Despite sounding long, all this happened in a split second, Minos having already churned out five different plans.
After some slight thought, he finally settled on the third, both his heart and mind telling him it was the best choice.
'Sometimes, simple is better.' He thought to himself, pulling a few Shining Talisman's from his spatial ring.
He had made a few of these during his spare time to help with his recovery, but who knew they'd suddenly come in handy.
The Hell Beasts spent their entire lives in darkness, so even with their advanced realms, it was very likely a sudden burst of light could at least incapacitate them for a short time.
Deciding to take the gamble, he began slowly walking towards them, his pace making the Hell Beasts wary, but causing them to growl even louder.
The others couldn't help but look at a Minos like he was a madman, but by now they had already invested fully, so they could only follow behind him on his suicide mission.
Ryft was also watching all this from the darkness, already determined that Minos and the others would soon be torn to shreds.
With that, he came up with a plan of his own, deciding to wait for the Hell Beasts to begin feasting before he made his escape.
While Ryft was waiting for the group's demise, Minos was getting closer and closer to the Hell Beasts, their growling getting louder, seemingly ready to attack.
Using his Heart Path to control everyone's nerves, Minos kept moving, finally stopping once he was within a ten meter radius.
With both his Heart Path and Omniscient Eyes, he knew this was as close as he could get without causing the Hell Beasts to attack.
Waiting for the others to get closer, Minos stood still and stared the Hell Beasts down, his murky pupils firm and fearless.
His calm demeanor succeeded in keeping them at bay, their teeth bared as they continued screeching, giving the others an opportunity to arrive next to him.
"On go, everyone run forward as fast as possible…3, 2, 1, GO!" Minos shouted, instantly activating dozens of Shining Talismans and tossing them forward, filling the dark abyss with what seemed like infinite light.
The bright light caught the Hell Beasts completely off guard, their eyes watering as they blinked rapidly and shouted out in confused howls.
Not wasting the window, Minos immediately burst forwards, the others following closely behind him.
Despite the incredibly strong lights, the Hell Beasts were only stunned for a few seconds before they came to, however by the time their vision was restored, they realized Minos and the others were gone.
Screeching and roaring, they soon noticed the group had appeared behind them, having already built a small distance.
Enraged, the Hell Beasts sprinted forward towards them, the gap rapidly closing due to the Hell Beasts stronger cultivation.
"What now!?" Hyth shouted, noticing the Hell Beasts catching up from behind.
"Just follow me." Minos said firmly, his feet tracing a familiar path.
He had been memorizing the entire route on the journey here, and this didn't just mean the general direction, but rather every single nook and cranny.
Because of that, he knew there was a short cliff nearby, one he planned on using to his advantage.
"On my signal, everyone jump... Now!" Minos suddenly shouted, everyone's body instinctively reacting to his words.
As they jumped, they soon noticed a small hole beneath them, one that had been invisible prior due to both its size and the darkness.
Landing on the other side of the small hole, they watched as the Hell Beasts all fell inside and collided into one another, their roars of anger incessant.
"Hahaha, well done!" Hyth couldn't help but say with a laugh, the sight of those stupid Hell Beasts stumbling into each other incredibly cathartic.
"Awesome!" Sophia added, amazed by Minos's maneuvering.
"Don't get excited yet, that hole will only stop them for a few seconds." Minos warned, aware that their escape had just begun.
Just as Minos said, the Hell Beasts soon made their way from the small hole, even angrier now then they were before.
As they began their chase once more, the gap was again closing, Hyth and Sophia sealing their lips as both of them realized it was far too early to celebrate.
"Now what?" Jylum took the lead asking this time.
"Same as always, just do as I say." Minos answered, continuing to follow the route he had created earlier.
This path was filled with dozens of small stumbling blocks, hence why Minos had chosen it after careful consideration.
While he had the memory to avoid them, the Hell Beasts naturally didn't, letting him take advantage of them time after time.
But even after dozens of such obstacles, the Hell Beasts refused to give up, in fact chasing with even more vigor out of rage.
By this point Minos was running out of things to use, his murky eyes still as he considered his worst case scenario plan.
Originally, he was hoping that the Hell Beasts would lose interest after so many annoyances, but they were more determined then he first expected.
Deciding to push a little more, Minos once again led the Hell Beasts through a few more roadblocks, but as per usual, they wouldn't budge.
At this point it was clear they wouldn't stop until Minos and the others were dead, so without any other choices, he could only take the risk.
"These Hell Beasts aren't giving up, and there's no more obstacles to slow them down with, so what we'll have to do next is incredibly risky." Minos explained honestly.
"So what should we do?" Kendra asked.
"There's a much deeper ravine up ahead that leads to heaven knows where. Jumping into it may guarantee our deaths, but it could also be our only hope for survival…" Minos answered.
"Are there really no other options?" Jylum asked.
"We could split up, but the Hell Beasts outnumber us, so that isn't likely to help much." Minos said.
"Split up? That's death just the same…" Sophia cried.
"Then we've all reached an agreement." Minos said, continuing to run forward.
"Damned Hell Beasts, if I survive this, I'll come back for them!" Hyth shouted.
"If I make it out of here, I'll definitely put forward a proposal to the Hova Institute to create a poison capable of killing these foul creatures!" Nolin added.
"Just wild beasts, no need to direct your anger at them." Jylum said, somehow calm despite the danger.
"I don't care what they are, I hate them just the same!" Sophia said, disagreeing with Jylum's logic.
"Alright, enough chit-chat, the ravine will appear in five seconds… I wish you all luck." Minos said, immediately jumping forward into the dark ravine that's depth couldn't be measured with the eye alone.
"F*** HELL BEASTS!" Hyth shouted, jumping right behind Minos.
"Yeah! F*** em!" Sohpia added, using these vulgar words to inspire some bravery in her final moments.
"What she said!" Nolin also joined.
Meanwhile Jylum and Kendra kept quiet, though it wasn't to say neither of them were afraid or angry, rather they were the types to keep everything inside.
Following the others, they also jumped in, the Hell Beasts coming to a pause as they realized their prey had all jumped to their deaths.
…
Inside the ravine, Minos was rocketing down at an incredible speed, the hot wind like daggers as it brushed against his skin.
The heat became more intense as he fell further, and by this point the others had completely vanished, even their shouting having faded into the distance.
Using his Omniscient Eyes, Minos scanned the entire area at a tremendous speed, his pupils dilating as he finally spotted an opportunity, a sole branch growing on the cliff wall.
Gathering his Nux near his feet, Minos formed a small explosion that propelled him forward slightly, just enough to bring him within reach.
Like a whip, his hand quickly shot out and wrapped firmly around the branch, causing its roots to start creaking as it was nearly torn straight from the cliffside.
Fortunately it held on at the final second, causing Minos to let out a sigh of relief, swinging himself upwards such that he could sit on the branch.
For some unknown reason, it was impossible to solidify Nux in the Hell Point Abyss Range, and without solid Nux, flight was naturally impossible.
Minos had reason to believe this was related to the Eternal Enigma itself, but that was a question for another time, for now he was more concerned about getting out alive.
Climbing up wasn't an option for the time being, after all it was likely the Hell Beasts were still up there, and it impossible to know when it would be safe again.