Van carefully dug the debris with his hands. He was initially going to use the technique that he learned earlier from Charlotte and vibrate his hands, but he chose not to. Now that he was calmer that they were outside, he realized how bad it would be if he accidentally penetrated someone’s flesh when using it.

  If his hand could go through stone as if it was nothing, then besides Enhancer-type System Holders, the rest would surely be colorfully wounded by his hand if he wasn’t careful.

  Van continued to push away the earth and debris, taking a pause each time to see if there were any signs of any movement happening. And finally, after a full minute, Van heard a light gasp for air.

  "H…… help……"

  As soon as Van heard the whisper, he looked at Charlotte, who nodded towards him, confirming it was the one she was hearing.

  "Stay still," Van said as he moved the rubble that separated him and the whisper, even more carefully this time.

  "T…… thank you. Thank you……"

  "……"

  Van watched as the man gasped for air, crawling from the debris, not even minding that one of his legs was already missing. Van could only shake his head towards Charlotte as the unfamiliar man continued to thank him. And since he was calling him President, it was one of the people from the Pit.

  "Thank you, Mr. President…… thank you," the man repeated. Afterward, the smell of burning meat pierced Van’s nose, he wondered what it was at first, but as soon as he saw smoke coming from the man’s legs, he looked no further.

  It would seem the man was a Mage-type specializing in fire, similar to Gil. But to not even utter a wince of pain as he did it, perhaps the shock and adrenaline still completely drowned the man’s body.

  "I hear someone else there!"

  "Alright," as soon as Van heard Charlotte’s words, he quickly left the man on his own and rushed towards the direction where Charlotte was pointing to. Van once again carefully dug, more efficient this time.

  But alas, it was still an unfamiliar face.

  And once again, Charlotte pointed towards a certain direction…… and once again, it was not who they wanted and needed to find.

  And after an hour, there were now almost a hundred of them here.

  "Damn it!" Van could not help but curse in frustration, each one Charlotte finds rekindles his hope, only to extinguish it as soon as it was lit. The people that they rescued could not help but look at each other before letting out a long and deep sigh.

  They have also been given the description of their President’s friends, and most of them knew Latanya and the others, so they too were on the lookout for them, helping their President to search for them.

  But even as their numbers grew, there was not even a single sign of them. Charlotte, who has been focusing all of her senses to hear the people that were still buried underground, could not help but also let out a sigh.

  She was frustrated, very much so. Just what was it that fell on the New Wall? Was it some kind of weapon that the Circle had been hiding? Or did they invite a Platinum Rank Explorer from another country to attack the Pit?

  If that was the case, then Charlotte only knew of one that was capable of doing something like that, Selim Said, the strongest Mage-type Holder. But last she checked, Selim held no love for the Circle as well.

  Charlotte closed her eyes, trying to recall exactly what the colossal boulder looked like. But alas, she had her back turned towards it for most of the time, not to mention she shielded Van from the impact.

  Was it just…… a meteor? No, if it was, then at that size, then it would have very well destroyed the whole country.

  "Eek!"

  The people that were near Charlotte could not help but jump in fright as a loud thunder echoed near them, with Charlotte slapping her cheeks in order to remove all the unnecessary thoughts she was thinking.

  Once again, she focused on determining the areas where she could hear the breaths of people that were buried underneath.

  Just like that, another hour passed. The Deadzone now looked as if it was ransacked by ants, with hundreds of holes from all the digging, but still, not one of them stopped. It was important to hasten the rescue, as the more they wait, the fewer chances that they would find someone alive. System Holders may be resilient, but they are, in the end, still human. They would suffocate if they can’t get them out soon.

  Some of the rescued individuals have also been tasked to find the Portal of the Pit, with luck, maybe Harvey and the others got there before the colossal boulder swallowed the whole place whole.

  "Mr. President! We found a little girl here!"

  "A little girl!?"

  As soon as the woman’s voice reached Van and Charlotte’s ears, they quickly rushed towards her, causing her to almost back away just from the wind pressure Charlotte was releasing.

  "Where is she!?" Charlotte hollered. This was the first time they ever came close to finding someone that would fit any of her granddaughter’s profile, so her excitement almost shot through the roof.

  "T…… there," the woman could not help but stutter as she fixed her hair. She pointed towards a group of people, who were seemingly trying to help the little girl.

  Both Van and Charlotte looked at one another, releasing a long and deep breath before nodding at each other and slowly walking towards the group.

  But before they could even reach halfway, Charlotte completely stopped in her tracks as she heard the girl’s voice.

  "Shoo, shoo!" A voice reached their ears, "I told you, I am not a little girl, go away. I am alright already!"

  "That…… voice?"

  Van was going to ask why Charlotte stopped, but even he was slightly confused. It was a very familiar voice, but Van could not pinpoint who it belonged to. And soon, their confusion was answered as the group of people surrounding the supposed little girl they rescued all went away one by one.

  "……You?" Charlotte blinked numerous times as she once again began walking towards the girl, "What…… What are you doing here……

  prune midget?"

  "Cha…… Muscle demon!?" The little girl got up from the rubble she was seating on as soon as she saw Charlotte standing in front of her, "What…… are you doing here?"

  "I should be the one asking you that question, Angela!" Charlotte roared as she rushed towards the little girl…… no, as she rushed towards Angela Elton, "Were you…… were you the one that did this!?"

  Charlotte then grabbed Angela by the neck and lifted her up in the air, "Unhand me, you muscle demon!"

  A loud crack reverberated in the air as Angela kicked Charlotte on the face, causing her to slightly stumble, but still, it seemed like it had no effect as her eyes and her grip did not leave Angela one bit.

  "Miss…… Elton? What…… are you doing here?"

  "Van!?" Angela’s eyes widened in shock as she saw Van, "……Wait, how are you…… Are we outside the Pit right now!?"

  "Answer my——" Charlotte was about to say something, but before she could even finish her words, a torrent of blood suddenly gushed out from Angela’s neck.

  "You…… you killed her!?" Van could not help but slightly back away as she saw Angela Elton’s head burst into blood.

  "W…… what!? No!" Charlotte quickly waved her hand as she threw Angela away, whose body burst into a puddle of blood as it hit a nearby rubble.

  "Why…… did you kill her?" Van said in confusion.

  "I didn’t!" Charlotte hollered in frustration before pointing towards where she threw Angela, "Look!"

  The blood that came from Angela moved as if it were alive, crawling like snakes as it gathered in one place, wriggling in a very disgusting way. And soon, the puddle of blood rose up, forming into the shape of a human once more.

  "We…… are in the Pit?" Angela repeated as she looked around the place, "……How? What are we doing here? What are you doing here?" Angela’s confusion echoed through Charlotte and Van’s ears.

  "……So it wasn’t you that did this?" Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows as she approached Angela again, this time, with more calm.

  "What? Why would I do something like this? I won’t gain anything from it, would I? No? Yes, I won’t," Angela began to mumble.

  "Maybe you did it to get Van out of the Pit," Charlotte crossed her arms.

  "What? And alert the Circle? You should think with your brain sometimes, muscle demon," Angela shook her head as she sighed, "……Although the Circle should be wide awake now," she then said as she looked around the place.

  With this much damage, even the Circle of the other country would start to move, taking it as a sign of aggression towards their whole organization.

  "……Then why are you here if you are not the one responsible for the meteor?" Charlotte was once again instigating.

  "Pft," Angela, however, snorted as soon as she heard that, "It’s not a meteor…… it was our base."

  "Base?" Van furrowed his eyebrows, even with the two talking to each other, his confusion grows stronger.

  "Before that……"

  Angela didn’t answer Van’s question, instead, she headed in a certain direction. She raised her palm, before rotating her wrists and waving her hand upwards, and as soon as she did so, something…… someone emerged from the ground in front of her.

  "……Let’s wake up the princess."

  "……Isn’t that?" Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows as soon as she saw who Angela lifted from the ground.

  Van, however, could not help but bare his fangs as soon as she saw who it was, a single word full of hatred then whispered from his mouth,

  "……Sarah."