Chapter 2199

2199 - An Awkward Situation

“…There are at least twenty adult Space Beasts among them!!”

Morgana’s scream instantly froze the blood in the veins of the other three.

The first to react was Blokan.

*Boom*

Without a moment’s hesitation, without a moment’s thought, he struck the space with force and shot toward the Passage Gate.

There was nothing to think about in the first place…

He was already using his power at the maximum possible degree to keep the three adult Space Beasts occupied. And despite all his attempts to raise the degree of his essential reflection against them, he couldn’t even actually scratch them; rather, it could be said that the three beasts were merely testing that strange creature and amusing themselves with him.

But twenty more?

No.

He never agreed to this!

*Bang*

A massive blow suddenly came from directly in front of him and sent him flying backward like a projectile.

“Ugh!!” Blokan barely steadied himself in place and shouted, “You’re in more danger than me, you fool! Let me leave, and you leave too!”

*Bang*

Another blow came from the side and knocked him away again.

When the three adult beasts sensed that their little plaything was trying to escape, they began to surround him among themselves with scattered light strikes.

As for creatures whose size surpasses that of planets themselves, Blokan barely constitutes a real meal for them, yet he remains a being from another dimension, one that also displays unusual power… akin to a glowing firefly in the darkness that naturally draws attention.

Of course, their strikes were light by their standards.

For those beasts, it was similar to a human gently nudging a faintly glowing firefly to keep it within the group and prevent it from fleeing—something requiring almost no effort.

But for Blokan…

Every strike was a life-or-death battle.

“Aaaah!!”

Blokan finally stopped thinking about conserving his strength or trying to moderate his dealings with them. With a tremendous roar, he let his energy explode from every cell in his body before charging toward the passage once more.

Bang

Once again, one of the black beasts struck him.

But this time…

Things were different.

Blokan continued advancing forward despite the blow, and—

Boom

The full force of the collision rebounded and struck the Adult Space Beast itself.

“Craaack—”

“…” Blokan wiped a thin streak of blood from his mouth.

Restoring the full force of the strike was no simple matter for him at all; it nearly tore his body apart from the inside. But if that was the price required to escape, so be it.

The real problem...

Was that the passage was far too distant.

Blokan trembled violently as he fought a genuine urge to cry.

From the very beginning, they had made sure to keep the passage far from the gathering areas of the nascent space beasts, so that those creatures wouldn't get scared and stop entering The Gate. Moreover, he lacked the strength to tear through space here and teleport directly to it.

This meant...

That the escape route would be terrifyingly long.

And in an instant, Blokan's spirits crashed to the ground.

*Bam*

That blow sent him flying backward again.

Things on the other fronts were no calmer either.

"Damn it!"

Althera canceled the entire Repetition Loop field and charged with all her might toward the Passage Gate as well.

At first, her path was almost clear of obstacles, but that didn't last long.

The young space beasts she had been holding inside the loop began attacking her from all directions the moment they were freed.

Althera raised her voice urgently and began swinging her short sword violently, trying to carve a path of escape through the chaos. She indeed managed to cleave two of them directly, piercing through their bodies and emerging from the other side covered in blood and flesh.

But her attackers were not just two.

In fact, the encirclement around her tightened even more.

"Damn, damn, damn!!"

Asr began looking around quickly.

The original plan was to stay for a full twenty-three hours at the current pace, then begin a gradual withdrawal extending for an additional hour, during which they would cover each other's backs until a safe return.

But that plan...

Had gone to hell now.

Asr cast a glance toward the Passage Gate.

He was the only one among them who was still moving with relative freedom and wasn't directly surrounded by the beasts; he could simply escape safely now.

But...

Asr looked toward one of the distant directions, as his spiritual sense finally began to pick up the incoming waves of Space Beasts, and with every passing second, their numbers increased further and approached at a terrifying speed.

Overwhelming numbers...

After another moment of hesitation, Asr finally shouted:

"Damn!!"

Then he charged directly toward Althera.

Althera cleaved another exhausted space beast, consuming a quarter of her remaining energy. This strike didn't kill it, but it left a wound deep enough to prevent it from immediately pursuing her.

Then she turned toward the arrow coming her way.

"Asr!!" she cried out in shock. "What are you doing?!"

"It has been an honor to fight as your deputy for tens of thousands of years, and today it will be an honor to die side by side with you."

Asr drew his bow and began aiming it at the nearest beasts attacking Althera.

"..." Althera's large eyes twitched for a moment.

Part of her wanted to accept his initiative and start formulating a final plan with him to survive this catastrophic situation...

But what she saw at Morgana's location erased everything else from her mind.

The cowardly nascent space beasts fighting Morgana sensed the approaching nest, stopped exchanging blows and swimming randomly, and began frantically trying to flee in the opposite direction of the nest's arrival.

The direction of the Gate.

And Morgana...

She was now using power beyond her limits to prevent all those numbers from moving toward the passage—the passage that had been left wide open to easily allow the numbers Holak wanted to enter.

If those beasts reached the Gate all at once...

At least two or three thousand of them will enter before Lord Robin can close it enough.

Morgana was the closest to the passage, and she could easily protect herself and retreat, but she understood the danger well and stayed in place nonetheless, risking her entire life to stop them.

"..." Althera showed a strange smile.

Then she looked toward Asr.

"It was an honor to fight alongside you."

Then she pulled her left palm back and suddenly pushed him with it.

"Don't resist."

"No—" Asr stopped abruptly after sensing that Althera was planning something. "What are you plotting?!"

"Tell the Lord to close the gate and summon the Soul Shard of the Cosmic Elder." Althera pushed her hand forward further. "The universe must not fall while we are here."

Huum

Asr felt immense pushes like tsunami waves hurling him toward the gate, one push after another, until his speed began to double terrifyingly.

Althera used the Fundamental Repetition Law to grant him those successive pushes.

At the same time, she began attacking every young space beast that tried to approach him as he sped away.

"Damn it..." Asr muttered as he rapidly distanced himself.

He could use the Path of Time to stop himself or escape that forced wave...

But he did not.

With pained yet resolute expressions, Asr used the Path of Time to accelerate himself further.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived beside Morgana.

Yet he did not look at her with pity despite what was happening to her, nor did she try to stop him; instead, she directly opened the way for him.

A path toward the luminous Gate.

Whoosh

Asr shot out from the other side like a projectile.