On the other side, Nurah, Arthur, Shia, and the rest of the Daywalkers swiftly kicked off their plan after seeing their captain massacring the Nightcrawlers with their own eyes.
"He is legit freaking me out..."
Tyrese mumbled under his breath, feeling like he was watching a different entity than Levi... he had felt this way even after they had spent close to two weeks training together for the event.
His feelings were shared by all Daywalkers... even Levi’s closest friends hadn’t expected him to become like this. Although it felt somewhat bad to know that Levi still hadn’t trusted them fully to share his powers with them, they knew it wasn’t the time to think like this.
"Let’s go! We can’t lose the jumping window."
Nurah shouted at them sternly while standing near the edge of the rope... no further delays. Arthur swiftly carried Shia and Nurah on both of his shoulders. The girls held tightly while crouching low, appearing like a red and a black bird sitting on his shoulders.
Then, he nodded at them with a focused look... once he saw that they were ready, Arthur jumped off the edge of the rope on his own accord!
He jumped while the rope was at its peak height, putting a large distance between them and the Winged Horn.
"The Raiders have gone for it!! But, why from here?!"
Gamemaster Envy swiftly changed the broadcasting focus to the falling Arthur and the girls... the scene left everyone stunned and baffled. They knew that they had three seconds at most before the abyss started pulling them to its stomach.
If they jumped from this great distance, they would waste those precious seconds on the fall itself.
Arthur and the girls knew this more than anyone else.
No hesitation, Arthur spread his figure widely as he shouted, "FIRE!!"
An illuminating, forceful beam was launched from the central vermillion gemstone... the viewers were left stunned to see that the beam propelled Arthur and the girls faster in the abyss’s direction, helping them reach terminal velocity in less than a second!
Just like a rocket, they fell rapidly towards the abyss; the shield refusing to budge after Shia applied her sticky blood on Arthur’s back.
In no time, only a couple of hundred meters separated them from the Winged Horns. Arthur swiftly turned off the vermillion beam.
Receiving the sign, Shia absorbed the sticky blood and freed Arthur’s shield. Then, he pulled it in front of his stomach and fired another beam, slowing their speed rapidly until they entered the Winged Horn’s flying area.
Knowing that time was too tight, Shia instantly jumped in the direction of the Winged Horn while linking her body with Arthur’s using a long sticky tentacle!
The Nightcrawlers watched in a daze as Shia inched closer and closer to the small Winged Horn, her arm fully extended to grab it.
Usually, they should have tried to hinder their attempts with projectiles or such... however, after their faction’s leader was murdered and then their allies followed, their minds were still kind of trapped on the situation inside the Toxic Kingdom.
With no one to give them swift orders, Shia snatched the Winged Horn from mid-air and didn’t bother to glance at it or listen to the map-wide announcement displayed on the screen.
-Congratulations to Shia Morningstar for catching the Winged Horn! Awarded Points: One hundred!-
She swiftly absorbed the blood tentacle, which took her in Arthur’s direction. Nurah already had her arm extended to catch her... however, the moment Shia was about to take her hand, she suddenly felt an intense grip holding her tight. Then, it pulled her against her will toward the abyss!
"Shiaaa!!!"
Arthur shouted while unleashing the vermillion beam to the limit, trying his best to resist the pull applied to him and Nurah as well.
"Arghh!!"
Shia groaned, pain ripping through her as she landed against the side of the vermillion beam. The blood tentacle still linked her to Arthur, keeping the abyss at bay... but she knew it wouldn’t last.
The vermillion light seared through it relentlessly, and with every passing second, her body registered the burn.
Her thoughts slowed, dulled by the pain, yet clarity came through the haze. If she waited for the tentacle to burn away on its own, Arthur and Nurah might not survive.
Arthur’s vermillion beam had been fueled by Tyrese’s relentless barrage of punches, but it was not infinite.
Once it waned, they would all fall together.
’It’s either me or us...’
Shia’s lips curved into a faint, bitter smile. The choice, she realised, was painfully clear.
She closed her eyes, steadying her breath, and with resolute calm, she sliced through the sticky tentacle herself... the severing sent a jolt of pain through her, but she welcomed it. Her sacrifice was no act of despair... it was love, resolve, and trust all entwined.
She knew that if it were her friends, they would have done the same for her... and this was all she needed to make the sacrifice with a content heart.
The confirmation came instantly.
Shia’s eyes widened after feeling Nurah’s soft hand holding hers within the vermillion beam! The heat burned both of them together, and yet, Nurah refused to let go.
"You’re not going out as a hero!" Nurah snapped, her teeth gritted against the pain of the vermillion beam. "We’re in this for the long run, whether you like it or not!"
For a moment, time seemed to freeze... the searing heat of the beam, the distant roar of the abyss, and the shaken rhythm of her racing heart... all of it collided into a single, overwhelming feeling.
Shia showed a relieved, grateful smile... she knew she had made the right decision, as the warmth of their friendship could never be faked.
She let out a shaky laugh, despite the pain. "You guys... really won’t let me be dramatic, huh?"
"Nope,"
As Nurah’s voice echoed in her mind, she swiftly found herself engulfed in her shadowy, loose hair... Arthur joined them too, cancelling the vermillion beam the moment his eyes spotted infinite darkness.
A blink later, Shia, Arthur, and Nurah emerged on the Raiders’ side in front of the Giant... Jasmine, Mira, and their allies swiftly surrounded them but left room for the medics in their party to heal them rapidly.
"You guys have lost your damn minds!" Mira exclaimed. "Damn Heliodorians! Nuts, I tell you, nuts!"
Her reaction was shared by the rest of their allies, who hadn’t expected them to actually pull such an insane plan... of course, only Levi was crazy and sadistic enough to come up with it.
However, he hadn’t forced it upon them. He didn’t really need to, as his little brother and the girls agreed to go for it immediately... especially after hearing that he was going to fight Fang and the rest of the Nightcrawlers alone.
They had to pull their own weight, even if it meant going through a suicidal mission.
Thankfully, the Giant’s shadow was so massive that it covered the entire ground in front of the abyss, which gave Nurah an easy way out if they failed.
But they knew that it wasn’t over yet.
"The Raiders have pulled it off, but can they ascend the rope in time?! The clock is ticking!"
The instant they received some basic medical care, Nurah held her burnt arm and used her shadowy hair to teleport them on top of the rope instantly... they emerged next to Rakai, who had built a giant wall at the far end of the spinning rope to create a shadow for Nurah’s sake.
Everyone had a part, everything was planned, and calculated... if it wasn’t, Levi wouldn’t have let his brother or friends take such a risk.
Only when they had returned to the rope’s surface did Arthur and the girls collapse on the ground, emotionally and mentally drained from such an ordeal.
Yet, no words were exchanged... Arthur and the girls merely extended a fist pump towards each other while lying on the ground with faint smirks.
"You guys... seriously have a loose screw," Rakai muttered while wiping sweat off his forehead. "You and your captain."