"Kr! Kr!"
As the wheels clung to the fallen like shackles, it tried to resist but the more force it used the more pain it felt as the wheels dug into its flesh.
"My other self should be finished with our escape route soon, we should go."
"Okay."
While the fallen was restrained, Shui ran with his full speed. If he had a couple more seconds he was sure he would be able to make it back to Kate, but suddenly he had a grim premonition.
"Miss Spirit..."
"I feel it too but keep running."
Shui kept running, but when he sensed imminent danger he hastily jumped to the right, barely dodging the crack that had opened in space. The dark crack didn't give off an intimidating presence, but the fact that he would have surely died if it had hit him, made Shui gulp in fear.
Meanwhile, outside the Spirit Nest, the core elders were anxiously waiting as an old man exuding prestige and dignity slowly forced the gate to the Spirit Nest open. This old man was one of their strongest ancestors, a powerhouse who had reached the Master Realm, but even he had no confidence in being able to safely open a path to the Spirit Nest. Luckily, the force locking the space had weakened so he chose to take a gamble. Once he opened the gates, the elders would rush into the Spirit Nest and try to save as many disciples as possible before the space broke down.
As someone who had worked with his fellow brothers to create this gate, he felt sad that it had to be destroyed by his own hands, but he was certain that all of his brothers would have wanted him to save the youth who would be the future of the sect.
Back in the Spirit Nest, as he got back on his feet, Shui couldn't even take a moment to relax before he felt the entirety of the Spirit Nest shake. And this continued to happen, making even standing up a stressful endeavour.
"What the-! Miss Spirit, what's happening?"
"I'm not sure but, it looks like someone's trying to break open this space."
"What?! But, won't everyone in here die then?"
"Not necessarily, I'm sensing most of the spatial cracks at the edge of this space, you just happened to be unlucky."
"Just great, so I almost died because I'm unlucky. Should I wait here or keep heading to meet up with you?"
"Hmm, keep going, but slow down so that you don't run up into another-"
"Krrr!!!"
"No way..."
When he heard the angry roar of the fallen which should have been restrained, Shui's face turned pale. Especially when he sensed that it had broken free of his array.
"How did he break out of it so fast?!"
"...Tch, I think it's because of the spatial cracks, they're causing the natural energy here to flow out, thereby weakening the influence of the natural laws."
"Wha-,ugh, then did he at least get weaker? Though it might be the same for me too."
"No, fallen are used to battling in space. It might even get stronger now since the great void of space is rich with pure essence. It should still be weaker than a King, but it would be best that we don't try to face it again."
"Got it."
Shui dashed off once more, but since he had to be careful of spatial cracks, unfortunately his speed had decreased. This did no favours for his heart but Shui continued to push forward with the determination to see Kate again.
"Shui!"
"Kate!"
Soon after, the two's eyes met and both of their faces expressed relief and joy, but as if to laugh at that, the fallen had appeared right above Shui.
"How the-"
"Krr!"
Shui tried to get out of the way, but the fallen's size made that impossible, so he could only put up his barrier and hope his body would be enough to withstand the force.
"No!"
After managing to make it out of the fallen's crash landing unscathed, Shui glanced at Kate who had screamed in panic. He saw that she was pushed through the portal that Miss Spirit made by the residual force of the fallen landing.
'Good.'
Since she was away from the battlefield, Shui could focus on the sudden arrival of this enemy.
"How did he appear so quickly?"
"Spatial compression, it seems to have remembered how to do it. But don't worry, it shouldn't be able to use it consecutively."
"It's still gonna be hard to escape but I sure hope so."
Miss Spirit was now whole again, but Shui knew he couldn't depend on her for any more help.
The fallen glared at Shui who was by his feet. Now that Shui saw it again, he could tell that the array had definitely left significant burn marks, and the fallen was obviously here to pay him back for these wounds.
The situation seemed hopeless, but thankfully the portal was just a couple of cales away, he could make it.
"Krr."
The fallen lifted the its front paw and prepared to slam it down on Shui, but it froze in place due to sensing the auras of multiple elders in the Sky Realm. As it pondered whether or not to enjoy the appetizers before the main dish, Shui took the chance to dash towards the portal.
'Yes! Almost-'
However, suddenly he saw the portal drift away from his fingertips as if several cales had been put between them.
"It remembered how to use spatial expansion too?! You have to run faster, he's coming."
"What! Ah,"
Shui couldn't wrap his head around the situation, but he was at least aware that the only thing he could do was escape the fallen's clutches. Unfortunately, even though he was pushing himself to the limit, Shui didn't think he could outrun the fallen chasing after him.
'It's so close. I'm almost there!'
The portal seemed to be right in front of him, but the fallen's stomps only got closer.
'I won't make it.'
As doubt and resignation tried to take over, Miss Spirit shouted right at his ear.
"Shui!"
For the first time, she called him by his name, allowing him to snap out of his pessimistic state.
'No, I can't give up. If this isn't enough then, I'll drag it out myself.'
"Haaaa!!!"
For a period that could only be described as an instant, Shui's body glowed with a soft golden light. While wrapped in this fascinating light, the world itself seemed to slow down though his speed was unchanged. As if he alone could move freely in this viscous space, Shui finally managed to pull away from the fallen and jumped into the portal.
"I made it, agh!"
Shui grabbed his chest as he endured the heavy backlash of using the speed essence that he hadn't fully absorbed yet, as he looked around the dark room he was in. His torn muscles would repair themselves in time, but he would stay in a weakened state for some time.
"What, that was, how do you-"
"Miss, Spirit, where are we?"
The red spirit was very curious about how Shui was able to use speed essence despite not having studied the laws of speed, but she understood that this wasn't the time.
"I'm not sure but we should be in the vicinity of where you entered the Spirit Nest from. I'm not familiar with this place so I could only use vague coordinates."
"So did Kate end up somewhere else?"
"Likely."