"Kheal, let's go!" Kheal called to Helen as she grabbed her and dashed off leading the way. She had been studying the mountain range maps for a while now and had done her research long before entering. She may not truly know much about the different levels, but she was sure of the dangers that many had not heard of. She was not sure if the Ju Guards had heard of the long nights of the first level, but she was gambling that they did not. She herself would not have known of it if not for the price she had paid years ago when she first attempted to enter the dark valley. If they knew, there was no way they would attack in the first section. This fight would not be favourable for any of them. Or they knew and were sacrificial warriors. If so, they were giving up their lives to keep her in the first section till night came. At the thought of the second option, Kheal paled considerably
Helen's thoughts had cleared the blood rage around her had lessened till it could barely be felt. No one was quite sure what was going on through her mind by staring into her solemn eyes. But at this moment, she pulled away from Kheal's grasp and rushed forward on her own.
"We are faster when running on our own," she said to Kheal who nodded to her as they dashed forward. She was right, they were faster. The Ju Guard's arrows were fast, but how could they outrun someone from the main bloodline? The pride they felt for their legendary aim was shattered at this moment. They were not sure what was happening. They could not seem to hit any of the figures dashing forwards and leaving them behind. It was bad enough that they could not explain why they were so far behind, now they had to be so bad at hitting a single figure. Even if they could not outrun Lady Khalsan, they should not be unable to outrun the others.
How could they understand that the Jiunhqu had been slowing them down? Even if they could protect their master, they knew that their master would not want any of her companions to die here. Nevertheless, they considered themselves very thorough and would not risk a stray arrow hurting the lady. It would be better if those arrows were cursed to not touch anything with a physical body. When creating this course, they had considered that they should not only restrict it to being unable to touch a living thing, as they were not sure if a concubine of the Nether Lord was still considered alive even while wearing a physical body.
"How do we know we have passed the first section?" Si Sanga asked and Kheal's eyes swept around the dense forest.
"A Bayan tree ends the first section," she said and they all swept their eyes around to find this Bayan tree.
"Ahead!" Helen pointed at the yellowing tree in the distance and they all dashed towards that direction.
"Quick, we are almost there," Kheal said and she and Helen doubled their speed. At this, Si Sanga grimaced. He was already carrying someone as he ran; it was already good that he could keep up with these two. Even if his heritage was only an offshoot of the dark realm, and could not even raise their head to claim to be from the sealed realm, one should not underestimate his heritage. As though taking in a deep breath, he felt the energy of the entire lands and breathed it in one long draw. At this, energy coursed through him and pulsed his entire being. He saw Helen and Kheal pass the Bayan tree and his eyes narrowed with determination.
At this moment, his figure that was left behind burst through the air and sped forward two times faster. He was almost there.
Just when he was three full steps from the Bayan tree, like someone had clicked the mechanical bulbs in the new Fheu city's light switch, daylight snapped off.
Darkness remained.