'What… the hell…'
Darian felt the same pain he'd experienced before, during the test—when he was about to lose all his strength and be killed by the mediocre Risen right at the start.
"Darian!"
Niara fell from the sky, kneeling on the ground. An arrow had struck her from behind, piercing her through, and she only realized the danger when it was already too late. Her senses kicked in, but she wasn't strong enough to react in time.
'FOCUS AHEAD!'
He spoke dryly. He wouldn't die so easily. He knew this pain perfectly and began absorbing the karma from the fallen bodies around him. First, he healed himself, then...
The real problem was something else. Who had attacked him? And why?
*BANG!*
Niara furiously punched nearby Risen, destroying them as she spat purple blood.
'That...' Darian murmured, stunned.
Niara focused. She felt him trying to heal her body... but the arrow lodged in her seemed to block the regeneration.
Without hesitation, she roared and brutally pulled out the arrow. A large amount of blood gushed out, leaving a huge hole in her chest.
Darian understood the situation: it was getting worse. He couldn't heal her with that strange arrow still in her body. If the enemy fired more, and she couldn't remove them in time, or if she got surrounded by Risen… it would simply be the end.
He healed her quickly. She roared and attacked a nearby Risen, not knowing whether to retreat or keep charging forward.
'The arrow came from the fourth line?' Darian asked. She was the only one who might have sensed the approach.
"No."
The answer came dry. Her back had been turned to the fourth line at that moment. The attack hadn't come from behind, but it still hit her back? Worse: the enemy was clearly aiming at Darian, knowing he was there, hidden.
'Fuck... retreating won't help. Somehow, we drew attention without realizing it.'
He snorted. Up until now, Niara had fought with just her own strength. Everyone knew she was extremely strong. Against these weak Risen, that wasn't anything abnormal.
'We have to push forward. Maybe, among the powerful Spiritual Guardians ahead, this enemy won't attack, because they'll notice where it's coming from.'
She nodded. The truth was, she was too weak to identify the source of the attack. But the fighters further ahead might notice. Staying put was suicide, and going back was pointless madness. Pushing forward was the only option he could think of.
Niara's Dragoness wings flapped at full force, and she surged ahead. Fortunately, there was no second attack. But the danger obviously hadn't diminished—if anything, it had grown tenfold. After all, the Risen ahead were already at a level that Niara couldn't easily face.
They reached the third line. No one even bothered to look at them or notice they shouldn't be there. Everyone was too busy trying to survive and kill their enemies.
"Darian, I…"
'I know. Get ready to run!' He cut her off, and she nodded in agreement.
The slug's body twisted, and the spatial ring was already prepared.
She landed on the ground, getting into position to run. Darian crawled out through the torn hole in her clothes, took a pill from the ring, and they both got into position.
'This is crazy... but let's go all in!'
He said, and she nodded, feeling a crazy excitement. Moving her hand to where he was in her chest, she grabbed a pill from him.
Darian commanded: 'There!'
*Woosh!*
She threw the pill several meters ahead, into an area with no Risen. As soon as it activated, the pill began absorbing the miasma in a thirty-meter radius.
Then Niara took off. She ran across the ground and flapped her wings, slightly distorting the laws of wind to go faster.
Fortunately, the battlefield was vast, and there were many gaps between the Risen and the ongoing battles. If someone was fast enough, they could carve out a safe path and move quickly through it.
Darian pointed to a region ahead, strategically chosen because it was far from everything and had a safe path for Niara to run.
Also, as soon as the pill absorbed the miasma, the Risen instinctively pulled away from the area—after all, it also weakened their power.
Ten seconds later, she reached the indicated spot. Darian commanded, and she kicked the ground, launching the pill into the air.
'Go back to your father!'
Darian used the white karma—just a little—creating a purifying layer around the pill and sealing it.
The idea and method came from reading those three Blessings in the library. Although they were much slower and inferior to his own power, the creators had fought with them for a long time, describing various ways to use them. If he tried, he could replicate some of these techniques.
He stored the pill.
Then, Niara moved her hand to her chest and grabbed another pill from him. Darian quickly pointed to a spot, and she threw the pill before running.
For him, identifying the best spot was easy. After all, thanks to his Blessing, he could feel the presence of the Risen all over that abyssal nest, if he wanted to. He had done it before in the test to find them.
She threw the pills and ran to the spot while he stored the corrupted pills. This way, they advanced safely, step by step.
Within minutes, they reached the second line. This time, Darian could feel Niara's heart pounding like a drum.
The Risen ahead were far more powerful than her. They exuded corruption like an aura, wrapping their bodies in a dark mist, where only their red, sinister eyes could be seen.
If something went wrong, she wouldn't have a chance; even running would be a dream.
By luck or fate, the stealth attack didn't happen again.
**BOOOM!!**
They reached the first battle line. Niara and Darian could hardly believe the pill plan had worked so well. This only strengthened her confidence in his decisions. As for Darian, who always considered himself at most average at everything, he realized in the heat of the moment that his strategy had been a success... Perhaps he wasn't a complete failure after all.
Now, in that place, they were safe from the shooter.
On the other hand, if any small wave of power from a battle hit them, they'd die instantly. They were ants in the middle of a herd of elephants.
Niara moved with extreme caution, alert to everything around her, trying to stay away from danger. The good thing was that the deadly threat was so intense that it had already become a beacon for her. In this situation, her instincts allowed her to feel every danger... meaning, absolutely everything around her.
'Five pills left out of the fifty we had.' He counted, already thinking about how they'd survive.
But...
Just running and surviving wouldn't solve anything. Ceug would make a move soon and use that heart...
'Well, fuck it! Since we're here, let's fuck everything up! There he is! GO! GO!'
Darian pointed forward, and Niara suddenly stopped, unresponsive.
After a second... she smiled slightly, this time genuinely happy. She already considered herself a bit crazy, but this partner of hers was even crazier.