CHAPTER 150: TORNADO

"What the hell is that?!" Bob shouted, pointing toward a large spinning structure about 500 meters ahead.

"Is that a... tornado?" I said. I used to watch this kind of phenomenon in documentaries during my free time. It’s a destructive force of nature.

Inside the tornado, I could see structures swirling within it. And at the top, three massive figures were circling above the funnel.

What is that? I asked myself.

"Let’s go! There must be people down there!" Linus shouted as he started running.

I immediately ordered Plump to run while Bob began to glide ahead.

But as we moved closer, the wind grew stronger. Bob was now forced to run on foot, the violent gusts made it impossible for him to glide steadily through the air.

The closer we got, the more we realized the scale of the destruction. Many houses had no roofs, windows, or doors. Some were reduced to just walls barely standing.

"I think we need to get out of here!" I shouted over the howling wind. "We’ll get sucked in if we stay! Even if there were people here, they’re probably already inside that thing! There’s nothing we can do!"

"Yes, let’s do that!" Bob replied.

Just as we were about to turn around, we suddenly heard a scream, a familiar voice.

It was Lee. He was screaming, barely holding onto a pillar with his hands slipping.

His voice cut through the roar of the wind.

We couldn’t see him clearly as the tornado was kicking up so much dust and debris that it was nearly impossible to see what was inside.

"Is that the sound of Lee, if I’m not mistaken?" I said. Of course, I remembered clearly the voice of the person who always belittled us.

Bob tried to listen more carefully. "Yup. That’s his voice. Let’s get out of here." He was trying to ignore the cry of his own guild member.

"Are you kidding me? Let’s save him now!" I shouted, pulling Plump’s reins and making him charge into the tornado. Bob and Linus stayed outside, waiting.

As we got closer, I cast Stoneguard Ward.

The wind grew stronger, and Plump began to struggle, his body pushed back by the violent gusts.

Then we saw someone hanging upside down, his leg caught on something. He was clearly struggling to hold on.

Lee was the closest to us. We couldn’t go any deeper. If we did, we’d surely get sucked in.

So I used Searing Dash, making Plump dash instantly toward Lee’s position. Just as we reached him, Lee lost his grip and nearly got pulled in, but I managed to grab his hand just in time.

"Plump, now!" I commanded.

He used Searing Dash again, bursting out of the storm with Lee in tow.

Lee then crouched down on one knee. "I thought I was a goner. Thank yo-" His voice trailed off as he looked up and saw our faces.

"A-ass Rank and G-Rank?!" he shouted in shock.

"Who did you call ass?" Bob snapped, cracking his fingers.

"What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t join us?" Lee asked.

"We’re just a little late. But anyway... how the hell are you here?" I asked.

"We just encountered-...wait a minute. Mark! Everyone is in there!" Lee suddenly exclaimed. He immediately turned and tried to run back into the tornado.

"Hey, are you a moron? Alan just saved you and now you wanna go back?" Bob grabbed him, holding him back.

"Everyone’s in the storm! Mark, Selene, William, everyone! Those stupid monsters were circling in the air before they caused this disaster!" Lee shouted. For the first time, I saw a worried look on his face, not his usual arrogant, gangster attitude.

Our expressions began to change too.

"William and everyone..." I murmured.

I was about to run into the tornado, with Bob already preparing to glide, when Linus suddenly jumped in front of us and stopped us.

"What are you doing, Linus? Our friends are in danger!" Bob shouted.

Linus glanced at Lee, as if trying to confirm something.

"You said monsters caused this? What are they, and where are they now?" Linus asked. He was the only one who seemed calm, while Bob and I were already starting to panic, eager to rush in and help our friends as fast as possible.

Lee quickly pointed to the top of the tornado. We raised our heads and saw the three figures I had noticed earlier.

"They were lions... with wings. Three of them."

Linus nodded. "I see. Then our target is clear."

Bob and I nodded as well, our expressions firm with resolve.

Only Lee looked confused.

"Hold on a second, do you three actually plan to go kill those things... up there? Do you know how much our group struggled to fight them?" he said. To him, the three of us standing in front of him seemed absolutely insane, charging in with just the three of us, aiming to take down something their entire team had trouble with.

Bob smirked. "Let me show you how an ace performs!"

I cast Stoneguard Ward again, this time on all four of us, Plump included. With that, we moved into the tornado.

Lee remained frozen, still in a daze. "They’re really crazy... But if they actually manage to pull it off, then they’re really..."

His voice trailed off for a second.

"...Wait a minute. Was Bob’s hair... red just now?"

As we went deeper into the tornado, the wind lifted us up. I immediately grabbed Linus and pulled him onto Plump, who had now extended its wings, carrying us through the air. Bob had no problem flying since he already had wings, but he still held onto Plump’s leg to keep us from getting separated.

We spiraled upward through the raging winds, riding the tornado. At the same time, I kept scanning the chaos below and around us, searching for our guild members.

We slashed and shot at any large debris or flying structures that came hurtling toward us. As we cut through the madness, a human figure suddenly came flying toward us.

"There! That must be one of our guild members!" Bob shouted, pointing. We couldn’t make out who it was exactly, but it was definitely a human.

I quickly reined Plump, changing our course to intercept the figure. It spun toward us, and as it got close enough, I reached out and grabbed them.

"Got you!" I shouted as I caught the person from behind. But somehow... I felt something soft and bouncy in my hands.

All of us froze for a moment.

"Huh?!"

"You?!"

The person I’d just saved, was none other than the leader of Black Eagle Phoenix.