Only One Way Left

"Whoa!"

Another attack came from the front that he couldn't avoid leaving Xilo with the only option of taking the hit. Positioning his body a little angled to keep Xelfia safe he felt sharp claws run along his arm before hearing the sound of tearing. Surprised he almost stopped to look but he stopped himself just in time as he looked in the corner of his eye instead. One of the blades on his arm was covered in blood which he assumed was his own at first but thinking about a little more it was most likely an attack from that monkey. He didn't even feel any pain as well but he ignored that for now.

"So that's it."

Unintentionally he had been able to attack some of the swarm chasing him it seems. "I could use this...." He wasn't used to all these blades beforehand so he had never thought about it while running but if he played it smart enough he could repeat the same thing and potentially slow down more of his pursuers and well it might not be able to kill them off or stop them he could give himself some breathing room which he desperately needed at the moment.

He had no idea how long he had been running so far but he could feel his reaction time becoming slower by the minute and if he didn't get to safety soon it would be his and Xelfia's end. Running he saw another attack coming that forced him to focus again. Watching a bird dive down in front of him at a speed similar to his own he knew he could only choose to dodge at the moment. Running left he went down another path and continued.

Finally after a little more running Xilo finally saw a clearing in the tree's up ahead. "Did we escape?" Hoping it was some form of escape for them he ran a little faster. He just hoped there wasn't any people there at the moment. More than the beasts behind him at the moment he was more afraid of other's. Getting closer he could soon see past the trees as despair washed over him. Up ahead of him was a mass of rock that blocked his movement any further.

"Fuck."

Swearing to himself he kept going because he knew he couldn't turn around with all the sounds of Astral Beasts still behind him. The only choices he had available to him now were left or right. "So Which way is it." But he didn't have to decide that as he saw an Undead near the mountain spot him. "Just my luck." This was the second Undead they had found while exploring the Astral Zone and just like before this one brought disaster just like the last.

With no other options left he ran to the right as he approached the clearing and just like before the Undead chased him and changed from slow and unmoving to insane the second they saw something. "How do I out run that..." He remembered how scary and relentless those things could be but he couldn't fight it either. Struggling to escape before it could catch on to him Xilo held on to the that small strand of hope of actually making it out of here alive. But each passing second made it seem so much further away than before. He couldn't even save Xelfia now.

"Idiot."

Looking back he saw the undead slowly gaining on him while he ran. Pushing himself he continued on looking for any way to get out of this situation. But time wasn't something he had as an Astral Beast caught up with him while he was distracted with the Undead and threw itself on him. Almost panicking and messing himself up he remembered his blades as he pushed his elbow out slightly. Watching the beast impale itself after jumping on him Xilo breathed a sigh of relief as it actually worked. "Maybe a little too well in fact...."

The second the Astral Wolf hit his blades it was immediately sliced into pieces. Xilo didn't even feel the slightest bit of resistance while it passed through. Heck if he wasn't paying attention to it he probably wouldn't have known it even happened. "Maybe that's why I'm still running..." Maybe he had been attacked a lot more then he noticed but had been saved by the blades on his body. Though the thought of not knowing he was being attacked sent shivers down his spine.

However this gave him confidence that he could escape. As long as he could keep running and have these mysterious blades stay then he shouldn't have to worry too much. With newly found excitement he charged forward and kept running along the mountain side. At least he had an idea of where he was now as well. Now he just needed to escape. But that Undead was definitely something he would have to deal with soon it seemed. Looking back he saw it ever so slowly gaining ground on him as he ran while his own energy was draining.

After another long period of running Xilo finally felt himself slowing down while running but the Beasts behind him seemed to be in the same situation as well. Breathing heavily now he had been running for what felt like hours now but that Undead behind him still seemed just the same as before and unfortunately one giant problem was coming up the more he ran. Up ahead of him was a cliff that had appeared suddenly but with nowhere left to go XIlo could only keep running towards it while trying to think of more ways to escape. But even if those hundreds of Beasts slowed down that didn't mean they were something he could get past still. If anything this cliff was his one and only opportunity to escape but it was also a huge risk to take.

With a plan in mind though he confidently approached it hoping to save himself. With a little more running he slowed down as he got closer to the cliff. "This is it.." Turning around he faced the horde of beasts behind him but more specifically the Undead that was approaching. Every single one of them facing him had begun to walk in a circle around him with the Undead as the leader. Dread and panic ran through him facing such a massive amount of Astral Beasts the likes of which he had never seen before but this was perfect for what he had in mind.

Backing up he got closer and closer to the cliff as he prepared himself with the Undead approaching the fastest out of them all. "Slowly....Slowly...." Counting it down he silently prepared his Astral Energy as he put his foot down once again.

*Crack*

But was soon interrupting by a cracking sound that echoed through the air. Stopping himself he watched as the ground around him started to form cracks all around him and in the next second he found himself falling.