After a grueling series of actions, the Ouroboros ship finally managed to break away from its pursuers and made its way into outer space.
Emery could now see the similar sight he saw back at the hub connecting the hyperion planet, where the privileged class was located. The desolate dark expansion that seemed to stretch to infinity was painted with dozens glimmers of light coming from stars that were located who knows how far away.
In this place, Emery discovered he could not sense anything that was beyond the scope of the ship's interior. It was as if his spirit reading had been rendered null and didn't exist in the first place. The sensation was uncomfortable to say the least.
Emery could only see through the window, as the ship he was on left the big green sphere of Planet Kulturmak.
Seeing they had left the planet's atmosphere, he shifted his gaze towards the group of people inside the ship. He could see through their expressions that everyone was still anxious about the situation.
At the moment, the group was using the ship's radar to scan and chart the surrounding space, so that the ship could create and navigate the most efficient path to their destination.
"We should get to the closest Magus Alliance's colony!" Magus Leon said, while pointing his finger at one of the dots in the radar.
Silva didn't immediately agree nor reject the suggestion the man put forward.
While she could understand the reasoning behind Magus Leon's suggestion, she personally thought it would be best if they just headed for one of the planets under the control of the Serpent Bloodline, which was much closer than the colony governed by the Magus Alliance.
On the other hand, Heorgar didn't seem to be paying attention to this conversation. The man seemed to be focusing his attention on looking out the window.
At first, Emery thought the demon wolf was thinking and worrying about his brethren and the White Fang Clan. But then, he realized the expression on the man's face was not one of concern, but one of apprehension.
His guess was quickly proven right with the words Heorgar shouted loudly.
"Everyone! Something's approaching!!"
The others' attention was quickly caught by those words, as they simultaneously turned their heads towards the window Heorgar had been looking at. There, they saw an object flying out of the planet's atmosphere and heading in their way.
"Magus, I thought you destroyed them all!?"
Silva said in disbelief, as she looked at Magus Leon. She was, of course, talking about the triangular ships that were so adamant on pursuing them. However, as soon as she finished her words, she realized she could not be more mistaken.
The one that pierced through the layers of Planet Kulturmak's atmosphere and chased after them was much larger than the small triangular ships they had seen before. It was a huge, highly conspicuous, cruiser-type spaceship.
A dumbfounded look adorned her pretty face, as Silva clearly saw the appearance of their pursuer. She quickly became emotional when a thought popped into her mind as she looked at the dreaded elf spaceship.
"Is... Is that…? Does this mean..." Silva stuttered. Everyone who looked at her and the spaceship quickly connected the dots and knew she was thinking about her uncle.
Emery could see the girl's body was trembling and said
"Silva, let's not think too much. It could be a different ship," Emery said, trying to calm her apparent anxiety.
Unexpectedly, instead of calming down, the girl became even more emotional. "How would you know?! You know nothing, Emery!"
Caught off guard by her fiery reaction, Emery found himself at a loss for words.
Meanwhile, Magus Leon took a closer look at the spaceship. "No, what the kid said is true. I believe this spaceship is not the one the Duke is fighting, but I recognize this as the first one to appear, the one Magister Kadek is facing."
A serious expression appeared on his face as he continued his words.
"I am afraid it's the magister who is in trouble."
Hearing this, Silva finally realized the whole situation and was once again confused. "This is simply madness! The elves dispatched two cruiser-type spaceships just to chase us?!"
A wry smile on his face, Magus Leon nodded weakly as he said. "Although it may seem unbelievable, the facts are right in front of us. The elves didn't come here to destroy the Magus Alliance's facilities nor the Kobolds that are hidden on the planet. They came for us!"
"Can we outrun them?" Heorgar asked the person in control of the ship, Magus Jasper.
The magus helplessly shook his head. "I don't think so. Based on the speed at which we are currently moving, the cruiser will catch up with us in about fifteen minutes."
When the group heard this, they were stunned. They really couldn't imagine how a ship bigger than them could gain the distance on them. Still, all of them realized everything would be over when that moment came.
Magus Leon quickly accessed the control panel and tried to search for a new path that would allow them to escape this predicament. Moments later, he seemed to have found it. but at the same time a look of hesitation could be seen in his eyes.
With a sigh, Magus Leon recounted his findings. "The only way we can have any chance of survival is if we cross the Void River."
Void River was exactly as its name implied. A mystical river that ran throughout the seemingly endless expansion of space. Simply put, something that existed anywhere in the universe and subsequently allowed one to be able to go to someplace the river let them reached.
However, the reality wasn't as merciful as one's expectations. The place was completely shrouded in darkness, void of anything yet no one was able to freely navigate through it.
The moment they decided to go through with this plan, Emery and the others could not do anything but surrender themselves to where the river would take them. It could be a safe haven where they could finally drop their vigilance, but it could also be somewhere infinitely more dangerous than their current situation. No one knew for sure.
At this issue, a small argument broke out between Magus Leon and Jasper. The latter thought this idea was simply too outrageous. Everyone's opinion was also divided between the two.
But in the end, everyone readily came to a conclusion to follow Magus Leon's suggestion when they saw the spaceship had gotten so close it had sent those triangular ships to surround them.
"Just do it, Jasper! We have no other way!"
Even though still a bit reluctant, Jasper still quickly directed the ship towards the direction of their gamble - the Void River.
Once again, a contest of speed ensued. This time, the location had shifted to the vast outer space, while the participants had increased to twenty ships, that were all chasing the little ship Ouroboros.
"Enforcers, I'm afraid we won't make it in time if we don't do something to delay our pursuers."
Heorgar the Demon Wolf said to Magus Leon, as his body suddenly began to change and transformed into his complete transformation. From his demeanor, it was clear what the man was planning to do.
Emery knew a peak Full-Moon magus couldn't last long in outer space. Sure, they were capable of doing such a thing, but it was to the detriment of their overall condition.
The deed was akin to breathing underwater, with the strength of spirit force being the determining factor in how long one would be able to last. As for peak Full Moon magus, they could probably last around 7 to 8 minutes.
When their pursuers started to get on range to shoot at the ship, the two peak Full-Moon magus were ready.
Magus Leon told Jasper to keep going towards the Void River. The latter was ordered to only return if he received news from the two they had managed to destroy all the pursuing ships. If that's not the case, then abandon them and flee as planned.
Before going out with Heorgar, Magus Leon looked at Emery and took out something. The jars in which Magus Nimeria and Magus Jigow's spirit soul were kept.
"If I don't make it, you need to bring these back to the headquarters. I will trust this task to you, Emery."
Magus Leon didn't give Emery a chance to say anything. After shoving the jars to the latter's hands, he quickly told everyone to find something to hold on, because when the airlock door opened, there would be vacuum suction.
Whoossshh!
Brushing away the powerful suction that threatened to crush their internal organs, the figures of two peak Full-Moon magus shot out of the Ouroboros ship and swiftly moved toward the pursuing ships with contrasting scintillating lights accompanying them.
One white, one black. One with a sword enveloped in light, while the other with a spear shrouded in darkness.
Emery gritted his teeth as he watched the two fly away from the ship. Once again, despite all the training, he could only watch from afar in helplessness. Just like back then, when his father was killed by those bandits.
If only he was stronger.