocodile revealed itself at the far end of the drop-off point, letting out a rumbling growl as its green, glistening eyes locked onto them.

The beast was enormous, at least twenty meters long, its body covered in tough, impregnable scales that shimmered like dark armor.

Three long barrel cannons, reminiscent of those on an LAV, jutted from its back, poised to unleash destruction.

Its mouth was a cavernous maw filled with jagged, razor-sharp teeth that glinted like roughly cut diamonds, capable of tearing through anything unfortunate enough to come within reach.

The ground trembled with each slow step it took, its presence sending a chill down everyone's

spines.

"Run away you idiots!"

"HQ told you guys to evacuate this point years ago!"

"Stop arguing and move!"

"You heard the man, get a move on!"

Its entrance immediately ended the fight as everyone resumed their exit, rushing out of there

as fast as they could.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions resounded as the Cannonjaw's cannons began to fire, killing many of those who had just started to run, splattering their remains, and painting their blood on the wall. Quinn joined the front of the crowd, panic consuming her.

But as she took her fourth step, a set of hands reached out from the side, pushing her to the

ground.

"Ah!"

Surprised, her eyes snapped to the attacker and traced that man's body through those who stepped over her until she saw his face.

It was the same guy who cursed her not a minute earlier.

"Imagine having a train run on you for your first time, slut!"

With that, he quickly disappeared, joining the stampede that trampled her body, mistaking her for a dead person as she was kicked around, unable to speak out of sheer shock and pain.

'No...'

She wrapped her hands around her head in a feeble attempt to protect herself, her eyes flickering desperately as she tried to locate her cohort.

Quinn couldn't see them through the chaos, only the relentless blur of people's feet. But through her HUD, she found them, their neural connection still intact.

Ava had run off with their Watcher and Spotter, their blinking dots on the radar getting

further and further away.

Max was still chasing one of the hunters who had insulted them, while Arthur was nowhere to

be seen.

They were supposed to defend this point from constructs, holding the line to protect the

others and stop them from escaping the front lines.

Their job was to ensure that no single construct was seen in the outside world.

They were meant to be the last stand!

...But now it was clear just how pitiful that stand had become.

It revealed the cruel reality of the hunter world to her: every man for himself.

The trust within their cohort had shattered so easily that even a piece of paper held more

weight.

In her state of delirium, it hadn't occurred to her to call for help telepathically; the pain clouded her mind, making rational thought impossible.

Her consciousness was slipping away, her focus waning with each kick to her head.

But just as she was about to get knocked out, a sturdy hand reached down to her, somehow

stopping the trampling feet.

Quinn grasped that hand without hesitation, pulling herself up, desperate to live.

And as she got up, she slowly recognized her savior, his face matching that of a classmate.

It was Xavier Jr.