I ran outside. Jumped in every well I could see. My body moved on instinct, and with every second that passed, a massive wall of marble bloomed behind me. Sixty wells. I'd jumped into sixty already. Only five left.
My head throbbed. Wanora was still going—burning every blob that came near her, one by one, without rest, without breath. But she was close to her limit. I could feel it. I could hear it in the way the flames cracked. Each ice disk I'd thrown had landed exactly in the rooms she had marked.
Each was five liters. I could barely afford to move without passing out. I didn't even try to liquify it—there wasn't time, and my brain would've fried from the output. For now, I ran.
That's another one. I threw myself into the well, froze it instantly, and climbed out just as fast. My body hit the ground—hard—and a blob was already coming. I barely registered the shadow before it struck me.
"Fuck," I muttered.
A major hit. My entire back lit up in pain like someone had shoved a branding iron through it. I didn't hesitate. I slapped my back and peeled the skin off in a single, fluid motion using the clarion.
I didn't have time. There were more of them than expected. Too many. Shit.
I gritted my teeth and pushed forward, gathering the last of the water. One by one, I turned them into disks of ice and hurled them into the wells. My muscles screamed. My vision blurred. That should do it.
I wiped my nose. It had been bleeding for a while. Maybe it was the nerval backlash. I didn't know anymore. Five kilometers. I'd run five kilometers and jumped into a well each time. Anyone else would've collapsed already. But I hadn't.
Because I had the Clarion of Touch.
Each Clarion signified a different strength.
The Clarion of Touch—Endurance.
Clarion of Vision—Intelligence.
Clarion of Smell—Strength.
Clarion of Taste—Will.
Clarion of Hearing—Awareness.
Endurance. That's right. I sucked in ragged breaths. Huff... huff... I could barely run. I'd blocked almost every single doorway I came across. And still, it wasn't enough.
I felt the heat before I saw it. Ahead—blobs burning in place, kept at bay by a faint red barrier. Wanora. She had collapsed inside, her body limp. Unconscious. The flames around her were flickering. They wouldn't last.
"Fuck..." I mumbled. I was tired. So fucking tired.
I fell.
No—I caught myself. I couldn't stop here.
My eyes snapped forward. In the same moment, the entire marble hallway exploded into spikes. They tore through the blobs like razors through flesh, and I didn't stop. I couldn't. The whole octagon—I focused on it. The walls. The ceiling. The floor. Everything. My nerves screamed. My brain pulsed like it was about to rupture.
Blood poured from my mouth.
This is it.
The entire place began to tremble, as I visualised the final outcome.
"THAT'S IT."
I slammed my fist shut. In an instant, the octagon compressed, the entire structure collapsing inward until it was barely a kilometer wide. But I had reinforced the walls. Denser. Stronger. Unbreakable. My vision was tunneling. My legs felt like they weren't even mine anymore.
Wanora.
She was still lying there.
The ice disks had melted before I shrunk the octagon.
In the blink of an eye, I teleported—out of the octagon.
Well that was a waste.
I let my eyes shut. Just a little. Just for a moment.