298 10 Kilometers Per Second
The transition was fast, and the moment our eyes left Namia's Domain, we were already greeted by the familiar hellish scenery of the Otherside.
As soon as we touched down on the ground, everyone quickly lowered their stances and kept watch in each direction. Fortunately, no demons were nearby at the moment, letting us all feel relief.
"Ember, it's your time to shine. What's the plan?"
She was pretty confident earlier regarding her ability to take us to the beyond-god-level monster fast, so I guess she already has a vehicle prepared.
"Yes, master. Actually, after evolving the second time, I learned another skill."
"A skill?"
So it wasn't a vehicle? Well, I guess if it were, then we would need to travel at Mach-3 or faster just to reach the edge of the Otherside in time.
"Yes. It's a type of group teleportation that can take us anywhere within my view."
Oh! That sounds extremely convenient! Rather, wouldn't this be almost a cheat when trained to a battle-ready level?
But still, within visible range? The furthest I can see would be the top of those mountains far away, roughly twenty or so kilometers away. However, from what I could see, there were tons of 9th-stage and god-level demons over there.
If we pop there, then for sure those demons will notice our presence and attack immediately.
"How long is the casting time, and how large is your effective range?"
I asked for the details for confirmation and to plan what to do from now on.
"I haven't tried it yet, but it should take five seconds to cast, and anyone I designate within a ten-meter radius can be brought together."
Five seconds.
It seems fast enough already for practical use, but against god-level demons, five seconds is enough for all of us to die twice over. After thinking for a while, I raised my head and turned to all the girls before me.
"Alright. Everyone, listen closely."
I took a deep breath before pulling Ember closer to me.
"First, Ember will focus on continuously using her teleportation skills. All of us are going to protect her while she's focusing. Defend Ember at all costs!"
Time is of the essence, but we can't rush so much that we'll be too tired to even fight when we return to the real world. After all, most likely, Noir has a trap prepared for us when we return.
"Ember, try to chain your teleportation as fast as you can, but don't overexert yourself, alright?"
"Of course, Master. Leave it to me!"
After seeing her nod her head in excitement, everyone moved into position. Ember, the VIP at the moment, was in the exact middle, where it was the safest. I was positioned at the front with Igni at the back, while the rest of the girls were divided equally between left and right.
Threya and her pug were left in the middle together with Ember, not because we didn't want her to help but rather to keep her as an ace in the hole in case of emergency.
When Ember saw that everyone was ready, she closed her eyes and gathered her energy before spreading it around, blanketing everyone within range. This energy, which was of a darker color, was probably space energy too.
I started counting down, measuring the time before the cast finished. And as I reached five, Ember opened her eyes exactly at that instant.
"[Blink]!"
Ember shouted the skill's name, and as soon as she did, the scenery around us warped. In an instant, we were already standing on uneven ground, right at the top of the mountain I'd been eyeing earlier.
"...!"
As soon as we recovered our stances, we immediately felt the countless gazes that came from all directions. Not only the 8th and 9th-stage, but even the god-level demons were instantly aware of our presence.
Without waiting for my command, Ember started the next round of teleportation. However, those five seconds were enough for the enemies to launch a couple of attacks.
"... Why do demons love to use beam attacks?!"
I raised my voice in disgruntlement as soon as I saw five beams heading straight for our location. Without much thought, I immediately raised a barrier to cover everyone, making it slightly angular to deflect the beams instead of receiving them head-on.
Thankfully, due to us still being covered in the space energy she spread around beforehand, the casting of Ember's skill ended faster. It took a mere two seconds!
Before the barrier I raised could even crack, we were already off the previous mountaintop and now on another one. I turned to glance behind and saw the spot where we were being bombarded with various attacks.
They seem to have not noticed that we were not there anymore. However, that's different for the new ones that were nearby. Another set of attacks came, but I didn't even need to cast my barrier again. Igni already handled the incoming attacks of both 8th and 9th-stage demons like it was nothing!
Just like before, two seconds was all it took for Ember to recast the skill, making it so that we weren't bathed in attacks for too long.
Each of Ember's [Blink] covered about 15 to 30 kilometers, depending on the vantage point. Given that we need to travel 50,000 kilometers, we would need more or less 2,500 jumps. That's roughly two hours or less.
Ember was focused on her task of teleporting us, while the rest were busy defending against the attacks each time we stopped. The only time we were troubled was when we teleported on top of the head of a 9th-stage demon by mistake.
It took us about thirty seconds to get down to stable footing and for Ember to recast the skill from scratch, but fortunately, nobody was injured.
After that, Ember made sure that the place we were landing at was stable, so the same tragedy didn't occur. The god-level demons were quite persistent, however, since they kept on chasing us even after they were left behind over a hundred kilometers. Their attacks couldn't reach us, thankfully.
An hour after that, Ember started sweating bullets. Looking at her, she was almost out of energy. Seeing her state, I quickly took out an Energy Recovery Potion—of course, a weaker version compared to what I made Igni drink before—and let Ember drink its contents.
The effect of recovery was weaker than before, so after landing at a spot that had few demons around, we decided to rest for a while.
I didn't forget to cast several layers of concealment and defensive barriers, of course, as we don't know what sort of attacks will come.
As we rested, Fang went around and reaped the lives of approaching 9th-stage demons, leaving those below for the others to handle. For the god-level demons that were left behind, they were slowly catching up.
If given about two or three minutes, they should be able to come within attacking range, but before that time even arrived, Ember had already recovered enough energy to continue.
After that, relying on her remaining energy and the minuscule amount recovered by the energy recovery potion, she managed to continue for a full hour more.
"Woah!"
Suddenly, Ember's [Blink] got cut off midway, leaving us all dropping down to the ground. It was a pretty high drop, but with our physical bodies enhanced, only the 4th-stage ones and below were in danger.
"Peabody!"
Threya shouted and made her pug transform into its larger form before it quickly gathered everyone on its back, jumping down, kicking empty air, and landing on the flat ground.
As soon as we touched down, I turned to Ember to ask.
"What happened?"
With her skill, I know that it can't be anything like her failing to control the coordinates and failing. Rather, before we fell, I felt a powerful wave of energy hit us instead. Ember, the caster, should be more familiar with what happened than me, who could only see a little.
"That... Sorry, Master, I think we can't teleport any further than this."
"It's fine; you already performed superbly... But do you know the reason why we can't teleport any further?"
To my question, Ember just furrowed her brows. It seems like even she, the one casting the skill, was completely unaware of what exactly happened.
"I can answer that for you."
Threya raised her voice, walking a few steps forward and placing her hand forward. As soon as she did, a thin membrane-like thing glowed for a moment, starting from the spot that she touched.
"From this point onward, it seems to be within that monster's domain. Unless we have god-level space manipulation, we can't teleport any further."
"A domain!"
I should've guessed.
I looked around, checking our location, and quickly noticed that we were roughly a hundred kilometers away. What an amazing range! Even god-tamers' domains can only cover about a kilometer at most.
"I guess this beyond-god-level monster is just that off-the-charts."
I sighed before taking a deep breath and changing gears.
"Alright, everyone! From here on, we need to be extremely careful! If we are detected, then that's basically equal to our death!"
Fortunately, there are no demons anymore going forward. The demons didn't approach the domain at all, staying about three to five kilometers away, even the god-level ones.
After casting several layers of stealth barriers, I turned to face forward and whispered.
"Let's go!"
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