Chapter 4 - A Sacrifice Uneeded

“What the hell is that thing?” Kai whispered. D.O narrowed his eyes at the crimson shadow coming their way.

“One of the big shots of the Daemens - The Behemoth.”

“Can we kill it?” he hissed.

D.O gave him a look. “Are you freaking serious?” Before they could argue any further, Yin threw a few large boulders at the pack of Daemen Goblins with her bandaged arm and started running through the only empty path in front of her. After a few moments, the other two Argents started running behind her. 

“If we don’t kill it, can we just run?” She shouted over her shoulder.

“Unless you can run a hundred miles per hour for a long time, not for very long!” D.O replied. Yin didn’t care about the monster chasing them, but she needed buy some time. The only good thing about the rising action was that they were getting close to the Rune. As they kept running, more Daemen Goblins kept appearing through cracks from the ground and the walls. 

Yin skidded into a stop in front of the deepest and most obscure chamber and she felt a strong surge of power. It was no mistake and she could sense a Rune in there. She was about to knock down the doors but Kai grabbed her arm and teleported to the other side.

“Go! We’ll fend these goblins away. Get the Rune and we’ll get out of here!” He instructed and she nodded.

“I promise I won’t take long.” Yin was absolutely sure of that. She was getting used to the process of retrieving the Runes and she could eject them faster. Kai took one last moment to stare in her empty eyes.

"Okay, I'll leave this to you. Don't screw up!"

He teleported out and Yin looked around. She ran to the architectural mural and without a doubt, found an orange Rune with the shape of the beast’s head glowing in the center. She used the carved shapes as stepping stones as she climbed. She reached out and grasped the Rune.

Suddenly, she felt something wrong. A black fog of negative energy was starting to flow into her body. She let out a grunt in pain because she felt her insides burning like they were on fire. Yin could vaguely remember what Tao had reminded her before she left the mountains.

"There will be Runes that can willingly let you wield them, but there will be more that will resist to the point where it may potentially destroy you. Your determination and willpower can confirm your mastery over the Runes. Remember that the twelve Runes must be in your hands in order to guarantee the existence of the Argents."

She tightened her grip on the orange Rune, despite the pain. She emitted out some of her own turquoise life force to counter the negative energy and the resonance began to feel warmer in her hand.

She saw flashes of a new recovered memory. She saw a gruesome face of a minotaur, its eyes widening in intense pain. The sound if its neck breaking brought her back to the moment. A cry ripped through as she saw the orange colour filling the gaps of her arm through the bandages. When she pulled it out, the energy she put repelled her backwards and she landed on her back.

The bandages burned and slipped off her arm. She untied the chiffon shirt from her waist and put it on. She also whipped out a spare combat glove and slipped in on her metal hand. She had to save her friends outside.

Kai and D.O were getting tired. Their movements were slowing down and the Behemoth was coming closer. Kai’s reflexes were also getting worse and he was about be cut by a goblin. Before he could taste his blood, a loud punch and cracking bones replaced his imminent death. The hits were followed by a swing of the sword and a kick.

“Yin! You got the Rune?” D.O grinned in victory.

Kai gazed at the back of her form, her right arm glowing orange under the shirt and her sword gripped tightly in her left hand.

“Yeah,” she replied. She took one look at the Behemoth. “But this still won’t be enough to defeat that.”

“Now’s our chance! Let’s go! The exit is not too far away!” D.O said. This time, he led the way through the corridors. The goblins were fleeing from the wrath of the Daemon monster. They went into a short tunnel and took the stairs down. He let Yin and Kai go before him over a narrow bridge. It didn’t have any banisters, so they were likely to lose their balance and fall. 

“The exit is just up that passage!”

“What about you‽” Kai didn’t like the sound of his best friend’s voice. The latter gave a sad smile.

“It’s up to you, bud. You guys got what you need and now I got my own job to do for Faction Twenty Four. I’m gonna take this thing down with me.”

“You idiot! Don’t do this!” 

D.O turned around and glared at the Behemoth. “Alright, tough guy. You’re all mine!” He smirked.

“Do Kyung Soo!” Kai shouted. Some parts of the earth above them was starting to crumble down, big enough to crush them.

"Damn that guy! He doesn't even have a Crux and he's still goin to take on that thing?"

Yin remained silent, thinking about what was going on right now. She couldn’t take in the fact that a friend who she just met was sacrificing his life for them. Kai scowled and held in his tears. He took Yin and dragged her up the path. She kept watching him use the earth to defeat it.

D.O summoned a pair of giant earthly hands, similar to what he used to attack her before and held the Behemoth with them. He wrapped the fingers around its neck and attempted to strangle it. They were both emitting so much power that the bridge was starting to give out below them. 

“D.O!” Kai and Yin hollered. He screamed as he was falling and the Behemoth screeched in panic. From the higher ground, Yin pried herself from his grasp and jumped into the abyss. “Yin!” Kai yelled.

She propelled herself head first and shouted, “D.O!” He opened his eyes and gasped.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to save you!” She put her hand to her chest and took out her turquoise feather crystal. She threw it up above and smashed it into a falling boulder.

"Pegasus!" she summoned her Crux and her winged horse neighed. It spread its wings and flew down to let Yin and D.O mount onto its back. She took out her sword and used the power of the Origin Rune of Earth to layer her weapon with rocks and earth to create a large bladed spear. She sliced numerous boulders that were coming their way with ease.

"How the hell did you do that?" he yelled through the rumbling.

"I don't know! Just hold on!" D.O held onto her waist as she continued to plow her way upwards. D.O took the chance to help her make a path. He molded his two giant hands to collect the rocks and push them roughly to the sides of the ravine. He was confused for a moment. He could definitely recall that Yin didn't have a large amount of her ability restored based on what she told him, but he didn't remember her saying that she could control the earth.  

She was so close to the top when the Behemoth roared an ear-piercing howl and threw a powerful punch of fire. Yin used her earth-coated sword as a shield and tried to push it away from her. She used her limited Argentic abilities to her blade and it was starting to cut its skin, but the earth and the metal was starting to crack. The last of the impact had left a significant amount of damage to the two Argents along with Pegasus, causing it to withdraw back into its crystal and back inside Yin's mark.

Giving one last push and threw down the giant enemy below. She stuck her sword into the wall and hung on to the hilt and D.O’s hand. She panted in exhaustion after using so much of her power. She gripped on D.O's hand with her Origin Arm as tight as she could.

“Yin!” She looked at him.

“Let go of my hand! You can’t hold onto me any longer!”

“You helped us! Let us help you now! I came here to save you and I'm not going to let you go!” She struggled to speak but she tightened her grip on his hand.

“Please! You’ve done enough!” He begged. “I’m not worth saving!”

“You’re wrong! Every Argent’s life is worth more than saving! Would Kai forgive himself and move on if you were to die for him now?” D.O had nothing else to counter her resolve.

The blade finally snapped in two and the two Argents screamed in terror. They felt a thud before they fell into the darkness. She opened her eyes as she felt large feathers in her face. It was an armored eagle.

“Glad we made it in time!” A soft voice breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Lu Han! Baek Hyun!” She happily called.

“Sorry we’re late. Figured you two needed more help. Got my Crux Michael to help out too!” Baek Hyun said.

“I couldn’t be more grateful.” She looked below and found D.O unconscious in the eagle’s feet.

“Don’t worry. His suspension will be waived.” Yin wearily smiled. Baek Hyun and Kai were seated near the front of Michael and Baek Hyun gave a cheery salute with a sheepish grin. Kai and Yin shared a glance with expressions of relief and exhaustion. They nodded to each other and looked out at the sky.

"By the way, Yin, your Crux is really impressive! In fact, I'm a little jealous of a Crux that beautiful!" Kai gave Baek Hyun a look, contemplating on whether he was actually openly flirting with her. To his dismay, her cheeks visibly flushed. Otherwise, the teleporter was surprised that she even had one, but of course, it would tire her out more easily with her limited abilities compared to the others in the faction. Yin was laying on her front trying to catch her breath, on the verge of passing out.

Lu Han looked over his shoulder to her.

“Did he find out?”

“No,” was all she replied with.

“Good.” Lu Han said. Yin need it to keep it that way for a while longer. Her recovery of memories should come naturally but he was fully aware that Kai was getting too suspicious, along with one or two other members of the faction.

Although she accomplished another step, she sombrely looked at her broken sword Tao had given her. The other half of the blade was buried within the mines, with no way of finding it again.