1428  Divide

Flashes of blinding red lights shot up into the atmosphere creating U-shaped tears in the already-segmented sky.

"What's wrong?" Lord Yami questioned upon seeing Hao Xuan come to a full stop mid-stride.

He pointed at the ongoing battle, "They're fighting! Is that one of yours??"

Lord Yami followed his line of sight but could see no one and nothing, just an empty battlefield littered with countless corpses. His expression turned grave, "What do you see, tell me exactly what it looks like!"

"Two people fighting....they look like humans and are both using the same kind of abilities...if I can get a little closer I could see what-" Hao Xuan inched closer but was stopped by Baba Jezda's cane.

She exchanged a knowing glance with Lord Yami before turning around in silence.

"What? What is that?"

But neither of them seemed to be in an answering mood.

"Nothing, let us focus on the road ahead," Lord Yami hesitantly replied before going silent.

The scenes continued to shift one after the other while the group made good progress on the bridge, but that brief period of good luck only lasted until the seventh zone.

Not soon after entering the Eighth Realm which was made up of floating mountains on either side, the atmosphere shifted and things took a swift turn for the worse.

In the 60 seconds that the spell was not working at full power, they ran into an entire group of faceless beings.

A total of eight humanoids hovered in the air just outside the bridge seemingly waiting for them. The two in the middle who were dressed in dark blue armor and held massive swords spoke up in unison.

"The oracle was correct, we have found their threads," they said robotically as if the very act of speaking was new to them, "Let the master know-"

Before they could even get all the words out Lord Yami's figure flashed forward accompanied by a pillar of golden light and cut the one on the left in half.

At the same time, Baba Jezda twisted her cane into the ground to tear open a hole in the void. A monstrous arm shot out at breakneck speed slamming the rest into a nearby mountain creating defeating explosions.

"RUN!" Lord Yami shouted.

None of them needed to be told for a second time especially since his power accelerated them forward faster than the speed of sound, breaking one sound barrier after another while the surroundings turned into a blend of lights.

It was a mishmash of voices and scenes flashing by so quickly that Hao Xuan could not even comprehend anything before it was already gone. This lasted for a very brief moment before everything around them turned pitch black.

He could only sense Claudia and Max nearby while the other three were nowhere within the range of his abilities.

Hao Xuan's body was hurled through space faster than his senses could perceive the surroundings, which is why everything appeared to be shrouded in darkness.

But that only encouraged him to draw out more soul power and increase the intensity of the spiritual threads even further, which after much work, allowed him to catch a single glimpse of what was happening outside.

Baba Jezda and Lord Yami were locked in combat with the humanoid beings while Elder Illya sheltered them with his powers allowing them to propel even further.

Just when he thought they had made great strides the continuous expenditure of energy leaked onto the bridge and began to hamper their progress instead, slowing them to a great degree.

They were pulled back onto the bridge as the color slowly returned to the surroundings.

Baba Jezda's iconic black robe was on fire but she didn't even bother putting it out.

"We need to separate," she muttered while replacing some of the jewels on her unsealed cane, not much different from loading new bullets in a revolver.

She turned towards Lord Yami, "Can you handle those two and reach the shrine from the outside?"

He gave a somber nod, "I should be able to. My master has permitted me to do whatever is necessary to accomplish our goals."

"Good, go. Take them and head straight for the temple."

Lord Yami gestured for Claudia and Max to come closer, "You two, with me!"

Claudia turned to Hao Xuan for permission but he couldn't give it so easily.

"Is this really necessary? Won't it be better to stay together?" Hao Xuan questioned Baba Jezda's motives at this crucial juncture.

"No, they are too many. We must divide their forces so the bulk follows one of us while the other can escape."

"So one is bound to get caught, are they not?" Hao Xuan's brow began to furrow.

Was she planning to use Lord Yami and Claudia as a distraction? But before she could answer Lord Yami stepped in.

"There is no need to be concerned," he said smilingly, "I have the full range of my master's abilities at my disposal. I promise you they will not catch us!"

The full power of one of the Nine, and the King in Yellow in particular who was born from the river of time itself should not be underestimated...especially in a place where time did not exist.