Pew! Pew! Pew! A silk volley shot towards them. Yuna shrieked. Lady Kalasena's face darkened, as she used her Martial Perception to track the projectiles midflight. She unsheathed her sword, spun around, and cut the closest ones in one smooth motion. Her swordsmanship was swift and precise, as expected of Major Sword Form. It was a step away from perfection! However, that was useless here. Without Martial Energy, she had no chance against these numbers. The moment she blocked the attack, she turned around and continued fleeing. There was barely a delay.
They almost reached halfway when the entire cavern lit up. A giant 'sun' formed below. Yuna was alarmed by the huge spike in Magic Energy. Her passive Magic Perception practically screamed! It was far stronger than anything she felt before! She alerted Lady Kalasena, but there was no need. The lady could already feel the suffocating heat in the air. Sweat covered their bodies. The temperature rose rapidly! Beneath them, the veins on the lava salamander's body began to glow an ominous red. The air distorted, as the creature radiated a tremendous amount of heat. The surrounding water boiled, creating superheated steam clouds. The Silk Snapping Turtle Insect screeched and retreated into the deep waters. Large Magic Circles manifested around the salamander, as it prepared an earthshattering spell.
For Yuna and Lady Kalasena, it came at the worst possible time. The other side of the cavern was still far away. Judging by how vividly they could feel the heat, that spell, once unleashed, would be fatal for them. They needed to change things and quickly if they wanted to live. Yuna strained to move. The elasticity of the webbing made running hard, and the burning air made breathing painful. Although she summoned strength she never thought she had, she was a relatively ordinary young woman. Her endurance was nowhere near sufficient for this exercise. She approached her limit.
A loose thread tangled around her foot and caused her to trip. She yelped, because there was a large opening that she could slip through. Lady Kalasena caught her before that happened. Yuna wanted to thank her, except the lady pulled her closer. She was practically snuggled in the lady's chest. It was so comforting that she momentarily forgot about her worries. That is until Lady Kalasena did something drastic. Her sword flashed and the web bridge was severed!
"What!?" Yuna shrieked and hugged the lady as tight as she could.
The bridge fell underneath them. Lady Kalasena dropped her sword, used one hand to hold Yuna, and the other hand to wrap the silk around her wrist. Was it strong enough to hold their weight? There was only one way to find out. Yuna foamed at the mouth, and Lady Kalasena concentrated. Whoosh! Wind battered their faces, as gravity took the reins. The second Yuna felt that weightlessness, she nearly went crazy. Her heart pounded so hard it was on the brink of exploding! She had to ask why could not she have fainted instead? It would have been so much easier. Now though, her life was thoroughly out of her control! Even Lady Kalasena froze. She might have been reticent, but that did not mean she was emotionless. It was just hard for her to express them. And at this very moment, as she gazed upon the terrifying height they were at, where their lives were determined by mere threads, regret flashed across her eyes. This might have been a mistake…
Down they went! Yuna shoved her head deeper into the Grand Lady's breasts, all the while screaming her heart out. She absolutely refused to accept what was happening. It was not real! Her nails dug deep into Lady Kalasena's back and drew blood. Despite that, the latter was too busy being frightened to notice. Unlike Yuna who could just shut her eyes and pretend it was a dream, she witnessed everything. All the blood rushed into her head, as she prayed that her crazy plan work. They fell for about three seconds before she felt tension in the silk. She tightened her grip as best she could. This was the moment of truth! Whack! The web bridge kept stretching and stretching under the heavy load. Anytime could mean Lady Kalasena and Yuna's last. And… eventually, the silk went taut. They successfully held on!
Now came the next part of Lady Kalasena's 'brilliant' plan. She wanted to use the collapsing bridge to swing to the other side of the cavern. This was several times faster than running, and it came with the benefit of stopping the insects' pursuit. Of course, there was the tiny, tiny possibility that the silk snaps and they plummet to an early grave. However, it was better than certain death. It happened in a flash. Their momentum passed onto the silk, and their descent changed into a wide arc! Lady Kalasena immediately noticed they were going too fast. At their speed, they would smash straight into the wall!
She gritted her teeth and stretched her legs out. Her Martial Perception was unleashed, flooding her head with information. It was overwhelming, but she needed to find the perfect place on the wall to plant her feet. If she landed at a strange angle, it would kill her! Right before the collision, she relaxed her body and bent her knees. This would maximize every chance she had. Bang! They slammed into the wall with tremendous force. Although Lady Kalasena anticipated it, she felt her feet, ankles, knees, thigh, and every bone in her body crack from the immense impact. It felt like she was trampled by a carriage! The pain dazed her. Thankfully, the silk was tied around her wrist, so she could not let go, even if she wanted to.
Yuna felt the impact too, but because Lady Kalasena shielded her, she was mostly fine. She clung to the rock wall, relieved to touch solid ground again. It was truly a miracle. Turning around, she noticed something was wrong with Lady Kalasena, except before she could fully ponder on it, the lava salamander's Magic Aura reached its peak. The spell activated and showered the cavern in a pure white light. A thunderous explosion came next, followed by an ocean of flames! It was so potent that it instantly evaporated a large portion of the water pool and melted most of the rock walls. The 'ocean' raced up the cavern, making it resemble lava from a volcano!
But it was not truly a force of nature. Spells were limited by the Magic Energy powering their phenomenon. The world's restorative force, in other words the interference strength, would actively suppress it. This was a law that everything had to follow. Therefore, the strength of the spell rapidly declined the further it went. Yuna and Lady Kalasena were high up enough that they only had to face a fraction of the spell's true strength. Even then, the temperature rose to an unbearable level. Yuna reacted quickly and grabbed her wand. Her spell-casting speed was lightning-fast. Water flowed into a giant curtain around them.
Less than a breath later, the lava arrived. Boom! An epic collision of fire and water was created. Vast quantities of hot steam boiled the area, burning Yuna's skin and lungs. It was unbelievably painful, so painful that she wanted to give up. She was scared. However, when she thought about how Lady Kalasena fought so hard to protect her, those feelings went away. Newfound courage bubbled up inside her like a volcano! Screaming, she funnelled every bit of Magic Energy into her spell. A battle between spells was essentially a battle between interference strength. Interference strength meant Magic Energy. Being a Peak Gaseous Fog Arcanist, there should have been no way to contend against a spell from a Rank 2 Beast Lord, the equivalent of a Condensed Drop Arcanist. Yet, the salamander's spell had weakened after travelling so far. Not to mention, she only had to defend the front. Lady Kalasena's stunt was instrumental here. Her water spell was continuously evaporated and pushed back, yet it was constantly replenished and returned using her Magic Energy. Her Core emptied out at shocking speeds. She risked everything!
At this point, clarity returned to Lady Kalasena's eyes. She looked over and saw Yuna resisting the sea of flames. The edges of her lip curled up ever so slightly. As expected, she was not wrong about Yuna. The two spells continued to clash until both began to weaken. The interference strength had grown too much, meaning it would neutralize every spell soon enough. It was over. Once Yuna realized that, the tension caught up to her and she fell unconscious. Lady Kalasena grabbed her and started climbing towards the tunnel entrance. The rocks were hot, which made it more laborious than usual, but she persisted. Finally, she pulled herself and Yuna over the top. While she gasped for air, she found it hard to believe. They were alive!