They ran down the halls. The lights flickered on and then off again as they ran past under the effects of Salos’s Abyssal Aura.

Cass, who had begun at the back of the group, had quickly caught up with Alyx at the front. Marco brought up the rear, carrying Pellen over one shoulder.

“The golems won’t keep Fioreya long,” Alyx said. “Heaven’s Blade, when backed by a proper Lightning Concept, can easily split their cores. Hopefully, the Living Lightning gives her some pause.”

“We waded through them pretty easily though,” Cass pointed out.

“And my Fairy Fire will wear off quickly if I get too far away from them,” Salos added.

Could they stay ahead? It didn’t feel like it was possible. Not as tired as they all were. Not when Fioreya could take down monsters like those golems in a single strike.

Was there anything that could turn this in their favor?

Cass flipped through her notifications quickly.

Wind Step has increased to level 12.

Wind Step has increased to level 13.

Dodge has increased to level 19.

Dodge has increased to level 20.

Dodge has increased to level 21.

Stormstride Sprint has increased to level 13.

Stormstride Sprint has increased to level 14.

Elemental Manipulation has increased to level 21.

Tempest Blade has increased to level 13.

Tempest Blade has increased to level 14.

That was much more than Cass was expecting. But nothing that changed their current situation.

A group of gophers appeared in the room ahead.

Alyx slashed through the first two as she ran past. “Keep running!”

Marco readjusted his grip on Pellen and barreled forward. A gopher appeared on his far side, blades swinging.

Cass Stormstride Sprinted across the room, her Tempest Blade slicing for its core. Her staff caught its blades and Salos appeared behind it, his claws sinking through its chest.

Cass spun into the next one while Marco kept running.

They fled the room, pushing forward as fast as Alyx could clear the way.

Stamina: 57/129

Focus: 247/432

The next room was snakes. Cass Sprinted ahead and blasted a path clear with a gust of wind. The smaller snakes were pushed to either side while Alyx decapitated the largest one that had resisted Cass’s attack. Marco didn’t slow a single step as they ran through.

Stamina: 53/129

Focus: 237/432

How close was Fioreya?

Could they stay ahead of her?

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Should she Elemental Manipulation the doors closed? They were stone. Was it possible to fuse them?

It had to be worth trying on the next door.

Alyx burst through them and into the next room, this one empty save for a pair of crocodiles hanging from either side of the opposite door. They shot off bolts of lightning as Alyx entered. Cass grabbed them with Elemental Manipulation and bent them down the hall into the distant dark. She had no idea if it hit anyone and wasn’t sure she really wanted it to.

Alyx and Marco bolted through the doors on the other side of the room before the crocs had time to charge another shot.

Cass hesitated.

If she could seal both sets, that would be better, right? But the crocs were already charging their next shots, their maws aimed at her.

Hell. She had to try it.

She slammed them shut behind her and shoved her hand up to the crack in the door, forcing Elemental Manipulation through it.

The stone resisted her. It had a shape. It liked its shape.

What are you doing? Salos demanded from her shoulder.

Improvising, Cass answered, shoving more Focus into the skill.

The stone resisted.

You can’t reshape Kultorn-craftsmen-shaped works, Salos protested.

I don’t know what that means and I don’t have time for you to explain, Cass snapped back.

She glanced over her shoulder. The crocodiles’ gems were glowing. Two of four on the first. Three of five on the second. She was running out of time.

How close was Fioreya?

If she couldn’t shape the doors directly, what could she do? Was it just the doors?

They opened in. Could she brace them?

She slammed her staff into the floor, spreading Elemental Manipulation wide, looking for stone she could manipulate. The stone directly around the door was resistant, but a foot into the room, it moved with the ease she’d come to expect.

She yanked it up, slamming the mass of stone against the door. Was it enough? Could it stop Fioreya? What about her big swordswoman?

Would it be enough to slow them at least?

Behind her, she felt the blast of lightning released from the mouth of the first crocodile.

She leapt to the side, the lighting flying past her. It exploded into sparks as it hit the wall behind her, the buzzing energy filling the air and brushing against the back of her neck.

It was time to go.

She sprinted out of the room as the next croc released its attack.

Stamina: 51/129

Focus: 162/432

She slammed the door behind her, barring the door again. And then she ran.

They kept running.

Room after room.

Stamina: 48/129

Focus: 138/432

After room.

Stamina: 43/129

Focus: 116/432

Exhaustion was mounting. She could feel her muscles protesting. A headache was building at the edges of her mind.

Behind, she could hear the sounds of fighting. Of explosions and impacts and destruction.

Fioreya was catching up. Quickly.

They entered another room like so many before. However, in the center of this one was a Wolf. Its eyes glinted cruelly in the torchlight.

Soulbound Wolf (Lvl 27)

Alyx signaled Marco, still carrying Pellen, one way while she ran the other.

Go with them, Cass instructed Salos. Hide them, focus its attention on me and Alyx.

Salos leapt to Marco’s free shoulder, shrouding them in his Abyssal Aura while Alyx lit up in his magenta Fairy Fire.

Cass shut the door again, bracing it with as big a mass of stone as she could pull from the floor and push against them.

The wolf howled and charged Alyx. She parried its sword with her own, returning the strike with her own. It bent out of the way, dancing back a step before lunging forward again.

Cass Stealthed behind it, striking with a Tempest Blade.

It screamed and turned to look for her. Alyx took advantage of the distraction to jam her sword between its ribs. The wound was reflected across its body, green ectoplasm leaked from countless wounds.

And then the door exploded.

Rock flew in every direction. Chunks pelted Cass. They cascaded off the wolf and Alyx and over the floor.

Fioreya strode into the room.

Her sword dripped in green goo. Her armor was stained in the stuff.

Salos! Cass called, but he didn’t need instruction. His Fairy Fire flickered back onto Fioreya.

Alyx pulled her blade from the wolf and turned to run for the far doors where Marco and Pellen already waited. Cass Sprinted after her.

The wolf charged Fioreya with a howl.

Her sword snaked out. Silver flashed across its neck.

The wolf’s head fell to the stone floor, its body collapsing beside it.

Fioreya had caught up.