Thirty minutes later.
Grey and Void could be seen sprinting out of a forest, and heading in the direction of a building.
After they left the forest where they were battling with Aetonth, they've passed by multiple buildings, as well as two other forests before getting here.
Grey didn't even know how far he had run, but he estimated that he should be at least forty kilometers away from Aetonth. It only now did he decide to rest, once he's recovered, he would head towards the array.
'I think it stopped chasing us.' Void said while relaxing on Grey's shoulder.
'Me too, but it's best we move out after resting for a while.' Grey replied before entering the compound.
He looked around, and other than some beasts, he saw nothing else. The beasts were all in the Arcane Plane, so all Grey did was to release his far superior aura, scaring the beasts away.
He made some defensive arrays outside the room he entered, before shutting his eyes to enter into a meditative state.
His body greedily started to absorb the elemental essence in the area, rejuvenating the tired Grey, and also filling up his wind and lightning element reserve. Of all his elements, they were the ones he had used the most since he constantly had to channel them in his body while he was running away, so when he was absorbing the elemental essences, he focused more on them since he didn't know if he might have to run away once more.
Forty minutes later.
Grey's wind and lightning elemental reserve in his elemental beads were almost filled, while his other elements were once again filled up.
If it were to be someone else, then they would've needed at least nearly double the time he took in almost refiling his wind and lightning element. But compared to others, his absorption rate was faster.
'Void, let's go.' He opened his eyes and said.
He was currently feeling energetic and was ready to continue his journey. Now, he wanted to leave this place more than anything else, if he continued moving at this speed, then he might get there within another three hours or so, making him an hour late given the time he estimated Klaus and the others would get there.
'Okay.' Void who was previously resting opened his eyes and jumped into his shoulder.
Grey came out of the room, exited the building, and once again started his race towards the array.
Unknown to them, Aetonth had already begun its chase once again.
Grey and Void quickly passed through different terrains in fifteen minutes, from entering a forest to going through a tall grassy field to currently being in a mountain.
Just before they got to the peak of the mountain, Void suddenly stood up and looked behind them.
'Crap! It's coming.' He said to Greg hastily.
'The dragon?' asked Grey.
Void nodded with a sour face before replying, 'Yes.'
If he truly had the crystal, he would have returned it after going through the first round of beating from Aetonth, but now, he not only lost the crystal, he was being beaten for it. Although everything was his fault in the first place, he was still stumped by how the crystal suddenly disappeared.
When they were previously in the building resting, he even checked his spatial storage again, just to be sure. This time, he went through it meticulously, but he still didn't find the crystal.
His current situation was like being beaten for stealing something you planned to return but then lost it on the way, only in his case, he thought of returning it after being beaten, only to find out it was gone.
'Are you sure you don't have the crystal?' Grey asked once again.
He was still having doubts about what Void said, he couldn't be blamed though since Void loved shiny things.
'I don't. If I knew it was this powerful, I wouldn't have taken it.' Void said with remorse.
'Well, it's too late now.' Grey said before increasing his speed.
His senses weren't as sharp as Void's, but since Aetonth hasn't entered his range yet, it meant he was still some distance away, that's a valuable time for the duo to come up with a strategy before it will catch up to them.
Grey continued running while thinking of something to do, surprisingly, he asked himself, 'If Klaus were here, what would he do?'
As soon as the thought came to his head, the only answer he could think of was, 'Sacrifice the cat.'
He couldn't help but chuckle and take a glance at Void, 'Maybe I might try it.' He thought to himself.
It took Grey another two minutes to get off th2e mountain, running past the buildings he saw on his way. Another five minutes later, Grey started sensing Aetonth's aura.
'It's getting closer.' He thought.
In another two minutes, Grey caught sight of Aetonth's figure when he looked behind him, it wasn't really hard to miss the over six meters blue dragon in the sky, especially with its wings spread apart. He was currently running in an open field that seems to go downhill.
Boom!
An ice shard came from underneath Grey's feet, pushing him up. Luckily, Grey trained his physical body a lot, so he managed to quickly use the boost he got from the ice to leap forward. He landed on the ground before doing a roll because of the momentum, he instantly continued running as soon as he got up again.
This time around, Aetonth fired ice balls that exploded once they came in contact with anything. After the ice balls explode, they'll release ice that will freeze anything within a meter of them.
"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Grey ran while dodging the ice balls that were falling from the sky.
The chase went on like this for almost a minute before one of Grey's legs was unfortunately frozen, after being in the one-meter range of the ice ball's freezing range.
The ice froze his left leg from the foot to his thigh.
"Damn it! Come on, come on, come on!" Grey urged as the ice on his legs slowly started melting when he channeled his fire essence to his leg, but the problem was, Aetonth was getting closer to them.
"Yes, I'm free." Grey said after the ice melt completely from his leg.
Bam!
Aetonth landed on the ground, blocking his path.
"Shit! I'm fucked." Grey immediately cursed when he turned around only to see Aetonth in front of him.
A scene quickly played out in his mind, it was the scene of him offering Void as a sacrifice, and Aetonth letting him go. He quickly threw the thought to the back of his head since he knew it was unrealistic.
"Mister dragon, just so you know, he was the one who stole your crystal." Grey pointed at Void who was on his shoulder.
'You're selling me out.' Void complained immediately.
'Good, we're even.' Grey sneered.
'When did I ever sell you out?' Void asked feeling wrong.
'Oh, how about all the times you nearly cause my death because of your obsession. If we survive this, you're only allowed to steal what might put my life in danger, you know what, tell me first if you want to steal something.' Grey retorted angrily, releasing all the pent-up frustration he felt from this chase.
'Does that mean I can't steal the emperor's crown?' Void asked, he didn't try to talk back since he knew he was wrong.
'Did you even listen to a word I said? Don't steal what might cause my death! The emperor's crown will not only cause my death, but it would also put those I know in danger.' Grey yelled at him.
'Oh, I'm sorry about this though. It's just that, it was shiny.' Void apologized.
'Why do you like shiny things?' Grey couldn't help but ask.
'Honestly, I have no idea.' replied Void after some time.
Unfortunately for the duo, Aetonth didn't have time to wait for them and attacked instantly.
Grey and Void soon started the difficult task of battling against it, and just like Grey planned from the first time he saw Aetonth, Void was the one who was getting beat up.
During the battle, Void had been slammed by Aetonth's tail, was hit by an ice ball that exploded, freezing him in the process, and had been sent flying in every possible direction, even downwards!
