Matsushita Hizumi's great sword was at the very end of the group, slightly behind Aoi Rin and the twins.
Since they were headed deeper underground, it was difficult for Hanabi and Kenja to balance atop the inclined blade at such fast speeds. Of course, Matsushita Hizumi was capable of controlling his blade and qi to lessen their burden, but he did not.
If he was to grab onto his senior sister inappropriately, the circumstances had to be believable.
Moreover, he was at odds with his soul oath.
His plan was to purposely scratch the hilt of his sword on a jutting rock below to cause a sudden jerk that would make them lose their footing. In that instant, he would grab ahold of Hirai Hikaru, simultaneously saving her and violating her.
In his head, it was a good plan. Not too difficult to execute and no one could accuse him of any wrongdoing.
Yet, every time he would stretch out his hand into position, a stabbing pain with no definitive origin caused him to wince back uncontrollably.
The only way he could lessen the soul oath's backlash was to both act fast and actually save his senior sister from falling down.
Except, Kenja would not fall despite all the shaky turbulence and blistering speed! The underside of the great sword had already scratched against several rocks, but Kenja simply swayed in rhythm with the jerking and wobbling blade.
He even held onto Hanabi's shoulders, preventing her from falling down.
Ugh!
Was this still a Qi Flourishing little girl?!
No, this had to be the devil incarnate sent from Hell to play him to death!
Little did Matsushita Hizumi know that the true devil was the sword at Kenja's waist who softly pushed and pulled Kenja in sync with the great sword's movements. She was a sword, so one could say she was an expert in all things related to flying and the [Ethereal Blade] technique.
All Kenja did was not resist Sakura's directions, so he was able to stand on the sword without breaking a sweat.
Noticing Hanabi struggling to steady herself, he held onto her so that she could relax a bit.
Upon receiving Kenja's help, her fiery eyes glowed in excitement. She noticed how much easier it became to stay balanced by allowing him to push and pull her freely.
Big sister was truly big sister!
Her head filled with warmth and happiness, swaying weightlessly in the air at Kenja's directions.
Matsushita Hizumi's eyes twitched in pain at the sight of the pair taking it easy as he made his best efforts to covertly throw them off the sword.
He could not use qi to push Kenja off because that was not something a junior brother would do to his senior sister. He was unable to go any faster because he wanted his actions to be out of the others' line of sight, but he could not flex his inner core's power to shake the sword further lest Aoi Rin and the others sense it.
Grrr!
He could not wait forever, so he decided to go for it again. He would complete the self-appointed mission, fall or no fall!
But as he reached out with his hand, Kenja's voice made him withdraw.
"Junior brother, aren't we going too fast?"
Matsushita Hizumi panicked for a moment, but he quickly composed himself, "Is senior sister frightened? Be at ease. I won't let anything happen to either of you."
'Now, stop talking to me, so I can focus on grabbing your butt!'
He reached his hand out once more, inching slowly, closer and closer to Kenja's rear. He ground his teeth intensely in response to the soul oath's attack that wrecked havoc within his body.
'It's just a harmless prank. It's normal for junior brothers to tease senior sisters. In fact, this could bring us closer together!' He rationalized internally, persuading himself that this was an acceptable action towards a senior sister.
It staved off the pain enough for his hand to reach a mere two inches away from his target, but he noticed Kenja's head begin turning back to look at him.
He quickly retracted his hand and feigned composure. Kenja's eyes met his own, causing a cold sweat to trickle down his back.
'Did she notice something?'
"I think we should slow down, junior brother."
They were nearing the end of the tunnel. The downward incline had become steadily steeper as they progressed, and they were about to reach the point where they could let gravity do the work.
"We're already the last ones, senior sister. If I go any slower, we will disrupt First Elder's plans. We're nearly there, so hold on."
'Now turn around and stop interrupting me! I don't have any time left! Your butt is mine!'
Kenja faced forward without replying.
Despite his calm demeanor and pearly smile, Hizumi's bloodshot eyes were trained on Kenja's rear.
This week was the most horrible week of his life.
He felt incredibly stifled and thoroughly humiliated, all by a trifling junior who could barely call herself a cultivator. And because of this Heavens-be-damned soul oath, he had been left nearly neutered in terms of obtaining revenge.
Although his current plan was trivial to the extreme and unbefitting of his status, this seemed like the closest he would ever get to making Kenja suffer a loss.
Right now, Matsushita Hizumi really needed a win, no matter how small or insignificant or petty it was.
He desperately wanted to wipe that enchanting smile off Kenja's captivating face!
Their speed was at an all-time high because they were reaching the end of the now vertical tunnel, and they were letting gravity increase their fall speed. He had to act now or else he would not have another opportunity.
He could see the white at the end of the tunnel, signaling the entrance into the Dragon's Basin.
Their momentum had become completely vertical as their trajectory would land them on the main pillar in the center of the basin.
They were no longer flying so much as falling.
Aside from Aoi Rin and Matsushita Hizumi, the elders and other Tributaries had withdrawn their weapons and began free-falling at an even faster speed into the Dragon's Basin.
Since their group was tasked with watching over the girls and running away if things got serious, they planned to stay on their swords.
'Now!'
He used his qi to bend forward despite the air resistance, and he stretched his arm forward through the pain. His hand was a mere inch away from the goal.
If it were Hirose Hide or Shimizu Mizutani or Hanabi or any other girl, Hizumi would have assuredly reached his destination by now, but this particular thorny vixen had such an unusually flat butt that he felt it were the heavens purposely making things difficult for him, as if he were the butt end of a joke that they enjoyed spectating.
But that means the victory would taste oh-so-sweeter at the end!
Hizumi exposed a sadistic smile as his bloodshot eyes bulged in excitement.
He was a hair's breadth away from touching the cloth covering Kenja's posterior.
'Take this, you bitc—'
But before he could complete his goal or thought, Kenja's body leaned forward, his fingertips barely out-of-reach.
Blood seeped out from Hizumi's smile as the pressure placed on his gums caused him to bleed. The combination of extreme pain and repeated frustrations had caused him to grind his teeth too hard.
Although he drew back for a moment, he did not give up.
He kneeled, leaning forward even more than before, his other hand placed on the blade below him for support. Sweat trickled down his face as he was about to accomplish the simple task of grabbing a little girl's rump.
Although he had crystallized his core and, as a result, had superhuman capabilities, he found that stably flying the sword in the midst of a free-fall through a dark tunnel while carrying two passengers while simultaneously hiding his actions from the others and resisting the soul oath's retaliation was quite taxing.
'Got you this time, she-devil!'
"Junior brother, stop!"—SMACK—"We're falling too fast!"
The flat side of a sword's crimson jade sheath swung into the side of his face and sent him falling over the edge of the great sword at a much faster speed than they were originally traveling.
Kenja wanted to tell Matsushita Hizumi to stop their descent, and at the same time, Sakura had conveniently motioned for him to twist his body around. But when he turned around to command him, Hizumi was no longer standing behind them.
He felt Hanabi tug at his sleeve. She pointed at something falling ahead of them.
"Big sister, I think junior brother jumped ahead of us."
Because Hizumi had been smacked overboard while he was turning around, Kenja failed to catch sight of him leaving.
"Hanabi, help me stop this thing."
Because the Core Crystallization had been controlling their sword, their current speed was beyond the means of a Qi Flourishing. They could not properly control the great sword until they slow it down, and they were incapable of mounting their own swords while falling down at such a breakneck pace.
He could utilize Sakura but that would draw attention to them once again, and he wanted to avoid that unless absolutely necessary.
Kenja tried using the [Ethereal Blade] technique to control the sword, but his negligible amount of qi was devoured by the sword without showing any change.
"We can't big sister. This sword is too heavy and made of special material. We might be able to pick it up physically, but we don't have enough qi to keep us in the air," she spoke calmly and rationally despite the semi-dangerous situation, "If we land at this speed without junior brother's help, it will probably hurt. What do you think we should do, big sister?"
Kenja was surprised.
Hanabi seemed familiar with these types of situations. She succinctly summarized their present situation and the immediate danger that needed to be resolved.
Moreover, she seemed to have prior knowledge regarding high-quality metals beyond her abilities, but then again, a princess would probably know more than the average citizen about expensive materials.
"Don't worry. It won't hurt," Kenja replied to her with a sigh, equally calm.
They exited the tunnel and entered a space with a vast white sky and a deep blue ocean. Kenja chuckled to himself as he and Hanabi lost their footing on the great sword.
He had not expect to be back here so soon.
Seeing that Kenja no longer treated their eminent landing as a problem, the princess stopped caring about the danger they were in. She had complete faith in Kenja as she saw the falling great sword separate from them in the air.
It had already lost its purpose the moment Matsushita Hizumi had left them.
They were truly falling now.
Kenja inclined backwards in the air, closing his eyes and pricking his ears for something.
SPLASH
SPLASH
SPLASH
SPLASH
Four separate large and loud splashes sounded out across the basin.
SPLASH
SPLASH
SPLASH
SPLASH
Followed by four more slightly smaller but still loud splashes.
Seeing the tunnel's hole shrink as the distance between him and the exit increased, Kenja sighed knowing what was about to happen.
He was very tired of getting wet…
Suddenly, Kenja felt two arms lift him up, and his fall quickly came to an end. He could feel something soft pushing against both his elbows.
He opened his eyes to the sight of short blue hair and an icy expression. Her divine mystique brought Kenja a sense of comfort and security.
Aoi Rin was holding him in a princess carry.
"Okay?" Aoi Rin asked coldly.
Smiling awkwardly, Kenja gave a short nod indicating he was okay.
He was glad he no longer had to get wet, but he was somewhat embarrassed that he was rescued in damsel-in-distress fashion by a pretty girl.
Most men preferred to do the saving, or at the least, prefer not to be saved like a bride being carried away by a groom.
Snail whistled into his ear, teasing Kenja, "The hero saves the young maiden, and they fall in love and live happily ever after."
Kenja's eye twitched.
"You can put me down now, elder sister."
"Wait. No room."
Kenja tilted his head in the other direction to see that the twins and Hanabi were standing next to them on the sword, squished side-by-side like sardines. Hanabi was pressed against him, but he could tell from her blazing irises that she was fond of the closeness.
"I'm glad you're okay, big sister."
Kenja smiled warmly at her and nodded.
"We're glad you're both okay, big sisters," Shizuka chimed in for Yoshie and herself.
"We were s-so s-scared when we looked back and s-s-saw you falling down." Yoshie stuttered as if she were the one who had just been saved from a dangerous fall.
"Mm. But elder sister instantly slowed down to rescue both of you without saying a word."
Kenja looked back at Aoi Rin who continued to stoically stare out into the distance.
"Thank you for saving us, elder sister."
Hanabi followed Kenja's example, "Thank you, elder sister."
Aoi Rin did not respond, causing the girls to wonder what happened.
"What's wrong, elder sister?"
SPLASH
The sound of Matsushita Hizumi finally crashing into the water reverberated throughout the basin.
"Pillars. Gone."
She stared worriedly across the basin, but not a single pillar appeared above the water's surface.
They had all disappeared.