"Better... Better unconscious... Of course, I'm dead," said the weak Caterina Bellini with a barely audible voice.
"Oh! I'm starting to wish you were."
"Hm?"
"That you die a little, the damn dome will target you and definitely send you to meet that egomaniac entity you have as a god!"
Gradually, Caterina began to perceive the movement produced by each of Tori's strides as he ran frantically, shifting the weight of both.
The vagabond was quite sure that Carlino, or at least the demon possessing him, was not dead. However, he was certain that his body would take quite some time to recover after a third of it blew up into pieces. Probably for that very reason, the density of the atmosphere inside the dome intensified to such an extent that even the wandering souls - now perfectly perceived by Tori's "Vision in the Darkness" - had difficulty advancing towards the light that attracted them so much from the mage's ability in the spiritual plane.
This was on one hand a relief, but on the other a threat that put the battered Antorique in a race against time. With "Seeing in the Darkness" activated, and a large number of open wounds, the increase in the dome's aggressiveness pressed him violently, to the point where he could feel his Triple Barrier - which he struggled to maintain protecting himself - would soon give in to such a burden.
The characteristic that the vagabond found convenient in that situation - the reason why he kept his "Vision in the Darkness" activated - was related to the assumption that if Castellanos' effort was focused on the aggressiveness of his dome, coupled with the demon's inability to think rationally when his pride was hurt, he would most likely put the task of closing the entrance to it, which Tori had created initially, on the back burner. And this was, considering the situation, the opportunity to escape for the mage and the girl he carried in his arms.
With the flame of vision activated, he was certain that this opening still existed, although he could also perceive how its size decreased at a slow but steady pace.
"So... Am I... alive?" commented Caterina, her brain far from functioning properly.
"Oh! Die a little, will you?" replied Tori, advancing at the maximum speed possible, considering his condition.
"...To die... Ah... Is that the warmth I feel? The warmth of Sanctum taking me to the Celestial Abode..."
"Ah! Quiet! The only warmth keeping your dying body functioning right now is the one I'm giving you, nun."
"Your warmth... Aren't you too... um... scant... thin... gaunt... skinny... feeble... skeletal... to..."
"Shut up! And no, it's not my body warmth. It's called a Qi bubble." To prevent Caterina from dying on the way, or at least increase her chances of survival, Tori had generated a neutral Qi bubble, and then filled it with Fire elemental property at a therapeutic level, which seemed to be yielding results. However, it made maintaining the Triple Barrier even more difficult, increased energy expenditure, and consequently added another difficulty to the already dangerous escape.
"Why...? Why keep me warm... using your energy?"
"So that your fanatic religious criminal head can bear the guilt of being rescued by an impure 'mage' enemy of Sanctum!" replied Tori with a weak ironic smile.
"Oh... that's... Mage!"
"Mage? Better be silent and..."
"Back..."
"Back? Damn it!" If it hadn't been for Caterina's dimwitted warning, Tori would have ended up pierced by Marco de Luca's stealth attack... or at least by his reanimated body.
The Sword's assassin, his eye socket now entirely blackened, was now chasing Tori and Caterina.
"That... Marco? No... that's not..."
"You're a sore loser, demon of boredom!" said Tori to the air, jumping with effort and spinning to kick away his pursuer. Even with "Seeing in the Darkness" active, the excess of information he received, the fatigue, and the constant pressure made the now controlled Marco de Luca a very dangerous enemy.
"Heh... the jump... The jump was fun... Can you do it again?"
"Oh, just go to sleep already, delirious nun." Tori dodged Marco's two chisels flying towards his head, barely keeping the girl in his arms.
"Heh... heh... it's like... like a swing... You're a... A swing mage!" Caterina's delirium was interrupted by a sudden energy attack.
The dome had finally noticed her, which meant the girl was more alive than a few minutes ago, and if they didn't do something about it, she would be much more dead in a few seconds.
Fortunately, Tori had already prepared for this scenario and quickly dismantled his Triple Barrier, becoming a much more tempting target for the dome, relieving Caterina of that burden.
When the mage managed to spot the opening in the dome barrier - a third of the size it had opened when entering - a flying kick from Marco pushed him to the ground, causing him to roll and tumble along with the girl he was carrying in his arms. This forced Tori to maximize the reach of his weak Wei Qi to try to minimize the damage to the nun.
Then he had it clear. His energy reserve was about to run out, so he decided to bet everything on one move. A final big leap towards the exit, where a human could still fit.
"Three, two..." he counted as Marco approached with a dagger in each hand. "...one, now!"
Marco de Luca slashed through the air, and Tori, concentrating the Fire of his qi on the soles of his feet, right in the spaces known in Fengnian as the "Yong Quan" - and losing his boots in the process - threw himself towards the exit using explosive force, with almost no control over his body... Piercing through it, on the brink of unconsciousness.
"No... I won't hold on much longer," he said almost breathlessly, just having left the dome.
However, at that moment he heard the voice of the demon. It wasn't the human voice of Carlino Castellanos but rather the dome itself emitting a guttural voice.
"I also saved a last trick for you, miserable human." In the distance, Luca Moretti, the marksman of The Sword, was getting ready to do what he did best, under the demon's orders. "I left that entrance open, solely and exclusively to know exactly where to aim to kill you," continued the furious voice.
And so, while Tori struggled to stay upright and awake, Luca Moretti focused his aim to shoot. The shot, for someone with his skill, was impossible to miss.
"So... So close," thought Tori, with a weak smile. His wounds were once again bleeding naturally, as if just received, and, staggering, knowing he had only a few seconds of consciousness left, he threw the girl as far as he could, as the world began to fade for him and the projectile from the now puppet, Luca Moretti, swiftly and accurately moved to end his life.
