“It’s too late!” Elaya cried.

“Not on your life!” I leaped forward.

“It’s him!” The guards finally noticed me as well, raising their weapons to fight while the Xin knockoff was farther back.

“Get out of my way!” I slammed through the guards and leaped over the edge, using the full advantage of my speed and haste to move almost like a blur.

Hanging from the ledge, my eyes dropped to the falling Faeyna. Without a moment’s hesitation, I shoved off the wall with all of my force. I still had all of the strength modifiers I had added, and I shoved against the bridge with so much strength that the concrete exploded out under my feet, shot out into the air, and knocking the guards back. I flew down at Faeyna at an impossible speed. Her arms opened as she looked at me with wide eyes.

I reached out and grabbed her, incidentally pulling her toward the water at an even faster rate. I didn’t care though. I threw up several buffers and barriers, putting my body around her protectively. We slammed into the water.

“Master!” Elaya cried out in worry. “What’s happening?”

She wasn’t able to be in this part of the memory. Just like certain mobs were only allowed on certain floors, she too likely faced invisible walls keeping her from entering this area, so she could only guess what was going on by guesswork.

At that point, I was a bit too busy to answer her. I was in the water now, and I was slamming into rocks and walls as the current pulled us along. I was using myself to protect Faeyna who was in my grip. The barriers I put up managed to take some physical damage, but they wouldn’t hold up for long. That wasn’t even the only problem. The miasma flood had already reached the bridge and incinerated it. If it reached us, I didn’t know what would happen to me. As for Faeyna, she would likely be reset back to the beginning.

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“I’m pulling you out!” Elaya declared.

“Wait! Can you get Faeyna…”

“I… I can’t…”

The shields protecting me, some composed of mana and others composed of wind shattered. The next strike slammed my back into a rock.

“I’m not going!”

“Master, we can try again next time. You know what to do now!” Elaya urged.

My eyes opened, and I looked down into Faeyna in my arms. She wasn’t a short woman, but she seemed so small in my arms now. She looked up at me and gave a gentle smile. It was filled with trust. It seemed to say that no matter what happened, she trusted in me. I wouldn’t let her go through this dungeon again. I wouldn’t let things repeat.

Although I had made this declaration, I felt the miasma getting closer. As it did so, it felt like it was sucking away my mana.

If its ultimate goal was to reset the entire dungeon for the next cycle. To do that, it sucked up everything and then recreated it. Powerful beings like Elaya and Xin were able to survive such waves, and perhaps I could as well. However, that involved whatever tricks Elaya had up her sleeve. She certainly didn’t let herself get struck head-on by the miasma wave. The Twilight dungeon likely had a process similar to this, but we had been fortunate enough to arrive at the end of the dungeon, just as it started falling apart, so the next wave was unable to begin.

My body hit a rock and another rock. For a second I felt like I nearly blacked out. I also wasn’t in a situation where I could just heal myself, so the wounds were accumulating, never mind the lack of oxygen. My eyes saw a light. This was my chance. I had to go for it. Letting out a roar, I used Create Step. I put all my power into pushing off from the step. The step shattered under me, and moments later the miasma wave reached that point. However, I had propelled myself forward at an alarming rate. As the light grew, I lost consciousness.