CHAPTER 31: JUMP

Ezekiel stirred, awakening from the shock as quickly as he could before immediately taking action. A Shortsword appeared in his hand before he slashed out at the ropes connecting the horses to the carriage before hastily placing the large transport vehicle into his Dimensional ring.

Yet while his ring contained a large amount of space, his workshop and other related items had already filled it almost to the brim, disallowing him from storing the second carriage. Luckily, as the young miss of an Earl’s noble house, Anna possessed a large enough Dimensional ring, allowing her to store the other.

The four didn’t hesitate to mount the horses, not having enough time to even prepare a saddle—after all, against a monstrous phenomenon like a mana storm, they had to make sure they gained as much advantage and distance as they could.

The 14 immediately set off, urging their horses as much as they could to flee north. But they knew they couldn’t simply escape in a straight line, which is why Vera was prompted to shout, transmitting her voice despite the terrible winds that acted against him.

"We’re heading north-west! It will take us a bit farther from the Institute but the road there is much easier to tread upon with horses, while the east becomes more treacherous. With that terrifying storm behind us, our choice is clear."

Ezekiel nodded, seeing the logic behind her words. He adjusted himself on the horse, decreasing the pain assaulting his groin—after all, they hadn’t been given the time to prepare a simple saddle—while he urged the horse just like the rest of the consort, their trajectory slanting slightly in a bid to escape the mana storm’s area of effect.

Yet the storm proved to be very fast, quickly shortening the distance better, its terrifying mana stones swinging about chaotically causing despair to creep into the knight’s minds. Their thoughts raced, trying to think up of ways to ensure their survivability.

"It’s gaining on us!" one of the knights shouted, his voice barely carrying over the increasingly violent winds. The ground beneath their horses’ hooves was already beginning to tremble from the storm’s approach.

Ezekiel’s eyes frantically scanned the landscape ahead, searching for anything that might provide shelter. The hills offered little protection, the storm would just skirt around it and still tear their bodies to pieces, and that was if the chosen hill miraculously managed to hold its own against the powerful mana storm.

The large trees could potentially grant them cover if they managed to find one thick enough which still possessed a hollowed out bark. But that was quite unrealistic, and normal trees, just like those behind, would be torn apart by the chaotic mana energies within minutes. Seconds even.

Then he spotted it—a dark line cutting across the terrain about half a mile ahead.

"There!" he pointed, steering his horse toward the area, a flash of hope lighting up in his eyes as he urged his horse even more.

The group changed direction immediately, pushing their already exhausted horses toward what appeared to be an ancient canyon carved into the landscape by long-dried waters. As they drew closer, Ezekiel could see it was deeper than he’d initially hoped—at least thirty feet down, with steep stone walls that looked like they’d been weathered smooth by countless years of erosion.

Just standing at its edge, the Awakened all felt a deep concentration of mana, quite high but not enough to cause another mana storm. Not to mention that concentrated mana wasn’t the only reason behind a mana storm’s phenomenal creation.

What shocked them though was the large tree which was almost as tall as the canyon, while also possessing a very wide width, one wide enough to support a small house.

This information calculated by Laura made the hope in Ezekiel’s eyes burn even brighter. It meant that if such a large tree possessed a hollowed out space—which it most likely did—they could hide within this tree!

It was a gamble, since there was still a possible chance that the tree was not hollow. But it was one that he was willing to take. After all, they couldn’t outrun the storm forever.

"Carry the horses and jump!" The mechanic straight forwardly shouted out. His determined eyes met Vera’s, making the latter flinch at how spirited he was.

The knights around her showed hesitation, knowing that this gamble would most likely cost all of them their lives but Vera could tell that they really didn’t have a choice. Like Ezekiel, she had already calculated that they could not outrun the storm, so her expression soon turned stern as she glanced at her men and relayed the order.

"We jump! Those large branches are definitely thick enough to withstand our weights!"

Although hesitant, the knights listened to her orders. They were all individuals who had followed their leader into many battles, they believed their lives to be in her hands at this point.

"We’ll have to abandon the horses." one of the knights said grimly, her voice managing to sound out clearly despite the roar of the mana storm swiftly approaching them while she already began dismounting.

"No, we can’t abandon all the horses. Nine of us here possess great strength or strength type Talents. We’ll carry a horse each, and make sure to store the saddle." As he spoke, the mechanic had already donned his Hercules Battlesuit along with Vahn. He then released five pairs of boots from his Dimensional ring and handed it out. "If you aren’t confident in mitigating the impact of the fall as much as you can, put on these boots."

With an approval from Vera, the knights were quick to wear the boots. They couldn’t control it, but Ezekiel could and he had assured them that he possessed the capabilities to get the timing right. Well, he didn’t, but Laura did.

Yuri, displaying her absolute trust in Ezekiel, jumped first, using her Battlesuit to fly to one of the branches. She even swayed purposely, as though testing the endurance of the branch before signaling an okay sign to the rest of the consort.

Vahn was next, though he was instead carrying one of the horses on his shoulder, trying his best to calm the loud cries of the frightened animal. He couldn’t fly properly because of the horse’s weight, but he could hover.

After touching down on the branch, he also tested its endurance before nodding towards Ezekiel.

At that point, since they were already running out of time, the mechanic and the other seven, who carried a horse along with them—Vera included due to the physical feedback of her D rank realm—, all jumped at once.

The tree branches swayed, their structures stressed due to the weight that bore down on them. Right now, there were at least 3 individuals on a branch, the horses excluded, but luckily for them, all the branches managed to hold on, making the members of the consort sigh in relief.

They all descended, the moment the remaining 3 jumped. The eight of them with the ability to fly, descended with the horses before flying up once more to quickly carry down the remaining members just in time for the mana storm to brutally smash against the edge of the canyon, a portion of its structure separating into the terrain. Yet that portion was still enough to send all the members of the consort to the afterlife.

Ezekiel quickly rushed and to his joy, there was indeed a man sized hole within amidst the multiple roots that were buried in the ground. The group didn’t delay at all, rushing into the structure regardless of whether it was safe or not.

Then Vera, mobilizing her mana, created a thick wall that blocked out the remnants of the mana storm that aimed to rush in alongside them.

Her face paled, feeling the power that crashed against her Earthen wall. But luckily for her, the mana concentration within the tree was basically on par with the aura they had felt while on the outside, allowing her to easily refill her mana core over and over while she defended against the mana storm remnant.

Such a tactic wasn’t easy though, as her mana veins had to be able to deal with rapid influx of mana, which caused no small amount of internal injuries within her body. But she held on, knowing that at the moment, the group’s survival depended on her.

But she could never implement such a tactic while on the outside though, the concentration of mana up there wouldn’t be able to allow her keep up with the output of mana she needed to reinforce the Earthen wall with, and this was under the circumstances that she was dealing with the remnants of the mana storm.

Against the actual storm, her Earthen wall possessed nary a chance at stopping the storm’s rampage. She and her men would be dead within seconds.

Thinking up to this, a grateful smile appeared on her lips even as blood seeped out, tainting her chin with its crimson red color. ’I really have to thank that kid.’

Feeling no force smashing against her spell anymore, Vera only had the mind to reinforce the spell one last time before she fell to the floor, her consciousness leaving her.

Ezekiel fell to the ground next to her, a relieved smile on his lips even as an immense amount of fatigue set into his body.

They had survived once more.