They did as they were told and she found herself with 5 in total.

"As soon as that area shatters, start shooting and running forward, I'll cover us!"

Just as she spoke, it shattered and the firing of pulses filled the land as the team began their movement.

Shana tapped one mana bomb to activation as she hugged them all to her figure. She had 3 seconds. Her body glowed with light, a bird's screech resounded.

"Fly."

The spirit of flickering colors birthed itself into the world and its beak opened as she released the bombs, devouring them. A burp rang. The explosion that should have occurred was compacted, engulfed by the bird, and then it flew into the air and screeched as its multi-colored body exploded.

A rain of light fell from the sky.

Countless beams pierced through the heads of beasts and creatures of all kinds.

Not wasting any time, she gripped her rifle and began firing forward as well. Pulses flying and meeting the power of beasts. Creatures died around them and, then, the barrier that had held behind crumbled.

They had made nothing more than a dent.

A wolf crossed from behind them, its body flickering with electricity and its speed vast enough to cross meters with a single pounce. Eyes crimson. Teeth salivating. It reached their tail in a moment and lashed out.

Shana shot it through its head and it dropped dead.

But that wasn't the last of them.

More came from behind and now they fought on two fronts. Forward, and backward.

A scream tore through the air and she glanced to see John's left arm detach from his body, a solidified beam of mana passing through. Her eyes shook as the crimson of his blood splashed.

"Captain!"

A voice called out to her.

'Huh, what, what's going on?' Shana's eyes jumped and blood splashed upon her face.

Belmonts silver-haired figure stood before her gritting his teeth as a wolf stuck its maws into an arm he used to defend her while the other latched out to push her away.

"What the hell are you doing!" She tried to reach out her hand but the beasts had already reached their backline.

"Goodbye, Captain." Belmont laughed and pushed her away as he continued to fire his weapon. "Stay cute!"

"Wait no, don't you da-!"

Faust grabbed her and pulled her back, dragging her figure as the male grinned, blood spilling from his lips and body being crunched by the jaws of beasts. He kept unloading pulses from his rifle.

"Boom." He spoke.

An explosion of blue ripped apart the area and blood and mana mixed within the air, shattering the atmosphere. Shana found her voice caught in her throat at the realization that her underling had activated the self-destruction function of his body without her order.

The force of the powerful destruction left a crafter upon the land and the air pressure sent them flying as a rain of blood and gore splashed the land.

When she came to, three figures were firing their weapons as they surrounded her body. Of course, being homunculi, they couldn't pass out from being flung about, no matter how brief. Yet, they had chosen immediately to protect her before any thought of safety to themselves.

"Ah! The captain's up!" Banri was the first to notice.

Shana nodded, shook to stand and wiped a spot of blood from her lips. She gripped her weapon and joined the formation, forming a circle of four.

The roars of beasts filled the air with the vrooms from the pulses of blaring rifles.

It was at that moment that a screech broke apart the air.

This was no time for aerial mana beasts! Her eyes widened when she looked up. It was one of the worst ones.

"A thunderbird!"

The creature dived down with a flap of its wings.

Lightning crackled and it flapped.

Then.

An array of lightning spawned upon the land.

It killed beasts like itself and crackled upon them.

The four rolled out of the way and Shana reached for her thigh. She wiped blood from under her nose and gripped a slab of metal in her hand. Two taps later and the thing vroomed out to reveal a blade of condensed mana, blue in its radiance.

The bird screeched and dived down once more, this time its claws ready to grab her.

Survival was what she saw.

She screamed as she leaped and slashed.

Its head flew off as her sword passed through its neck.

Her feet found ground amongst her companions. As if driven by instinct, the three ran. They gunned and she slashed her weapon, killing any creatures that came their way.

Then the ground shook as sand shifted and caved in to reveal a set of jagged teeth. She immediately recognized them for what they were.

"Why a sandworm now of all things!" Shana raged.

The jaws of the thing didn't care, however.

She leaped away but it was already rising from the ground. She looked below to find that its size was larger than what she had thought. It wasn't a natural sandworm. It was one born from within a dungeon.

A body collided with hers.

"Faust—!"

Her figure found land and the creature devoured the male before rising to full length.

"Move, Captain!' John's large hand dragged her.

In front of her, the sandworm exploded into a radiance of blue that also devoured more creatures with it.

They leaped out of the way, barely escaping death themselves. John rolled and readily grabbed his pistol with his remaining hand, returning back to shooting.

Shana struggled to get up.

The beasts were thinning but her body that had been flung around all day was beginning to fail and refuse to listen to her.

"Why. . ." She yelled as her fist pounded against the dirt floor, eyes glaring with unwillingness, "Why did they give their life for me!"

John answered her as both he and Banri protected her form, guns blazing.

"That's why, Captain," He said, "No other reason but that you'll grieve for us."

"And you let me have snacks!" The other added as if it were the most important thing in the world.

Staring at their bloodied figures, Shana thought she could almost laugh. Her legs felt weak. She wasn't sure she could even stand, but she tried anyway. She still had a pistol on her person. She could fight. Maybe not as untiring as the rest of them but she could always fight.

Yet, the ground rumbled once more.