"Damn... That's high!", Kai.
In front of them, a tall wall of wood and leaves stood high. These trees were so tall that the imaginary clouds were unable to even start to compete against them.
"OK, so everyone now, make your mass negative.", Smiling Shadow.
"Will that work?", Morgan.
"Of course, Nameless. According to Dark Witch, I can't lie to you. Otherwise, I will die. Oh... Don't expect to have an easy trip. You still have to fight some Dream Walkers."
"Great.", Kai.
All of them lined up horizontally and then something appeared on top of Smiling Shadow's head.
"What are you listening to?", Morgan.
"Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics"
"...Really?"
"What? Music helps me focus."
"Stop with the chatting and let's go", Seraph.
Suddenly, all of them disappeared not leaving even dust behind them. Little by little, they were getting faster and faster. Up ahead was Smiling Shadow, who was used to this kind of speed.
"Guys... Imagine a speedometer in front of you... it will help you know your limit once we reach the speed of light which is 300 million m/s. "
In front of Seraph, a small blue transparent rectangle appeared. It read:<50365120m/s>, he was in second place, behind him Kai, then Lucy, who was flying like an arrow, and lastly Morgan. Her face was pale and she was grinning.
'Maybe I should've listened to music like that bastard!'
As they were growing closer, Smiling Sadow changed the direction and said:
"We won't be able to reach the right speed at this rate. We'll run in circles until we reach 290000000m/s and then head for the forest."
They followed him and made a circle. Their speed was enough to make a vortex out of dust as they ran. People around that area were dumbfounded because they didn't know what was happening.
"W-What is that?!?!?"
"Run!! A Walker got out of the forest!"
"But that's impossible!"
"Just run and get away from the whirlwind!!"
Seraphim could see his speed increasing. 100million... 125... 150... 200... 230... 270... Just as it reached 280 million, Smiling Shadow exited their formation and headed for the wall of dark wood. Then, Trickster followed him like he was shot out of a sniper riffel. He was so fast that there was a noticeable delay between the moment he passed by someone and the moment the wind created by his sprint blew the poor thing's hair.
'Damn... This is tiring.'
'What did you expect fool?'
Behind him, Silent, Dark Witch, and Morgan followed in the same order as before. The only difference was that Morgan was now so far away that she could potentially get lost. That's why Seraph took a turn and went in the opposite direction. He bypassed all his friends and then returned to the correct way. When he got close to the tired girl, he picked her up and said:
"Hold on tight!"
With that, he increased his running speed and overtook both Lucy and Kai, then he reached Smiling Shadow who spared him a glance and continued sprinting.
"Huh... I didn't expect that... By the way, you're not that slow, Trickster. But you see, speed is my domain. Don't think that this is all I've got."
Smiling Shadow chuckled and took the lead again. Right now, they've already reached the speed of light.
"Everyone! Make you mass negative!"
Seraph closed his eyes and imagined that he was lighter than photons. It was very difficult, indeed. Just imagining that his mass was zero was tiring enough... And now he had to break the laws of physics and make it negative.
'Just wait until I find Zephyr.'
'If you found him, that is.'
Seraph gritted his teeth and looked at his speedometer. He was at<301268452m/s>
'I've made it.'
"Get ready everybody... We're approaching the forest."
Up close, the Forest of Oblivion was even more terrifying. Can you imagine? Logs taller than the tallest of buildings... Trees wider than the sides of ships, and leaves bigger than planes. On top of that, there were the scary abominations that hid between these leaves. Before, Seraph wasn't able to see or even feel the presence of those Walkers. But now, things were different... was different. He was now faster... much faster than these beasts could ever hope to be. If he wanted to, he could slay them without breaking a sweat, but he had to concentrate on the task at hand. Battle was right around the corner, he just had to be patient and wait for the true horrors of the forest to lung at him. Even the forest itself was different... the way he perceived it was different. Before, Seraph lost his way the moment he took more than ten steps inside it... but now, he understood why. The growth of the forest was also at the speed of light. That way, it could change almost instantly.
"Get your weapons ready... We'll have to fight soon."
Hearing Smiling Shadow's advice, he grew additional limbs from his sides, threw Morgan on his back, and caught her with one pair of hands while in the other a straight sword appeared.
"Protect my back, will you?"
"Of course."
As they got deeper and deeper into the forest, more Walkers who could attack them appeared. Seraph's face was calm... very calm. His mind was in battle mode. He struck, cut, stabbed, and kicked anyone who dared to stand in his way. He didn't care about anything other than the fight and calculating the next move he'll do. If it was anyone else, they would've been terrified by the appearances of the Dream Walkers, but Seraph was not anyone. The concept of 'fear' didn't exist for him. He didn't fear the creatures towering above him, he did not fear their claws, he did not fear their fangs nor their horns. He was similar to a battle machine. His indifference was the truly terrifying thing.
Smiling Shadow was also having a fun time killing his prey. Since he was used to this kind of speed, it wasn't so hard for him to fight. He was laughing like a maniac.
'What a crazy bastard.'
'Oh come on. We both know that you are barely hiding your smirk right now. You are also a crazy bastard.'
On the other hand, Kai and Lucy were having some trouble, they were working together and eliminating every opponent with stunning synchronization. But with this speed, they were just half a step away from death. Despite that, they were holding on... for now.
"Hold on a little longer... We're halfway there."
Deflecting a strick aimed for the back of Seraph, Morgan cursed quietly.
"Easier said than done, you bastard!!"
"I don't want to hear that from someone who has been getting carried ever since we entered the forest."
This situation continued for a few more minutes before no more Walkers attacked them.
"Is that it? Are we done?", Kai.
"No... There is him."
"Wh-..."
Suddenly, the ground started shaking and they heard a deafening roar somewhere up ahead.
"What is that?"
Kai's voice was even but Seraph could feel a sense of dread in it and that was normal considering what they'd just heard.
"That's him... Oblivious Blind Orc... A Named Walker."
"That's great... You didn't have to tell us that there is a Named Walker from the start. I mean it's just a Named Walker."
"No need to be sarcastic now, Silent. Get your act up!"
"Trickster is right. I alone was able to run away from it. With this many people around, he won't be able to keep up with us."
A mad smile appeared on Seraphim's face while a deep frown appeared on Morgan's.
"Uh-oh..."
"Running??? Who said we're running!?!"