CHAPTER 91: FIGHTING FEAR

His heart was racing, and his face turned pale as a corpse when he realized that directly beneath the bridge was a deep ravine. It was so deep that Shaan couldn’t even see the bottom of the ravine, only darkness.

"I can’t... I can’t."

The words echoed in his mind, over and over, paralyzing him. His entire body trembled nonstop, and even lifting a foot felt like dragging a stone. Damn it. He hadn’t expected the bridge to be this high.

"Shaan, what are you doing?" Mr. Courier furrowed his brow, seeing that Shaan hadn’t even started walking across the suspension bridge. "We can’t linger here. Doppleshade or the guards might catch up to us."

"That’s right." Nalira nodded. "Come on, Shaan. We have to keep moving."

However, Shaan didn’t respond to either the courier or Nalira, remaining silent as he stared blankly into the ravine. For some reason, the trauma from his childhood seemed to play out clearly in his mind, leaving him frozen in place.

"Damn it, what’s wrong with you, Shaan?" Mr. Courier began to grow impatient. "The gas ball’s effect is almost gone, and if you don’t move now, we’re all in danger."

"It seems like Shaan is afraid of heights," Chelsie said anxiously. "Uhm... I’ll try to talk to him. Maybe I can convince Shaan to cross this suspension bridge. You two stay here."

Chelsie rushed over to Shaan and gently patted his shoulder. Chelsie’s gentle touch immediately snapped Shaan out of the memories that had been overwhelming him.

"Shaan, calm yourself," Chelsie spoke gently. "Everyone has fears. Including me. But you have to learn to overcome your fears."

"I-I can’t," Shaan shook his head. "Just leave me here. Hurry to Twilight Sanctum without me."

"No. That’s not going to happen," Nalira said firmly as she stepped closer.

"We’re not leaving you behind."

"Yes, what Lira said is true." Chelsie nodded, trying to calm Shaan. "Uhm...Shaan, you must try. How do you know, you can if you don’t try?"

".... "

"Shaan, you’ve helped me face my fears before," Nalira said. "Now, let us both help you face yours."

"Yes, trust us. You will be fine."

Hearing those words, Shaan was silent for a moment. It seemed like what Chelsie and Nalira said was true. At least he had to try to fight his fear rather than never trying at all.

"Shaan, so what’s your decision?"

Shaan exhaled deeply. "Alright, then. Let’s give it a try."

Gathering his courage, Shaan decided to walk across the suspension bridge. The first step was still filled with doubt about whether he could make it across, but after taking a few steps, he eventually began to get used to it.

"See, there’s nothing to be afraid of, Shaan." Chelsie smiled, watching Shaan overcome his fear. "Everything’s safe, right?"

"Y-yes."

"Keep looking ahead and don’t look anywhere else," Nalira advised. "That will calm your mind and make it much easier for you to cross the bridge."

"Exactly. The point is, everything will be safe as long as we-"

All of a sudden, a great tremor shook them from behind, causing the entire bridge to sway violently. Dammit. What the heck is going on?

"Woahh-" Chelsie reflexively grabbed the bundle of ropes that served as the bridge’s handrails. "Oh my God, what’s happening?"

Nalira immediately looked back. "The red-robed guard... He’s starting to chase us."

"Oh, this is bad... This is bad." Chelsie widened her eyes. "Then we have to get out of here immediately. Right now."

They quickly picked up their pace and tried to cross the swaying bridge, but unfortunately, the guard didn’t let Shaan and the others escape so easily and moved quickly toward them.

’This is bad. I have to do something to stop this guard’s movement.’

"Robin Hood, use your swift quiver and attack the guard."

[I’ll try to disable the guard.]

Robin Hood launched his attack toward the guard, but the red-robed guard deflected all of Robin Hood’s arrows and instead hit the bridge’s railing.

"Kyaa!" Chelsie screamed in panic.

"Robin Hood, what are you doing?" Shaan glared at Robin Hood. "You’re just making the bridge shake more."

[Damn, I never expected this guard will block my attack so easily.]

"Hey, hurry up," Mr Courier said at the front of the line. "We have to cross this bridge as quickly as possible."

They kept running as fast as they could, but the red-robed guard managed to catch Shaan, who was at the back of the line. This caught everyone off guard.

"Damn it! Let me go." Shaan struggled and tried to break free from the red-robed guard’s grip.

"Shaan!" Chelsie shouted in panic.

"Hang in there, Shaan, I’ll be right there to help you."

However, just as Nalira was about to help Shaan, a doppleshade suddenly appeared behind the red-robed guard and stabbed the guard in the shoulder. Instantly, Shaan was released and fell to the ground.

"Shaan, are you okay?"

"Yes, I’m fine, Chelsie." Shaan nodded quickly.

"The red-robed guard is fighting the doppleshade, and this is our chance to escape from here," Nalira frantically said. "Come on."

Without delay, they continued their journey across the suspension bridge until they were almost on the other side. Good, if this continues, they will reach the other side safely.

"Chelsie, watch out!"

Mr. Courier’s shout from across the road made Chelsie turn her head. The red-robed guard’s head flew toward her, and she tried to dodge it. But she was too late. It struck her body directly, causing her to lose her balance and nearly fall into the ravine."

"Oh, no, Chelsie!"

Both of them immediately ran to help Chelsie, but unfortunately, the mutated Doppleshade appeared with its mouth covered in fresh blood. Damn it, they had to do something before that terrifying creature managed to kill them all.

"Shaan, I’ll hold the Doppleshade off as long as I can," Nalira said. "Hurry, save Chelsie as quickly as possible."

Nalira dashed forward at full speed, launching a fierce assault on the Doppleshade. Seeing her charge in, Shaan immediately rushed toward Chelsie, who still dangled dangerously close to the edge of the ravine. But at that very moment, the Doppleshade managed to grab hold of Nalira and prepared to finish her off.

’Damn it! Who...who must I save first?’