Another route appeared before Harksha, and without wasting any time, she immediately angled the airplane downward. Now that the vessel had lost much of its previous speed, maneuvering through narrower passages became considerably easier. Even so, Harksha still couldn’t understand what good that would do if the guardians eventually managed to surround them again. Reduced speed only meant less room for mistakes.
It took barely three minutes for the pursuing guardians to catch up once more. Their superior speed gradually erased every bit of distance Roan had painstakingly created, forcing Harksha to continuously adjust the airplane’s trajectory to remain outside the range of the incoming laser barrages.
Roan, however, remained completely calm.
The three-dimensional map projected before Harksha suddenly zoomed in, revealing far more details than before. Tiny adjustments appeared across the route, indicating altitude changes, precise turning angles, and even the safest flight lines through the surrounding terrain.
"Just follow this path."
Harksha was momentarily taken aback.
According to the projected route, she would eventually have to fly straight into an underground tunnel. Judging by the countless collapsed sections already shown on the map, those ruins had existed for an unimaginably long time. With so much age and erosion, it was only natural to assume that the entire place could cave in at any moment, especially once dozens of guardian lasers started striking the surroundings.
Still, she kept those thoughts to herself.
Complaining or questioning Roan again would only invite another humiliating scolding. Besides, she didn’t exactly have a better plan to offer.
The first laser shots began arriving from extreme distances.
Most missed the airplane entirely, streaking past before exploding against ancient ruins, mountainsides, and massive stone formations. The few that did come close were bent away by the Light Bending Plate Arrays.
As the pursuit continued, more and more guardians caught up with them.
At one point, there were well over forty guardians directly behind the airplane. An endless rain of lasers tore through everything in their path, reducing who knows how old structures to rubble and carving glowing scars across the landscape. The scenery behind them resembled complete devastation.
Meanwhile, the projected flight path before Harksha continued changing every second.
Minor corrections constantly appeared as new terrain data was collected. Sometimes Roan adjusted the angle by only a few degrees. Other times, entire turns shifted several hundred meters after newly scanned obstacles appeared.
Harksha had to remain completely focused just to avoid missing one of those sudden changes.
Fortunately, the effort paid off.
Despite the overwhelming number of incoming attacks, the airplane rarely ended up directly in their trajectories. Every adjustment shaved away another fraction of a second, causing countless lasers to miss by mere meters.
Unfortunately, Harksha also knew the truth.
Even with Roan’s impossible flight paths, there would eventually come a point where simply avoiding everything became impossible.
Just as the Light Bending Plate Arrays were approaching their overheating limit, Harksha finally saw it.
The tunnel entrance.
It was the remains of an ancient artificial passage carved deep into the mountainside countless years ago. Without any hesitation, she aimed directly toward it.
*Pling! Plang! Dum! Raaaask...!*
"Fuck! This thing is too narrow!" Harksha couldn’t help shouting.
The airplane’s fuselage repeatedly scraped against uneven stone walls. Loose rocks smashed against the sides while broken support beams and hanging debris constantly struck the aircraft as it squeezed through the cramped passage. Sparks occasionally burst from the reinforced hull, but thankfully, nothing penetrated the outer armor.
Roan completely ignored her complaints.
"Third passage on the right. Then continue for thirteen kilometers until the three-way intersection. Take the middle route."
Senkiyu carefully observed the same three-dimensional map before asking, "But... the middle passage seems even narrower. Can the airplane even fit through there? The other two routes look much safer."
Roan gave a slight nod. "It fits." He paused briefly before adding, "In fact, it’s the only path we can use."
Since the question came from Senkiyu rather than Harksha, Roan didn’t mind offering a brief explanation. Well, that’s just because he now had the time to do so. Senkiyu wasn’t reducing the speed that Harksha was following Roan’s orders, after all.
He zoomed the map outward.
Only then did everyone notice what Roan had already seen.
Although the other two passages initially appeared wider, the airplane’s scans from when they flew above the ground revealed that both had collapsed several kilometers ahead. Massive cave-ins completely blocked them.
Only the narrow middle tunnel remained open from beginning to end.
"I see..." Senkiyu muttered.
Roan shifted his attention toward the rear of the airplane.
Although they could no longer see outside, the radar clearly showed numerous guardians entering the underground passages in pursuit.
"The good thing," Roan said, "is that those things have an even larger circumference than this airplane. Maneuvering through these tunnels is far more difficult for them than it is for us."
Cantra still looked uneasy. "But... they’re extremely intelligent. They already tried to ambush us several times. Won’t they simply wait for us at the tunnel exit?"
Roan wasn’t concerned in the slightest. "Even though we didn’t have much time to map everything, it’s obvious that the underground beneath these ruins is filled with an enormous network of interconnected tunnels. There are countless entrances and exits leading to different areas."
He looked toward the projected map. "Besides..."
Without another word, Roan walked toward the rear compartment and opened the hatch leading outside. "You Aura Gods."
He pointed toward a highlighted location on the map. "We’re about to pass one of the main support pillars. Destroy it."
Senkiyu and the others immediately stiffened.
Destroy it?
Wouldn’t that bring the entire tunnel down on top of them?
Even so, after witnessing Roan’s judgment over the past hour, nobody voiced any objections. A few seconds later, the designated pillar entered their line of sight.
"On my mark..." Roan calmly watched the timing. "...Now."
The Aura Gods instantly unleashed their Godly Energy.