---
Another guard screamed as a kobol knife hit his shoulder.
Shhk!
He staggered, trying to keep his blade up.
Sekhmet’s mind snapped to a decision.
They could not stay here.
They could not win a war of numbers in a confined hollow.
They needed to break out.
They needed to run.
The guard captain’s eyes met Sekhmet’s briefly, both of them understanding the same truth in the same heartbeat.
He shouted, "Split! Evacuation!"
The formation shifted.
Three guards stepped outward, taking the front line with brutal determination, faces set like stone.
"Go!" one shouted toward Lily’s shield.
Two guards tightened around Lily, grabbing her arms gently but firmly, pulling her backward.
Lily resisted instinctively.
"No," she snapped. "My men—"
The guard captain roared, "Lady Lily, move!"
Lily’s face twisted with pain, but she obeyed, because she was trained, because she understood that dying here helped no one.
Sekhmet moved to Lily immediately, cutting down a kobol that tried to leap toward her.
Shhk!
He reached Lily’s side and placed himself between her and the swarm.
"We run," he said, voice low.
Lily’s eyes flashed.
"I will not leave them," she hissed.
Sekhmet’s jaw tightened.
"Half are already dead," he said bluntly, forcing reality into her face. "If you stay, all die. Including you."
Lily’s lips parted in shock, anger, grief.
The three guards in the front line fought like men who already accepted death.
They did not retreat.
They planted their feet and held the choke point at the narrow exit of the hollow, forming a wall of steel and chaos energy.
Clang! Clang!
A guard’s spear pierced one kobol, then another.
Shhk!
One guard used his shield to smash a kobol’s jaw.
CRACK!
The kobol fell screaming.
The third guard shouted battle commands, voice raw.
"Hold! Hold!"
The kobols swarmed them anyway, climbing over each other like insects.
Sekhmet’s eyes locked on the sacrifice line.
"They are buying time."
He hated it. He respected it. He could not waste it. He grabbed Lily’s wrist firmly, not gentle, not romantic, just survival.
"Now," he said.
Lily’s breath hitched, but she nodded once, biting down her emotion.
The two guards protecting Lily began pulling her out of the hollow, toward a narrow path between rocks.
Sekhmet ran beside them, blood sword held low.
Bat Bat swooped overhead, shouting directions like it was a commander.
"This way! No! That way!"
Sekhmet snarled, "Be quiet!"
Bat Bat whispered loudly, "I quiet."
They broke out of the hollow into a rocky slope, moonlight spilling across stone.
The kobols pursued them instantly.
TapTapTapTap!
They poured out like a tide, howling and barking.
Sekhmet turned mid-run and flung blood needles backward, trying to slow the first wave.
Whoosh!
Needles pierced two kobols.
Shhk! Shhk!
They fell, tripping others behind them. The pack stumbled, but did not stop.
Sekhmet pushed forward.
The two guards moved fast with Lily, staying tight around her, blades drawn.
Lily’s sword was in her hand now. She fought while running, cutting down a kobol that leapt too close.
Shhk!
She did not scream. She did not panic. Her face was pale, but her movements were trained.
Sekhmet felt a fierce pride he did not want to name. "She survived without me."
But he was here now. And he would not let her die. Behind them, the sound of fighting continued.
Clang!
Shhk!
Then screams. A guard’s voice cut through the night. "Run! Run!"
Another scream followed, sharp and final.
Sekhmet did not look back. He forced himself not to. Looking back was how you died in purgatory.
They ran down a slope, then into a narrow canyon where stone walls rose high enough to block moonlight. The darkness returned, but now it was moving darkness, filled with breath and footfalls.
TapTapTap!
Sekhmet’s chaos energy drained faster now. He had used Blood Sword continuously. He had summoned bats..He had used Blood Control repeatedly. He could feel the burn in his veins, the emptiness creeping in behind his ribs.
Bat Bat flew close to his ear, voice urgent.
"More coming!"
Sekhmet snapped, "I know!"
The two guards hissed to Lily, "Lady, faster!"
Lily grit her teeth and moved, cloak fluttering, boots hitting stone.
TapTap!
A kobol leapt from above, dropping from a rock ledge.
Sekhmet reacted instantly, slashing upward.
Shhk!
The kobol fell in two pieces.
Thud!
Blood sprayed. The smell hit Sekhmet again, and his hunger surged with insane joy.
For a heartbeat, he almost wanted to stop running and slaughter the whole pack and drink until he forgot his own name.
His eyes darkened. His breath changed.
Lily glanced at him, noticing the shift in his aura.
"Sekhmet," she said sharply.
Her voice pulled him back.
He forced air into his lungs. He forced control into his muscles. He kept running.
The canyon narrowed, turning into a winding passage where only two people could run side by side.
That helped.
The kobols’ numbers became less useful here. They could not swarm as effectively. They had to chase in a line.
Sekhmet turned and fought while retreating, using the narrow path to cut down the front runners quickly.
Shhk!
One kobol fell.
Shhk!
Another.
But more kept coming. They were relentless.
Sekhmet’s chaos energy dropped further.
His movements stayed sharp, but he could feel the heaviness creeping into his limbs. He jumped over a fallen rock, landed, stumbled slightly.
His breath came faster. In... out...
The system’s voice did not speak often unless it mattered.
This time, it spoke.
[Ding! System Notification-
Warning: Host chaos energy level is critical.
Current chaos energy reserves: low.
Recommendation: cease high-output skill usage or risk collapse.]
Sekhmet’s jaw tightened. He did not have the luxury of ceasing.
If he stopped using skills, the kobols would catch them.
If the kobols caught them, Lily would die.
Sekhmet pushed more blood into the sword anyway, forcing the weapon to stay solid.
Shhhh...
Pain flared behind his eyes, like his body protesting. He ignored it. He cut down another kobol.
Shhk!
The kobol’s body fell with a Thud.