This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange-Chapter 549: One Step Ahead

The chase was still ongoing and could have lasted anywhere from only 20 minutes to several hours. The only thing anyone could agree on was that it felt eternal. It was so incredibly difficult to gauge the passage of time. Every second blurred into the next, filled with harsh breaths, panicked glances, and the relentless pounding of footsteps and buzzing wings.

Suddenly, Zareth cursed under his breath, sharp and sudden.

Without even knowing the reason why, Kain's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. Nothing good could come out of their normally stoic leader cursing.

The others barely had time to react before his wolf skidded to a halt.

One by one, they stumbled to a stop behind him, breathless, hearts still pounding from the creature still closely pursuing them. A few contracts immediately looked like they wanted to collapse once they stopped running, the adrenaline leaving their systems.

Kain, seeing the exhaustion of their mounts, switched to 3 fresh Vespid guards for him, Serena, and Malzahir.

Fortunately, this stop did not result in their deaths by the creature behind them.

Heck, although it felt a little cruel to say, if not for the delay caused by Jamie's tragic sacrifice it would likely already be on Kain and the others by now.

"What is it now—?" Pete began, but the words died in his throat as his eyes followed Zareth's gaze.

The path ended.

Or rather, it didn't end—it was torn like the path itself had been ripped into nonexistence by a god-like entity. A yawning chasm stretched out before them, swallowing the entire width of the corridor and extending so far forward that even the contracts with the best eyesight or the use of spiritual power to enhance their eyesight could allow their gazes to touch the bottom.

There was no sound, not even a distant echo of falling debris from the rocks they accidentally knocked over the edge during their frantic stop.

Just bottomless emptiness.

"The path in the map must have collapsed," Zareth growled. "This wasn't here before."

Kain stepped forward slowly, peering over the edge. The drop was so sheer and the pit so vast it made his skin crawl…and familiar.

A memory surfaced unbidden—Absorbing a core fragment containing source energy, fading sigils, collapsing tunnels, the sound of snapping support beams, and the momentary silence that came before everything dropped as Vauleth sheltered them all from the tons of collapsing snow and stone.

'Oops…I hope this collapse isn't related to the one Serena and I triggered before…'

Glancing guiltily at the others, Kain elected to keep his mouth shut about his potential role.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Fortunately, the chasm did have another side that they could land on if they managed to cross.

Far, far across the chasm, barely visible through the lingering haze and dust, a soft white glow shimmered at the edge of the darkness.

"The relic core…" Lina murmured in a bittersweet tone. Happy that the end may be in sight, but devastated that it was without Jamie. "That has to be where it's located"

"But we're not the only ones who might be able to cross," Pete added grimly. The flightless lizard carrying him shook its tail nervously beneath him, agitated by the proximity to the drop.

Its claws scraped restlessly against the stone, clearly wanting to retreat. The tension in its limbs mirrored the taut nerves of its rider, who gripped the reins as if they might be the only thing keeping him grounded.

The groaning and tearing of stone behind them reminded them of what was still following. The abomination. All of the distance that they'd barely managed to open, was rapidly reducing.

"Maybe it can jump," Pete muttered. "Or, with our luck, maybe it can grow wings and chase us across."

"Don't give it ideas," Kain replied dryly.

He summoned one of his Vespid guards and pointed toward the glow across the way. "Go. See what's over there."

The insect buzzed once and launched itself into the air, wings slicing the stillness with a whine of motion as it zipped toward the other side. They watched in silence, the dark figure shrinking into the distance. Its form wobbled as updrafts buffeted its wings, then steadied again. It moved like it knew time was precious and wouldn't waste a millisecond.

Then—nothing.

Kain blinked. His brow furrowed.

"I lost it," he muttered.

"What?" Serena turned to him.

"Our spiritual link is gone. It wasn't nearly as strong as the one I have with my actual contract, but we still had one. Now I don't. It's like it flew into a dead zone or..." He shrugged. "Guess it's not worse than what's behind us."

There was a beat of silence. Then Pete snorted.

"That's your bar for risk now? 'It can't be worse than that thing?'"

Kain didn't answer. Instead, he summoned two more Vespids. One hovered at Pete's side, waiting.

Zareth, the only other one with a non-flying mount also recalled his wolf in favour of what looked like a giant eagle made of steel. Its claws scraped restlessly against the stone, clearly wanting to retreat.

Pete eyed his new mount warily. "You're sure this thing can carry me?"

"Yeah…," Kain said gesturing to himself, Serena, and Malzahir. "But if you start falling, scream loud so I can try to retrieve your space ring before you splatter at the bottom."

"You're joking," Pete said flatly.

Kain gave him a look. "Am I?"

The additional Vespid guard Kain called out was used to lead the path forward in case of any unknown dangers. Once it was in front, Zareth and Lina were already on the move. His eagle launched itself into the air after it. Lina's moth soared after him, silk-lined wings glittering in the dim light.

Kain and the others, now all on Vespids, followed closely behind.

Behind them, the tunnel rumbled again. Dust and small pebbles dropped from the ceiling, and a distant, wet growl slithered through the stone.

The creature had not given up.

But it couldn't chase what it couldn't reach.

And for now—only for now—they were one step ahead.