"How the f*ck are they still alive?"
"Why the f*ck were they in the vault?"
"AND WHY THE F*CK WON'T OUR FEET MOVE FASTER?!"
Questions such as these, and more revolved in Daneel's head as he brought up the rear in the group that was running helter-skelter through the city that they had just been admiring.
The doors opening to reveal the monsters that had been lying in wait for them had caused two other things: a strong anti-teleportation formation had come into being which would take quite a bit of time to break, and the gravity in the entire place had gone up by a couple of times, causing all movement to be difficult.
"RAAARGGHHH!!! YAAARGHRR!!!!!"
With inhuman sounds that were actually very effective in conveying their intentions, the pack of monsters behind them seemed to be gaining, even though the system, which had been tasked to keep him informed on their progress, had just told him that the gap between them had slightly widened.
There were over a hundred of them: ravenous, from the looks of it, but this was to be expected if one had been trapped for millions of years.
Crazy joy, anticipation, and desire could be seen in the bloodshot eyes of each and every monster, but their grotesque bodies with muscles almost jumbled all over the place made it clear that they had had no want for sustenance all this while.
No matter how much Daneel thought about it, he just couldn't figure out a way in which this could be possible. It was a time span of millions of years! Following the trend of how lifespan grew(by tripling with each breakthrough), even if there were a couple of realms above the Hero level that he wasn't aware, it shouldn't be possible that these creatures were alive!
Even the bone seemed completely befuddled. The voice coming from it had repeatedly mused to itself, confused, regarding how this was impossible, but after seeing that the person who had survived all this while had no answers, Daneel had started to ignore him.
The only consolation about the entire thing…was that the monsters seemed to weak.
[Peculiarity found in the makeup of beings behind host. Their power is at the Hero level, but they are only able to exhibit prowess at almost the Peak Champion level. Their power seems to have been locked by some unknown means. Phenomena Analysis Module is continuing analysis.]
Hearing the way the system put it, Daneel almost felt like screaming that he was being chased, not harmlessly followed.
Yet, he realized that he had to calm down, and he managed to do so in a short amount of time.
Knowing that this was definitely because of the maturity he had attained after going through so much on the continent of Angaria, Daneel sent a message to his sovereigns.
"Is this your top speed? How long can you two maintain it for?"
The reason he asked this was that the system had given another update in the span of time that he had used to control his surging emotions, and it wasn't good.
[Distance has decreased. With time, the power lock on the beings is being lifted, allowing them to harness more of the strength present in their bodies.]
It was simple: if they maintained their pace, they would be swallowed up soon, so doing nothing was definitely not an option.
"I can speed up some more, but I'll only be able to maintain that for 5 hours."
"Using magic, I can achieve around the same."
Hearing their answers, Daneel cursed the two formations that had sprung on them out of nowhere.
If they weren't present, this chase would have been a piece of cake. At least, they would have been able to teleport to safety, but that was not an option anymore as the system had already said that the complexity of the formations was far beyond anything it could even analyze.
For a place this grand, that was to be expected, and after thinking for a bit, Daneel made a decision.
"Brace yourselves."
Hearing this, the two initially panicked, wondering whether they had misjudged, and that the monsters were about to reach them.
However…in the next second, this panic was replaced by a feeling of wonder.
Instantly, all three of them sped up, and if someone was watching them, they would definitely have been so surprised that they would stop whatever they were doing and state.
As for the reason behind this…it was, of course, the deployment of Daneel's Champion Path that he had kept hidden for so, so long.
'Fight in my name, and the World shall be yours.'
This was the name he had given to the second form of his Champion Path, and as it reared its majestic head again, its brilliance seemed to blind even the one who had spoken before.
With shock clearly evident in its tone, the voice returned.
"This Path…you! How is this possible?! You shouldn't have it! YOU SHOULDN'T! I WANT IT! FINALLY, I CAN BE FREE! MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!"
Daneel hadn't really thought about the implications of revealing his Champion Path in this situation.
It had been simple: if he didn't use it, the monsters would catch up sooner or later, and they would be doomed.
Hence, he had hoped that they would be able to create enough of a distance to be able to think of a counter plan, and that had led him to deploy it and having his sovereigns accelerate by at least 2 times.
Considering how much power they had already been outputting, this kind of an amplification was outstanding. When it was considered that there were also only two allies to power this ability, then it was pretty downright incredible.
Only…it had resulted in this outburst by that voice, and before Daneel could even think about what it might be talking about, he received a harrowing message from the system.
[Power limit is being aggressively tampered with. Rate of power lock release has been increased significantly. Time to total release: 8 minutes.]
'HOLY SH*T'
Daneel exclaimed like so in his head, imagining the scene that he would be greeted with in 8 minutes.
A hundred Champions, all evolving into Hero-level monsters that would zoom forward and tear them into pieces.
Or…if a clue was taken from what he had heard, then they might be knocked out and then wake up to find themselves as captives in their own bodies.
Honestly, Daneel couldn't decide which was worse.
Already, he had told his sovereigns to support him, and he was currently being carried between their shoulders. Activating the second form of his ability made him unable to use the first, so although he could use his Fighter strength to run, it might not be sufficient. True, he could expose more of his power, but his experiences had shown him that that would be a very, very bad idea.
With frustration covering his features, Daneel glanced back and saw the distance that they had gained using their speed earlier begin to lessen.
Clearly…his plan had failed, and it was time for emergency measures.
8 minutes. What could they achieve in just 8 minutes?
From the vault, the three of them had made their way onto the top of the concave bowl which was wide enough to let hundreds pass through, abreast. After that, they had begun to head back in the way they had come, and Daneel had taken this decision and told the others to head that way on instinct, as his hope was to go back to that main chamber and close the doors behind him.
However, when they began to near that corridor, the one in the bone spoke up hastily.
"Don't go in there! If he has this much control, he will be able to prevent the door from being opened, too! If we go there and find that to be so, we will be stuck in front of a dead-end!"
And that was another avenue, closed.
Taking another glance back, Daneel felt as if he was right in front of the maws of those oversized things which looked more beast than human.
Their heads which looked tiny as they had remained normal when compared to their oversized bodies gave them a unique, eerie aura that would chill anyone to the bone, and just the thought that they would be at their mercy was one that made them want to run even faster.
"MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MI-"
The voice resumed out of the blue, as if it had been spurred on by the distance that had begun to decrease, again. Only a few hundred meters separated the two groups, and no matter how one looked at it, it seemed as if their story would soon come to an end.
What could they even do? There were no doors that could be locked in their huge city as they were all controlled by the same being which had set these monsters on their trail, and there seemed to be no way out of this damn place.
Three of the eight minutes passed, and the glances that Elanev and Faxul shot Daneel with the expectation that he would suddenly state a plan that would get them out of this sticky situation started to increase. They could hear the monsters again: screaming loudly and lusting after their blood, but by now, there was no more Energy to put forth.
Being helped by the World was a wonderful feeling which they had both relished, but the novelty had faded and was replaced by the hopelessness that even it was not enough.
Faxul retained hope, having seen Daneel pull miracle after miracle out of his magic hat.
Elanev seemed to have gained confidence after seeing this hope in Faxul, and together, the two waited for their King.
Daneel had even closed his eyes to think hard. He had thought about and eliminated all sorts of possibilities, and even the system had said that there was nothing it could suggest. In situations like these, the inability of the system to think creatively was always exposed, and its existence that was definitely not human would be naked for Daneel to see.
At the five minute mark, Faxul and Elanev began to wheeze.
At the six-minute mark, doubt finally started to appear in their faces.
As seven minutes passed, this doubt changed into the resolution that they would not go down without a fight, and that there was no one they would rather go down beside.
After thirty more seconds passed, Daneel finally spoke, but Elanev and Faxul were certain that it must be to give out a final speech before their deaths.
They prepared to say that he had tried his best…but these words died in their throats as they heard the frantic tone of the King.
"Close your eyes in thirty seconds!"
Huh? Was it so that they wouldn't see themselves dying?
But wait…was that joy in their King's voice?
The thirty seconds seemed to pass in a flash, and because Elanev and Faxul were already extremely tired, they had decided that they would just trust their King and see what would happen instead of asking and wasting Energy.
Right as eight minutes passed, it was as if the very ground they were on had begun to rumble.
The screams of the monsters raised in volume by a few octaves, and even their bodies, which were each at least 12 feet tall and as wide as a fully grown man, grew even more.
The limit…had been lifted.
One hundred Heroes.
This was a force that had not been seen on the continent in eons, and it was now after a bunch of three puny Champions.
Yet…it looked as if these 'puny' Champions still had one last trick up their sleeves.
"Catch!"
With a shout, Daneel threw a bag in the direction of the crowd of monsters that had already halved the distance between them in a single second.
BOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!
An explosion on the scale of one that would be able to devastate any major city in the Central Continent erupted from the point where the bag fell, and at the same moment, the sound of something…breaking, was also heard.
"NOW!"
Daneel's message was to the system, and in the next moment, all three of them…disappeared.
Relief instantly appeared on the faces of the two sovereigns, but this was followed by surprise as they saw the place they had reached.
They…were back at the vault where the chase had started.
To their surprise, Daneel shouted, "GET IN!"
Without further ado, they did so, and surprisingly, the doors of the vault began to close behind them.
"That which has been broken, almost never mends itself properly. Our dear friend broke the formation to get in, so it's the weakest in this entire place. Our dear friend in the bone had already shown me how they worked when he opened the one that we went through to come here, so I managed to take control. As to why…if a place can keep things IN, then it can keep them OUT, too, right?"
As the voice of the King reached them in the darkness, they let out sighs of relief, but that feeling evaporated instantly as he continued.
"It'll work, but only for a time. Boys, we have some breathing room, but if we don't figure out a solution right now…we're done for. So, let's get to some brainstorming, shall we? After all, we have a spirit to kill…"