Please don’t die

It was just like before, the vast scenery of tall hills packed with lush green grass, which soon merged into the colossal mountains far away where the sun peeked in. The same tree was planted onto the hill and grew countless branches and leaves from its thick stem.

Uriel was next to this tree, as Jay had guessed her to be there. But unlike this time, she did not have a polearm or any weapon, contrary to Jay's expectation. Instead, she simply stood there, letting the wind blow her white dress.

Though nothing happened, Jay never let his eyes off Uriel; he was waiting for her to move. And just then, Uriel's finger twitched, followed by a quick movement of her body.

She moved her right leg forward only about an inch, with her arms in a neutral position. Unexpectedly Uriel's figure blurred for a second before it vanished, her figure then repairing twenty-five meters away from where she once stood.

Jay's mouth gaped in awe when he saw Uriel perform such a move. He had kept his eyes peeled so he wouldn't miss a single detail, but alas, he couldn't understand anything.

"A-again! Let me see it again." Jay spoke out loud, though he expected no response, Uriel's body started to move again, but unlike last time a new sight unfolded in front of Jay.

For whatever reason, Jay was clearly able to see every muscle of Uriel's body as if he had x-ray vision. For example, he could see the cardiac muscles though they were barely visible because of the shielding of the skeletal muscles. When Jay had processed what was going on, Uriel had once again begun to start moving.

That was when Jay saw it; his eyes were immediately drawn to Uriel's feet. He was thoroughly examining the way how she moved.

After a bit of time, Jay noticed he could make Uriel repeat the same motions repeatedly until he got it down. During that time, Jay noticed that Uriel was getting almost all the power from her toes to move at high speeds. Not thighs or calves; she used her toes.

[Basic movement technique: dash, is being analyzed.]

[The puppet intimidation have failed. Skill on cooldown]

[The skill predecessors' eyes have been activated.]

[User was able to understand the new movement.]

[New skill has been learned. Now able to carry out the skill flawlessly]

Jay smiled brightly at his progress; now, he could carry out his planes without problems.

Slowly opening his eyelids, Jay found out he was back in the temple with Uriel, still breathing heavily behind him.

Looking in front of him, Jay locked eyes with Dagon. Then, after getting a good look at him, Jay turned back toward Uriel.

"Hey... when I give you the signal, start running towards the exit..." Jay softly mumbled, so only Uriel was able to hear him. Jay didn't even move his lips when he said those words since he was afraid Dagon could read his lips.

"Wha...?" Uriel was going to ask, but she stopped herself since talking right now wouldn't bring them any benefits. She only nodded and began creating complex movements with her hand. Then the golden barrier preventing their presence from leaking out expanded to cover the temple's whole interior.

"Alright, let's get this over with..." Jay said as he stepped forward.

"Keke! Are you finally done with your preparations?" Dagon laughed with a wide grin.

'There isn't even going to be a fight...' Jay thought as he began concentrating all his strength on his toes and the ball of his feet. Then, after a deep breath, Jay's figure started to blur. His feet dug into the hard stone floor, and Jay was sent flying forward towards Dagon with a blast.

Dagon's eyes dilated at Jay's sudden burst of speed, and in a reflex, he raised his arms to block any incoming attacks.

Dagon embraced himself for hard impact, but he didn't feel any sort of pain or contact. Instead, he caught a glimpse of Jay's figure blurring past him at high speeds, and at that moment, he saw Jay's expression full of mockery.

Swiftly turning his head around, Dagon watched as Jay grabbed the goblet of the white marbled altar.

"Run!" Jay shouted towards Uriel. Spontaneously Uriel pivoted her foot around and began sprinting down the dark stone corridor of the temple.

Jay didn't waste any time and began running after Uriel, leaving Dagon completely bewildered.

"You bastard!" Dagon screamed; he could do nothing but stare at the two fleeing figures, slowly fading into the darkness.

This has been Jay's plan from the moment Uriel explained that making a vow here would stake whatever you betted on. Since Dagon had vowed his life that he would follow his rules, there was no way he could take a step forward without risking his life.

'Argh! How can I be this dumb?!' Dagon cursed.

But what point would there be now, even if he stood still to save his own life, wouldn't the almighty one just comes down to kill him for losing the goblet?

There would be no point in saving himself now!

"Hey, you sly rat!" Dagon yelled as he took a step toward and that one step was almost able to close the cap between Jay and Dagon.

Hearing the shout, Jay looked back and winded his eyes. "Oh shit! Uriel! I thought you said he would die if he broke the vow!"

"Well, of course, he isn't going to fold instantly!" Uriel yelled back. "But now it's inevitable  that he's going to die. We just need to hold out!"

Although he was tired himself, Jay moved towards Uriel and grabbed her by the waist. Then tugging, Jay brought Uriel under his arms.

"What are you doing?!" Uriel asked, looking up at Jay, huffing in and out like crazy so he wouldn't faint from the lack of air.

"You're too slow!" Jay yelled back and picked up his pace.

"You think it's easy holding up a barrier and running?!" Uriel asked, tilting her head to the side, and gazed at Dagon behind her. "Go die already, you damn dog!"

Whisrshh!

Suddenly a golden light began forming in front of Uriel's palm as she prepared a magic chant.

Seeing the golden light, Dagon flinched but didn't dare stop running. If he got hit by Uriel's magic, he would perish gruesomely.

"You're coming down with me!" Dagon yelled before pouncing forward.

"You persistent zombie!" Uriel yelled before blasting the magic she had been charging up.

In an instant, the whole corridor lit up in a brilliant, bright golden light.

"Argh!" Jay yelled as he hell forward, also launching Uriel away, not too far away from him. His screams of agony continue to go across the corridor.

Uriel, who had just recovered her scrambled consciousness, quickly looked over to the screens.

Dagon was nowhere in sight, only a pile of dust scratched across the floor. Uriel knew that it wasn't her attack that did that; it was the consequences of breaching his vow.

Then looking over at Jay, she guessed Dagon had somehow landed his final attack on Jay's leg before he died.

Jay was on the ground, curled up in a fetal position clenching his left leg. Everything was gone from the knee below; blood spurted out from his femoral artery like a broken garden hose, creating a pound of dark blood on the stone floor.

Just like what Uriel had said about the "hero's blessing." Jay felt all the pain, not numbed in the slightest. He was feeling the blunt pain of a blown-off leg.

Seeing Jay's teary eyes and his teeth grinding in agony, Uriel felt a wave of heat go through her stomach, followed by the strong desire to help Jay.

'I have to help, master!' It was Uriel's only thought right now. But there wasn't anything she could do.

Healing magic was holy and holy things were poison to demons; all she could do was tear apart her sleeve and try her best to lessen the bleeding on Jay's leg.

A demon's regeneration ability was limited. A little scratch would heal in a matter of seconds. Third-degree burns would be healed in about seven seconds. Deep laceration would be recovered in a minute or two, but an amputation?

Depending on where you got amputated, recovery time takes up to ten days. And even then, you would die if you couldn't stop the bleeding.

That's why when demons fight, they make sure their injuries would be minor. If Uriel wasn't careful, Jay had a chance of dying from shock or blood loss.

"Please don't die…." Uriel softly mumbled, her whole body now quivering from worry.