Chapter 40: Escape Route

Eden looked toward the forest.

Ryuhei pointed upward.

"As long as we stay on the trees, we’re safe."

"Because of the vibrations."

"Yes."

"Is there a catch?"

Ryuhei looked down and nodded.

"We can’t see the doors from up here."

Eden sighed.

"So we have to climb down every once in a while."

"Exactly."

"That’s annoying."

"It is."

For the first time, Eden thought he detected something resembling humor in Ryuhei’s voice.

Maybe.

It was hard to tell.

---

They traveled.

Eden moved from tree to tree using Burst Step.

The skill was becoming more useful with every minute.

Instead of merely being an emergency movement technique, he could now use it to cover enormous distances through the forest.

The cost was significant, however.

Every use drained Essence.

So he had to pace himself.

Ryuhei had no such problem.

He simply created a sword beneath his feet.

Then another.

Then another.

Sometimes he stood.

Sometimes he sat.

Sometimes he floated beside Eden.

It was almost ridiculous.

At one point, Eden finally asked,

"How many swords can you make?"

Ryuhei didn’t look at him.

"A few."

"That’s not a number."

"I don’t count."

Eden sighed.

"Of course you don’t."

They continued.

Hours passed.

The forest seemed endless.

Eventually, Ryuhei raised a hand.

"Down."

Eden stopped.

They descended carefully.

The lower they went, the stronger the sensation became.

Something was nearby.

Eden felt it.

Ryuhei did too.

They reached the forest floor.

Eden looked around.

Nothing.

No doors.

No creatures.

Nothing.

Suddenly, the earth exploded.

The centipede erupted from beneath the trees.

Eden barely turned.

A massive limb struck him.

He was launched sideways.

"Fuck!"

He smashed through a tree.

Then another.

His body rolled across the ground.

Ryuhei immediately moved.

Hundreds of swords appeared.

They surrounded the centipede.

The creature roared.

Ryuhei raised two fingers.

The blades attacked.

One after another.

Dozens at a time.

The centipede smashed through them.

But every destroyed sword split into smaller blades.

Ryuhei’s expression remained calm.

"Eden!"

Eden pushed himself upright.

His ribs screamed.

"I’m fine!"

"You’re not."

"I’m functional!"

"That’s different."

Eden looked around.

Then he saw it.

Through the trees.

A massive structure.

Ancient.

Stone.

Doors.

His eyes widened.

"Ryuhei!"

"What?"

"There!"

Ryuhei glanced over.

The door was several hundred meters away.

Eden pointed.

"Another one!"

Ryuhei’s eyes narrowed.

A massive tree was ripped from the ground and sent crashing through the canopy.

The centipede emerged from the destruction a moment later.

Its enormous body tore through the ancient forest like a living siege weapon, black armored segments grinding against one another as it moved. Every movement of its hundreds of legs sent vibrations through the earth.

And on the front of its monstrous body, the humanoid upper torso twisted toward them.

Its eyes locked onto Eden.

Then Ryuhei.

The creature roared.

The sound shook the entire forest.

Eden clenched his teeth.

There was no point trying to fight this thing normally.

He knew that.

His blade might have been useful against another human or an ordinary Abyss Creature around his level, but against something like this?

It was a toothpick against a fortress.

Even with Phase Shift.

Even with Heir’s Pride.

Even with everything he’d learned since his regression.

He couldn’t meaningfully hurt it.

And if he tried to fight it head-on, he would die.

Simple as that.

Eden pulled his blade back.

His silver eyes narrowed.

Instead, he opened his hand.

Red Essence erupted from his palm.

The familiar, monstrous mass of Devour appeared.

Pure, violently compressed red Essence that moved as though it possessed a hunger of its own. Mutated teeth formed and vanished within the mass. Strange eyes occasionally opened across its surface before disappearing again.

Eden poured more Essence into it.

Then more.

His reserves dropped rapidly.

"Come on..."

The Devour expanded.

A massive crimson wave surged across the ground.

The centipede charged.

Ryuhei’s fingers moved.

Hundreds of floating swords shot forward.

They filled the air.

Some were enormous, easily several meters long. Others were little more than thin blades of light. They swirled around the centipede in elegant formations, striking joints, scales, and exposed areas before retreating.

The creature swiped one of its enormous limbs through the air.

Several swords shattered.

The larger blades immediately split apart into dozens of smaller ones, scattering in every direction before reforming behind it.

Ryuhei moved his fingers again.

The swords changed direction as one.

Eden stepped forward.

"Move!"

Devour surged.

The red Essence wrapped around several of Ryuhei’s floating swords, spreading across their edges like crimson flames.

The moment the swords struck the centipede again, Devour clung to its armor.

The centipede’s movement slowed.

Ryuhei glanced toward Eden.

For the first time, something in those strange eyes behind the white mask seemed to change.

Interest.

His head tilted slightly.

He wasn’t looking at the centipede.

He was looking at the crimson Essence struggling to devour it.

Eden noticed.

’...What?’

Ryuhei’s gaze followed the crimson mass as it crawled across the creature’s armor.

He wasn’t surprised by it.

But he wasn’t afraid or suspicious of it either.

He was studying it.

Eden narrowed his eyes.

’Does he know what this is?’

A sword shot past Eden’s face.

He ducked.

The blade flew directly into the centipede’s eye.

It bounced off.

"Yeah," Eden muttered. "Let’s save the questions for later."

He thrust his hand toward the door.

[Devour]

A second wave of vicious Essence shot out aiming to unlock the door.

It covered the runes.

The runes began glowing the moment it touched them.

The entire door shook.

Devour was eating the Time seal.

The crimson Essence crawled across the symbols, biting into the invisible structure beneath them.

The seal cracked.

A sharp sound echoed through the forest.

The Centipede suddenly rushed toward Eden.

It had broken through the swords.

Its enormous arm came down.

"Eden!"

Ryuhei’s voice was the first genuine urgency Eden had heard from him.

Eden didn’t hesitate.

"Almost there!"

He poured everything he could into Devour.

The seal shattered.

The massive doors opened.

"Now!"

Ryuhei moved.

Every sword around him accelerated.

He raised two fingers.

The entire swarm of blades converged on the centipede at once.

The creature roared as dozens of swords slammed into its body, not piercing deeply, but forcing its attention away for one precious second.

Eden grabbed Ryuhei’s sleeve.

"Inside!"

Ryuhei didn’t argue.

They sprinted.

The centipede lunged.

Its enormous hand swept across the ground.

Eden used Burst Step.

The world blurred.

He and Ryuhei crossed the final distance in an instant.

They dove through the doorway.

The centipede’s claws scraped across the stone.

The impact shook the entire entrance.

Eden rolled across the floor.

Ryuhei landed gracefully several meters away.

"Close it!"

"I’m working on it!"

Eden turned.

Devour exploded outward.

The crimson Essence wrapped around the edges of the door.

The centipede tried to force itself through.

Its enormous fingers pushed against the stone.

The doorway groaned.

Eden poured everything he had left into Devour.

The crimson mass spread across the runes.

The ancient symbols lit up.

The door began closing.

Slowly.

Painfully slowly.

The centipede roared.

Three of their arms forced itself halfway through.

Eden’s arms trembled.

His knees nearly buckled.

"Come on..."

The doors continued closing.

"Come on!"

The centipede’s fingers were crushed between them.

It roared one last time as the doors slammed shut.