Inverse System

Rein and Chloe looked at them in bewilderment, blinking blankly at them, confused at their previous claim.

"Huh?" Rein sounded to the 2 women.

"You heard us. We do not care," she reaffirmed. "There can be a 100 million Dol bounty on our heads and we still would not care. If we get hired to do a job, we do it to our utmost," Shuna proclaimed proudly, puffing out her chest.

Emma nodded firmly behind her, agreeing with what she'd said wholeheartedly.

A wide grin appeared on Rein's face, making him chuckle to himself, having made a connection or their affiliation.

"And that's how Crypt does things, right?" He outburst, the 2 women's eyes widening in shock as they heard his proclamation, their mouths gaped open.

"How did you…" Shuna uttered in disbelief, Emma scoffing at Rein's remark.

"So you've encountered us before then. See, we're with the blue squad, so we're not informed what the green or reds do," she added.

With a smirk on his face, Rein fiddled with the swords in his hand, flipping them upwards as he caught them back in battle position.

"I'm assuming you won't say who hired you? Though, it's fine. I already know," Rein laughed as Chloe also readied herself again.

"It would make things much easier if we got a confession from them though. Then we'd have all the proof we need," Chloe asserted, Rein, shaking his head in negation.

"Nah, even if we got them to say it, it would be useless. Let's just beat them up and save big bro."

Rein hopped forward with incredible speed, extending the ground under him to accelerate, though his movements were significantly slower than usual due to the anklet artifact he wore.

He crossed his swords over each other and collided with Shuna's rapier, which stabbed through the 2 swords to block his attack. Rein slid his swords across her blade and propelled his own forward, leaving her open to an attack. However, Rein suddenly felt a metal ball bulleting towards him, interrupting his attack as he had to dodge.

He was very careful not to even be grazed by any attacks, as any slight scratch could multiply itself tenfold due to his hindered defenses.

Emma, who had shot the previous bullet through her slingshot, charged up for her next attack while Shuna pressured Rein through close combat, leaving him little room to dodge. As the bullet flew towards Rein, a sudden gust of wind walled him off, blocking the zipping metal ball that was aimed at Rein.

"I've got your back Rein. Or front. Whichever one you need," Chloe arrived in front of him, along with a gale of electricity.

"Thanks," he nodded as he reassumed focus on the one in front of him.

He slashed his swords forwards and sent her flying back, to which he lifted his arms, causing 4 walls to rise around the woman, encasing her in an earthen barrier. Rein then placed his hand on the ground under him and changed his Spring, going to the water Spring he obtained from Sho, filling the capsule of ground with gallons of liquid.

He held the capsule walls down, feeling ruptures on the inside of the earth walls he erected. The drowning woman on the inside was rumbling the ground, and managed to break through the walls that encased her, emerging the wet ruins of the creation with a fearsome aura that surrounded her, her entire body jittering in vibration.

"I see, so that's your Spring," Rein remarked, the woman who he was fighting unable to answer, her mind in a jittery mess.

Chloe retreated back to Rein's side, breathing slightly heavily as their 2 opponents also regrouped.

"Wow, you forced Shuna to activate her Spring? Impressive!" Emma complimented.

"He did not force me, I simply wanted to," in a robotic, vibrating voice, Shuna retorted to her partner.

Rein raised his eyebrows in surprise, impressed that she was still able to talk in that state. It must've taken intense mental training to be able to calm the mind in such a state.

"Well, I guess I should get serious too," Emma smirked as she suddenly put her thumb and middle fingers together, readying them to snap together.

However, before she could do anything, a sudden tremor was heard from above them, the entirety of the cave beginning to shake vigorously as the ceiling began to descend in a crumbling fashion.

They all grew fearful expressions as they looked up, panicking as the top of the cavern came falling down on them.

"Chloe!" Rein yelled, putt his hand out to her, which she took hold of.

Rein pulled her in close and dug them into a small hole, covering the top over them with a thick layer of earth. The hole was incredibly cramped, barely large enough to fit the 2 of them, causing their bodies to be pressed up against each other.

"H-hey! Couldn't you have made the hole bigger?!" Chloe screamed as she tried to get her voice over the ear beating sounds of the tremors.

"Sorry, can't hear you!" Rein innocently replied, screaming as well, though he could hear her since he had sound resistance.

The regenerating tremors above them persisted for another 40 seconds, in which time the hole they were in shook around like a buzzing fly, causing their bodies to run against each other in the friction of the trembling earth.

As the sound and trembling dissipated, Rein punched a hole upwards back to the surface, where he emerged onto a pile of rubble, pulling Chloe up with him. They looked out onto the messy cavern, filled with broken stones and cracked architecture, then looked up into the sky that was shining down on them, the roof of the cavern, along with the maze and the ground above them having completely decimated, forming a revine.

"Those were some noises you were making though. I've never heard those from you," Rein laughed, looking back at Chloe as her face turned bright red, her mouth trembling as her embarrassment exploded.

"Y-you could hear that?!"