Chapter 131: Team (9)

In the end, Luke decided to do that, fly around the area in a circle while eliminating the monsters one by one. Even he was having a hard time dealing with the extra power of the cold wind while flying at high speeds but in the end. The one who didn't endure until the end was Artiuno… as expected. Flying for so long while carrying three people on her back wore her out more than a little bit after two hours. Her stamina was starting to decrease pretty fast…

"Search for some flat place for us to land when the enemies are far away. I will create a hideout in those mountains," Shalia said.

Luke nodded… they wouldn't have time to look for a nearby city since Artiuno's speed was decreasing at an alarming rate… Luke cursed his own carelessness. He should have seen that coming… but he was thinking too much about the mission in the end.

Artiuno flew around a mountain and when they disappeared from the eyes of the enemy for a moment. They landed on a natural platform that had an abyss of hundreds of meters. At the same time, Shalia quickly created a small hill of snow and then opened a path inside with fire magic. Usually, it would melt the whole hill. Still, she controlled her power just fine to create an igloo that wouldn't be noticed unless the enemies were a few dozens of meters away. Weirdly enough, even Artiuno could enter while standing. The interior wasn't that humid either, so things would be relatively comfortable in there. The only problem was the fact that few of them will be able to fall asleep.

"Wow, you even melt the snow on the ground without raising any steam," Celia said, visibly surprised.

"This will last for a couple of hours," Shalia said.

"You heard her, this isn't much of a bed, but you should get some rest," Luke said while patting Artiuno's head. "At first light, we will fly around the area once more, and then if we don't find any traces of the others, we will head to the airport."

"Come to think of it, I didn't realize before, but crossing these mountains and then walking for three hundred kilometers in three days is quite harsh…" Celia said.

"Frank must have considered the current strength and abilities of the soldiers when he decided that, you don't have to worry," Luke said.

Most of the soldiers were at Luke's level, and they also had more or less the same speed, and since Luke could imagine himself running three hundred kilometers in three days, so could they. In any case, the igloo's interior was surprisingly warm… probably because the entrance wasn't against the wind and the ice was dense. Still, it wasn't emitting the cold to the interior.

When Luke sat down, Artiuno sat nearby as well and then sat her head on his lap. Luke wasn't much of an animal lover, but he caught himself caressing her head. She was a bit cold, but that wasn't so bad.

"What?" Luke asked since everyone was frowning and while looking at him.

"... Have you ever had a pet?" Amanda asked.

"No… I would feel bad putting an animal inside a cage or on a leash," Luke replied. 

Although there was a slight moment of silence due to the end of the conversation, Luke didn't feel awkward due to that. Instead, he felt thankful because he now had the perfect cue to lay down and sleep for a few hours. He recalled that he had the habit of meditating after the shop was open one hour. Still, he will have the chance to do that once they reach the airport… he will have a lot of time since Billy will probably wait for the three days for the other group.

In the end, Luke woke up just when the surroundings were starting to get brighter. Even the thick clouds of the snowstorm could keep the mountains dark even during the day. While Luke was feeling refreshed, the girls looked tired… they didn't get a wink of sleep due to nervousness. Hopefully, that won't affect their performance… Luke confirmed that Artiuno was completely fine again when the group left the igloo. Still, flying nonstop for three hours was probably her limit…

"I guess we can fly for one hour around and then head to the airport…" Luke said while checking the sky and confirming that the number of enemies was low.

Once they took off, the group began to hunt the Crystal Avians without dealing with any issues. Their small numbers made things easier… Still, none of them imagined that things would stay like that for so long. Dozens of monsters died, and there were no signs of their allies coming to help… even if they were nocturnal creatures that were too weird. Nevertheless, they spent one hour searching for signs of the soldiers and the survivors, but they didn't find any.

"That is it… we will head to the airport now," Luke said.

Amanda and Celia looked like they wanted to protest, but they didn't. They looked dejected because they felt like they had failed on their mission. While they were like that, Luke was thinking about something else… like the fact that the soldiers should have left a trail of monsters… even if they managed to escape most battles, they couldn't escape all of them. Something felt off… Still, Luke had checked all of the skills of their soldiers, and they were pretty basic. They didn't have tricks that seemed particularly interesting or useful.

After one hour, the group finally left the mountains behind, and then they found the Crystal Avians again… they were hunting the hordes of zombies on the west side of the Andes mountain range. The weather had improved considerably, so they could avoid both enemies by flying above the clouds… but Luke forgot about that when he saw the airplane that was supposed to be waiting for them taking off and flying North…