Death... and me

Chapter 3390: By Magic!

"This is becoming quite annoying," Rean commented. If they kept tunneling, they could keep a pace fast enough that the above Glacial Decay Runes couldn't keep up. But then again, the scale of things in the Divine Realm is enormous. Wouldn't they need to tunnel for months just to leave the Glacial Decay Runes' range? Let's not even talk about leaving the Glacial Corridor after that.

"You guys, keep tunneling in the direction I will point you from now on, but do it slower this time. I want the Icicles to form with the runes inside so I can analyze it closely," Rean asked his group.

"Wouldn't it be too dangerous?" Gram couldn't help but ask.

Rean didn't mind. "If you see I got caught by the Glacial Decay Runes, just ignore me and increase your pace. You have Casper to help you drive the Freezing Energy out of your bodies after that."

Everyone looked at each other and nodded. They were only alive because Rean helped them, so they decided to trust Rean's judgment. Besides, there is no guarantee that the Glacial Decay Runes won't get even more powerful and faster. At that point, tunneling might not be enough anymore, so it is good that Rean wants to find some other way to deal with it.

The tunneling speed decreased while Rean checked the Glacial Decay Runes that appeared inside the icicles before they started to come out of it and chase him. Once that happened, they covered the rear with the dirt they took from the front, and the Glacial Decay Runes were forced to cross the dirt, just like the Glacial Decay Runes coming from above. Good thing that it didn't move fast.

Rean tried to draw a few different runes, but he didn't have materials for such. Thus, he could only use the stones, dirt, and other things he found around with the addition of his Divine Sense and Energy. As one could expect, those were very weak runes that didn't seem of much use.

Nonetheless, they continued at that steady pace for a day nonstop. It's just that the group was starting to feel apprehensive. In the past five hours, the Glacial Decay Energy and Runes seemed to be increasing in speed and power. Even the Freezing Energy present in there was growing in intensity. Kentucky had to use his Sky Energy to help the group more often before they resumed defending themselves with their Divine Energy again.

"Marvin, we can't stay like this. Should we dig deeper again before tunneling to the side like we have been doing? Perhaps the Freezing Energy isn't as strong further down." Duleti asked Rean, who was not far behind them.

Rean had three of his runes circling around one of the icicles, and those runes seemed to be interacting with the Glacial Decay Runes inside somehow. However, it was still not enough for the Glacial Decay Runes to stop, so Rean continued to work. "It's pointless. You probably didn't notice it, but I had you tunnel slightly downwards in the past day. We are about three kilometers underground instead of the initial first kilometer. Yet, the power is still increasing."

Rean glanced at them. "Think with me. If just going underground was enough to save ourselves, would this journey through the Glacial Corridor be that dangerous? There wouldn't be a need for the Warm Boats to start with. Anyone could start crossing the Corridor, and every time they got tired, they could simply open a hole in the ground for themselves to hide from the weather outside. Yet, we didn't hear about anyone trying it. The fact the Freezing Energy and the Glacial Decay Runes are getting stronger is proof that this action carries little to no benefit."

No one there had thought about that. Indeed, even Gram and Duleti hadn't tried to hide underground when they came here to cultivate before. "Then what do you suggest?"

"Increase the tunneling speed," Rean spoke. "Since the Glacial Decay Runes and Freezing Energy are increasing at a faster pace, we have to compensate for it with our own efforts. Of course, I won't hold none of you here. If you think I'm wrong or anything like that, you are free to leave me and Casper behind to save yourselves."

Gram, Duleti, and Farlo's mouths twitched. If they truly leave, then they won't have anyone capable of doing what Rean and Kentucky can. That meant they would eventually freeze, so they had to stay with Rean whether they liked it or not.

Without another choice, they increased the pace of tunneling while Rean continued to work on the Glacial Decay Runes with runes of his own.

Time continued to pass, and they were forced to increase their speed several times compared to the start. By now, they already weren't capable of keeping up with the consumption of Divine Energy, being forced to use their Divine Stones. The problem is that just like Rean and Kentucky, most of their Divine Stones were inside their Pocket Dimensional Realms. They didn't have much in their Spatial Rings to keep this pace for much longer.

They also tried to think of other ways to resist the fall of temperature around, ultimately deciding to join together and use their Divine Energy reserves sparingly, even if that meant feeling a lot colder. At least that would give them some extra time.

On the sixth day, Rean had hundreds of runes made of simple materials circling around him. His expression had been serious for a while, and no one wanted to bother him. If they stopped Rean's train of thought, they might actually make him miss something and lose all his progress. Nonetheless, they were still running out of time, and even Kentucky was starting to run out of Starlight Energy to create more Sky Energy.

Finally, Gram and the others simply couldn't wait anymore. "Marvin!"

Rean, who was wholly focused on the Glacial Decay Runes, was taken aback for a moment. "Uh? What? What happened?"

Rean then looked at his group, and except for Kentucky, the others seemed to be about to freeze at any moment.

"W-We can't resist... anymore. We can ba-barely keep tunneling the way we are, and Casper has run out of Starlight Energy..." Duleti explained while her teeth kept hitting against each other due to how cold it was. "If you still... haven't found a way t-to fight the Glacial Decay Ru-Runes, we are doomed..."

"Ah!" Rean scratched the back of his head. Then, he waved his hand, and the hundreds of runes floating around him quickly rushed and attached to Gram, Duleti, and Farlo's bodies. As if by magic, all the Freezing Energy was expelled from their bodies. The Glacial Decay Runes in the Icicles seemed to retreat upwards as well due to the presence of those runes. It was as if even the Glacial Decay Runes had met their nemesis. Even better than that, it cost almost nothing of Divine Energy to fuel those Runes.

"This..." No one expected that.

Rean bitterly smiled. "Sorry, sorry... I already finished devising the runes to resist the Glacial Decay Runes and Freezing Energy three days ago; it's just that I was so entertained by being able to work with them that I forgot you guys were freezing down there."

Gram and the others felt like crying. "Would someone truly forget such an important situation...?"

Rean looked away, pretending he didn't hear the question.