"There is a blockage leading down that way, so I don't think this is the main tunnel leading to the chamber. If you follow us back, then you can take the other tunnel down the left side and go to the chamber. I think that would be better."
Mark glanced back at the dark tunnel and hummed as he thought about what to do. It was a long way back, and it would just be a waste of time to turn back now when he had already come this far. Mark reached out his hand and touched the wall beside him.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"This might work."
Mark muttered as he knocked on the wall for a second time. There was a hollow sound from the other side of the wall, and Mark realized that the two tunnels might be connected through the wall! Ant tunnels like these are usually connected for a few hundred meters before they fully branch out and separate to different sides of the cave. He pulled back his hand and unleashed a punch!
Boom!
The punch tore a hole through the wall, and Greg watched in stunned silence as the wall crumbled and revealed the other tunnel right in front of them! That was really impressive! Greg didn't know how, but the walls down here were extremely thick! He noticed during the fight between James and the lizardmen that they were not able to break through the walls even after hitting it multiple times.
It only broke when it suffered too much damage.
The fact that Mark was able to break a hole through the wall in one punch was insane!
"You guys can go back to the helicopter. I sent Fiona and Tyler there, so you should be fine if you can make it to the beach. Just stay clear of the forest, and there shouldn't be any surprise attacks from Anima."
Once Mark said this, he passed through the hole he made in the wall and began to run down the tunnel! Mark ran for a few seconds before he finally stopped as he noticed someone was following him. Mark turned and saw that it was Greg following him, and he gave Greg a look of irritation as he asked/
"What the hell are you doing? Aren't you meant to be going with the other two?"
"I want to come with you."
Mark narrowed his eyes once he heard Greg say this. Why would Greg want to come with him? There was no sensible reason why Greg would want to go deeper into the danger after everything that he already went through!
"Go back and help the other two get out of the tunnel. Don't push yourself too hard."
Greg glared at Mark once Mark said this and ran his hands through his hair multiple times as he spoke.
"I'm not pushing myself. I just need to go and make sure that the other superhumans that went in here are alright. Look... James is dead. And since he is dead, I am the only one who can look out for the superhumans from the NSA. I know that you are focused on your friend, and you will probably not have any time to help anyone that you see, so I'll handle that and allow you to do whatever you want."
Mark's eyes widened minutely once he heard what Greg said. James was dead? How the hell did that happen? Mark couldn't believe that the same man he just fought earlier this evening was already dead! But even though Mark was shocked, he didn't allow himself to stay that way for long and he eventually accepted what happened easily.
The world was no longer a safe place since the armageddon appeared four years ago. It was a dangerous place where someone you met yesterday could wind up dead today just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happened all the time over the past four years, and Mark had already gotten used to it.
He just accepted that James was gone and he nodded at Greg.
"Stay close to me and try not to go too far. We don't know what sort of Anima is lurking in here, so it can end badly if you encounter something that is stronger than you. You understand?"
Mark immediately gave Greg some conditions for following him. Mark was not going to be held responsible for what would happen if Greg didn't fall in line, and Mark was making it known from the start.
Greg nodded seriously as Mark said this. It sounded like Mark was giving him orders, but Greg was not in any position to reprimand Mark because Greg knew that Mark was far stronger than him, and Mark was the one who would be protecting him here. Greg was blessed by Hermes, the god of speed, so he was one of the fastest A-rank superhumans alive!
He was damn good at running away, but he didn't know if he could run fast enough to get away from whatever they encountered down these tunnels.
Once Mark saw Greg nod, he began to run again! Mark raced at his full speed, and he noticed that Greg was able to keep up with him. Mark was glad that Greg wasn't slow. It would have been a pain in the ass if he had to slow down because Greg couldn't keep up with him!
Woosh!
The two superhumans flew through the tunnels at high speed, and they were about to pass through another low arch when they stopped as Mark raised his hand. Mark sniffed the air and immediately narrowed his eyes as a familiar smell permeated through his nose. Mark knew that smell from all the times he had been on the front during a fight against Anima.
There was a fight here, and the smell of blood was strong in the air.
"Stay close."
Mark said this as he took a few steps forward. Greg narrowed his eyes as well as he caught a whiff of the repulsive smell of blood, and he took steps forward behind Mark. Once they moved close enough to see what had happened, Mark clicked his tongue at the sight. There were bodies everywhere!
There had obviously been a fight here, and it was obvious that the superhumans were the ones who lost badly! There was blood on the walls, and the ground was littered with body parts and broken people. Mark felt a slippery sensation under his feet and he frowned when he noticed that he was stepping on someone's liver. Fuck.
"Check for survivors and see if you can get them out of here."
Greg immediately started going from person to person to see if there was any sign of life in them. Most of the people there were completely torn apart, and there was no chance that they would survive. There was a particular man whose stomach had been torn open, and his hands were missing from the elbow down.
Greg felt like retching, but he managed to keep his food in his stomach as he walked past the man and checked the woman beside him who had a lot of blood pooling under her head.
Mark took more steps forward and he looked around him into the darkness. He knew that this might just be a paranoid feeling, but he didn't like this situation at all! A field of dead bodies left behind was an unlikely situation for Anima.