There was no looking back now… There was only one way to go and that was straight ahead.
Squinting my eyes, disregarding the public, and pushing my agility and strength to the limit I rushed towards the gate on a single track.
The sword gush on my abdomen had ripped through the chainmail. But that was only expected from that close-ranged of an attack. I can't let anyone get into melee distance.
While running I was extending so far forward that if I were to move my arms I would be running on all fours. But I was still taller than most everyone's waists.
Carts were lined up to leave Rottheim in an hour or two. A hustling crowd trying to pack up their goods after a week of sales. All in front of the gate.
I had to cut through that crowd.
As I started running harder and harder jumping over the wares and carts, sliding along the cloth atop shops I heard a lot of shrieks. Some aimed at me and many more aimed at my pursuers. But this was an easy maze to navigate through. Especially with senses like mine.
Sure, I bumped into a lot of people, and broke a lot of merchants' goods but didn't stop. I couldn't stop.
"Hey!" A bald man shouted as a guard chasing me broke his pot. I briefly turned around to find the man who was talking to Gern the other day and immediately turned around.
Eventually and through a lot of attention, I stumbled out of the merchants' area.
Huge dark walls were erected on either side and a large cavity between them.
The end was in sight. The guards might be committed to catching us, but heading outside without a strong group of adventurers was suicide. They wouldn't chase me once I made it over than bridge.
As I darted through the city's gates, two door guards got up from the post to see what the commotion was about, and their instincts almost guided them to confront me. As inconvenient as it was, I was eye-catching.
But I didn't have the time to deal with them. The crowd of guards behind me started to grow. I could feel it.
"First it was those two and now him." I heard them say. It was safe to assume that at least Vivi and that girl made it out.
'Phew.' What do I do now?
The two guards without thinking swung their hands simultaneously to block my path.
I ducked and then right after hardening my hands, I tapped the back of their necks. They got knocked out rather easily. I didn't want to kill people who weren't out to kill me.
Without wasting a moment I started to run again until I was finally there- on the bridge.
To either side, there was a plunge formed by the crater between Rottheim and the land surrounding it. Even below the bridge right now, there was a straight decline.
"STOP THAT MAN RIGHT NOW!" Someone behind me shouted. An elderly voice. "PULL THE BRIDGE!"
Huh? Pull the bridge.
I turned around to look at what was going on and saw everyone moving in an unorderly motion.
I started running backwards on the bridge trying to prepare myself. But I didn't know what to prepare against!
The other operators ran to either side of the bridge where two monoliths were placed.
'What the hell were they doing?' The monoliths started to glow so bright even under the bright sun. The ground underneath my feet started to shake.
And the next second it all became clear.
'Shit.' I turned back around and sped up even more, but exhaustion was getting the better of me. 'I should have eaten something with better endurance.'
Two pillars of light descended from the sky and struck the ground behind me, hitting the monoliths.
The very next moment, the bridge began to move. There was a loud thud followed by the wails of hinges. The bridge started to split as its centre started to climb higher and higher. The inclination grew from a slight slope to the slope running down Rottheim, to a steep enough to slide off of.
I hardened my legs and they started chipping into the bridge's wood. Leaning into a hard climb, my neck bent forward as I exerted the last bit of my stamina running ahead.
"GAARGH!" I squinted my eyes as my entire body got covered by a layer of sweat. Sweat started to sting my eyes.
"Shoot!" The same old voice came from below me, and the next second arrows started raining behind me.
"KUK!" My legs were hardened and I didn't even feel the arrowheads. But the cheap chainmail could only stop the arrows from impaling my body. I still felt every little bit of the blunt damage inflicted on me.
I hardened my hands and neck just in case.
Only a little more.
The edge of my side of the bridge was near. If I got over to the other side, safety was only one slide away. The bottom of the bridge was starting to get more and more crowded.
'These people really were going all out. They were probably setting an example for the rest of the town.' An adventure town, filled with freedom, run by tyranny.
The irony.
As another arrow hit my back, I climbed on top of my side of the bridge and my breath stopped as my heart dropped.
Below me was nothing. For almost half a kilometre. A gorge.
On the other side, there was the other half of the bridge. At least 25 meters away. I had to jump that far. Without a run-up. Hell, it seemed impossible with a run-up.
I looked down again.
'There was no way I would survive falling that far down. Even that deity would give up trying to save me if I fell.'
"Liu what do I do now?"
.
.
.
Of course, she didn't respond.
Up there, I could hear nothing. Not the arrows hitting me, not the cries from below.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!" I slapped my cheeks. Every second I wasted, the other side got further and further. The bridge's inclination was around 35 or something degrees.
I dug my legs into the ground and my hands on the ledge. The arrows didn't stop.
'Can I even do this?'
"If you surrender now, you will only get charged with treason!" The old man started to negotiate.
Haah... saying that after blatantly trying to kill me? The gall on these fuckers.
And what was the treason charge for? Murdering sexual predators before they did the deed?
As if I would believe a word they said.
That aside, whether or not I could jump was a pointless question- I just had to jump. If I didn't make the jump I was as good as dead. If I gave up and went back down, they would torture then kill me.
Death was inevitable. I would rather take the one chance I might have at survival. Even if it is miniscule.
The only option I had left was making it to the other side.
I breathed in one last time.
'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.'
Putting every bodily amount of force into my calves as possible. Hardening my ankles and locking them in place.
I was wrong... I did have run-up.
I jumped down and slid a little further down and immediately after that went in for one final run-up!
"GOOOOOOOO!!! HAAAAAAA"
My legs were firm, the wind against my face was brutal, I was one step away from getting cramps all over my body- But I was already at the edge!
All my momentum focused on my legs and I jumped in an arc higher than the bridge.
At that moment I was more than a kilometre up in the air. Everything slowed down. I could feel my limbs flailing around mid-air. This was the most exhilarated I had ever been. But it was also the worst I had ever felt.
My life was a game. A mere bid. I was gambling on whether or not I would make it to the other side.
My body was gradually but rapidly falling forwards. My tie broke as my hair let loose as the wind pulled it.
With the initial launch done, the other side of the bridge was only a couple of metres away. I could feel it- almost touch it.
In the final stretch of the jump, I reached my hand out and it touched the ledge!
.
.
.
But that was it.
My hand only touched the ledge. I couldn't grab on to it.
I wasn't able to do it.
Hah.