We followed the sound of where the scream came from and ran deeper into the tunnels.
Thankfully, there weren't any Anomalies in the way so we were not impeded as we ran towards the source of the scream.
The tunnels twisted and turned and got noticeably smaller and smaller until it was just barely wide and tall enough for Leena and Olivia to squeeze through.
Eventually, we reached another cavern, this one with almost the same layout as the previous one where there were several destroyed buildings on one side of the cavern.
The only difference was that now, there was someone who was distinctly not an Anomaly cowering on top of one of the structures while several smaller sized Anomalies were clawing at the wall underneath them.
They were dressed in what looked like a thick cloak and clinging to a small pillar jutting out above the half destroyed wall like a koala clinging to the side of a tree.
There were only three Anomalies and since I was at the front, I decided to jump in first.
I kicked off the ground and leapt towards one of the Anomalies, the creature not even turning around until I was right on top of it.
I still wasn't sure if these smaller creatures were supposed to be mutated children but since there was an actual person in danger right now, I would have to prioritise their safety over whether this was moral or not.
I grabbed the closest one by the head and tossed it against the wall, smashing it against it with a loud bang that prompted the other Anomalies to turn towards me.
Without hesitation, I kicked another one at where its head was supposed to be, punting it towards one of the broken buildings and causing it to crumble.
The other Anomalies growled at me and tried to attack me all at once but I swept them aside and tossed them behind me.
My Guardians immediately got to work dispatching them while I jumped up to grab the Anomaly that was trying to climb the pillar to reach the cloaked figure, pulling it down before it could attack them.
It struggled in my grip and I thought about Kris's power, testing it by increasing the gravity on my hand while smashing the Anomaly into the ground at the same time.
The creature exploded into meat paste in the ground while also leaving a large crater, shaking the tunnel from the impact.
Huh… This seems like a usable combo.
I looked back at my Guardians and they were already finishing up with the remaining Anomalies, giving me the chance to turn back to the cloaked figure who was still clinging onto the pillar.
Their face was hidden by the hood they were wearing so I couldn't see what they looked like.
"Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?" I asked.
I had a moment to wonder if this person even understood what I was saying before a clearly feminine voice spoke out from underneath the hood.
"Who… Who are you people? Why… Why are you here?"
I almost introduced myself as the Mortal God until I remembered that I didn't have my mask at the moment so I had to act like I was a Guardian instead.
I gestured to myself, "I'm one of the Guardians of the Mortal God of Singapore. We were doing a recon of this rift when we heard your scream so we came rushing here."
That should have explained everything but a confused voice came from her a moment later.
"Gu… Guardian? Mortal God? Singapore? What are those?"
I frowned, "What do you mean? Where are you from?"
"I… I am from here of course? Where did you come from? I thought everyone outside of the Underfort had been completely wiped out by the Rock Munchers…"
Now it was my turn to be confused.
Underfort? Rock Munchers?
I'm going to assume that the Rock Munchers are referring to the Anomalies and the Underfort is probably the name of a place…
Which could only mean one thing…
"You are… A denizen of this World?" I asked.
The figure slowly reached up to pull back her hood, revealing a girlish face with a head of messy blonde hair and two white bunny ears poking out of her head.
Yeah… She's definitely not from our World…
She looked at me with her piercing blue eyes, "Are you… Are you telling me you came from some other World or something?"
I sucked in a breath, "That's exactly what I'm saying."
"Uh-huh… Are you going to eat me?"
"Err… No. I am not going to eat you, you can rest assured of that."
She slowly let herself slide down from the pillar and I realised that she was exactly the same size as those other small Anomalies we had just killed.
She barely came up to my waist in height and she had to tilt her head all the way back just to look up at me.
"Ah… Umm… Where are your parents?" I asked.
She tilted her head, "Dead of course. Like the many others who were taken by the Rock Munchers."
Ok… I just had to ask, "Sorry but… How old are you?"
She scratched her head, "Hmm… You're wondering how long I have stayed alive here, aren't you? The disaster happened… I think ten years ago at this point? So I guess I'm twenty? I haven't really been keeping track of the time you have to understand."
So basically she's already an adult… Which also means those small Anomalies we thought were children were most likely mutated forms of the same type of people as hers so we were also killing adults instead of children.
At least that made it a little less burdensome on my conscience.
I felt a little bad for her neck so I lowered myself to her eye level before asking, "Umm… This might sound crazy but… We really came from another World."
She raised an eyebrow at me, "You can just tell me you came from outside the tunnels you know? It's not like I grew up without knowing that there is an entire world outside of these tunnels."
I shook my head, "No. We quite literally came from another World through a portal. Do you know where these Anomalies come from?"
"Anomalies? Do you mean the Rock Muchers that you just killed?"
I nodded, "They are called Anomalies in our World and they arrive through portals you see. They had created a portal to our World and we used it to cross over to your World to try and close the portal."
She blinked up at me, clearly looking at me like I was crazy.
"Do you really think I'm a child or something?" She asked.
I shook my head, "I'm being serious right now. I--"
"My Lord? Who… Ah… She's a denizen of this World I take it?" Olivia asked, appearing beside me.
I looked up at her, "Yeah… Is this normal? I thought that all the rifts we come across are basically wastelands that are dominated by the Anomalies."
She paused, "Hmm… That is true to a certain degree. While most portals that form usually lead to Worlds that have been dominated by Anomalies for a long time, which would make the place pretty much uninhabitable, there are some instances where the portals are either formed early or where the people of that World figure out how to open portals of their own to escape."
"So we just so happened to find a portal leading to a World where there are people who are still living in a world dominated by Anomalies?" I asked.
"It does seem like it, my Lord."
The short rabbit girl huffed, "Are you two done fooling around? If you're looking for a place of refuge, you don't need to do all that. As long as you can work, the Underfort will welcome you."
I looked at Olivia and she was giving me the look that told me she would leave it to my decision instead.
"We might as well just go and see what they know. Maybe they can give us a better understanding of this place and we can also bring them out to our World as well."
"Of course, my Lord."
The bunny girl pouted at us, "You two really like to act huh? I suppose being outside and dealing with the Rock Munchers does make you crazy. Anyway, I am Maylene and thank you for saving me. If it wasn't for you, I would definitely be dead by now."
I nodded at her, "Hello Maylene. You can call me Qing and this is my companion, Olivia. The others behind me are also part of the same group. That's Jia Lian, Avatasia, Leena, Kris and Sergei."
She peeked around me at my companions, "You have… Interesting people among you… The place outside the tunnels really is weird… Ahem… Anyway, follow me!"
She ran over towards another tunnel and beckoned to us to follow her.
Guess we have to meet the locals now?