Traveling and fighting alongside Harry and Carmela was a very different experience compared to what Isaac had grown used to with his old team.

  For one, there was far less talking. Hell, for the most part, the three of them communicated with gestures rather than words. It got the job done, though, so no complaints there.

  The other big difference was leadership. Back with his friends, Isaac had been the de facto leader of their band of misfits. And sure, others often offered input and occasionally overruled him, but the fact remained that he had always had the final say, or well, almost always.

  With this new team, however, there was no clear leader at all.

  Isaac might have been the one to lead the three of them into the wilds at first, but soon it was Carmela's turn to pull ahead. Apparently, she had a route in mind, one she seemed determined to follow. No one objected.

  And so, for the entire flight over Broken Hopes, the woman remained in front, steering them toward the eastern edge of the Battleworld. Why? Isaac didn't ask, but maybe she just hoped there would be fewer people in that direction.

  Spoiler: there weren't.

  Even after crossing into the vast jungles of the yellow territory, spotting a Host or an entire group wasn't hard at all. They were everywhere, either fighting the numerous overgrown insects and man-eating plants or building makeshift camps in cleared-out Nests and Monster Villages. It was quite the sight, especially the latter.

  In any case, the sheer number of people in their path definitely wasn't what Carmela had hoped for. At some point, she even began slowing down, her head darting left and right in search of something they could hunt or destroy.

  No such luck.

  A Nest, Quarantine Site, or a Monster Village could have entertained them for at least a few minutes. As previously observed, however, there were none left around those parts, and killing lone beasts here felt like stepping on ants. Even the numerous Storm Elementals were little more than a mild annoyance at this point.

  It wasn't until they neared the far edge of the yellow zone that things finally got interesting. With hardly any Hosts around, they finally got a chance to unleash more of their strength on the poor fauna and flora of the jungle.

  In a single hour, they tore through hundreds of monsters, demolishing three nests and even clearing out one Quarantine Site. As expected, the rewards from those were quite underwhelming. Isaac didn't mind, though. He was just happy to be back on the field.

  Besides, this hunt was far from over. The sandworms hiding under the dunes of the red territory were out of their reach for now, but the countless Unregulated Quarantine Sites scattered across it? Now that was a target just perfect for three Pioneers hungry for battle.

  They had voted on it already, and all agreed that remaining in the yellow territory was a waste of time. The Smoldering Mountains was the only place for monsters like them.

  And so, with their warm-up finished, the trio took to the skies once more, ready to search for their true target. They just had one final pit stop to make on the way there.

  "Flat Earthers would have a field day if they saw this," Isaac muttered, staring at what could only be described as the edge of the world. One more step forward, and the ground beneath his feet would vanish, replaced by an endless abyss of swirling, ever-changing colors.

  Beside him, Carmela chuckled softly. "That they would…" A sigh slipped from her lips after a moment. "It's beautiful, in a way—if you ignore who made it."

  Isaac nodded. The sky of the Battleworld was always a sight to behold, but this… this was something else entirely. There was nothing ahead of him, no jungles, no deserts, no cities. Only the never-ending abyss remained. He had to fight the urge to transform and dive in, just to see what would happen if he tried to go down.

  "Friends?" Harry's voice brought him back to reality. "We should get going. My dreams… they're trying to warn me. I'm just not sure if it's about this place or something else."

  "Very well," Carmela said, stepping away from the cliff. "I got what I came for anyway."

  With that, they all shifted into their Legacies and returned to the skies.

  Harry took the lead this time, his power washing over their bodies and hiding them from sight. It hadn't been necessary in the 'allied' yellow territory, but as they entered the Smoldering Mountains, it was better to be safe than sorry. Also, the man's Dreams tended to be a better early warning system than Isaac's Symphony.

  For a while, they flew in peace, leaving the edge of the world behind as the thick jungles below gave way to the familiar red dunes. Isaac kept looking, though, searching for any signs of the sandworms. He still couldn't get the idea of controlling them with Red Puppeteer out of his head.

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  If he could get his hands on even a single worm… Well, the Zerians would never know what hit them.

  Maybe one day, he thought, tearing his gaze from the desert and fixing it on the horizon. With how empty the desert looked here, it would probably be another hour or longer before they reached the first mountains.

  As it turned out, Isaac didn't have to wait that long for some entertainment to appear.

  You, my friends, are quite unlucky indeed, he mused, watching a group of five Hosts land on the dunes in the distance. There, most of them transformed, revealing their true forms. Forms that weren't human.

  Never mind. Unlucky is quite the understatement here.

  Those aliens were, most likely, trying to use the edge of the Battleworld to reach humanity's yellow zone undisturbed. By all means, their plan should have gone without a hitch. Barely any humans who weren't invaders ventured into the red zone. Yet, fate seemed to have a personal grudge against those five.

  To stumble right into three of Earth's six original Pioneers? Yeah, unlucky didn't cut it. Worse still, the Zerians had no idea anyone had been following them for over ten minutes.

  Isaac opened the group chat with his teammates and sent a brief message. He received two replies within seconds.

  Again, it's nothing personal. Freedom mode.

  Mana spilled into his body, only for a third to leave it a second later. A decent chunk of blood from his Core joined the wild energy, forming a salvo of ten massive Crimson Deaths behind him.

  What came next was history.

  A bloody, brief, and very one-sided history.

  Warning! You're nearing an Unregulated Quarantine Site.

  Just like back on Reprizem, that was the only notice the Interface gave when Isaac's team reached the first Quarantine in their path. Not that they needed anything else. The hundreds of monsters sleeping or wandering almost every inch of the mountain's slope worked as a great warning in itself.

  Still, there was no turning back now.

  Back when Isaac first passed through this territory, he wouldn't have dared to approach one of these Quarantines. Hundreds of beasts with High-threat ranking were way beyond him. Now though? This was no longer the case.

  Potential Threat: Moderate

  Almost every monster he Analyzed showed the same result. The long crimson snakes coiled beside rivers of lava?

  Moderate.

  The huge golems that never stayed in one place?

  Moderate.

  The strange, overgrown insects that looked to be made out of glass and sand?

  Also Moderate.

  Killable.

  Still hovering a safe distance from the Quarantine Site, Isaac turned to his teammates and nodded. Carmela returned the gesture, then shot forward, her scales shifting to a deep violet hue. A moment later, she opened her jaw, flames of the same color licking at her teeth.

  For a couple of seconds, nothing happened. Then, she reared back and spat a massive blast of purple plasma straight at the mountain. The projectile reached its target in a blink, a shrill whistle being the monster's only warning of the approaching death.

  Not that it helped them much, if at all.

  The plasma exploded near one of the many entrances into the mountain, swallowing a decent amount of monsters in violet, smoke-like flames. Pained screeches and whines filled the skies. Those were soon joined by other noises—that of the entire Quarantine waking up.

  Isaac would have smiled if he could.

  Let the fun begin. Crimson Fury.

  The sky bled red as he folded his wings and dove. His ravens followed close behind, joined by the twisted abominations conjured by Harry's Origin. Why the man's creations always looked like nightmarish hybrids with wings slapped on, he didn't know, nor did he care right now. Questions could wait.

  With the ground fast approaching, Issac covered his form in Cursed Draw and slammed into one of the bat-like creatures that had dared to intercept him and his flock. They died on the spot, either torn by him, his ravens, or the salvo of Blood Daggers he had summoned in the meantime.

  Obliteration.

  He crashed into a cluster of glass insects like a meteor, shattering them into pieces. A quick transformation later, he was back on his feet, Cursed Draw powered Root already cleaving through a lava golem. He was ready to hurl a Crimson Death at three more beasts charging his way, but just then, golden bullets hit each in the head.

  Isaac's head snapped left. Carmela hovered a few meters off the ground, silver-and-gold wings spread wide. She shot him a wink and charged at another group of monsters.

  Looks like all Pioneers have a tendency to show off.

  He chuckled, vanished in a Burst, and reappeared amidst another group.

  Kill everything. Don't hold back!

  The caws of his flock answered his command, and within seconds, the blood ravens returned to his side, tearing into anything foolish enough to come close. Isaac, meanwhile, danced through the chaos, blade in one hand, throwing Crimson Deaths with the other.

  Now and then, he caught a flash of silver and gold nearby, or one of Harry's creations smashing a monster into paste. Those sights only pushed him to move faster, to fight harder. The monsters were endless, never giving him time to breathe, yet Isaac felt right at home here.

  The Symphony played.

  His blood sang.

  And the Root pulsed with glee for every beast that fell. Not even the scorching heat of this territory could slow him down.

  "Rip. Tear. Kill. And when Death comes calling at your door, meet it with a smile and a blade to its neck. Child of Blood, prove your worth."

  Isaac grinned as tendrils of blood erupted from his body, latching onto the corpses around him. With a flick of Viron and a Mana Surge, he called forth his next skill.

  "Red Puppeteer."

  A legion of blood, lava, and stone rose to obey.

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