"Wait, is it really okay to leave X behind alone?"
As she sprinted forward, Kokoro asked, while Ichigo frowned and shook her head.
"We can only trust him. Since he volunteered to stay behind, he must be confident."
"But there were so many Klaxosaurs..."
Remembering the dense swarm of Klaxosaurs that had fallen from above, Mirai felt her scalp tingle.
"Anyway, we need to get to the central passage as quickly as possible, and then..."
Before she could finish, Ichigo, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped. Kokoro and Mirai, following behind her, were unable to dodge in time and crashed into her.
"Whoa, be careful! What happened?"
"...We're surrounded."
Ichigo gritted her teeth as she stared at the tunnel exit. Just as Fang Zheng had said, the central passage was now packed with those round Klaxosaurs. The others went pale at the sight.
"Wh-What do we do?"
"I..."
Faced with her companions' questions, Ichigo had no idea what to say. Then, just then, Fang Zheng's voice suddenly rang out.
"Yo, everyone. How's the view outside?"
"X!"
Hearing Fang Zheng's somewhat lazy voice, Ichigo immediately relaxed.
"We're surrounded over here! Those Klaxosaurs have blocked the exit!"
"I figured. Come back. I've cleaned things up on my end."
"Got it."
Ichigo no longer hesitated. The Klaxosaurs wandering outside had already spotted them and were shrieking as they lunged toward the group.
"Fall back!"
"Huh? We have to run back?!"
Though they were frustrated, faced with such a huge number of round Klaxosaurs, they could only turn around again and desperately race back the way they had come. Behind them, the Klaxosaurs let out terrifying cries as they scuttled after them on spider-like limbs.
"Aaaaaah! Don't come any closer!"
Now, whether they wanted to run or not, they had no choice.
A