Chapter 695 - Mistakes Were Made
"I-I'm afraid we will have to cut this short. Come with us, we might be able to lose it in the forest."
Burak signaled the other barbarians who with Isak in the lead sprinted into the forest at full speed.
He then looked towards Hao Xuan and went up to him, whispering in his ear.
"Same as before? I can still go on for an hour. Take them to the..."
When Burak's girthy silhouette moved out of the way, Princess Helena and the guards caught a glimpse of the hunter poking its head out of the opening in the pyramid.
They glanced at one another and realized they were all on the same page. If almost a dozen barbarians couldn't take it down, there was no way they would stand a chance.
"Go, take her," Princess Helena pointed one of the guards towards Princess Inara. The guard came forward and picked her up before running into the forest after the barbarians. The second guard reluctantly picked up Uri and followed after.
She glanced in Hao Xuan's direction with an uncertain gaze and only then did Princess Helena move. Pausing for a second when passing Lady Jiang, "Use your spells, do not fall behind," she threw the words and disappeared into the underbrush without waiting for a response.
Lady Jiang extended her hand trying to stop her but the agility of a demihuman was nothing to scoff at. Especially those of the Hallvard Clan that had the bloodline of the ancient Seven-Tailed Astral Fox's running through their veins, as diluted as it had become.
Accompanied by a gust of wind, Princess Helena was gone from sight before she could even blink.
"But I...don't have enough mana left," Lady Jiang muttered to the empty space.
With another flurry of footsteps, Burak rushed past her as well and disappeared into the forest's shadow. But the direction he had taken was a little different than the others.
"What are you waiting for? Move!" Hao Xuan's voice came from behind, startling her.
"Y-YES!" too scared to even explain, she just ran into the forest by herself without even turning around.
The majority of her mana was used on Princess Inara so all she could depend on was her physical strength. But she still directed whatever little bit of mana was left inside her and used an augmentation spell.
"O spirits of the land, provide me with your essence!"
Unlike other spells that used the mana from the caster's body, this particular one depended on the natural ambient energy in the atmosphere.
The few morsels of spiritual energy that were left nearby gathered at her feet to provide a basic speed boost.
Behind her, Hao Xuan looked at the purple whirlpool in the sky one last time before running after her as well.
The hunter's whistle gathered the horde that chased after them into the forest, while the hunter itself slowly crawled out of the pyramid, revealing its true form only once it was sure the area was clear.
Although its head was humanoid, the rest of its 4-meter long body was reptilian.
Each of its four legs ended in three elongated bony digits while the main body resembled that of a lizard. Unlike the head, the body was covered in a sheet of leathery skin that stuck to its ribcage like wallpaper.
But the peculiar thing about it was the presence of a light source in the shape of an amber-colored ball of flame that burned within its abdomen. It could be seen even through its skin, making the creature look like a creepy Halloween decoration from certain angles.
There were still portions of skin and flesh missing from various areas, almost like they had fallen off by themselves.
It stepped onto the valley floor, using the giant humanoid head to look around. The fleshy tongue rolled back into its mouth as if it was never there and a ribbon of solidified amber flame came out, feeling in the air for something.
Its head abruptly jerked in the direction of the spatial cracks, primarily the one that led to the world that was shrouded in pink fumes and the one underwater. The yellow lights within its eye sockets flickered with an emotion akin to uncertainty and confusion which swiftly turned into urgency as it fled the scene, chasing after its prey.
***
A few hours earlier.
Hao Xuan and the party retraced their steps and ran back into passageways. The tree creatures chased after them in droves giving them very little time to see where they were actually going. Hao Xuan who was at the very back and the only one who knew about the changing pathways didn't have time to warn the others.
Expecting to be heading back towards the exit, they instead went further into the pyramid and deeper within. By the time they realized what had happened, there was no time to turn around.
Most of the barbarians were either injured or low on energy so all they could do was keeping moving forward deeper into the winding halls, wherever they led.