Chapter 46: Desperate Escape

‘Run, run quickly, I must reach the camp as fast as possible.’ This was Qing Yu’s sole thought in that moment. Despite Jess’s speed being so great that Qing Yu could barely keep up, he still exerted every ounce of his strength to match her pace, enduring the ache in his limbs as he desperately surged forward. The moment he stopped, the monsters relentlessly pursuing them from behind would instantly drag him into the abyss, tearing him to shreds. Only by staying close to Jess did he stand a chance of survival.

“Faster, Lord Qing Yu,” Jess, who seemed utterly tireless, managed to call back to Qing Yu even as she sprinted at breakneck speed. Qing Yu, his face already flushed crimson, was gasping for air, utterly devoid of the presence of mind to respond to Jess.

“Lord Qing Yu?”

Seeing Qing Yu’s state, Jess immediately understood his predicament. With a decisive surge of strength, she allowed Qing Yu to clamber onto her back, carrying him as she continued to run.

“My apologies, Lord Qing Yu.”

With Qing Yu now on her back, Jess could accelerate her pace. Naturally, the monsters behind them could no longer keep up with Jess at full sprint. In a mere few seconds, Jess had already left their pursuers far behind. Jess moved like a gale, weaving through the streets and alleys, her sole focus on reaching the Knight Order’s camp.

Within the dense mist, countless shadowy hands suddenly shot out, clawing at Jess’s ankles as she leaped between rooftops. From the center of these hands, dark eyes proliferated, frantically shooting crimson beams beneath Jess’s feet, attempting to impede her progress. Jess deftly weaved through the black light, effortlessly evading every attack. Her forward momentum did not falter in the slightest; instead, she even picked up speed.

“Don’t get in my way.”

Energy materialized into sharp blades, swirling around Jess, shredding all the hands that tried to lunge at them. Blood splattered in all directions, and the potent stench of gore assailed Qing Yu’s nose.

And then, a strange, putrid smell?

He gently shook his head, trying to clear his oxygen-deprived mind. Peering over Jess’s shoulder, he looked ahead, hoping to discern the source of that peculiar stench.

Before he could fully grasp the origin of the putrid smell, a small, dark silhouette emerged within the mist.

“Th-that, Jess, what is that ahead?” Qing Yu frantically patted Jess’s shoulder, urging her to notice what lay before them.

“What?” Jess, who had been wholly focused on the monsters beneath her feet, looked in the direction Qing Yu indicated. A faint black speck seemed to materialize in the mist ahead. As Jess carried Qing Yu and surged forward, that black speck was also hurtling towards them at an astonishing speed.

“Dodge! Dodge! Jess, move!” Watching the rapidly expanding silhouette in his vision, Qing Yu forgot his own fatigue and uncontrollably screamed.

In truth, Jess’s reaction was far swifter than Qing Yu’s. Even before Qing Yu’s shout, she had already rapidly altered her trajectory. The instant the dark silhouette grazed past her, Jess continued to shield Qing Yu with one arm while swiftly hurling a ball of dark energy with the other, enveloping the ominous shadow. Then, before Qing Yu could even fully process what was happening, she executed an abrupt stop, landing steadily on the rooftop of a nearby villa.

Qing Yu glanced back. The dark silhouette had vanished into the mist. In the distance, the deafening sound of a collapsing building reverberated.

“What’s wrong, Jess? Why aren’t we moving forward?”

No sooner had the booming sound subsided than Qing Yu saw several more hands burst forth from the mist behind them, shrieking as they lunged towards him and Jess.

“Jess! Jess!”

Seeing Jess remain silent, merely staring behind them like he was, Qing Yu panicked. He desperately shook Jess’s shoulders, calling out anxiously.

‘This is it, this is it, we’re done for!’

“Jess! Jess! Just say something, Jess!”

‘We’re doomed, utterly doomed!’

As the hands drew ever closer, and Jess remained unresponsive, Qing Yu was on the verge of tears from sheer desperation.

‘It’s over, it’s truly over!’

‘I’m going to die, going to die, going to die!’

The hands were now right before them. Qing Yu could already feel the swift gusts of wind caused by their sharp claws stinging the corners of his eyes.

‘This time, it’s truly over.’

The very next second, the claws, mere millimeters from Qing Yu’s eyeballs, abruptly halted their attack. As if clamped by an unseen force, the hands were suddenly yanked backward, vanishing into the dense mist behind them.

Immediately after, a black orb exploded within the mist. Kills, carrying Aldoran, burst forth from the mist behind Qing Yu, kicking aside several struggling hands as she swiftly reached Qing Yu.

“Jess! What are you doing?! You almost got Lord Qing Yu killed!”

Kills, cradling Aldoran with one arm, grabbed Jess’s shoulder with the other and shouted at her in fury. Jess’s body wavered. She gently set Qing Yu down, her eyes filled with bewilderment. She stared at Kills incredulously.

“Just now, why were you flung back? If not for my energy shield, you and Lord Aldoran would have been injured.”

Kills’s gaze flickered. She reined in her anger slightly, held Aldoran tighter, and looked at Jess with equal confusion.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what it was. I just smelled a putrid odor, and then I was blocked by a very tall wall.”

“A wall?” Jess looked ahead. Given Kills’s strength, it was inconceivable that a mere small wall could obstruct her path.

“Perhaps it wasn’t a wall? That thing felt very soft,” Kills spoke again, stepping back a few paces. She felt the rooftop beneath her feet subtly vibrating.

Jess and Qing Yu also sensed this. For Qing Yu’s safety, Jess grabbed his arm and leaped down from the roof. Kills followed closely.

****

The instant Kills landed, the sky suddenly unleashed a torrential downpour. Bursts of thunder rumbled, scarlet fissures tore across the heavens, and colossal raindrops mercilessly pounded the trembling earth.

“Lord Qing Yu, step back!” Jess suddenly exclaimed, yanking Qing Yu away. The very moment Qing Yu’s feet left the ground, a massive chasm opened beneath him.

Then, several tentacles abruptly sprang from the mist, attacking them with astonishing speed. Jess pulled Kills and Qing Yu away, her sharp claws striking out and instantly severing the tentacles.

Before Kills could react, a furious roar suddenly erupted from the mist. The ground beneath Kills’s feet began to shake even more violently. Kills swiftly leaped into the air. A thick tentacle burst through the solid ground, lunging at Kills in mid-air. Kills rapidly spun her body in mid-air, precisely tossing Aldoran in her arms into Jess’s embrace, then roared at Jess,

“Hurry!”

Jess, with a wave of her hand, launched several light projectiles just as she was about to catch Aldoran. These projectiles shattered the tentacle the instant it was about to reach Kills, sending gore flying everywhere. Kills, now safely on the ground, swiftly took Aldoran from Jess’s arms. Jess, in turn, pulled Qing Yu, and both leaped away.

The instant they leaped clear, both attacked simultaneously, striking the spot where they had just stood with blades of light. Two tentacles were obliterated into bloody froth before they could even fully emerge. From the depths of the mist, a pained roar echoed. The ground trembled even more violently, and cracks began to spread rapidly across the earth.

Jess landed on a rooftop with Qing Yu. No sooner had they touched down than the roof suddenly exploded. Several glowing bubbles burst forth, poised to attack Qing Yu. Jess reacted instantly, enveloping her claws in energy, and in the blink of an eye, shattered all the bubbles.

Kills, however, was not so fortunate. As she ascended into the air, ten tentacles flashed out from the mist, attacking her from behind. Although Kills counterattacked immediately, several hands erupted from beneath her feet during her retaliation, firing arrow-like energy strands that pierced her skin. The blood of the beastkin scattered through the air, driving the monsters into an even greater frenzy.

“Tch.”

Kills clicked her tongue in irritation. She seized a hand that hadn’t managed to escape nearby and, without a second thought, bit off a chunk of its flesh. Before the hand could even shriek, it was devoured whole by Kills.

The next moment, several raindrops transformed into sharp arrows, falling from above Kills.

“Bastards!” Kills, unable to dodge in time, immediately deployed a shield above her head. She knelt, hunched over, fiercely shielding Aldoran, and roared in fury.

Beneath her feet, several more tentacles emerged.

“Jess! Behind you!” On the rooftop, Jess was fending off constantly emerging monsters while also protecting Qing Yu, a task that was beginning to fray her nerves. She was growing agitated, and the sheer number of monsters combined with their incessant sneak attacks caused her own offensive to become somewhat disorganized.

Just as Jess was confronting the tentacles ahead, Qing Yu cried out from behind her. Jess instinctively turned her head. Behind her, several bubbles were already close. These transparent bubbles were now glowing brightly and expanding. Jess knew this boded ill. Thus, the moment the tentacles coiled around her body, she quickly threw a ball of energy to shield Qing Yu, then forcefully pushed him off the roof.

Behind Qing Yu, a violent explosion erupted.

With a dull thud, Qing Yu tumbled to the ground. Wisps of dust drifted up, prompting him to cough a few times. Turning his head, he saw that the house behind him had already become a ruin, Jess’s figure nowhere in sight.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

Qing Yu covered his nose, glancing around.

“Jess! Jess!”

“Take Lord Aldoran and go!” To his surprise, it wasn’t Jess who answered, but Kills’s furious roar. Her voice was incredibly loud, almost overpowering the raging downpour and the rumbling thunder. Looking towards the source of the sound, Qing Yu saw several tentacles tightly wrapped around Kills directly in front of him. Kills struggled to tear at the tentacles, blood streaming down her body and staining the ground beneath her feet.

“Hurry! Take Lord Aldoran and go! These tentacles seem to be able to block our magic circuits!” Jess’s voice came from behind him; she, too, was entangled by tentacles. Sharp thorns protruded from them, piercing into Jess’s body.

“I can’t access my magic circuits!” Kills yelled, screaming at Qing Yu with all her might. At her feet lay the unconscious Aldoran.

“Hurry! Before reinforcements arrive!” Jess echoed Kills, desperately trying to break free from the tentacles, but the thorns on them only pierced deeper, almost impaling her body.

“B-but…”

“Go! Hurry! As long as Lord Aldoran is safe, we will be fine! Go!” Jess roared. “If anything happens to Lord Aldoran, then everything truly will be over!”

‘I, I, I…’ Qing Yu looked at Jess, then at Kills, then at Aldoran. He gritted his teeth, swiftly lunged to Kills’s feet, and forcefully lifted Aldoran into his arms.

“Yes! Go! Go quickly!” A flicker of light crossed Kills’s eyes. The next second, right before Qing Yu’s eyes, thorns pierced through Kills’s body.

“Go! Go!” Even as thorns perforated every part of Kills’s body, she still only urged Qing Yu onward, blood continuously spilling from the corner of her mouth and pouring onto the ground. Accompanied by a roar from the depths of the mist, the earth trembled, and the tentacles hoisted Kills into the air before Qing Yu. In an instant, the mist swallowed Kills.

“Go! Go quickly! Don’t delay!” Witnessing Kills’s fate, Jess roared at Qing Yu with even greater urgency. She tore at the tentacles with more force, her eyes fixed on the direction of Aldoran and Qing Yu.

“Th-then, I will definitely come back with Aldoran to save you!”

The moment Jess was also impaled, Qing Yu clutched Aldoran tightly and plunged into the mist without looking back. In the mist behind him, some colossal entity was slowly revealing itself, and amidst the wildly flailing tentacles, golden and pale pink light faintly shimmered…