Han Sen and Elysian Moon were both incredibly fast runners, and the minotaurs had a hard time keeping up with them.
But when Han Sen turned around to get a peek, his face changed. There were at least two hundred of the fiends pursuing them, and now they were raising their ruby spears up towards the sky, ready to launch them from a distance.
The spears vanished from their hands, and when they appeared again, they were all falling from the sky like rain. It was impossible to dodge them.
Han Sen gritted his teeth and opened his Bulwark Umbrella. His only option now was to block them.
Bulwark Umbrella was only silver class, however. It was two tiers lower than the gemstone geno cores, so he was unsure if it'd be able to protect him fully.
Elysian Moon held her own umbrella and did the same, shielding herself from the descending spears.
There was a constant patter of thudding noises, and much to his relief, he realized the ruby spears were unable to damage his Bulwark Umbrella.
"Are those minotaurs not all gemstone class, perhaps?" Han Sen wondered. He looked at Elysian Moon, and he noticed a number of crude marks had been left across her umbrella after she blocked the spears. If she had to do this a few more times, her umbrella would undoubtedly break.
Han Sen thought to himself, "Perhaps it is a good thing that the Bulwark Umbrella focuses on defense. Her umbrella is gemstone class, yet it is unable to withstand those spears. My silver class umbrella can withstand them with ease. The difference is fairly massive."
As Han Sen thought about this, the minotaurs prepared to throw another rain-like volley of spears.
Han Sen continued to clutch his umbrella as a wave of noise crashed against its top. It stood strong and did not buckle. Still, Han Sen wasn't shaking off the minotaurs as he ran, and he wouldn't make any progress if he kept on simply blocking their spears.
Han Sen ran for a long time, and after a while, he heard a moan. He turned around and saw Elysian Moon's umbrella had been pierced through. The umbrella had broken, and the spear that broke it had dug right into Elysian Moon's shoulder.
Several spears had struck that same spot on her umbrella, and it had finally crumpled.
Their geno cores were the same tier, but since Elysian Moon's geno core wasn't primarily defensive, it wasn't entirely unexpected that it had broken. But following that one spear which managed to break through and hurt her, there was already another volley of javelins descending, ready to pierce through the rest of the umbrella and riddle her with holes.
"Over here!" Han Sen waved to Elysian Moon.
Han Sen was starting to understand just how scary the Geno Battleground really could be, and having a partner in such a place was better than venturing there all alone. Han Sen didn't want to be left to his own devices.
Elysian Moon looked back at Han Sen strangely. She was surprised that her gemstone geno core was unable to block the ruby spears, whereas Han Sen's silver geno core was doing just fine.
Minutes before, she had just been mocking Han Sen's silver geno core. She thought it'd be rather embarrassing for her to then take refuge beneath it.
She bit down on her teeth and decided to keep on running, avoiding the protection Han Sen's umbrella could provide.
Han Sen thought she must have had a trick up her sleeve, so he didn't ask her again. He just kept on running. There was a woodland not too far off from them, and he hoped the switch in geography would provide them an opportunity to slip away and lose their pursuers.
When Han Sen had almost reached the eaves of the forest, he turned back to look at Elysian Moon. Her umbrella was now closed, and whenever the spears came bearing down on her, she smacked them away.
But there were too many in each volley, and each wave resulted in an additional injury. To make matters worse, there was still that first one protruding from her shoulder.
The minotaurs were still coming, and they lifted their powerful arms, gearing up for another throw.
Elysian Moon looked pale, and her green clothes were now dyed red. She looked to be in poor condition.
Han Sen decided to run back and force her to take cover underneath his Bulwark Umbrella. And after he got into position, a lot of ding dong noises quickly followed, as the spears washed across his shield like another heavy rainfall.
"Why did you come back?" Elysian Moon clenched her jaw again.
"Save the chit-chat for later." Han Sen wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her run into the cover of the nearby woodland.
The heavy armor minotaurs weren't giving up the pursuit just yet, however. And when they came stomping through the forest, their heavy armor knocked down any trees that stood in the way of their desperate chase.
"Let me down!" Elysian Moon was being carried beneath Han Sen's armpit, and she shyly pleaded for him to let her go.
"My umbrella is only so big. It can cover two people, but now that we're running, and you're injured, perhaps we should focus on shaking our tail first." Han Sen did not put her down, and simply kept on running.
Han Sen looked back as the minotaurs bulldozed the forest behind them. Even the trees that were two-people wide were knocked down effortlessly.
Fortunately, savaging the forest had slowed down their advance somewhat. Han Sen, as swift of foot as he was, gained some distance on them.
After running for another hundred miles, the minotaurs were out of sight. Han Sen slowed to a stop by the banks of a river.
Han Sen looked back and made sure he could no longer hear the sounds of footsteps. Then, he said, "It looks like they're gone."
"Put me down!" Elysian Moon was still beneath Han Sen's armpit, and her second request was just as shy.
"Oh, sorry!" Han Sen put her down, then saw that she was bleeding. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay." Elysian Moon's body glowed, signifying she was trying to repair her own wounds.
It didn't look to be very effective. Her wounds were still oozing blood, and her face was becoming paler and paler.
"The powers of those minotaurs are strange. It's like they are forbidding me from healing my own injuries." Elysian Moon confessed after a while. She was in dire shape.
"Really? It's lucky you are a spirit then, since you can respawn," Han Sen said.
Elysian Moon shook her head. With a wry smile, she said, "I lied to you. My spirit stone wasn't in the spirit statue. It's inside me. If I die, I can't respawn."
Han Sen frowned and gave her a look, but did not say anything.
Elysian Moon went on to say, "The reason I asked you to break the spirit stone in the statue was simply because it belongs to my enemy. I didn't plan to escape. I just wanted him dead."