Chapter 111: No Safe Path
Everyone stared across the canyon. Hundreds of meters wide. Hundreds of meters deep. No bridge. No way around. No way down.
Behind them, the Blazefang Lions kept approaching. Fire raced through the forest they had just fled, and smoke began rolling over the edge of the canyon in thick gray waves.
Sun slowly looked at Arthur. "Well?" he said.
Arthur studied the canyon carefully, his eyes moving from one cliff face to the other, then down toward a steep slope leading into the depths below.
He smiled. "We’re going down," he said.
Silence.
Luka blinked. "That’s a cliff," she said.
Arthur nodded. "It becomes a slope further down," he said.
Athena quickly looked through Athy’s vision high above. "He’s right," she said.
Sun sighed. "I already hate this plan," he said.
Arthur pointed toward the Goblin Builders. "I need something," he said.
The Builders immediately gathered around him. "What do you need, Prophet?" one asked.
"A giant wooden container," Arthur said.
"Like a wagon?"
Arthur shook his head. "No wheels," he said.
The Builders stared at him. "No wheels?"
"It’ll only slow us down," Arthur said.
Arthur knelt and quickly sketched a rough design into the dirt. A massive reinforced wooden container, thick walls, an open top, a rounded bottom.
The Builders looked at one another. "No wheels..."
One scratched his head. "But then how would it—"
Another Builder’s eyes suddenly widened. "...Slide."
Everyone turned toward him.
He looked down at Arthur’s drawing again. "The rounded bottom... It’s a sled."
Arthur smiled. "Exactly."
The Builder’s ears shot upright. "THAT’S BRILLIANT!"
Another immediately grabbed the drawing. "We don’t need axles!"
"Or wheels!"
"And no repairs if they break!"
"We can build this!"
Arthur tilted his head. "...Was it that surprising?"
The Builders all nodded at once. "Very."
The Builders immediately scattered. "Everyone! We’re building!"
Wood flew everywhere as they began cutting trees. Roots were pulled from the earth in seconds. Entire trunks reshaped themselves beneath golden runes. The convoy circled protectively around the work site, and nobody waited idly.
Arthur planted Dusk into the ground. "Hold them," he said.
The first Lions arrived, and the battle began again.
Three Lions leaped together. Arthur met the first with a single thrust, and it fell dead. The second reached Kong, who caught it in both hands, spun once, and threw it into another charging Lion. Sun followed a moment later.
[Point Shockwave]
Boom. Both Lions disappeared into the canyon wall. Before they could recover, Vedas finished them.
[Armor Piercing]
Two clean thrusts. The rear held steady.
A Lion slipped through toward the Builders, but three Yan Hunters intercepted it before Arthur could react. One blocked, one stabbed, one finished it. But then another Lion broke through the line.
A Mu Hunter immediately stepped in front of the nearest Builder. "You keep building."
A Yan hunter nodded. "We’ll handle this."
The Builder nodded without even looking up. "I’m counting on you."
The Hunter grinned. "You can."
Together, four Hunters continued driving black the lions and not one Builder had to stop working.
Arthur smiled. "Good," he said.
The pressure kept increasing as more Lions arrived. Vedas noticed a section of the line weakening and didn’t wait for Arthur’s input.
"Rotate!" he called.
Fresh Hunters immediately replaced the exhausted ones. Another gap opened.
"Mu Tribe!"
The left side shifted instantly.
Another Lion appeared behind the Builders.
"Su Tribe!"
Two Goblins intercepted it without hesitation.
Arthur noticed all of it happening around him and smiled. "You’re getting faster," he said.
Vedas didn’t even hear him. He was already solving the next problem.
Between clashes, Arthur kept tapping Goblins as they fought nearby. One. Another. Another. Notifications appeared each time.
"Found another," he said.
Sun blocked a Lion mid swing. "Found what?" he asked.
"A Goblin Mage," Arthur said.
A few minutes later, another notification appeared.
"Found another," Arthur said.
"What now?"
Sun didn’t even turn around this time. "What is it?"
Arthur looked toward another Goblin. "A Cook."
Sun blinked. "...A what?"
Arthur nodded. "We’re missing one."
Sun stared. "...We’re being chased by monsters."
Arthur nodded again. "I know." "... We’ll still need dinner later."
Nobody could argue with that.
Mostly because Arthur sounded completely serious.
The final beam locked into place, and the Builders stepped back from the finished container. Arthur walked around it once, tapping the walls, kicking the bottom. Then he leaned against it, and jumped once inside it.
The Builders watched nervously. "... What are you checking?"
Arthur answered honestly. "To see if it will survive."
"And?"
"Perfect," he said.
Everyone else looked terrified.
Sun pointed at it. "That thing?" he said.
Arthur nodded. "It’ll survive," he said.
"Will we?"
Arthur thought about it. "Probably," he said.
Nobody felt reassured.
Arthur looked toward the approaching Lions. "I’ll be back," he said.
Before anyone could stop him, he charged forward. Several Lions leaped together, and Arthur deliberately changed how he fought. No killing this time. Only knocking them unconscious. A punch here. A kick there. The flat of his spear shaft across a skull.
[Magic Burst]
Boom. One Lion crashed into another. A second spun through the air before hitting the ground hard.
Mithra immediately understood and joined him. "You need them alive," she said.
Arthur nodded. "They’ll be useful," he said.
Together they quickly disabled seven healthy Lions, each one dragged toward the waiting container.
Sun watched from a distance. "I’ve stopped asking," he said.
Everyone climbed inside the massive container. The children immediately cheered. "This is going to be awesome!" one shouted.
Several adults immediately disagreed under their breath.
Arthur threw the final unconscious Lion inside, then climbed aboard himself. Kong and Sun moved behind the container to push.
Arthur nodded. "Ready?"
Sun sighed. "No," he said.
"Good," Arthur said. "Push."
Craaash. The container tipped forward, then disappeared over the edge of the canyon.
For one second, weightlessness.
Then, boooooom. The container slammed against the slope and began racing downward. Everyone bounced violently inside. Children threw both hands into the air.
"WOOOOOO!"
Arthur laughed and Mithra laughed beside him.
Sun immediately grabbed both sides of the container. "THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!" he shouted.
Arthur laughed. "I think it’s going great!"
The container immediately slammed into another rock.
BOOM!
Everyone bounced into the air.
A Goblin Builder grabbed the side even harder. "I TAKE IT BACK! GET ME OFF THIS"
Arthur looked around. "Still going great."
Athena gripped the wall. "I can’t believe this worked!" she said.
Mara closed her eyes. "I miss walking," she muttered.
Raku wrapped both arms around a support beam. "I’m too old for this," he said.
Luka gripped the edge just as tightly. "I agree!" she said.
Kong threw his head back laughing.
Melo was in her small form, holding tightly on Vedas shoulder.
The Goblins screamed every time the container hit another bump along the slope. The other Builders watched nervously from inside. "Please don’t break," one whispered.
Fortunately for them, it was holding.
Barely.
Athy circled overhead, and suddenly she screeched.
Athena looked upward. "They’re coming!" she said.
Everyone looked back. The Blazefang Lions weren’t stopping. They ran straight down the canyon slope after them, some losing their footing and tumbling, others twisting through the rocks with frightening agility. The strongest among them leaped directly toward the sliding container.
"They’re catching us!" someone shouted.
A Lion landed on the edge of the container. Before it could attack, a spear drove through it. Another jumped, and Kong punched it straight off the cliff. Another reached the back, and Sun slammed Long forward.
[Point Shockwave]
Boom. The blast launched it into the canyon wall.
Vedas and the Hunters kept every remaining Lion from breaching the container as the descent turned into a moving battlefield.
Arthur calmly walked over to the first unconscious Lion still lying in the container. Punch. Punch. Punch. The Lion woke.
Punch.
Mithra healed it between hits.
Punch.
Sun watched from nearby. "Arthur," he said.
Punch.
"What?"
"What exactly are you doing?"
"I’m convincing it," Arthur said.
Sun stared. "... By punching it?"
Arthur nodded. "It wasn’t listening."
Punch.
The Lion roared.
Punch.
Mithra healed it.
Punch.
Sun slowly looked toward Athena. "...Is this right?"
Athena adjusted her glasses. "Well it did try to kill us."
Arthur nodded toward the Lion. "See? It understands now."
The Lion looked completely exhausted.
Sun sighed. "It gave up."
Arthur smiled. "Exactly. It accepted."
The Lion eyes slowly moved toward one Goblin girl Arthur had already chosen. Golden light appeared, and the Lion lowered its head toward her.
The Goblin gasped.
[Evolution Conditions Complete]
Light surrounded her, and when it faded, a Goblin Rider stood before them, the Lion resting calmly beside her.
Everyone stared.
Arthur smiled. "See?" he said.
Sun blinked. "That actually worked," he said.
Arthur immediately walked toward the second Lion. "No time," he said. "We still have six."
He repeated the process again and again, each Lion eventually accepting a Goblin partner, one after another. Seven new Goblin Riders were born before the container even reached the canyon floor. The Yan Tribe erupted in cheers despite still sliding down the mountain at breakneck speed.
The Yan Hunters stared in disbelief. "We have Riders!"
One Builder laughed. "We actually have Riders!"
A little Goblin hugged one of the Lions. "We’re partners now!"
The Lion looked confused and then slowly rubbed its head against hers. The entire container erupted into cheers.
Even the older Hunters couldn’t stop smiling. Raku laughed loudly. "Our entire group just became much stronger!"
Arthur smiled. "Still have a long way to go."
The cheering immediately became even louder. "We know!"
It’s then the newly bonded Lions began helping steady the container from inside. And soon the slope finally leveled out.
Arthur pointed ahead. "Brace!" he said.
Craaash.
The container slammed into the canyon floor, wood splintering apart, dust erupting everywhere.
Silence fell in the area.
Then Arthur climbed out. "Success," he said.
Sun slowly crawled out after him. "Never again," he said.
The children immediately shouted. "Again!"
Arthur smiled. "We’ll see," he said.
The Builders inspected the wreckage. "It’s still usable!" one called out.
Arthur nodded. "Good work," he said.
They all smiled proudly.
Nobody wasted time. Arthur pointed forward. "Run," he said.
The convoy surged deeper into the canyon. The newly evolved Riders immediately mounted their Blazefang Lions, and their speed increased dramatically.
Arthur suddenly tapped another Goblin nearby. "You," he said.
The Goblin froze. "Congratulations," Arthur said.
"For what?"
"You qualify," Arthur said.
The Goblin blinked. "For?"
"Goblin Mage."
Athena immediately stepped beside them. "I’ll help," she said.
While everyone kept running, Athena calmly taught the Goblin how to circulate mana properly. The Goblin struggled at first, failed, tried again.
Arthur simply said, "You’ve already reached the requirements. Believe it."
The Goblin steadied his breathing, and mana finally flowed correctly through him. Golden light erupted, and a new Goblin Mage was born mid stride.
Everyone cheered without slowing down.
Arthur immediately checked another Goblin. "Almost," he murmured.
The canyon narrowed around them, the walls growing taller on either side.
Then something roared.
Not a Lion. Something far deeper.
Everyone instinctively looked upward. Massive shadows moved along the canyon walls above them. One, then another, then several more.
Athena’s expression hardened. "Arthur," she said. "They’re not alone."
More silhouettes appeared along the ridgeline, different shapes, different sizes, different monsters entirely. The Lions weren’t the only predators living in this canyon.
Arthur gripped Dusk tightly. "Looks like we’re not finished yet," he said.
Nobody slowed down.
The chase continued.