Chapter 151: Teacher
CRACK!
The wall stopped before it could crush them.
A mold of Safira's fist spanned most of it, an impression of her punch, carved into the stone by the force of her blow. Thus, the wall hung there, suspended, the impact having halted its momentum.
Safira's arm hung limp at her side, the bones shattered and the skin torn. But she was already healing, her flesh knitting itself back together, her fingers twitching as the feeling returned.
They were so very close to the exit now.
But the end of their timer was just as close.
When the ten-minute rumble eventually came, the corridors they were passing through would close, all of them, at once, a guaranteed end to their lives. Even Malik at full strength would struggle to get them out of that one.
They only had thirty seconds left.
Then they saw it.
The gate.
It was unlike the others.
Unlike anything Malik had ever seen.
It stood vertical, cutting between the top and bottom of the Layer, with no wall or corridor holding it in place.
Its edges glowed with pale light, its surface rippled like water, and through it, Malik could see something else.
Another place...
Another layer...
A new nightmare.
The thing was simply gargantuan and so very far away.
But it was getting smaller.
They were closing on it.
Closing so very fast.
"IT'S NOW OR NEVER!"
Huda's scream was desperate, the voice of someone who had pushed past exhaustion and was now running on nothing but Will.
Malik maxed out his fire.
The flames erupted from his very Soul, a torrent of golden heat pushing against the beast itself.
He used the Stranger's Necklace again, clutched in his palm, drawing on his life force to fuel the flames.
The cost was immense; he could feel years of his life burning away with every second, but he didn't stop.
Safira matched him.
While she had no Holy Relic like his, she didn't seem to need one.
Her power output increased manyfold simply by Will, as she no longer cared to keep herself fully functioning after this, the rate of her healing and self-destruction becoming too fast to notice with mortal eyes.
But Huda had it the hardest.
She was using up all her Rukh to resist the gravity that tried to pull them away, pushing them through the chaos, barely keeping them on course.
Her hair was losing its luster, the vibrant crimson fading to a dull, washed-out pink. Her skin was paling, growing translucent, and Malik could see the veins beneath, empty ones.
The girl was about to turn Hollow.
Malik could clearly see the emptiness spreading through her, the Rukh draining out of her, leaving nothing behind.
This was his little sister.
He wanted to do something, perhaps tell her to slow down.
But... no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't do anything but grit his teeth and concentrate on his own fire. Even if he wished, he could not currently use a—
CRRRRAAAAAAAACK!
A massive slab of stone came from the white above.
Enormous. Nearly half the gate in size, it fell towards them.
Another came from below, seemingly the same size.
Huda couldn't keep them away from them.
'Ten seconds left...'
They were almost there.
The gate was right there, just ahead, its light washing over them.
But it seemed that their dive was—
"NO!"
Malik activated Devil's Footsteps.
The world blurred around him, and he landed first on the slab below, just as the one above neared his head.
His boots slammed into the stone as his legs took the full force of the impact.
What followed was most expected.
His bones shattered instantly.
He lost all his strength.
His knees buckled.
But he didn't fall.
He pushed.
Rukh moved his body.
Golden fire was his blood.
Using the last of his strength, he pushed himself forwards, launching himself through both slabs.
Huda's wind still connected them, so they went as one, three bodies flying through the air, racing toward the gate.
The exit was just before them.
Malik reached out a hand towards it, his golden eyes obsessively fixed on the light.
"NOT AGAIN."
But then came a voice.
The voice was heavy, so heavy that it seemed to come from the very stone around them.
This was the beast itself talking directly to them, reminding them of a time long before...
A time when Malik himself dove through these very layers, escaping this beast's clutches.
It seemed that the beast wasn't so keen on allowing that to happen again.
Whoosh!
A slab crashed into them from the side.
It was far smaller than the others, no larger than a house, but fast, so fast that Malik didn't even see it coming.
The stone sent him and his thoughts spinning, making his vision go completely white.
He heard Huda scream and heard Safira cry out.
Neither of them seemed to have expected it as well.
Safira's healing light flickered once, targeting Huda, but it was snuffed out.
Huda, in her last moments of consciousness, raised them once more.
Her wind caught them, pushed them, and carried them forward.
It was the only thing she could do... the last thing.
A most desperate attempt to reach the gate.
To leave this accursed beast.
But it was too late.
The gate had closed.
All light had vanished.
And the darkness swallowed them whole.
It was so incredibly dark that it felt like drowning.
Malik had utterly and completely failed.
Huda had fully passed out, only moments from completely turning hollow.
Safira, however, was awake, even if barely, somehow resisting only what Angels could.
Malik held onto them both, one arm around each, his broken legs dangling uselessly beneath him.
The cold wind rushed past his face, and the darkness kept pressing in from all sides.
He didn't know what to do.
Rather, was there anything he could do?
His Soul Glyphs were still unusable.
His Runes had nothing more to give.
He had already given all he had and more.
The fact that they weren't already dead was a miracle.
But no, this... this was the end; he couldn't...
'Sinbad... Layla... Amal... I'm sorry.'
He couldn't see a way out.
'I failed y—'
"T-Teacher."