Zarek grinned with his eyes still closed. He had no intention of playing the Violet Enchantress' little games. The moment he saw the situation in front of him, he already had a plan.
What the Enchantress didn't know was that Zarek had already seen the Hub, and he knew exactly what items were left on it. Because of that, he always knew that he could do this.
Someone without as much Time Godsfall control as Zarek would likely have to be quite close to the Godsfall Tear to activate it. But for Zarek?
Even separated by a decent distance, he could make it work. So long as he could feel the flow of Godsfall from the Tear, it would be enough.
And with that, he could bring the Tear to him.
Zarek's eyes suddenly snapped open as the Godsfall Tear tore a path up from the ground, shooting right for him.
The best part? It was like a battering ram to the Turned. They couldn't touch it.
The weak that did were completely eviscerated. Even the strong found themselves heavily injured, scrambling to get out of the way.
It was a C-Class Godsfall Tear. The danger inside of it was also a far higher Class than a normal C-Class Godsfall Tear at that. The Turned that got in its way didn't stand a chance.
Just as it ripped past the mesh of Lurker's Godsfall that had been protecting Zarek just now, Zarek stopped the Crystal Hourglass from continuing its pull.
While this method would only work on Timed Godsfall Tears that had strong Time Intent attached to them, it would most definitely be his saving grace for today.
"Was nice getting to know you guys. See you on the other side."
Zarek waved to the Turned and made a move to leap in. However, just before he did, he cast one more glance toward Malik and Qiqi, who were still running toward him.
They were getting swamped by the Turned, but if Zarek knew the Violet Enchantress well enough, their path forward would suddenly become a lot easier quite soon.
He could feel the vendetta the Enchantress had against him, and just how much heavier the fear was. She would definitely do whatever she could to slow him down, and if she couldn't enter the Tear herself, that would just have to mean allowing someone else to enter in hopes that they could.
She should have seen that Malik had shot at Zarek earlier, and that would be enough for her. So long as they were Zarek's enemies, she could use them.
But Zarek's eyes widened when he saw Malik and Qiqi this time—the two of them finally being in close enough proximity for him to really see them.
Unfortunately, he had already leapt in. There was no going back now. The Godsfall Tear was already sucking him in.
…
"How the hell did he do that?!" Qiqi muttered under her breath.
Right about now, she was starting to feel that it was a mistake to do this. This Zarek was too mysterious, too strong.
They couldn't see the strength of the Turned he killed in the mesh of black web, but they had never seen a creature able to change the landscape of such a large area like that before. It was C-Class at a bare minimum, but Zarek had killed it in a few exchanges.
The worst part was that Qiqi had seen him look back toward them several times. It was like he was letting them know that he knew they were there.
Not only was he capable of paying attention to such a detail in the midst of so much chaos, but he was actually in the mood to play mind games too.
There was no reason he had to make it so obvious he knew they were there at all.
Malik didn't reply to Qiqi's question. How could he have an answer for her at all?
All he knew was that Zarek was responsible for the death of good pawns and had made him suffer more than once.
All of a sudden, there was a shift in the Turned, and Malik found his forward path a lot easier. When he looked back, he found that more and more Turned were being diverted to block their way out instead.
"It wants to use us to take care of him. It's scared of him," Qiqi said.
Malik's eyes narrowed. They were already beginning to regret their choice, but there were very good reasons they had for choosing this path.
Originally, they had the advantage of scouting, and one more they planned to take advantage of. But Zarek had flipped the situation so fast they never got the chance.
Somehow, it had gone from a situation where they held most of the cards, to one where Zarek held onto the reins. And judging by how he kept looking back at them, he was likely aware that the Violet Enchantress would let them through like this too.
"We can still escape. What do you think?" Malik asked, slowing slightly.
"We have to go forward."
Qiqi's gaze was very focused. Something had been calling out to her since the very start, which was why she kept making Malik take these risks.
She wanted them to reach a crossroads, she wanted him to be forced to make a choice between his own paranoia and their future. And the only way was forward.
Malik's gaze flickered, but in the end, he nodded.
Zarek seemed to know a lot. He had appeared here for a reason, and he obviously knew that the Godsfall Tear was there despite the fact they hadn't. That meant he had likely been the one to clear the empty slots on the wheel, and he had come back specifically for this.
That alone meant that there was something here worth exploring. Something they couldn't just let someone else have casually.
**
Zarek stumbled to a stop. Half of his mind was surprised, because momentum from outside of the Godsfall Tear shouldn't carry forward into it like this. But there was another thing occupying his mind even more.
That woman… on Malik's back…
Why did she have the same face as the Violet Enchantress?
If not for the fact he was so shocked by this, he certainly would have paid far more attention to the mystery around his momentum. This Godsfall Tear was far more peculiar than he knew just yet.