Death... and me

Kentucky was taken aback. "Didn't you say that fleeing was not an option?"

"I did," Rean nodded. "But I was talking about running further down the Chasm. The Ruined City wasn't too far from us, and this Chasm was obviously going all the way to the wall of the city at the very least. I want to reach that wall. If we are lucky, perhaps that wall isn't underground, so we will be able to go up again and enter the city."

Kentucky was able to see back on the surface that the meteors were falling over a huge area. Yet, none of them seemed to be falling in the city's direction. If they could really get up to the city, then there shouldn't be any meteors falling there. As for whatever other danger they might find, they will have to deal with it when the time comes.

*Zush, zush!*

Rean and Kentucky instantly turned in the direction of the city and dashed away.

*Roar!*

Yet, the Dark Beasts seemed to know this. More and more of them appeared ahead of Rean's group instead of coming below. It was almost as if they could teleport ahead.

*Swish, swish, swish...*

Rean's Dark Star Sword and Kentucky's countless Blade Feathers pierced through tens of Dark Beasts, forcefully opening a path in the middle of the carnage. They were so focused on only charging forward that they didn't even care for the black blood covering their bodies.

That pursuit lasted only a little more than three minutes, but the duo was still able to kill more than a hundred Dark Beasts in this short time. Kentucky had several Divine Origin Energy cores on one of his claws, while Rean held even more around his body with his Divine Energy. They absorbed as much Divine origin Energy as possible, making full use of the system's upgrades that increased their absorption speed.

Finally, the Darkness began to give way to a dim and greenish light in the distance. There were several Dark Beasts between them and that light, but its shape could finally be seen. "Shit! The wall truly goes far below the earth," Rean complained.

*Zun, zun, zun, zun, zun... Splat!*

Another Dark Beast was made into Swiss Cheese by Kentucky's Blade Feathers, but Kentucky ignored it. Instead, his eyes noticed a ray of hope. "Rean, something is strange! The Dark Beasts are not getting close to that wall at all. I can see it. They seem to all be exactly one kilometer away from it."

Rean was surprised. "Great! We would need to go there anyway, but if they can't follow us, then it is even better."

Seeming to understand that Rean, Kentucky, and Aelrie would reach the wall at that rate, all the Dark Beasts' eyes turned red. The Dark Blood in their bodies began to circulate much faster while the Dark Element and Divine Energy inside burst out at a ridiculous pace. That change gave all the Dark Beasts a huge boost in attack and speed, which they used to launch themselves against Rean's group.

However, they didn't really use their bodies to strike Rean and Kentucky. Instead, as soon as they got within a few meters of the trio...

*Boom!*

The first Dark Beast exploded into Dark and Red flames that enveloped Rean and Kentucky, making it impossible to dodge due to the sudden change. That Dark Red flame seemed capable of piercing through their Energy Barrier, injuring their bodies.

Rean, Kentucky, and now even Aelrie had to do their best to defend. Kentucky's Energy barrier wasn't enough to protect Aelrie, so she had to fight for her life. The only advantage for her was that once the Dark Red Flame passed through Kentucky's barrier, it was a lot weaker once it hit her.

"Fuck!"

Rean and Kentucky were forced to spend even more on Sky Energy, trying to fend off the weird Dark Red Flame. It wasn't exactly Dark Element, but something else. Otherwise, they would simply ignore it. Their reserves were now below 5%, and the Dark Beasts ahead seemed to be multiplying endlessly. Some of the explosions were so big that they reached the power of the Space-Time Realm, causing Rean and Kentucky even more problems.

Rean then gritted his teeth and jumped on Kentucky's back before pouring all his remaining Sky Energy into defending him and Kentucky. "Ignore everything and charge ahead. I will hold the defense. Use everything you have to enter the range of the city wall!"

'Death Style, Reversive Arcs!'

Rean also used Roan's strongest defensive skill, creating countless threads of Dark and Light Elements around their group, which dampened the power of the Dark Beast's self-

explosion by a lot.

"I'll help too!" Aelrie couldn't leave Kentucky's back, but she could at least use her Divine Origin Energy to reinforce the defense around them. It wasn't anywhere near as effective as Rean and Kentucky's power, but every single bit at this moment helped.

Kentucky's Kawa Blade Domain immediately disappeared. Right after, Kentucky's body burst with Dark and White Flame, and his body shot forward like a bullet.

'Kawa Divine Thrust!'

One of the signature Minokawa Abilities, everything was concentrated in that attack, piercing forward with unstoppable momentum!

*Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...*

Explosions of Dark and Red Flames happened all around, a sign of the huge number of Dark Beasts sacrificing themselves for that one objective. The flames constantly passed through Rean's Sky Energy and Reversive Arcs, hitting everyone nonstop. Fortunately, they were a lot weaker once they broke through the defenses, so they gritted their teeth and bore the damage. Rean was the one suffering the most as he positioned himself in front of Aelrie, trying to keep as many Dark-Red Flames away from her as possible.

*Boom!*

One last explosion occurred, this time happening right on Kentucky's tail. It wasn't that the Dark Beasts didn't want to explode head-on against Kentucky's body, but that its body simply couldn't go past that point, so it exploded right there and then.

*Boom, boom, boom, boom...*

Several more explosions happened behind Rean, Kentucky, and Aelrie, but their power couldn't reach their group anymore. Finally, the explosions stopped as the Dark Beasts returned to normal. They all looked at Rean's group from the distance, seeming unwilling to give up. Yet, something seemed to make it impossible for them to continue past that point.

Rean and the others finally reached the range of the city wall.