n

n

nAs we made our way across the ash-grey forest, lined with a terribly harsh wind and cold fog, countless more monsters came our way. Of course, with our aerial scouts ahead, it was a bit more manageable than before, but there were still causalities.

nNaturally, the girls around me and myself survived. Ming Hao's team, Long Lu's team, and half the purple-armor boy's team lived as well. The other half? Not so much.

nWe faced monsters of all shapes and sizes — they were like normal forest animals, but mutated by something: the Grey Scourge. Birds, rabbits, tigers, snakes, the list goes on. Even the tumbleweeds we came across earlier were actually brushes turned alive and deadly.

nAt one point, we even ran too close to a tree and it suddenly came alive, devouring two of us whole before Obsidia immediately incinerated the thing with her Chaosborne Dragonfire.

nAll of these creatures shared the same trait: they were all ash-grey in color and had red features — most of the time being eyes. In a way, they shared a similar color scheme to my own Chaos-imbued magic, but the Grey Scourge and I are completely unrelated.

nI think, anyway.

nAfter a while, we collectively decided to call these monsters 'the Scourged', since we really couldn't be arsed to come up with a proper name for them.

nLuckily, it didn't take as long as expected to make it out of the forest. The 'construction' team came low on mana, but we survived the land of death and made it to the edge of this mountain. All in all, there were only 15 of us left, compared to the starting 40. And that was considered good.

nWhat wasn't good, however, was the devastating yet breathtaking scene laid out before us.

n

"Oh boy…

" Ming Hao muttered, having landed back on the ground. The Scourged didn't reach this border, so the floor level was safe. Take another step, however, and you would end up falling into the endless foggy abyss that was below.

nYep, we were at a cliff.

nNot completely a dead end though, as there was technically a way for us to get across the canyon from this mountain to the one on the other side — which, by the way, couldn't even be seen due to this thick fog.

nHowever, this might as well have been a dead-end, if I'm being completely honest. The thin bridge hanging between us and whatever was on the other side shook violently from side to side. It looked like it couldn't hold a backpack, much less a person — or rather, 15 people.

nIt looked to be made out of wood — real flimsy, dead wood at that — with about 60% of the planks that were supposed to be there, missing. As if walking on such a fragile bridge with an abyss of death looming below us wasn't bad enough already, now we had to do parkour on this bridge. Fun.

nWe couldn't even fly or continue to build our way across either, since we were in some kind of magic-neutralizing zone that prevented us from casting spells. Mei Gui and I both had our Third Eyes forcefully shut down, and neither of us could detect any sign of mana in the air.

nWhy? My assumption was that we were in the Grey Scourge's 'inner zone' now. We were directly under its influence. You would think we would be killed instantly upon entering this zone, but… we were still alive. That cheered us up a little. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance of surviving this plague if we did it right.

nAt least, with this, I now knew that even Chaos had its limitations. In the end, it was still magic — therefore any nullifying abilities or forces could render me vulnerable. According to Mei Gui, however, once I reached a certain level of comprehension and Chaos cultivation, I wouldn't be wielding magic anymore. I would be using the power of Laws.

nBut her memories regarding that were still all over the place, so that's all I know for now. There was also the dual-element thing she mentioned earlier, but we never got a chance to discuss that, and there certainly wasn't time now.

n

"Alright, so, uh… who's going first?

" Ming Hao asked, smiling awkwardly.

n

"In my opinion, the one who asked the question should go first,

" I said nonchalantly.

n

"W-Wha- hey!

" He whispered sharply, pulling me close.

"Listen, bro, in video games, I don't care about friendly fire, but in the real world, absolutely not!

"

n

"I'll go,

" a girl from the purple-armored boy's team spoke up bravely.

nThe purple-armored boy, whose name I got to know was Rong Xing Tan, widened his eyes in surprise.

"Xiao Xi, you can't!

"

n

"Big Brother Rong… I can't bear to stay in the backlines anymore. Back there, when the Scourged murdered our friends one by one… I just stood still, unable to do anything. So here, I must step forward. Please, let me go, before I whimper out again…

"

n

"Xiao Xi…

"

n

"Let her go,

" Long Lu cut in.

"You would only be defiling her honor and bravery if you continue to stop her.

"

nHearing this, Rong Xing Tan had no choice but to back off. The girl named Xiao Xi gave Long Lu a nod of gratitude and stepped forward closer to the edge of the cliff, then took a couple of deep breaths.

n

"Okay. You can do this, Xiao Xi.

"

nWith those self-encouraging words, she hesitantly took the first step forward, onto the bridge.

nImmediately, it began shaking, causing her to quickly backpedal and gulp in fear.

n

"Ah…

" She bit her lip, clearly scared, but she had to do this. There was no turning back now. No more being a coward.

nShe hesitantly took the first step again, this time quickly clutching onto the bridge's two rope railings to try and stabilize it. It didn't do much, but it was enough to let her step her other foot on it as well.

n

"Okay, keep going!

" Rong Xing Tan encouraged, though deep down he was scared to death.

nXiao Xi didn't disappoint and slowly began marching forward, one tiny step at a time. The bridge shook violently from side to side, but it was not enough to stop her. Very soon, however, she reached the first gap between planks. It wasn't a very big one, but it required at least a tiny hop nonetheless.

nShe took a deep breaths and gripped the rope on either side of her tightly, before using them as a handhold to swing herself across the gap, landing on the other side with eas-

n

"A-Ah-!

"

nShe yelped in surprise as the bridge began shaking more ferociously before due to the impact of her landing, sending out motion waves in a ripple effect on both sides. This caused her to lose her balance and nearly tip over, but luckily, her grip on the rope was strong enough to pull herself back upright.

nDeep breath. First obstacle, cleared.

nAfter several more steady slow steps and small jumps, she had arrived at the middle of the bridge. Because it was in a hanging concave upward-style structure, this meant she was currently at the lowest point of the bridge right now. Worse yet, there was a massive gap, right across the middle.

nIt was like the climax of a story; the protagonist gulped in fear and determination to prepare herself for what's next, and the audience watched on, tense and eager at the same time.

nXiao Xi, like with the other gaps, held the rope firmly, reaching out as far as she could with her hands without falling into the abyss. That alone got her hands in the middle of the gap. Then, she stretched her body backwards a bit, getting a little running headstart, and jumped across with all her strength while using her hands as a fulcrum.

nTime seemed to slow down as she did this. At first, we all thought she was gonna make it. After all, her feet were already pretty much there, and she was still a couple of inches above the ground.

nBut then, nature intervened.

nA freak gust of wind suddenly blew our way, which meant Xiao Xi's way as well. All momentum was lost and she was thrown off balance as she began falling into the foggy abyss below.

n

"Xiao Xi!

" Rong Xing Tan cried, but there was nothing he could do.

nFortunately, Xiao Xi's hand managed to latch onto the wooden planks on the other side.

n

"Gah…

" she grit her teeth and reached up with her other hand to hold the wood as well, body still dangerously dangling in the air. Then, with one final spurt of momentum, she pulled her entire body up.

nBy some miracle, the bridge's plank hadn't broken apart.

nBy some miracle, she had survived. Just barely, but she did.

nPerhaps the gust of wind just now was a test from the Grey Scourge. And now that she had overcome it, she would be blessed with protection for the rest of the way across.

nBut will all of us be this lucky?

n