Chapter 513 The Tall Grasslands

They walked for hours without much rest. Lee Seng kept close to Lisa and David, listening to David and Lisa casually talk while they followed the map.

"Honestly, I don't understand why you like to play with people's heads. You already have a bigger trump card than your stutter." David told Lisa. Lisa shook her head at the comment.

"You don't understand my artistic vision." Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it basically making fun of those with stutters?" David looked at her. She shrugged like she really didn't care.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't have known but Lady Esme fixed my stutter. It's just something I do without t-thinking of it."

"So you had a stutter coming to Limbo?" David brushed his chin. "Interesting."

"Not as interesting as your thievery hands." Lisa pointed at his hands. David scoffed, rolling his eyes at her.

"Says the sl–"

"There's something coming our way." Lee Seng interrupted them. The two of them stopped and looked at Lee Seng. He pointed ahead of them. "That way."

"Something's coming to us?" David turned.

"That's odd. We shouldn't hit anything too crazy for another h-hour." Lisa added. The three watched the horizon in front of them. Lee Seng spotted it first. A trail of smoke sweeping across in front of them.

"Shit," David cursed when he finally saw it. "That can't be what I think it is right?" Lisa looked at David for confirmation. David gritted his teeth as he prepared to dash.

"Quick rundown of what I can do." David began. "I have mastery over manipulating my bones."

"I use a whip and can charm enemies." Lisa explained.

"Too complicated to tell you all but Gravity, well I guess it's actually Cosmos now…" Lee Seng started to explain but ended with a mutter. He shook his head. "I can manipulate Gravity and space. You've seen me use it along with the ability to heal."

"Just let me and Lisa handle this. We don't use Energy like you do." David sprinted forward. His right arm exploded as a large bony sword formed.

"But I can–" Lee Seng took a step forward only to see Lisa shake her head at him and sprint. David screamed, swinging the bony sword straight through five Hellhounds, exploding them in one strike as Lisa summoned her whip and lashed out at the Hellhounds.

The whip wrapped around a Hellhound and pulled backwards towards its wielder. Lisa quickly threw the Hellhound into the others and went in for another strike. Her whip split, severing six Hellhounds with ease.

Lee Seng watched as his teammates made quick work of the Hellhounds. He glanced at his watch, noticing a question mark pop up. He clicked it and noticed the watch was giving him a description of the monsters being slaughtered.

[Hellhound, Grade D, Realm: Hell]

[Fiery hounds created from the ash, bone and rotting meat of the tortured inmates of Hell. The only scary thing about them is their numbers and pack tactics.]

A loud noise made Lee Seng look up. A shockwave of bones fired out of the ground, piercing the Hellhounds as Lisa latched onto one of the bone pillars like she was used to this. The bones flew straight through him, splitting enough to give him room as a help appeared behind him.

'A Hellhound made its way behind me?' Lee Seng thought. 'I didn't even recognize it.' The bone pillars disappeared as Lisa landed on the ground. David turned his bone sword arm disappearing as his flesh and blood reappeared.

"I thought you said you were really good at detecting things." David shouted at Lee Seng. His two teammates met him at their original spot as Lee Seng watched the impaled Hellhound disappear into ash.

"I… I should've felt it coming but I didn't. Is that a strong Hellhound?" Lee Seng asked.

"No. There's nothing special about them." David shook his head. "You sure you got crispy ears and eyes?" He leaned in, second guessing if Lee Seng's explanation about his sense being "greater than most Biohumans" was true or not.

"The things down here work differently than on Earth." Lisa reminded David. "He probably has great energy detection and uses that."

"He could've heard it coming but he didn't." David pointed out.

'True.' Lee Seng thought. 'I didn't hear it coming at all…'

"I won't stare at my watch then. I'll keep my ears and eyes open in case you can't save me next time." Lee Seng apologized.

"Now you've made him apologize for not knowing anything!" Lisa slapped David. The teenage boy winced at her slap. "No wonder why you're stuck down here! Your mouth gets you into so much trouble!"

"Says the deceiver…"

WHAM!

Lee Seng felt like he was watching smoke come out of David's head as a devil glared angrily at him. The two started to argue, again. It was one of the constant things they did. Lee Seng wondered how they even got along.

'They fought so seamlessly,' Lee Seng thought. 'Are all low rank Collectors like them? They took out D Grade Hellhounds like it was nothing. I almost couldn't keep up with what they were doing.'

"Hey, Lee Seng!" David's annoyed voice shouted. Lee Seng looked up and noticed David and Lisa had gone ahead. "Stop daydreaming! Let's go! High Noon is coming!"

"What do you mean by high noon?" Lee Seng asked when he caught up. Lisa pulled the map out and checked their location as David kept his eyes to the front.

"High Noon. It's the worst time to be out in Limbo." David replied.

"I've been in Limbo when it was noon before and nothing happened." Lee Seng told them. "Doesn't it just get hot?"

"Hot." David laughed. "Yes, but no. High Noon is when the ashes of dead creatures rise, again. It's annoying when you're a low rank because there's no way of ending them. They'll just keep reappearing until High Noon is over."

"How long does that last?" Lee Seng asked.

"An hour. From 11:30 to 12:30, to be precise." Lisa answered. She swiped the map away. "We're gonna hit some shade soon if you wanna stop."

"Wouldn't stopping to rest be a bad idea if High Noon is happening?" Lee Seng asked.

"Not r-really." Lisa shook her head. "We just have to not get caught for an hour."

"Get caught? W-what do you mean by that?"

"Come on." Lisa pointed at a tree in the distance. "It's almost time. Let's get under before the heatwave comes."

"Heatwave?" Lee Seng muttered.

They stepped into the shade just as Limbo began to pulse brightly. Wherever the sun hit, it began to look like it was boiling. The heat waves grew and Lee Seng could feel himself starting to sweat.

"The Old Sector sits in one of the Hell veins." Lisa explained. "There's Hell Veins all over the world but this place is the harshest. That's why no one wants to come here."

"And those things start to happen." David pointed off to the left. Piles of ashes started to float in the air and swirl. Lee Seng watched as Hellhounds started to reform. "The sucky part is keeping them from getting us."

"That's where you come in." Lisa looked at Lee Seng. "Can you keep them out for an hour?"

"I haven't held a bubble up that long before." Lee Seng told them. "I can try."

"Well, you have to try like your life depends on it. Well, three lives depend on it because if it breaks, we're screwed." David patted Lee Seng.

'Great.' Lee Seng gulped. He raised his hands up. The howls of the Hellhounds grew loud. Lee Seng took a deep breath and focused. Gold, silver, black and gray energy flew out of his hands. It washed over his companions and the tree, doming them in as the Hellhounds turned their attention to them.

"Now for some added support." David stretched his arms and squatted down. His hands ripped to bone as he inserted them into the ground. "I'll try my best to keep these guys off of us but it'll get rough so don't trust me to keep up."

p "Got it." Lee Seng answered, nervously. The yips and howls of Hellhounds filled the air as the heatwave grew hotter. Lee Seng gulped as Hellhounds ran. He protected himself or others from a literal army of enemies before.

Bone spikes flew up, skewering dogs as many flew past the first line of defenses.

"Brace yourself!" David warned. The dogs flew straight into the barrier, thudding against it as Lee Seng watched the dogs fly backwards.

'Hm, they don't give energy. This place is literally drained of it… This is gonna suck.'

The Hellhounds continuously slammed against the colorful barrier as David continued to skewer them to ashes. Lee Seng soon understood the reason why David and Lisa had said what they said. The Hellhounds would get destroyed, only to rebuild themselves.

'This is going to be impossible…' Lee Seng thought.