Fifteen minutes. That was the total amount of time Julian’s group were able to buy before the defensive line they erected was broken apart by the Abyss creatures’ relentless attacks. And if that wasn’t bad enough, a few of the acolytes had been teleported as they suffered serious injuries in the process.
As the situation at the forefront turned incredibly dire for the acolytes, Julian let out a shout at Emery. “It’s time, Emery! Switch!!”
Upon hearing the shout, Emery alongside the 100 acolytes of the first group entered the battlefield once again.
They immediately clashed against the Abyss creatures, killing hundreds of them in an instant while also providing much-needed cover for the second group who slowly retreated back to safety.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Numerous powerful long-range spells shot swiftly through the air and bombarded the oncoming hordes of Abyss creatures. Loud shrieks and cries resounded in the air, as the Abyss creatures suffered another wave of casualties. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t able to stop their fervor for blood and instead increased it.
While the other acolytes of the second group retreating, Roran and Harlight’s aides quickly sprang into action and dismantled the ten Plasma Turret. After that, they immediately joined the retreating group as they still needed to once again mount the dismantled Plasma Turret in their next designated line of defense.
The merciless battle against the seemingly inexhaustible Abyss creatures took place once again. With their sheer numbers, the Abyss creatures continued to overwhelm and gradually push the acolytes back.
On the other hand, despite being constantly suppressed throughout their 50 mile retreat, the two hundred acolytes kept putting up their utmost effort to resist and hold on with all of their power. In fact, even though their formation kept changing due to the constant attacks that the Abyss creatures made, the overall situation remained the same and just repeated itself as before.
The Abyss creatures kept pouring in like a flood, and those who were killed were quickly replaced by their other brethren. The defensive line continued to weaken under the relentless assault of the Abyss creatures.
After continuous struggle without sufficient rest time, the physical and mental exhaustion seemed to have finally caught up with the acolytes as some of them began to become extremely reckless against the creatures.
“Malara needs help!!” shouted one of the acolytes.
In the midst of the Abyss creatures, Emery saw the sand user acolyte, who was one of Roran Harlight’s elite acolytes, in a predicament. She was overrun by dozens of Crawlers, providing an opportunity for one of the Stage 4 Roachers to catch a bite of her. The battle power of 140 that the creature possessed meant that most of the acolytes would not be able to escape once caught.
In an instant, Emery’s figure disappeared and reappeared near the overwhelmed Malara. A sword swiftly flashed by and the giant insect separated into two halves. At the same time, a dozen arm-sized green roots burst out from the ground and crushed all the Crawlers surrounding her.
Unfortunately, it seemed Emery was still a bit too late as a huge chunk of her neck and right shoulder were already gone.
The girl was trembling in pain as Emery tried his best to heal her with [Nature’s Blessing]. Alas, she proved to be too late to be saved when the device on her uniform glowed and her figure disappeared from the scene.
“Urgghh!!!” Emery shouted into the sky.
The bloody sight of Malara was disturbing to him. As much as he wanted the mission to be successful, he couldn’t just have people die for the sake of it. Especially while they were under his watch.
Various emotions such as anger, anxiety, fear, and so on all came rushing over Emery one at a time. In spite of that, nothing had changed in his outward appearance, as he understood that he had to maintain his composure in order to survive this battle.
As for the sand user acolyte, all Emery could do was hope that the girl was safely transported and taken care of.
“Retreat! Everyone, start retreating!!” Once again, it was time for them to pull back the defensive line for another 50 miles.
Another volley of offensive spells was launched, and this time it was accompanied by illusion-type spells to shroud their retreat. Seeing the others retreat, Emery who was rampaging amidst the Abyss creatures also started to retreat.
But then, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed that dozens of Reavers – the terrifying bee-like stage 4 flying Abyss creature – were surrounding one of his captains. The water element master, Trish.
It seemed that Trish was too immersed in killing the Abyss creatures that she didn’t realize it was time to pull back. In the end, she didn’t manage to fly back fast enough and her path was now blocked by the group of Reavers.
Not wanting to let another one of his people get hurt, Emery cast [Slipstream] on himself and then [Blink]. His figure swiftly disappeared and reappeared, heading towards the girl who was currently being battered by the Reavers from all angles.
When he finally arrived nearby, Trish’s defensive armor had been destroyed. Blood and bruises covered her entire body, making her look extremely miserable.
Emery was about to attack the Reavers who were attacking her when suddenly a group of Abyss creatures blocked his way. He had to deal with them first so he wouldn’t be surrounded as well.
A grim expression appeared on his face as he watched Trish do nothing under Reaver’s relentless attacks. It worsened when he noticed that thousands of Abyss creatures were heading their way and would arrive in a few seconds.
Left with no other way, Emery forced himself to cast his divine spell [Aegis of Void].
He must succeed in casting it. He had to do it, as her life and death were in his hands.
With his resolve to save Trish as fuel, Emery was finally able to create a void bubble big enough to cover the girl completely. Thanks to that, he managed to pull her out of harm’s way, grabbed her with his two hands, and escaped from the Abyss creature’s encirclement with [Blink].
“T-thank… you..” The girl said weakly, to which Emery simply nodded.
The two quickly reunited with the others and joined the new line of defense that had been created. Emery quickly took Trish to Lyndell and her group of healers. Upon arrival, he saw that there were dozens of acolytes being treated and his expression grew dimmer.
Moments later, Annara came to him and brought bad news that made Emery laugh bitterly.
“The hordes have already filled the area to the east and the west of the base! I’m afraid that even if we can hold this line, the base will be attacked from those two directions. We have to retreat!”
It was such news that finally forced them to return to the base. Regardless of Emery’s personal thoughts, this was the most prudent course of action to follow at the moment in order to save more lives.
A massive Spatial Gate was cast, and everyone was told to return to their defensive at the base as soon as possible.
[Time left: 0 days 12 hours 18 minutes]
In the end, they were only able to buy an extra 2 hours from their previous estimation. Even so, they still had to wait another 6 hours before the transport gate opened.
As the acolytes took their respective posts, Emery could see the doubt and uncertainty on their faces.