Chapter 2866: Chapter 2866: Climb Up

Just as Zen was about to open his mouth and say something to comfort Dorothy, one of the armors suddenly began making its way towards them.

Zen immediately grabbed Dorothy and threw her to a corner where he knew she'd be safe against the oncoming enemy.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The armor was fast and the unfortunate Souls of Light that stood in its way were practically ripped to shreds. In a blink of an eye, it was already in front of Zen.

“Stop!” Zen screamed.

He bent down and pounced towards the floor, avoiding the two, rusty, rotating sabers and slamming himself onto one of the armor's feet.

Zen spared no force from his attack, imparting five to six hundred divine megatons of force as he collided with the armor.

Despite the strength and equivalent danger this armor posed, Zen wasn't too worried about it since he figured that he was in equal footing with the enemy.

The collision should've shaken its center of balance, making it fall to the ground. It should give him an advantage and let him obliterate this armor.

Unfortunately, what he expected to happen, did not happen.

Bang!

The impact from hitting the armor rebounded towards Zen and he felt a sharp sting of pain on his shoulder before it went numb. Contrary to his former expectations, this armor was actually far stronger than his own body.

There was no way he could use the Shade Stone to strengthen his body here on the Other Shore.

How in the world were there such strong armors here in Stage Thirteen?

With his shoulder numb, the regret of underestimating his opponent only began to settle in his bones. However, before he could fully immerse himself in his misery, a buzzing sound from above reminded him that he was still in the middle of a fight as a rusty saber headed towards him, ready to chop his head off.

Zen swiftly rolled out of the way and, instead of his head, the saber slashed at the floor and created a long, deep crack.

The floor was of a faint metallic color and Zen knew that the material it was made of wasn't something he could destroy even if he exerted his full strength. Seeing that the rusty saber easily destroyed a part of it let him know that he had greatly underestimated the power of his armor opponent.

Buzz!

The two red spots inside the armor's head flickered. The rusty sabers in its hands continued to come at Zen, getting faster and faster with each slash! 𝙧𝓪ŊȰʙĘȿ

Cre-ka-rack!

It came at him with six to seven strikes in a row and Zen had no other choice but to avoid it by continuously rolling on the floor.

In the end, however, he was still too slow. He felt a sudden, stinging pain on his back as one of the sabers caught up with him, creating a horrible gash.

Buzz!

Despite having landed a hit on Zen, the armor was still a bit dejected that all it could give him was that gash. With that, it gave up on going after the other Souls of Light and focused solely on Zen instead.

“Zen! Fall back!” Dorothy shouted.

She had been thrown into the corner and kept safe, but she still felt incredibly nervous with Zen in danger like this.

There was no way he could keep rolling out of the armor's grasp indefinitely. The basement wasn't very wide and the fact that the armor only went faster each time its attacks were avoided meant that Zen only had so much time until it caught up with him.

Even the members of the Nine Li race that stood above could hear those below crying for help.

“Poor things!” the human girl exclaimed. She didn't have the heart to keep listening.

Most of the Souls of Light trapped in the basement were nonhuman but it was not easy for them to cultivate to this level. There was no other fate that awaited them save for a miserable end here in the Other Shore.

“This is the price they have to pay for their greed,” her brother remarked viciously.

The entrance to the Dark Region was undoubtedly a great temptation.

In order to ascend to the higher stages, these Souls of Light took this rare opportunity that presented itself to them.

Unfortunately, it ultimately led to their doom.

Dorothy could only back herself up into the wall and watch as Zen dodged his inevitable death, one slash at a time. She let out a cry each time the saber ventured too close to his body.

It was a deadly dance between Zen and his opponent. The worst thing was that Dorothy couldn't really do anything but watch.

Other Souls of Light also tried to attack the two armors but if Zen's strong body barely made a dent, then what more their feeble soul attacks?

Dorothy could only watch in bated breath as Zen continued to dodge for his survival. She was so caught up in keeping him in her sight that she completely forgot about her own safety.

Once all the souls on the right had been slaughtered, the other armor finally noticed Dorothy in the corner. Taking advantage of her vulnerable state, the armor lunged towards her!

Zen could hardly protect himself but he still kept an eye on Dorothy. Noticing the other armor charging towards her, he quickly ran from his spot and blocked its way. Despite knowing his strength was useless against his enemies, Zen still reeled back his feet and threw a punch.

BANG!

His punch hit the armor's elbow, tilting it back slightly. Zen, on the other hand, felt as if his hand was breaking.

The young man, unfortunately, didn't have the luxury to linger on his injury. With the armor sent back a bit, Zen quickly rushed past and headed straight towards Dorothy. He picked her up, stamped his feet on the wall, and flipped into the air!

His movements pushed the two of them seventy to eighty feet away, not really enough to take them fully out of danger's way.

The two armors remained in hot pursuit and chased after Zen.

“They're coming at us!” Dorothy exclaimed in panic.

Zen continued to run, zigzagging his way out of enemy clutches all the while continuously trying to think of a way to escape their current predicament.

Staying in the basement meant absolute death for both of them. It was in this face of impending doom that Zen raised his gaze and looked up at the wall.

Stricken with a bright idea, his face suddenly lit up with anticipation. “Yes! This will work!”

Without explaining his plan nor showing any slight hesitation in its effectiveness, Zen rushed up to the right wall and activated his power.

With some sharp kicks, Zen climbed over one hundred feet in an instant, as if he was a nimble gecko and not a human.

However, the basement walls were over a thousand feet high. There was no way to escape unless he flew which wasn't really an option here in the Other Shore. Zen was bound to fall given that there were no footholds in the air.

“Hold onto me!” he ordered Dorothy.

He shifted Dorothy on his back and redirected all his power in his right hand. He reeled back his palm and slammed it right into the wall.

Dorothy didn't know how, but Zen managed to stab four fingers into the wall, giving him an anchor point and preventing them from falling.

The two of them hung on the wall, out of reach from below but still very much in danger.

The two armors that had been chasing Zen could only look up in confusion. The red lights in their heads flashed and they tried to jump up after him but failed miserably. It was comedic to a degree as they watched the two armors smack their bodies onto the wall in an attempt to reach them.

There were two loud thuds as the armors jumped.

However, both fell rather quickly.

Even if they contained great power, these two armors were quite heavy.

They couldn't even manage to lift themselves an inch above the ground, let alone reach Zen and Dorothy from such a high place.

Dorothy, who had previously been scared witless for their lives, found herself laughing. “Ha! They can't catch us!”

Zen nodded in relief. “Yes. They can't touch us now.”

The two armors tried to jump a few more times but to no avail. After realizing that they were not going to be able to reach their prey, they finally chose to give up.

A large number of Souls of Light remained in the basement. The two armors' attention had been focused on Zen earlier, giving the souls some time to relax and take a breather. However, Zen was now unreachable and the two armors turned towards them again.

Five minutes passed.

The basement, once filled to the brim with Souls of Light, stood empty.

Dorothy and Zen were the only survivors.

Granted that was mostly because they hung a hundred feet high, away from the dreadful place that was the bottom of the basement.

“Will they leave?” Dorothy asked, looking down at the armors that remained below.

“They will since they won't be able to reach us,” Zen assured her with confidence.

However, as soon as he said that, the two armors approached the wall once again.

This time though, instead of trying to jump, they stabbed their sabers onto the wall.

The two armors were attempting to climb up to finally get rid of the remaining survivors.

“Ah, it seems they're more persistent than I thought,” Zen said, shaking his head and revealing a wry smile.