Maggie and I broke into a run barely monts later, hurrying through the darkness. The flas of light she had summoned earlier moved with us, piercing the black and forcing it to retreat into the corners. The creatures I had glimpsed while falling were all on the walls of the canyon, every surface, every ridge. They clung to the stone like living shadows, packed so densely they ford walls of darkness themselves.
Sothing told they were the true source of the darkness that choked the hollow of the canyon. But since they weren’t attacking, I felt no need to go looking for problems.
I had enough of those already.
More importantly, I needed to save my subordinates.
"I can’t feel any of them with Enhanced Senses..."
Maggie was silent for a mont. Both of us just continued to run forward, and the sound of our footsteps was the only thing I could hear, echoing off the canyon walls and swallowed by the dark almost imdiately.
"Enhanced Senses isn’t ultimately a sense that can be depended upon. At the end of the day, you are getting feedback from your surroundings and their Spirit Essence. That can be interrupted in many different ways and bypassed."
She paused, still running. "One of the easiest ways, for example, would be simply being strong. An A rank Summoner, or B rank at least, are strong enough to not be detected by their surroundings."
She was silent again before her voice ca, quieter.
"The man back there was a B rank."
"Ah, is that why I didn’t sense him? He hid himself?"
Maggie was silent again. We were simply running. We must have covered several kiloters by now, up to three. My lungs were burning but I kept pace.
"If you can’t sense your groups, perhaps they’re in a guardian room. Usually the space serves to sever the challenger from the rest of the world until they have successfully defeated the guardian of the gate, or have been defeated by it."
There was silence for a few seconds more, then my voice ca out, a little annoyed but restrained.
"You know, Maggie... you need to learn so social skills. You and Kassie, actually. You guys suck at reassurance."
Maybe Kassie was slightly better. Her reassurance was always rooted in her own ability. But Maggie?
’Who tells you everything is going to be alright and then imdiately follows it with: they are either dead or trying to die.’
’You do not trust them enough?’ Kassie’s voice entered my head.
I chuckled internally. ’I an, I trusted Nisha and look at her on Maggie’s back.’
I was silent in my thoughts for a few seconds, the rhythm of my footsteps filling the gap. Then I thought back to Kassie.
’It’s not that I don’t trust them... I’m just scared. I might have brought all of this upon them.’
’You gave them a job. They took it and are going to get paid... you do not need to carry guilt.’
I was silent as I ran forward, ruminating on what Kassie had said. The guilt didn’t leave, exactly, but it loosened its grip just enough for sothing else to slip through.
’Hmm, actually, co to think about it, I should get a discount on the paynt because here I am picking up their bodies one after the other.’
Maggie finally stopped.
In front of us was a vast formation that stood like two pillars pressed close to each other, with only a narrow space full of darkness between them.
She raised her head and studied the center of the pillars. I did the sa, trying to make out anything past the wall of black. She turned back to . "Are you ready?"
I narrowed my gaze. "Why do you ask like that?"
"I suspect that the group that attacked yours are after sothing, and beyond this pillar is where you’ll most likely find out." She paused for a mont and added, "Plus there will be the threat of the guardian itself."
She leaped and was out of sight for a mont, then landed a second later. When she landed, she was without Nisha.
"Inside there will be a ss."
She took Milo from . "You can’t afford to bring leverage that can be used against you."
She leaped again and landed back a mont later, now without Milo too.
I glanced up to the top of the canyon where I knew she had been flying.
"Don’t worry. They’re surrounded by my flas. Aside from the fact that nothing can enter without being burned to crisps, if anything manages to pass through the flas of a calamity-tier summon, I will be instantly alerted." A faint smile crossed her face. "And that will be interesting, since it will be a worthy opponent."
I inhaled and exhaled. Fatigue was settling into my body again.
’God, wouldn’t this have been so easy if Levi and Tristan had just co along!’
I rembered Milo’s speech about them being capable and trusting them, and this was their state now.
’Annoying...’
"Alright. Let’s do this."
I slamd my fists together and glared forward.
Maggie stepped forward, her hips swaying with each powerful stride.
’Not now. Later.’ I followed close behind, trying my best not to be distracted.
As we were about to enter the darkness between the pillars, Maggie spoke casually. "Watch your step."
And as I stepped into the darkness, I did not find any step at all.
The ground vanished. The next thing I knew, I was falling at a horrifying speed and couldn’t perceive anything again. Total blackness. Total silence except for the wind tearing past my ears.
I prepared to use the sa tactics as I had with the first fall, but sothing seized before I could act.
’Maggie!’
She grabbed by the collar of my light armor, and the next mont, we plumted together.
The impact was nothing like a landing.
A trendous crash tore across the vast hall, pale light and shifting darkness thrown apart by the shockwave that ripped outward from where we struck the ground. Stone cracked. Dust erupted. Everything in the space froze for a single breath.
The clashing of tal stopped. The cacophony that had been propagating through this depth went silent and a cold, grave stillness tore across the air in the wake of our ground-shattering arrival.
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