Chapter 260: Involve Me

Maggie and I broke into a run barely moments later, hurrying through the darkness. The flames of light she had summoned earlier moved with us, piercing the black and forcing it to retreat into the corners. The creatures I had glimpsed while falling were all on the walls of the canyon, every surface, every ridge. They clung to the stone like living shadows, packed so densely they formed walls of darkness themselves.

Something told me they were the true source of the darkness that choked the hollow of the canyon. But since they weren’t attacking, I felt no need to go looking for problems.

I had enough of those already.

More importantly, I needed to save my subordinates.

"I can’t feel any of them with Enhanced Senses..."

Maggie was silent for a moment. Both of us just continued to run forward, and the sound of our footsteps was the only thing I could hear, echoing off the canyon walls and swallowed by the dark almost immediately.

"Enhanced Senses isn’t ultimately a sense that can be depended upon. At the end of the day, you are getting feedback from your surroundings and their Spirit Essence. That can be interrupted in many different ways and bypassed."

She paused, still running. "One of the easiest ways, for example, would be simply being strong. An A rank Summoner, or B rank at least, are strong enough to not be detected by their surroundings."

She was silent again before her voice came, quieter.

"The man back there was a B rank."

"Ah, is that why I didn’t sense him? He hid himself?"

Maggie was silent again. We were simply running. We must have covered several kilometers by now, up to three. My lungs were burning but I kept pace.

"If you can’t sense your groups, perhaps they’re in a guardian room. Usually the space serves to sever the challenger from the rest of the world until they have successfully defeated the guardian of the gate, or have been defeated by it."

There was silence for a few seconds more, then my voice came out, a little annoyed but restrained.

"You know, Maggie... you need to learn some social skills. You and Kassie, actually. You guys suck at reassurance."

Maybe Kassie was slightly better. Her reassurance was always rooted in her own ability. But Maggie?

’Who tells you everything is going to be alright and then immediately follows it with: they are either dead or trying to die.’

’You do not trust them enough?’ Kassie’s voice entered my head.

I chuckled internally. ’I mean, I trusted Nisha and look at her on Maggie’s back.’

I was silent in my thoughts for a few seconds, the rhythm of my footsteps filling the gap. Then I thought back to Kassie.

’It’s not that I don’t trust them... I’m just scared. I might have brought all of this upon them.’

’You gave them a job. They took it and are going to get paid... you do not need to carry guilt.’

I was silent as I ran forward, ruminating on what Kassie had said. The guilt didn’t leave, exactly, but it loosened its grip just enough for something else to slip through.

’Hmm, actually, come to think about it, I should get a discount on the payment because here I am picking up their bodies one after the other.’

Maggie finally stopped.

In front of us was a vast formation that stood like two pillars pressed close to each other, with only a narrow space full of darkness between them.

She raised her head and studied the center of the pillars. I did the same, trying to make out anything past the wall of black. She turned back to me. "Are you ready?"

I narrowed my gaze. "Why do you ask like that?"

"I suspect that the group that attacked yours are after something, and beyond this pillar is where you’ll most likely find out." She paused for a moment and added, "Plus there will be the threat of the guardian itself."

She leaped and was out of sight for a moment, then landed a second later. When she landed, she was without Nisha.

"Inside there will be a mess."

She took Milo from me. "You can’t afford to bring leverage that can be used against you."

She leaped again and landed back a moment later, now without Milo too.

I glanced up to the top of the canyon where I knew she had been flying.

"Don’t worry. They’re surrounded by my flames. Aside from the fact that nothing can enter without being burned to crisps, if anything manages to pass through the flames of a calamity-tier summon, I will be instantly alerted." A faint smile crossed her face. "And that will be interesting, since it will be a worthy opponent."

I inhaled and exhaled. Fatigue was settling into my body again.

’God, wouldn’t this have been so easy if Levi and Tristan had just come along!’

I remembered Milo’s speech about them being capable and me trusting them, and this was their state now.

’Annoying...’

"Alright. Let’s do this."

I slammed my fists together and glared forward.

Maggie stepped forward, her hips swaying with each powerful stride.

’Not now. Later.’ I followed close behind, trying my best not to be distracted.

As we were about to enter the darkness between the pillars, Maggie spoke casually. "Watch your step."

And as I stepped into the darkness, I did not find any step at all.

The ground vanished. The next thing I knew, I was falling at a horrifying speed and couldn’t perceive anything again. Total blackness. Total silence except for the wind tearing past my ears.

I prepared to use the same tactics as I had with the first fall, but something seized me before I could act.

’Maggie!’

She grabbed me by the collar of my light armor, and the next moment, we plummeted together.

The impact was nothing like a landing.

A tremendous crash tore across the vast hall, pale light and shifting darkness thrown apart by the shockwave that ripped outward from where we struck the ground. Stone cracked. Dust erupted. Everything in the space froze for a single breath.

The clashing of metal stopped. The cacophony that had been propagating through this depth went silent and a cold, grave stillness tore across the air in the wake of our ground-shattering arrival.