"Your legs must already be starting to ache and burn, right, brat?"
Noah half-turned her head, her ice-blue pupils calm and unshaken. Adam couldn't tell if that was forced composure, or if this little brat really had courage and wits, staying steady even in crisis.
Faced with Adam's mockery, Noah didn't speak. She turned back, hugging Helena tightly, and kept sprinting at top speed in the same direction.
"Interesting. Guess I'll play with you a bit longer, brat," With that, Adam hefted his warhammer and continued the chase.
In this pursuit where the difference in strength was so overwhelming, Noah had already started to shed her initial state of fear.
That earlier use of "Godspeed" to dodge the hammer's fatal blow had given Noah a bit of confidence.
In sheer strength, she was indeed no match for that monster. But that didn't mean she had no hope of escaping from his grasp.
Daddy always said: In battle, even one sliver of hope can be the key to turning defeat into victory.
Noah didn't know what kind of situation someone as strong as her Daddy would ever need to "turn defeat into victory," but she had memorized that sentence deep in her heart.
After several more exchanges of chase and evasion against the hammer-wielding monster, Noah brought Helena into hiding behind a small waterfall.
The sound of rushing water could mask their frantic breathing, and even slightly cover their scent.
Settling Helena down, Noah leaned weakly against the wet rocks, eyes closed, gasping heavily.
She had opened the Nine Gates Hell multiple times just now, and as Adam had said, this move that temporarily boosted her power really did put a huge burden on the body.
This was also Noah's first time trying to use the Nine Gates Hell for such an extended period.
Before, she had only ever used it for brief reinforcement of her body, then paired it with "Lightning Dash" to deliver a fatal strike.
But obviously, that hammer-wielding monster wasn't someone a single "Lightning Dash" could defeat.
Engaging him in close combat would basically be suicide.
"Noah... are you okay?", Helena asked in concern.
Noah shook her head, "I'll be fine after I rest a bit."
She quickly adjusted her breathing, trying to recover her stamina and state as fast as possible.
But she didn't forget the essence of this chase, "It's less than a few hundred meters to the middle ring. If we push ourselves, we'll be out soon."
A few hundred meters. But just getting here from where they first found the corpse of that dangerous species had only been about a hundred meters, and it had already drained so much effort and time.
Could they really cover the remaining distance?
Helena realized this.
She sat on the ground, hugging her knees with her arms, silently watching her best friend.
Even though Noah was still trying her best to maintain that icy, composed look on her little face, Helena could tell, she was already very tired.
After a short silence, Helena bit her lip, and finally, as if she had made some important decision, she spoke, "Noah... how about... you go on alone. I'll draw that monster away."
Hearing that, Noah's brows furrowed, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"I'm not talking nonsense, Noah. Keeping me with you is only slowing you down. Just now, several times you almost got caught because you were carrying me."
Helena said, "Without me, you probably would've already escaped. So... so you go ahead alone and find the teachers for help. I'll stall for time here, or... or I can run out from another exit, and we'll meet at the forest entrance."
Helena wasn't rushing to sacrifice herself. She truly realized she was dragging Noah down, that's why she said this.
From the first tree hollow on, Noah had been using the Nine Gates Hell.
And after seeing that speed, Helena understood. If not for her, Noah could absolutely escape alone using that technique.
So... they couldn't both die here.
At least one of them had to live.
If she kept forcing Noah to protect her, neither of them would make it out.
"Helena, I said, don't—"
"Noah."
The blue-haired girl gently interrupted Noah.
She shifted her posture, kneeling formally in front of Noah.
Noah froze, blinking in confusion, "What..."
"Remember I said, if we couldn't make it out, there were things I wanted to tell you?"
Noah's pupils trembled slightly. She nodded, "Mm, I remember."
Helena smiled, then slowly reached out her hand, clasping Noah's little hand in her palm.
Soft and delicate, slender fingers.
"Do you know why I became friends with you?", Noah shook her head.
"Because in you, I always see the person I most long to be."
"I... don't really understand what you mean," Noah said.
Helena lowered her eyes with a faint smile, and continued, "I grew up in a traditional dragon family. As a child, every day was spent under my mother's strict supervision, learning all sorts of knowledge and magic."
"Over time, I became just a goody-two-shoes with no real traits of my own."
"When others talked about me, they never said my name. They only said, 'Claudia's daughter.'"
"Before I met you, it felt like I was living in a cage. I couldn't see a way out, couldn't see a future."
"Until that afternoon when you came to me, asking if I would team up with you to practice."
"You said no one else wanted to team up with you. Mm, I knew, it was because no one could beat you."
"Of course, no one wanted to team up with me either, because I looked so gloomy, like I was depressed."
She held Noah's little hand tighter, eyes on the ground, old memories flooding back.
"I said yes to you, and from then on, we became best friends."
"Noah, you're not like me. You're free, resilient, never giving up."
"I've always longed to become someone like you."
"You're like a star, shining by my side, making me want to stay close to you without even realizing it."
"I've never once regretted anything we've done together. Not even now."
"So... let me fight for you this time, okay? I can't keep being your burden."
"I can't... I can't..."
Slap!
All of a sudden, the hand she had been holding slipped away, instead lightly smacking her cheek.
Noah stood up, holding Helena's face in both her little hands.
Because Helena was kneeling while Noah stood, for once their usual up-and-down perspective was reversed.
"Noah..."
Drops of spray from the waterfall occasionally splashed onto Noah's shoulder, sunlight refracting through the droplets, scattering into brilliant patterns.
Looking into Helena's eyes, she spoke firmly, decisively, "I hope the words you just said appear in your next essay competition."
"W-what..."
"I'll take you out of here, Helena. We won't be separated. Never."
"But—"
BOOM!
"Well, well, princesses, so here you are. You made me search hard!"
The massive warhammer split the waterfall, sending the boulders above crashing down.
Several of them plummeted straight toward Noah.
"Noah, watch out!"
Helena cried out, instantly leaping up to shove Noah aside, barely dodging the falling rocks.
The two girls tumbled across the ground in each other's arms.
Once they had rolled clear of the falling stones, Helena released Noah.
"You're not hurt, are you, Noah?"
"N-no..."
"Good—AHH... hiss..."
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Noah asked anxiously, her gaze falling on Helena's ankle.
Blood kept seeping out of her ankle, with a sharp shard of stone still lodged in the wound.
Helena also immediately noticed her injury. The pain like knives tearing, leaving her unable to use her strength.
She clenched her fist in frustration. There was no time to tend to the wound, so she simply grabbed Noah's shoulder,
"Go! Hurry! Noah, we can't both die here!"
"I won't leave you behind!"
"Why are you so stubborn, Noah? You're not usually like this."
"I said we'll leave together."
"But if you keep this up, neither of us will make it!"
"Oh, what a touching sisterly scene."
Heavy footsteps came closer, "Don't worry, I'll make sure you die together."
He raised his warhammer, approaching like Death himself.
At death's door, Helena glared viciously at the monster, then turned back, grabbing Noah's collar, "Run! No matter what happens, don't look back!"
Without waiting for Noah to respond, she hurled her a few meters away.
Helena slowly stood, casting one last reluctant look at her best friend, her face softening into a relieved smile.
Then she turned, facing the Warhammer Dragon King before her.
He stood like a mountain, towering over her tiny figure, looking down with disdain.
But Helena's fear was gone. She lifted her head slowly, locking eyes with Adam's scarlet dragon pupils.
That actually made Adam pause in surprise.
"Little girl, my hammer is about to smash you into pulp. Where do you get the guts to raise your head?"
Helena said nothing. She only raised her arms, blocking his path.
It was no different from an ant trying to stop a carriage, or a moth shaking a tree.
But what else could she do now?
Following Noah would only drag her down, so even if it was only a few seconds of delay, she was willing.
"Hmph! Ridiculous. If you're so eager to die, then I'll start with you!"
With that, Adam stopped wasting words. He raised the massive warhammer high, and swung it down at Helena.
The hammer cleaved the air, before it even hit, Helena already felt the crushing pressure.
She slowly closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate.
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