Rihanna missed the raging Lizard by a hairs breath. The beast broke through the tunnel she had been using before, so she could only dash into the door opened by the woman earlier. Inside there was a lever using spirit energy, and as she fused her energy to close the door in a haste, she saw the shadow of the beast plunging from the mouth of the tunnel high above, to crash onto the frozen pool.
Without giving it anymore thought, Rihanna rushed through the twists and turns of the tunnel.
'The people have reached!'
The teams sent by Mountain City had reached. And the Illusion Array had already been down for some time. She wondered what kind of chaos was currently surging outside. The members of the group must be searching for their Leader. And they must also be rushing around to get ready for the incoming attacks.
She needed to buy more time. Should she start on the next phase of the plan?
'There is a door and an array at the end of this tunnel. Don't lose speed. I will tear an opening through the barrier. But you need to find how to open the door fast.'
Rihanna looked around for a lever. There was none! Tsk!
'Can I just blast it?'
'.....Fine. I think this tunnel leads to the woman's room. But a blast will be heard by the people outside.'
'Then let us start with the next part of the plan.'
Before going to the pool, Rihanna had generously hidden the Spirit Explosion Balls all around the seven caves. Little Purple's energy was mixed into it. All they needed to do was to send out a string of Little Purple's energy to make the bombs explode.
She waited for the first blast to take place in some other place. Even though there was a distance, she could still feel the muffled rumbling through the thick walls of the tunnel. Even the ground shook , as loose stones and dust started falling inside the tunnel.
Using the cover of the blasts and confusion outside, she quickly released one of the extra balls, smashing it against the door and releasing her own energy into it at the same time.
This time the blast was too near, and the ground shook, as large bits of the door and rocks surrounding it broke off with the force, flying in all directions. Rihanna lay down, using her arms to cover her head and neck, as debris and dust flew all around, some falling on her body.
The dust was still thick inside the tunnel, but Rihanna forced herself to get up, ignoring the pain from the cuts and wounds she had suffered from the blast. She ran through the door and finally emerged inside the room she had visited just yesterday.
She looked around though the layer of dusty air, trying to see through it. The drugs used were pretty potent! Despite the explosion and all the ruckus from outside, the people inside the room were as still as dead. Not a single finger moved, even as loose stones blew into the room, crashing all over their half-naked bodies, creating deep injuries!
Rihanna blinked to avoid the dust from getting into her eyes as she looked around in haste. There! At the same corner, the man from yesterday was the only person who was staring back at her as if in a daze. As she walked through the rubble and flying dust towards him, his eyes widened in shock.
Even as she took out the dagger and cut through the ropes binding him to the pole, and his body slid down to the ground unceremoniously, all he could do was stare in surprise and amazement.
Who in the world was this man? So bold as to blast off the inner door of this Devil-woman's lair!
Rihanna pursed her lips and picked up the heavy and half-drugged body, throwing him onto her shoulders. One down, two more to go.
'Fluffy.....come out to the meeting of the seven tunnels. I'll hand over a person to you. Drag him back to Phantasm and wait for me. I still have to get Ye Luo.'
Rihanna was running using Fleet Steps, and in no time she reached the small room where all the tunnels met.
Currently there was utter chaos in all the tunnels and in this small room. People were rushing in every-which direction, some to hide, some to flee, some to get their tools and beasts to fight. Carrying a body through this chaos would make her stand out.
"You can put me down. I can walk. Just tell me where you need to take me."
The man's voice was cold and hoarse, as if he hadn't talked for a long time. Rihanna thought for a moment, then put him down. She took a look at him, then pulled out some of the extra layers of clothes of the cultivator she had disguised herself as. It was too hot, so she discarded them in her space ring. Now they could be of use.
"Wear these over your clothes. At least you'll look like one of them. I know you can see me, but they can't. So act like you are in a rush, and follow me closely."
As she was speaking, she pushed the man's two hands through the sleeves, packing him into the clothes like a wrapped tortilla. Then she urged him to keep close before heading off in the direction of Fluffy.
Though his body could counter drugs, it still left him with an unnatural heaviness and lethargy. He kept his head down, and tried to walk as fast as he could, keeping to the side of the walls.
The blasts were still going on intermittently, and the vibrations of each blast could be felt through the ground. Stones and dirt kept falling at random intervals, hindering visibility. Moreover, due to the Leader herself being absent, the members were all panicking. Thus no one paid attention to the odd way one man was walking, or that he disappeared down the passage where the High-Grade beast was supposed to be.
Fluffy had increased his size once more. Rihanna picked up the man and put him on Fluffy's back, and returned to the room to find Ye Luo. Since there were so many blasts going on everywhere, she decided to blast off the door to the room where Ye Luo was being kept as well.
Rihanna had just picked up Ye Luo and started making way towards the room where Phantasm was being kept, when Little Purple spoke up.
'I can sense the beast....and the woman. The beast is bringing her back to the room where he stays'
Rihanna rushed on to Phantasm. As she entered the tunnel, she shoved the remaining energy explosion balls in random nooks and crannies. She still needed to get Phantasm out!
'Little Purple.....I will blast an opening for Phantasm to come out. You work on these explosions. Buy me some time.'
'If you blast off the entrance to the room....then how will we leave?'
Rihanna gritted her teeth as she made her way to the cage with the unconscious Ye Luo. She was about to take another outrageous decision....she could only hope Little Purple wouldn't start berating her decision!
'Well.....isn't there another way out of here?'
'You...!! We don't even know what is there inside the dimensional pocket! There could be more Dormions inside. If they catch an outsider coming in, you'll be in trouble once more!'
'Hmmm....let's deal with this trouble first. We can think about them later.'
Little Purple sighed, then went about his work of using his energy to blast off the balls. His energy increased the explosive power, and soon the tunnel was full of large and small boulders, creating numerous roof-falls, almost blocking off the entire passage.
Rihanna had reached the cage and stopped in shock. Why was the little boy from that day sitting here?!
The little boy too stared at the floating body of Ye Luo in sock. He was very sure this was some ghost which had come to get him, and he was frozen on his spot, unable to speak or move. Rihanna sighed, then laid down Ye Luo near Fluffy, and walked around the boy to the mountain wall next to the cage bars.
Perhaps because the Seed could also sense the stress of time shortage, but it obediently sent out a stream of the fire energy it had refined. Rihanna cocked her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised, but didn't dare express her gratitude too much. The seed was already too obnoxious and arrogant!
Using the energy, she put the last two explosive balls into a crack in the wall, then blasted them off with the pure fire energy.
She had barely had time to hit the ground before the entire face of the wall blew up, shooting small and large burning stones in all directions. Thankfully Fluffy was far away along with the two men. But the three of them were still hit by the force of the blast. Not to mention the little boy, who could barely understand what was happening when the stones and dust hit him right in the face.
Rihanna scrambled to her feet to find the boy thrown into the air, heading towards a cluster of ruins. Without a thought, she immediately rushed forth, grabbing onto the boy as he fell, before herself almost hitting the pillar ruins. She barely managed to avoid it, scraping a long wound in her right arm instead.
The tunnel entrance which had been blasted off, started vibrating, and loud sounds could be heard through the fallen stones and boulders.
'They are coming. We have to go now!'
'Wait! I pulled out all the fire-mushrooms and some of the purple light flower plants. Put them away quickly!'
Rihanna turned to Fluffy, then glanced at the pile he was indicating. It was a huge pile! She wondered if this would appease the little Seed still fuming about the earlier matter. Not able to spend more thought on this, she directly sent them off into her spirit space.
"Ummm.....what exactly are you trying to do? This is the Dormions lair.....and you have blocked off the only path which can lead us to the outside! Who are you? And where are you taking me?"
Rihanna glanced at the young man, but before she could speak, the noises inside the tunnel stopped. Everything went silent for a moment. And then a large blast of wind hurtled a large amount of debris into the room, unblocking part of the tunnel.
Rihanna barely looked before shoving the young man onto Fluffy once more. Throwing Ye Luo over one shoulder, and the Little boy over the other. She glanced at Phantasm who had already come out through the destroyed wall, then dashed towards the blue light floating above the pool.
As she followed Fluffy and jumped into the pool, another blast of wind blew through the room, carrying more rocks and debris. Then a loud and angry hissing sound split through the walls, almost deafening Rihanna before her body vanished through the glowing ball of light.
Just after the entire group disappeared, another wave of raging wind erupted into the tunnel, crashing into the ball of light still floating above the water. The two energies seemed to repel each other, and the explosion shook the entire underground-settlement. The mountain walls all around crashed down, completely destroying the entire room.
After a long, long while, when the dust had settled over the surging pool water which now flowed all about the barely visible room, some of the rocks shook. A thick layer of dirt and stones trembled, then slowly slid down the rocks as they moved with feeble force.
Something pushed through, and a limb appeared. It kept pushing and digging at the rocks strewn all around till the mouth and nose and eyes finally managed to break through. The lizard beast was gravely injured. Despite that it kept pushing and pulling at the surrounding rocks, till it managed to completely break free.
Still it kept nudging the rocks, pulling at a strip of fabric caught underneath the stones. For a long while, forgetting its own injuries, it kept nudging and pushing and pulling...till it managed to pull out its master from underneath the rubble.
The woman lay motionless. She had bled a lot earlier, and the explosions had hit her hard. Without spirit energy, and with only a torn spirit root, she was as good as a commoner now, and her body was unable to bear the extreme torture, and now she lay there unconscious.
But the lizard sat down next to her, trying to nudge her gently to wake her up. As long as there was breath left in the woman, he too would sit there, guarding her till help came. This was the relationship between a contract beast and his beloved master.