How… did we even come to this situation?
Cristo's lungs burned as he dashed through the forest, branches whipping past his face and boots pounding against the damp earth.
Behind him, the faint glow of their team's magic crystal pulsed erratically, reacting to the chaos of unstable mana that still lingered in the air behind them.
"Cristo! How far are we going?!" one of his teammates shouted from behind, their voice shaky and hoarse from exhaustion.
"Until the course is clear!" Cristo barked back without slowing down.
"But that flaming lady should be far away by now!" another protested, barely keeping up as they leapt over a fallen log.
"No!" Cristo snapped, his tone edged with both panic and reason. "We need to get as far away as possible! Other teams are bound to notice what happened back there. Even if Princess Stacia chooses to ignore us now, the same can't be said for the others that were probably watching!"
His words made sense, and yet dread still pooled in his gut.
