Eternal Elysium

"Summer!"

"On it!!"

Following my words, Summer raised her hand, and then the ground exploded.

From below, something came out along with a smattering of rocks and flesh. It was the size of a human child, not more than a meter tall, with a round-shaped head and dark hide with stingers on its nose and several legs attached to its bottom as it came crawling out. Slowly it turned its head toward the location where Summer had blasted and saw the charred flesh of another churner lying helpless on the ground, its body swelling, before finally dying.

My breathing hitched as we all stood motionless.

Skrrrchk...

Skrrrchk…

The ground below again tumbled.

And then—

A swarm of those churners came out.

"Run!"

I yelled before turning back on my feet and running away. From the corner of my vision I saw the others do the same, their faces pale and fear present in their eyes.

Skrrrchk...

Skrrrchk...

"Skrrr-chkkk…grhhhhhsshh…ssshhrrrkk."

They made a wet growling sound from behind, their legs like that of a centipede moving rapidly forward, making the sound of glass cracking as they followed us back.

Click—

Click—

Click—

I turned my gaze to look back, only for my heart to sink even further down the abyss. The swarm consisted of hundreds of churners, their splinters digging through the barren land, surfing over its surface as they moved forward. Their speed surpassed ours, their many legs moved at the same time, and their bloodlust was evident.

"Shit! These bastards!"

As one of those came to our right, reaching us even closer, Summer cursed and pointed her finger back before a deafening sound came piercing through our ears.

BOOOM!!

It splashed away in the explosions, being thrown back like burned logs rolling back to the swarm of churners.

"Keep running, don't slow down!!"

I said, at the same time checking their position, making a mental map of their movements and the space they took beside me. My mind raced, as I could feel my blood reach my head, making my vision blurry for a few seconds before returning to normal. I huffed, my focus deepening as I activated [Kairosflow] to speed up, and then did the same to the others.

"Wh—" Chris gasped as he found himself getting quicker but then quickly shut his mouth, not wasting a single breath. He understood I had done it, knowing in the past I had done something similar to this before by slowing down Sina and even the monsters we previously fought before.

Unlike him, who has found his speed to change at a moment's notice, Enzo was slow to react; his focus kept shifting from running to Summer and then to the onyx arms he created to make obstacles in between.

Those dark onyx arms would rise to push the churners back if they tried coming from another direction. At this moment all Enzo could do was support and act as a shield for Summer, who was slowly becoming the target of the churners' bloodlust.

Summer kept creating explosions, her breathing jagged as she kept her entire focus behind to save them; she was the only one who could do long attacks even while running. This made me feel a little sorry for her, but the emotions didn't last long as not so far I saw a monster howl at us.

It was a newborn, but unlike the churners, it was alone and stood ahead, waiting for us.

"Chris, let's attack simultaneously!" I shouted and sped up both of us even faster than before. From the corner of my vision I saw Chris nod before moving to my right.

I did the same and moved to my left, leaving Enzo and Summer behind.

They didn't react at first, unaware of the monster's presence.

But as we got closer, its large figure became clearer, making Enzo's eyes widen in horror. Gritting his teeth, Enzo raised his arms and then stopped the monster from moving away by trapping it in his onyx arms.

I soon reached the creature's place as it tried to hit me with its sharp claws covered in dark flames. I raised my sword up, tackling its attack head-on, and then in a swift strike lunged my blade forward, giving it a deep wound. Chris followed my initial strike and stabbed the monster in the side.

The creature's legs, held by onyx arms, made it impossible for him to move in a wide range.

"AAARH!"

The monster let out a roar and moved its blazing claws near us in fury.

I stumbled as I was a lot slower than my usual self; from the corner of my vision, I finally saw Summer and Enzo reach near us; behind them, the swarm showed no sign of stopping in its tracks.

My essence plummeted down fast; I could feel it vanishing at an astonishing speed for the first time in a while. The only reason the amount of essence ended fast in the past was due to my poor use of my abilities and not understanding more about myself, but now it was just pure consumption.

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"Chris. Throw him!"

"Alright!"

Chris nodded, understanding my plan. I again swept my blade to the monster's side, cutting its hideous face into pieces, and then, before it could even react, swept my blade to its legs, cutting them down as the blade turned darker and the light around it dimmed ever so slightly.

Blood splashed below us. Chris raised his spear as the monster toppled in our direction. At the same time, I stepped forward and grabbed the spear alongside Chris as he stabbed the monster one more time, plunging the spear deeper inside it.

The creature was dead.

At the same time, the hands holding him vanished in a blurry darkness.

But we were not done with it; we both raised the spear, making the creature stuck at its one end, and moved up along its path. I groaned inward, feeling its weight; my muscles started to tear up, as I could almost hear a snapping sound enter my ears. Chris frowned and gritted his teeth and growled before the monster was finally in the air.

Enzo and Summer moved past us, and the creature was thrown at the swarm of churners, crushing three of them under its weight.

"Ugh," Chris groaned as he stepped forward; we both again started to run forward.

The swarm slowed down a little as they started to eat the creature behind.

"How long are we going to keep running?"

Enzo asked, his breathing rough and face red from exhaustion.

"Haa… I don't know!"

I answered back that I, too, wanted nothing more but to know when we would stop. When was this endless chase going to be over? I gazed at the grey sky and felt my heartbeat wildly inside my chest.

'Just five more minutes, and I will have my essences empty… What should I do?'

Even the five minutes I thought of were nothing but a lie I came up with to fool myself into thinking I still have some time left. But that was completely a lie; I won't last even four minutes. Forget about those five minutes.

Sweat was already trickling down my face, and my whole body seemed to be burning in heat. My head kept throbbing nonstop due to the continuous use of [Kairosflow].

Even though it didn't accumulate mental toll as much as [Static], still it was my first time using it for so long and at several targets at that.

'Damn it.'

I cursed, and then as I looked at the sky and saw the dust flying in the air, the gears in my mind started to run wildly. My lips curled as I smiled darkly.

"This… This might work actually."

"Do you… Captain? Do you have a plan?"

A soft voice entered my ear.

I turned to look at Summer; her face was clearly tired. She has been working the hardest among us even while running. We had managed to take small breaks in between by climbing large rocks and even fooled churners twice, but they still found us and destroyed everything in their paths.

We needed a lot more time if we wanted to completely leave the swarm of churners behind.

"Summer… I have an idea. But you will need to help me with that."

"Alright."

Summer didn't hesitate to answer back.

"What's the plan?"

Chris asked, his spear held tightly in his hand.

Click—

Click—

The swarm of churners came near.

I had already stopped using [Kairosflow].

There was no way for me to use it.

A small fraction of my reserves remained. Summer, Chris, and Enzo glanced my way.

"Blast everything surrounding us and then…"

Just as my words reached their ears, Summer's face contorted into a small frown before saying.

"You are crazy!"

"Just do it."

I replied, my mind was already quite tired.

Summer and the others didn't reply, but instead an explosion happened.

But it was not just a small explosion; rather, it was a chain of explosions. Summer gave her all; in a wide arc surrounding the churners, she made blasts that made smoke and dust rise in the air.

The area was suddenly blurry and hard to look at. The swarm monster that had stopped briefly waited as the smoke and dust settled.

And then—

The swarm's eyes turned to look at me.

Enzo and the others had left. Even if I leave like them, the swarm will follow us again, and then the whole scene will repeat again. This will then be for naught; that's why me being alone was better, and I can properly act as bait this way.

I was, after all, faster, and the luggage holding me back has left.

I took a deep breath. My essence started to pool up as my recovery kicked in; it wasn't so fast that I could just run endlessly, but it was enough right now for a small sprint.

And that's what I did.

The swarm moved toward me, and I did the same. Instead of moving away, I dashed at them and jumped in the sky, and then my steps landed on the sky itself as I pushed myself forward. Just at the last second I changed my direction as one of the churners came at me.

I ran at full speed, as my steps carried me away. [Kairosflow] made the world slow down in the next instance as I sped up.

I made sure they followed me; after all, a wrong move and a wrong turn will send them to the central base. That would be disastrous. Even if the soldiers could fight them, I wanted to avoid that.

After all, with a better plan we can hunt this monster easily. It was individually on the weaker side, not like the other creatures.

As I ran, relief finally flickered on my face. In front of me the land had finally opened up, the rocky plains were nowhere to be seen, and a large amount of debris covered both sides.

The maw opened up ahead.

I slowed down, letting the swarm come near me.

And then jumped inside the maw.

"Skrrr-chkkk…grhhhhhsshh…ssshhrrrkk."

Skrrrchk...

Skrrrchk...

A small laugh escaped my lips as I fell inside; wind hit my face, and my hair fluttered alongside my cloak.

And from behind, the swarm fell like raindrops.

I stopped in midair as if gravity stopped working for me.

[Static] kept me frozen on my spot. My boots locked in a single place as I spread my arms wide for balance and looked up.

Ba… thump!

Ba… thump!

My heart thumped loudly inside my chest, but the smile on my face only widened.

The monsters were falling in the place they themselves had created. Those at the bottom got crushed as their numbers plummeted down. Those who landed on the carcasses of the dead survived.

"Tsk"

I clicked my tongue repeatedly as I saw some of them survive.

I started to walk in the sky, my legs shaking ever so slightly now that my head has started to cool down, the adrenaline rush now nowhere to be found.

As I reached the edge of the maw, I fell on my knees; my hands started to shake as my vision started to go blurry.

"Haa…"

I started to take deep breaths and lay on the ground.

Tak!

From the corner of my vision I saw someone's foot and closed my eyes as darkness took over me and all the strength left my body.

"Good work, Captain."

Chris said, making me chuckle.