Ken couldn't stop himself from saving Jane when he heard the latter showing faith in him. He felt like he was acting the same as Sol did, becoming what he hated, which prompt him to act and help her.
'I've made a mistake; I should've let her die. I should let them both die to remain safe from their possible betrayal in the future.'
Ken thought to himself while running by Jane's side. He could leave her behind and outrun her easily, but he was semi-hoping that Diana will die before he gets there, freeing him from guilt over her death. His conscience was filled with guilt over his thoughts when he thought of the girls' sincerity while dealing with him.
*Boom!*
·?θm "Let's go there, it might be them!"
The mountain shook from a heavy blow in the distance, and Jane hurriedly corrected their direction to arrive there as soon as possible. After the first impact, another came, and a third soon followed.
They ran on the uneven ground, skipping above streams of magma and sprinting on the hot rocks. Fortunately, the Chill Pill was enough to keep their temperature down as long as they didn't touch the lava directly.
They soon saw a man standing in front of a young woman with beautiful curly brown hair. The woman was sitting on the ground on her buttocks, with her back leaning back against a stone she crashed into from a previous attack.
Blood leaked from her mouth and Ken could easily guess she took heavy internal damage and broken plenty of ribs and bones. Her bow was laying on the ground a few meters away from her.
"We must help her!"
Jane whispered while bringing her greatsword out of her storage ring. The man seemed too occupied with Diana and didn't even sense their presence less than 200 meters away.
"We can't help her, we will just die with her!"
Ken clenched his teeth and gripped her wrist with his hand. Jane didn't hesitate to slap his hand away with her other hand, giving him one last glance before going to help her best friend.
"That's not something real friends say."
-----------
A few minutes earlier:
Diana was running out of steam, and she was sweating heavily from the exertion of the chase. Her speed lowered as her fatigue grew, and Aiden got closer and closer, slowly entering attack range.
"Earth Reasoning!"
Her chaser shouted while waving his greatsword behind her. The earth underneath her trembled, and hot rocks were pulled toward her from all directions, reacting to a powerful pull force.
*BOOM!*
The pull force only affected the rocks, and she barely managed to dodge them as they tried to crush her between them. She couldn't dodge perfectly; a few rocks grazed her skin, leaving behind painful burns and shallow cuts.
However, this much was enough to slow her down considerably, and Aiden finally caught up with her after the intensive chase while she was dodging the flying rocks.
He appeared in front of her and with a swing of his greatsword tried to cut her in half. She quickly blocked it with her bow and was sent flying, crashing against a large hot rock that burned her back, but she couldn't get up after enduring the impact.
"Eve, my dear little sister, I will avenge your death now. I might get killed for it, so I will join your side soon."
Diana heard him say while he walked toward her. Her vision turned blurry and she heard him talk to her, but she understood nothing; the ringing noise in her ears overtook everything.
--------
Jane dashed toward the man with all her might, hoping that the Concealing Pill's effect coupled with his concentration on his sister's killer will allow her to land a sneak attack on the powerful cultivator.
Ken watched her sprint with an anxious look, unable to decide how to deal with the situation.
On one hand, he wanted to stop her, but it'd only backfire; Aiden will sense the commotion for sure, and if she ever had any hope of taking him out by surprise, this hope will be gone forever. He couldn't even shout to tell her to go back since it obviously wouldn't convince her and might even alert her enemy.
On the other hand, he could join the attack and even kill their enemy, but it'd reveal all his abilities and techniques to the women, and he was also unwilling to do that while knowing their first loyalty was to the sect.
'Screw this, I must help them! One Step!'
Ken decided at the last moment to step in and not let his new friends down. However, something unexpected happened.
"Cleaving Ring!"
Aiden stopped his sentence midway and spun on his spot with the greatsword in hand, killing Diana instantly while spinning toward Jane that was already in the air and about to attack the man she thought to be too engrossed in talking to notice her.
Jane's greatsword met with Aiden's, but the latter was much stronger. Jane's hands couldn't contain the impact, and her sword got deflected. She fearlessly watched the greatsword coming toward her.
She clenched her teeth and prayed for the fourth-rank talismans to be enough to save her, and the talismans went off. However, a fourth-rank talisman wasn't enough to defend against a heavy blow of a fifth-stage cultivator.
The greatsword cut through the talisman's defenses like butter and connected with Jane's side, right above her waist. Everything happened in an instant when Ken just started his One Step, and his new mastery over it seemed a cruel joke of fate, as it allowed him to see everything happen while he dashed forward at full speed.
'NO! JANE! DIANA!'
He screamed in his mind while his face distorted in pain. It all happened in a split of a moment, and he couldn't stop it. His overthinking brought about the death of his two friends, and it was completely on him.
His bloodlust flared without restraint, targeting Aiden solely as its thickness almost made the man choke.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel