Arthur didn't want his golden pearl energy to be cut off the star map before he reached there. The monsters were coated with a defensive shield of his energy, plus they seemed a bit stronger when they were supported by this energy.
They kept rolling the portal towards the star he selected and the distance just kept getting smaller. He didn't want to lose his most formidable and only ally in this life and death situation.
And thus he waited and ran in such a weird way until he finally was so close to the portal.
However getting closer meant he was also close to that annoying pagoda.
The energy it emitted kept increasing at an alarming rate. At some point he was so close but couldn't make a single step forward without using his sword.
He tried to slash using his real sword but it was futile. The difference in power was simply enormous for the regular sword of his to handle.
"Damn!" he couldn't help but take his sword away from the ground and start slashing using that phantom sword.
That helped him to cross the remaining distance successfully, however at the same time he heard popping sounds coming from all the monsters around.
They were dying without even resisting or fighting back.
"Take them back!" he knew that staying here would be pointless, "they did their part anyway."
There was only a little time left for him to act. He was already upon the portal and there was less than twenty meters away from the star.
Yet even his scales couldn't take the waves of energy emitted from the pagoda.
His body started to be covered in wounds everywhere. His body soaked with his blood, feeling extreme pain and agony with each passing second.
Yet that didn't even make him hesitate to slash his sword heavily with all his might towards the portal.
"Clang!"
The clash caused a loud clang that was followed by a very violent fire wisps emitted from it. Arthur couldn't help to stop at this moment so he stood firm and took that backlash without having any second thoughts.
He had to push that portal and pagoda towards the star with any cost.
Yet his sword hit with that portal managed to push the pagoda forward. It even jumped meters above the ground before landing heavily only seven meters away.
"It's there," Arthur clenched his sword and felt his body getting heavier. His breath started to be ragged and irregular but he didn't even think to take a moment of rest.
Not when he was this close.
"Go there mother*cker!" he screamed while jumping high in the air. He knew this hit would be the last one and then all that nightmare would end.
However, just as he was midair, two new things happened.
'There is bad news,' the golden dragon suddenly said in panic, 'that pagoda… it's about to explode!'
'Don't!' Gege screamed as well, 'if you hit it again it will crack open and the doors of hell would be unleashed upon you.'
Arthur was already midair, and it was his only chance to do it. However from the screams of his golden dragon and Gege he knew if he proceeded; he would be done for.
He would lose everything.
"There must be a way!" he couldn't believe he would fail at such a point, "it's almost there!"
'You need to run!' Gege screamed, 'there is nothing we can do.'
'Hopefully the star map would take the toll for you,' the golden dragon tried to persuade him yet Arthur was already landing towards the portal.
He didn't think of other options. He knew if he let the pagoda here it would explode anyway. So why not try?
'Ding! You need to retreat and think of other ways,' the system tried to push some reason inside his mind.
"There is none!" yet Arthur was already desperate, "if we left it here I'm doomed. Let me try and push it towards the star."
It was already too late for anything to be done or even said. Arthur landed heavily with his phantom sword and clashed with the portal.
And that loud clang sound exploded alongside with a sound of cracking.
It seemed like an egg hit a rocky wall and got smashed into pieces. The next moment he saw the portal fly in the air towards the star while a flash of light emanated from the pagoda attached to it.
'It's too late,' the golden dragon urged, 'there is not enough time to get in there. Take him out, take him out now!'
The next moment a portal appeared there but Arthur totally ignored it. He knew this was a moment deciding his life and death.
Even if he escaped here, the star map was already embedded inside his dantian. He couldn't run away from this. He couldn't evade it.
All he hoped and prayed for at the moment was for this damned pagoda to get its fat ass inside that star before exploding.
He didn't think about anything but it.
However as the portal kept getting closer to the star, the flash of light intensified.
The waves of energy the pagoda kept emitting vanished. It looked like the pagoda was concentrating all the energy inside a small point.
And then it would release everything in a deadly wave, one that was enough to take out his life.
"I'm… done for!" Arthur saw it coming and he couldn't help but land on the ground with weak will. He tried… he tried with all his might and used all his power and tricks.
However in the end it meant nothing.
He failed, and now he would pay a hefty price for that… his life would be taken away in front of this abominable force.
His three beings were also petrified by such a result. They knew even if he escaped from here he was done for, they were done for.
At their last moments, they couldn't even say a single word. The entire star map started to be illuminated under the great energy that the pagoda was accumulating.
In any second now the pagoda would explode, sweeping away everything here.
And Arthur alongside all the three beings inside his mind would be killed.
"At least… I'll go down alone," he could only try to console himself with this. If such an explosion occurred outside, everyone else would be killed.
At least he paid his life for protecting everyone else. He knew he didn't hold feelings for most of them, but he had some who he could call as friends.
Doaf, Amera, Gor, Deem, even the crow… all those who followed him from the other worlds were also his friends. "Take everyone outside of the garden world," Arthur weakly said, "it's pointless to let them die with me."
This content is taken from freewebnove(l).com