Time slowed as Qing watched the basket plummet into the abyss. On pure instinct, he set his feet and twisted the rope around his forearm. The rope went taut and his body jerked violently forward; the basket swinging down to slam into the cliff face with a crunch.

The full weight of the basket and its occupants yanked Qing towards the edge. His feet scrabbled for purchase on the ashy ground, but found no traction. Panic rising in his throat, he slid inexorably towards the cliff’s edge.

In desperation, Qing reached deep, sending his presence down through his feet and into the ground, calling upon the primal forces of nature. The response was sluggish, as if the very earth on this side of the chasm was half-dead, slumbering in the blackened land of corruption.

Morgana, Ghida, and several sailors rushed towards him, their faces masks of horror as he slid towards the brink.

He pushed further, digging deeper.

Finally, far below the surface, hiding and biding its time, a spark of life remained. Qing seized upon it, sending mana into the ground, willing it to action with all his might.

With a surge of will, Qing cast Nature’s Grasp.

For a heart-stopping moment, nothing happened.

But right as he was about to fall, jungle vines burst from the ashen ground and wrapped around his legs, arresting his momentum. The sudden stop would have ripped the rope from the hands of any normal person, and likely dislocated the shoulder while at it, but he was no longer regular. He was a champion of humanity and Elrydisan, and he would not let his friend fall.

Through gritted teeth, the rope biting into his forearm, Qing held on.

“Get them up!” Qing said, his voice raw.

Jenny was the first to reach him, her axes already hooked to her belt. She grabbed the rope without hesitation, adding her considerable strength. Within moments, Morgana, Knut, Aria, and most of the remaining sailors joined in, throwing their combined weight against gravity’s pull.

Even the two sailors guarding Captain Thundershield abandoned their post, dropping the bound man unceremoniously before rushing to help.

As they strained against the weight, massive crashes echoed from across the chasm. Gorzan hammered away at Cedric’s shield with relentless fury.

Why hasn’t he left? There’s nothing more he can do for Rowan and the others now.

Hand over hand, Qing and the others hauled the basket up. After what seemed an eternity of back-breaking effort, they finally pulled the basket to safety. Rowan and the two sailors clung to its edges, knuckles white and faces ashen with fear.

“I knew you wouldn’t leave me, brother,” Rowan said, clasping Qing’s arm and letting him haul him to his feet. He patted Qing on the back, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

“Sandra’s going to kill me,” he said, muttering to himself, but Qing caught it. Then the warrior jumped into action, snapping at the party. “Stop gawking and grab the supplies! Move inwards, now!” He grasped his mace and banged it against the shield, shocking people into movement.

But Qing knew he wasn’t talking to him. No. Rowan was giving him space to work. The distance to Gorzan was too great for most of his spells, but he cast a Firebolt, lobbing it towards the gigantic ape. It soared across the cham and struck the monster squarely in the chest. It didn’t seem to notice, so focused was it on destroying the wizard’s barrier.

“Cedric!” Qing shouted across the chasm. “Go now!”

But the wizard remained hidden from view, lost in the seething mass of monstrous bodies pressing against his magical shield. Qing shared a desperate glance with Ghida, seeing his own fear and indecision mirrored in her eyes.

“I don’t know how to open the gates of hell,” Qing said, the words bitter in his mouth. “We need him.”

Her mouth stretched into a thin line, but she gave a small, determined nod. The silent agreement bolstered his resolve, and he knew what he had to do.

Without hesitation, he hurled himself into the void, ignoring the cries of alarm from his companions. As he fell, he pulled deep within himself, drawing upon the arcane energy. With a thought, he Blinked, his body dissolving and rematerialising further across the chasm and higher up.

As he appeared, he cast Aegis on himself, the magical shield settling around his body as a golden light.

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Then, from his new vantage point, he finally saw Cedric. The sight made his blood run cold. The once-proud wizard lay crouched on the ground, his magical shield now barely covering his prone body, golden energy flickering and wavered, on the verge of collapse.

With only seconds to act, Qing Blinked again and again until he appeared high above Gorzan, his glaive already in hand. He fell towards the monster’s massive neck, casting Smite, imbuing his weapon with divine energy.

But Gorzan, for all his size, was terrifyingly fast. Just before his glaive could connect, the demon-ape’s hand snapped upwards with impossible speed, smacking Qing away as if he were nothing more than an annoying fly.

The smack was devastating.

If not for Aegis, Qing’s body would have shattered. As it was, he felt bones break and organs rupture from the force of the blow, and his left arm flopped uselessly, white bone sticking straight out of his forearm.

As he plummeted towards the unforgiving ground, he cast Divine Light. The warm glow of healing suffused his broken body, and bones began knitting together, and torn flesh mended. But he was falling too fast. He would not survive the impact, or if he did, it would leave him senseless.

In a final, desperate move, Qing cast Blink once more. Right before he struck the hard ground, he disappeared, reappearing above the treetops. He crashed into the canopy, branches and leaves whipping past him, slowing his descent just enough to save his life.

With a bone-jarring thud, he slammed into the ground amongst the roots of a tree. He immediately cast Divine Light, channeling more restorative energy into his battered body.

As he lay there, staring up at the tall tree and catching his breath, assessing the damage, he knew the battle was far from over. Cedric was still in mortal danger, and Gorzan loomed over them. Every second counted if he was to save his friend and complete their mission. The fate of two worlds hung in the balance, and failure was not an option.

Left arm still in cabriolet mode, he pushed himself up, gritting his teeth against the pain. Suddenly, Quick Reflexes triggered, and he threw himself to the side, rolling across the ashen ground with fresh pain lancing through his arm.

A heartbeat later, a demonic wild boar crashed into the spot where he had just been, shattering the tree with a deafening crack, showering Qing with splinters and debris. As he regained his footing, he got his first clear look at the monstrous creature.

The boar was twice the size of a normal one, its hide a mottled patchwork of leathery skin and bristling, metallic quills. But its eyes were the most unsettling. Three sets of glowing purple orbs, arranged in a triangular pattern, sat across its misshapen skull.

Seizing the initiative, Qing lunged with his glaive. The weapon flashed in the dim light as he drove it deep into the boar’s neck. Dark, ichor-like blood spurted from the wound, sizzling where it touched the ground.

Before he could savor the tiny victory, he felt a tug on his mind and mana reserves as a dart whistled through the air and impacted against his Magic Shield. If he had not kept it running, he would have taken the no doubt venomous projectile directly to his throat.

A glance at his map showed him where the pygmy hid, and he sent a payload of Arcane Missiles its way. The little red dot disappeared. Not that it helped much, as dozens were converging on his position.

I need to get back and save Cedric.

The sounds of battle still echoed from the direction of the chasm, a cacophony of roars, screams, and the repeated thunderous impacts of Gorzan’s assault.

The dense foliage limited his visibility, making Blink a waste of mana. So he focused on raw speed, springing forward, pushing his battered body to its limits as he sprinted through the twisted jungle, healing as he ran. Wet leaves slapped against his face and arms, but he ignored it all, his mind fixed on a single goal - reaching Cedric before it was too late.

As he burst through a thick patch of undergrowth, Qing found himself face-to-face with a group of pygmy warriors. Without breaking stride, he lashed out with his glaive, one handed. The nearest pygmy’s head separated cleanly from its shoulders, a look of surprise forever frozen on its grotesque features.

The other pygmies raised their poison-tipped spears, letting out high-pitched war cries. Qing didn’t care. With a burst of energy, he leapt, somersaulting high over the startled warriors, the wound on his arm finally closing, bone re-knitted.

As he sailed through the air, Qing glimpsed movement to his left. One of the nine-tailed demonic panthers raced parallel to his path, its beetle-like claws digging furrows in the earth as it sought to intercept him.

I’ve got to get out of this damn jungle.

The creature’s multiple tails whipped through the air behind it, each one glistening with a different deadly venom.

Qing’s feet had barely touched the ground when he was forced to throw himself into another roll, narrowly avoiding the panther’s lunging attack, the tails whipping past his face.

With a grunt of effort, Qing pushed off, redoubling his pace.

He burst forth from the treeline.

A hellish battlefield met him.

Hundreds of monstrous creatures swarmed across the blasted landscape, pushed up against the chasm. Many converged on his position, but most of the horde still focused on a single point near the cliff’s edge.

Cedric’s last stand.

From this side, the ancient wizard was barely visible beneath the press of bodies, his golden shield reduced to a faint shimmer that barely covered his prone form. Gorzan loomed over him. The demon-ape’s massive fists rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern, each impact shaking the ground.

Qing had only moments before Cedric’s strength gave out.

He cast Blink, covering half the distance in an instant. As he appeared mid-air, he unleashed a barrage of Arcane Missiles, targeting the monster’s face.

The spell impacted just as he Blinked again, reappearing above the horde. All the spell did was open three small wounds on Gorzan’s cheek, barely more noticeable than pinpricks on its vast bulk. It was like shooting a human with a BB gun - annoying, perhaps, but far from lethal.

Frustration and anger warred within Qing.

Part of him screamed to pick up the challenge. To pit himself against this behemoth and prove his strength.

But he couldn’t risk a prolonged engagement. Not with Cedric’s life hanging in the balance.

He had one job now: get the wizard out alive.

Then the demonic ape struck again, and Cedric’s shield flickered out.