(The Time-Stilled World, Corridor Outside the Altar Room, Leo's POV)
'Just twenty more meters—'
Leo gritted his teeth as he triggered [Stormflash Traverse] one final time, hurling himself forward with everything he had left.
His muscles screamed in protest, each fiber tearing at the seams, while his lungs struggled to draw in even a sliver of air, as though the atmosphere itself had thickened into tar.
Every nerve in his body burned—not just from the physical pain, but from the invisible weight pressing down on him, from the suffocating presence of death that lurked behind him, reaching closer with every heartbeat, with every flicker of hesitation he couldn't afford.
He didn't dare look back.
Didn't dare flinch.
Didn't even breathe.
Because he knew—
Hesitation meant death, and every microsecond mattered now.
He could feel it in his bones….. the priest's cursed blade was already in motion, humming with divine wrath as it thrust forward with precision, aiming to impale his heart from his back.
While to his right, the Silver Armored Guard had already released the all powerful sword slash.
The same one that had annihilated that transcendent tier spectre in a heartbeat.
The one that seemed to be a domain skill rather than just a simple attack.
As he could feel both those attacks closing in on him at once.
*Reappear*
As he reappeared from the last teleportation step, the gate was right there before him.
Not even a meter away, as he took the last step and dived headfirst towards it, jumping in with all the momentum he had left.
0.9 meters
0.7
0.5
His heart pounded so loudly now that it felt like it echoed through his bones.
As at this instant he could feel it.
He could feel the pressure of the sword slash that was almost upon him, and the tip of the sword thrust that had almost touched the fabric of his robes.
As at that instant, death seemed all but inevitable.
Until, in that exact instant, everything suddenly blurred.
As the moment the distance between him and the teleportation gate was reduced to 0.2 meters…. The gate began to pull at his body.
Reality twisted.
The world shattered.
And Leo was no longer there.
A flash of blue engulfed him, the portal swallowing his figure whole in a blink so exact, so impossibly precise, that had he been slower by even 0.01 seconds, the sword would have split his skull and the priest's blade would have pierced his heart in the same breath.
But he timed it.
He actually timed it.
To perfection.
And as his body dissolved into the currents of dimensional energy, flung between space with the origin metal still clutched firmly in his bleeding hands— Leo finally managed to escape Castle Bravo.
Barely.
But still alive.
—---------
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Not the silence of peace, but the silence of absence, as the sound of the ground and the trembling castle walls was replaced by the steady beat of his heart thrumming against his ears.
*SHUA*
His body floated through the teleportation gate like a weightless feather, as the crushing pressure that he felt just a moment ago, vanished suddenly, and was replaced by a sense of achievement and relief.
For the first time in what felt like forever, there was no threat, no sword, no pressure enveloping him, as he could finally breathe steadily again.
But that relief unfortunately lasted only for a single breath.
Because the second breath that followed came with a twist in his gut, as his mind snapped back to reality and reminded him—
'It's not over.'
His stomach lurched with sudden dread, even as the last shreds of dimensional static peeled off his body. Because though he had escaped the Castle Bravo, he wasn't free yet—not even close.
He was set to reappear just under half a mile away from the pickup zone.
And he had exactly forty seconds left to make it to the plane and board it now.
—--------
(The Wastelands Below The Exit Portal, Just East Of The Extraction Zone)
*Flicker*
Leo's boots hit the cracked, barren earth as he tumbled out of the rift like a cannonball, momentum carrying him forward as he crashed onto one knee with dirt exploding beneath him.
But even before the dust could settle—he heard it.
*Wheeeeeeeeooooo—*
The roar of jet engines, distant but present. As he felt equal parts relieved and equal parts anxious to hear it.
'Still here—thank the gods—' Leo thought, his eyes darting toward the sound, just in time to catch a glimpse of the massive dark-gray jet, parked just above some five hundred meters away, its ramp still lowered as survivors sprinted toward it in ragged clusters.
"WAITTT—!"
"WAIT FOR ME!!"
He screamed, his voice sounding raw and torn as it came out from his throat, as he launched himself across the dry cracked land, the wind screaming past his ears as he accelerated to his top speed.
*ZHOOP*
His legs moved with a desperation that defied physics, mana bursting out from every circuit in his body as adrenaline flooded his system and drowned out the mental fatigue.
His skin burned. His bones groaned. His palms, still seared from the burn that the origin metal had given him, But Leo didn't stop.
He continued running, as he slid the origin metal blocks into his spatial pouch, and closed his fists to accelerate faster.
*Shrrooooooo—*
The engines flared louder now, their pitch rising as the vehicle powered to take off, the blast of wind nearly knocking the last survivor off his feet as the ramp began to tilt upward.
But Leo didn't slow.
He sprinted with everything he had.
Ten meters—
Five—
He dove.
*THUD!*
He slammed into the floor of the craft just before the ramp sealed shut, his body skidding slightly on the metal floor as the jet began to lift.
"The hell?"
His arrival startled the passengers already seated, a few gasping in shock at the sudden impact as his blood-streaked form slid into view like a missile.
But Leo didn't have time for stares.
"GO!" he roared at the pilot, voice breaking as he slapped his hand against the wall, his other hand pointing out the window in sheer panic. "GO! FUCKING TAKE OFF NOW!"
The pilot blinked—just once—then shoved the throttle forward.
The twin jet engines roared with full thrust, and the ship began to ascend, tilting to escape the crumbling time-stilled world beneath them.
Leo turned to the window, his heart pounding against his ribs, as he stared out into the distance with bloodshot eyes, praying that they moved fast enough to escape.
Because by his count, it had been exactly 44 seconds since he touched the origin metal.
Which meant there were only 26 seconds left for him to escape this world.
Twenty-six seconds to escape an angry God that had already begun to wake up.
Twenty-six seconds to live and succeed or to die and be destroyed.
As although Leo had no idea if it was going to be enough or not.
Internally he prayed that it was—
Because at this point, he had truly done all he could to make the plan a success, and it would be a shame to fail after coming this close.