Chapter 91: Rapid Flight
Jima flew higher, watching Eve Frostleaf stride towards the galloping fire horse coming from afar, which was entirely engulfed in flames, leaving a burning trail behind.
In the distance, two figures clashed, the silver shadow continuously shooting ice crystals towards the fire horse, while the fire horse rushed at the silver shadow with incredible speed. Even the long-legged Eve Frostleaf could not compare.
Jima witnessed Frostleaf being chased several times by the fire horse, but each time she narrowly escaped due to her agile movement. In the snow-covered land shrouded in darkness, the fire horse charged like a blazing dagger, repeatedly lunging at the white butterfly, which fluttered up and down, narrowly dodging each time.
This was a life-and-death confrontation; Jima pondered why, as a high-ranking elf and the invisible princess, she had to be so reckless? Dancing with death in the desolate northern land, far from her homeland?
It must be guilt, she thought. After all, during the battle with the Eternal Chosen Marus earlier, she had merely been an observer, making little contribution, and her magical power had been minimal.
Jima sincerely hoped that Eve Frostleaf would return safely.
The terrain below became steeper, and without the icy path laid by Frostleaf, the sled slowed down, looking precarious and on the verge of breaking apart.
George simply stopped, grabbed several dwarves, placed them on the horse’s back, and hoisted the sled by himself to run.
Jima glanced into the distance, where Eve Frostleaf was still dancing with the fiery blade. The speed of their clash increased, and Frostleaf’s situation became increasingly dangerous.
Suddenly, the two figures intersected, and Jima’s heart sank as she saw Eve Frostleaf fly up, falling to the ground again, quickly taking off once more.
At this rate, she would die sooner or later.
Jima dove down, flying towards the undulating sled.
The sled swayed heavily; a normal horse-drawn carriage would gently rise and fall, but this sled, powered by George, was rocking in every direction. Felix clung tightly to the edge, his face pale, muttering:
“Get me off… I want to get off.”
Jima shouted, “Guide? Who’s the guide, how far is it to the destination?”
A dwarf covered his helmet to prevent it from falling off, pointing with his thick finger towards a rugged mountain path: “Twenty minutes!”
“Twenty minutes?!”
Wasn’t that asking for death?
Jima nearly cursed, but held back; it wouldn’t help. She observed the fleeing team.
Leading the group was the heavenly warhorse, Jenna deliberately slowed down behind, her shield shining brightly to illuminate the path ahead. George was at the back carrying the sled. Unable to exert force, he had to reduce speed to avoid dropping the entire “carriage” of people.
A flash of inspiration struck her, and she shouted, “George, wait, I’ll get a vehicle.”
George replied beneath the sled, “Okay.”
Jima flapped her wings, rapidly flying to the front of the group, using her ability to make lies become true, she lied: “Actually, I have a big-wheeled ox cart.”
The remaining power of her lies was exhausted. Some of her magical power also dwindled, which worried Jima the most. She glanced at her personal system; she had only twenty-five percent magic left. She burped, the unbearable smell of blue potion surged up her throat.
A rural ox cart appeared on the rugged mountain road, just as Jima remembered. The iron big wheels and two logs at the front were connected by an arched wooden beam used to hook onto an ox’s neck for pulling.
This was the ability of her lies to come true; Jima had once used it to create a nuclear bomb. Unfortunately, it was just a shell because she did not understand the principles of a nuclear bomb.
Originally, Jima had wanted to create a normal vehicle, something common like a cart or even a human-pulled cart. But she couldn’t help but recall George’s head with horns.
George, who was carrying the sled, came running and asked, “Where did this come from?”
“Don’t question it,” Jima shouted, “don’t poke holes in it.”
Smart George immediately understood what was going on.
“Attention! We’re getting off soon.”
George reached the ox cart, placing the sled atop it, and the dwarves along with Felix tumbled down onto the cart.
Jima urged, “Quick! Hurry! Frostleaf can’t hold on much longer!”
George quickened his pace, without saying a word, he lowered his head, lifted the cart, positioned the arched wood on his chest, and began to run with the ox cart.
The powerful “ox” strength provided a significant thrust—too bad the passengers experienced none of the push-back, as there were no backrests on the cart. A few dwarves, unable to grasp the handholds, rolled backward like bowling balls; Jima, being in the back, blocked them with her axe and spear.
One dwarf nearly fell off the cart, catching hold of Felix’s ankle tightly to avoid falling.
The ox cart thundered down the rugged mountain road, the rolling steel wheels shattered a stone, lifting the cart twenty centimeters off the ground before it came crashing back down.
Fortunately, Jima was flying alongside; otherwise, they would have nearly fallen out.
With George’s frantic running, the entire team’s speed nearly doubled.
Jima felt proud of her cleverness. This team still needed to rely on her to move forward.
She asked, “How far is it to the destination?”
“Almost there!” The dwarf guide said in common language, scratching his head sadly to find his helmet was gone, and raised his thick finger, pointing ahead: “Right there, past the white wall with thorny pines.”
Following his indication, Jima saw that in the distance, away from the rugged mountain path, a flood had washed away the soil, revealing a white stone wall.
The bad news was that Jima noticed numerous white stones along the way, shining under the light emitted by Jenna.
The good news was that she was not on the ox cart.
Felix was nearly crying, saying, “I want to go home.”
But no one paid him any mind; the dwarves gritted their teeth.
At that moment, a fire cloud erupted from the burning town in the distance, illuminating the surrounding area for miles.
Everyone nearly agreed that it was the arrival of the Eternal Chosen Marus.
George shouted:
“Jima, go support Frostleaf.”
As Jima was ascending, she shouted back:
“I’m on my way!”
She soared into the night sky, flying towards Eve Frostleaf. From afar, in the dark snowy ground, the two figures were still dancing.
It had taken a while; the long-legged girl hadn’t called for help, which should mean she’s fine.
She relaxed a bit and flew with all her might towards Eve Frostleaf, reaching for her waistband to pull out a light stick that would signal retreat when pulled.
Estimating that the fire horse still had a chance to catch up with the team, she decided not to pull it.
The cold wind blew as she closed the distance, and Jima began to see more details, vaguely noticing some redness on Eve Frostleaf, appearing to bleed, a piece of her armored skirt missing, as the long legs raced across the snow.
The fire horse fired bursts of blue missiles at Eve Frostleaf, and in Jima’s impression, given Frostleaf’s skills, she should have been able to evade them, yet amidst the storm of blue missiles, she was hit. The fire horse charged like a train, colliding forcefully with her, the blade on its head pierced into her slender body.
Eve Frostleaf struggled and was sent flying, like a kite with a broken string, descending towards the ground.
The fire horse emitted four distinct sounds, charging towards Eve Frostleaf: “Blood!”
Jima swiftly downed a speed potion, racing to catch Eve Frostleaf before the fire horse could deal a fatal blow. She embraced Eve; her white scales struck against her chest painfully, but Eve’s thighs were soft. Jima did not slow down one bit, flying vigorously, upward into the night sky.
In her arms, Eve Frostleaf opened her emerald eyes to look at Jima, her form becoming lighter. Jima could no longer see the wound at her waist and hoped it wasn’t serious, but she felt her belly becoming slightly wet.
Eve’s long ears twitched like willow leaves as she said, “Jima, missiles incoming! From four, five, six, seven directions!”
Jima also heard the shrill whistle of missiles, growing closer. She held Eve Frostleaf tightly, especially gripping her thighs, and jokingly pinched her, shouting, “Hold on tight!”
With that, she suddenly turned right, feeling the whistling missiles brush past her face. Pain shot through her back, causing Jima to shudder but she withstood it.
Blue arcane missiles surged past her, turning back to attack Jima.
Eve Frostleaf extended a hand, blue light emanating from her palm as arc-shaped ice shields appeared, blocking the arcane missiles. The sound of shattering ice echoed, fragments falling coolly onto Jima’s neck.
The shrill voices of the missiles behind faded away. Jima estimated she had flown high enough, finally letting out a breath of relief. She said to Eve Frostleaf in her arms:
“Your ice shields were timely.”
“You were timely too.” Eve Frostleaf managed a faint smile. Her hand dropped, and it was then that Jima noticed a stream of bright red blood dripping from her fingertips.
“You’re hurt.” Jima began to panic, afraid that Eve Frostleaf would suddenly go limp in her arms and stop moving, and though she had always found her annoying, if her lips were silenced forever… Jima rarely felt such anxiety.
“I can still fight.”
But Jima could hear the weakness in her voice.
Jima lowered her head, taking a good look at Eve Frostleaf. Once pristine and untouched, she now bore dirt, her silver hair disheveled and soiled, her silver armor covered in dust and scratches. A piece of her skirt armor was missing, revealing her strong long legs with burnt holes in her silver strands, and some dirt clinging to her.
But these dirty details made Jima’s heart flutter even more, giving her the thrill of a precious pearl tarnished, making her feel as if a high and sacred artifact had suddenly become so base that even she could touch it.
Yet now was not the time for such thoughts. In this tense situation, only Jima, with her mind full of twisted ideas, could entertain such fantasies.
She turned her head to see the fire horse rushing like a rocket, not having lagged too far behind her.
After all, she was flying.
Looking again at their destination, the distant white wall had opened up a hole, and she could see Jenna and George ushering people inside.
It wasn’t far away.
This meant there was no time to create a safe distance; after all, she still had to land and slow down. Although George and Jenna provided cover, Jima didn’t want to see the fire horse taking the opportunity to charge into the tunnel with them; if that happened, what difference would it make to escape or not?
If only she had the power of pain to speed up, but unfortunately, she didn’t.
Eve Frostleaf wiped the green healing potion from her lips, saying, “Jima, change your grasp, I’ll hold it off.”
“No, you hold on tight.” Jima said, “Get ready for a hard landing.”
“A hard landing?”
The white wall was getting closer; Jima saw Jenna waving to signal a slowdown while using divine magic to reduce the fire horse’s speed.
But Jima shook her head and flew even faster.
George reacted decisively, pulling Jenna back into the tunnel, emitting light to dispel the darkness within.
The tunnel edged closer, revealing a downward slope with hanging stalactites in view.
Jima didn’t slow down; she dove down into the tunnel, the steps quickly retreating beneath her, the walls on either side twisting like snakes.
A stone wall at a corner came crashing toward her.
Jima immediately tried to slow down, but her speed wouldn’t decrease. Glancing at the steps, she gritted her teeth, planning to roll on the ground early to slow down better than crashing into the wall. Her chest plummeted towards the ground, triggering her soul injury, a dull pain echoing in her chest just as she was about to hit the steps.
A net of light enveloped her, slowing her descent as she and Eve Frostleaf tumbled onto the ground, rolling several times. Her head struck the stone wall with a thud; a common person might have fainted on the spot, but all she could do was gasp, pressing down on her chest that felt like it was about to burst.
Breathing became difficult.
Eve Frostleaf scrambled up beside her, and Jima looked up to see the stone door above closing, firelight seeping through the cracks. Moments later, the stone door sealed shut with a dull roar echoing through.
The stone door had closed.
Jima let out a breath of relief, and Eve Frostleaf grabbed her hand, pulling her up. She saw Jenna rushing over, shouting something that she could no longer hear.
