"Haah haah I haah didn't think it would be that haah hard"

With panting breaths Mia couldn't help but admit

"Haah...haah…"

YuJu didn't reply and only tried to catch his breath as well, a thoughtful expression on his face

The two couldn't really be blamed for their current state, they had been assisting the thrall whom they set as the 'Big Boss' in fighting the human group, the task was harder than fighting the group head on since they had to deflect all the darts, helped her escape the time when she shrieked and disoriented everyone momentarily, even dealt with the spear of light that almost sent their dear follower into the afterlife, all while staying stealthed

"Master...are you really alright?"

After a quick rest Mia once more turned to look at his sizzling left hand, it might have been a little creepy before with the skeletal fingers and all but now it just looked hideous with half its flesh burned off leaving most of the bone exposed

He also turned to look at it but nodded his head seeing its state, such an injury was merely a flesh wound to his staunch vitality, at least the skeleton fingers were unaffected and could still move

"Master shouldn't have blocked the spear with his hand, we could have had the thrall shriek again or do something to blind their sight momentarily while we fixed it"

"Perhaps, but then Sofia wouldn't have gotten over her fear of me"

"? I thought you wanted her to fear you Master"

"Not anymore, not after she acquired that Title...she's become an important piece in the battle for humanity now, why else would I go through all this trouble"

Sofia once swore to serve him, even going as far as to guarantee that she wouldn't betray his trust, all while in a state of fear of course which didn't mean much but it was easy to show her once more why she did swear it at the time

All of that changed however when Mia mentioned the Title, even more so when the angel's death became known to him, now that woman was the best shot at avoiding human annihilation when the horde came knocking, even if she couldn't be as useful as the angel once was she could at least bear the brunt of the fight

"Wait until they rest some here and then go teach her to set the guild, Ika, take your injured thrall back and have her stay out of sight for a while"

Ika, who had also contributed somewhat by voice acting for the thrall, nodded and transformed into a bat before following after her follower's trail, happy that no one died, well, no one on their side at least

"What about you Master?"

"I need to move on with my main plan now that everything on your side is settled"

Explaining no more his figure vanished before her eyes, keeping her guessing at what plot he was setting up next

"Master….why all this playing around the bush…"

She wondered aloud, he had the strength, knowledge, and capability to force the entire human race to follow, why must they skitter about trying to hide in the shadows and manipulate people into doing his bidding? Why no take everything into his own hands instead

His reasons and methods aside however, she also wondered why he wasn't interested in her?

"Hmm, maybe he just doesn't want physical connection? But he is a man after all, then again he isn't normal"

She talked to herself while mixing into the shadows, ideas about her master's love interests dominating most of her mind as other less important matters like ruling the land escaped her busy thought train

...….

Vrooom!

The sound of a loud engine rang through this land once filled with such noise, leaving behind a cloud of black smoke in its wake as it polluted the earth that barely just began flourishing with plant life

"What the hell?"

Looking at the spiked car that out shone his own weird spiked hair the punk old man couldn't help but curse aloud, what in the daredevils was he seeing?!

"It's a car! A bloody car! These things still work!"

He was mad with joy, until a hand slapped the side of his head

"What are you yelling for fool?! You will expose our location! And what bloody part of that thing is a car?! It's clearly a war machine"

"What do you know! This means there is someone who can build these things again, I can have a motorcycle again and ride in glory! My road ain't over yet"

"Quit dreaming old man, we better get a move on or it will be sun down before we are back in the shelter"

A middle aged hunk interrupted the husband and wife pair as he ordered everyone to get moving, completely unfazed by the advanced machinery's existence within the new age

Though there came a lot of grumbles since many more were excited to know who was driving that car like the old man was, no one actually stopped to take another look as they valued their life more than satisfying their shortly lived curiosity

Well, no one but the punk old man

"Hey ya guys I think that car is moving weird"

"Stop looking through the binoculars and hurry up!"

His wife nagged seeing as they lagged behind the group

"No seriously guys, It's like its changing directions, everytime I see it it looks like it be coming at us"

"What nonsense are you spouting, just-" "Give me that"

The hunk of a man suddenly came out of nowhere and yanked the binoculars out of the old man's hands

True enough the spiked car was still heading in their direction even though they have been moving around for a while

"How long has it been doing that"

Taking his eyes off the sight he asked the man only to see him choking as his neck was lifted by the binocular strap

"Cough cough it's always been so, I told you it's heading at us every time took a peek"

Once he was let down the old man replied with annoyance, the dude was choking him on purpose! How else would he not know when he banged at his chest for dear breath?!

"Hmm"

Not minding the attitude he cracked his muscles and sprinting toward the shelter, confusing everyone for a moment before they quickly ran after him

"Hey hey don't leave us here!"

"Man come back!"

"Run slower you thick bastard!"

While chasing loudly everyone kept a watch over the punk old man barely running after them with his tired old legs, waiting for him to reveal what everyone suspected and was trying to know

"It changed direction again! It's really chasing us!"

Sure enough the car was actually aiming for them

Everyone stopped the funny chase and looked at each other grimly

"What should we do?"

In the end the question was directed at their leader, the man however did not think too hard about it and merely grabbed the axe hanging off his belt

"What else? Fight"

"Yah that's my boss"

"Let's do this man"

"I've been needing some action"

Everyone smiled and took out a weapon of their own, a crowbar, a shiv, a tooth, and many other weird stuff, the last thing this gangster turned scavenger group feared was a fight, especially one where they outnumbered the enemy

"That thing should house no more than six people"

"You're joking right? There should be about a dozen"

"What is it a clown car?"

Everyone joked while they waited for the car to arrive, this however brought to their notice how slow it was running

"It might be a while before it gets here"

That made sense when they thought about it however, they spotted a long time ago yet it still hasn't arrived so it must be going slower than them

"Let's go meet it at that bridge"

Not wanting the sky to darken before their return the leader compromised, speeding up to the still standing footbridge and setting up ambush there

Vroom….

After minutes of waiting the engine sounded by their ears, this time however no one was impressed, the thing was all bark and no bite! What the hell was the blaring sound for if it didn't match up with good speed?

"Focus"

The leader warned, casual as they were they would never underestimate an enemy, not in this black hearted world they lived in

Everyone nodded and wore serious expressions, looking at the hatch of the now still car, expecting some sort of humanoid creature to appear and greet them with either a hug or a blade, well, gunfire wasn't out of the question either seeing the car worked

Their expectations were not let down as it opened and the humanoid creature came out, it's just that….

"Well hello there, it's good to finally see a sentient face"

"".....""