One of the two demons changed targets, leaving aside Threya and running toward Fatima. Fatima couldn’t run away, of course, as she was only at the 1st stage in terms of physical ability.
“But I wouldn’t let you touch her!”
Using another [Shadow Skip], I stood between Fatima and the demon, raising the weapon that Ember passed to me. “Wait… Wrong!”
I was late in recognizing the weapon, but it was actually a human-sized pile bunker! I can’t use this as a weapon like a sword or a spear, making it difficult to use.
‘This… It can’t be used without setting up the anchors first!’
As soon as I realized that, I quickly placed it inside my [Spatial Storage] and readied my fists. I really should start stocking up on weapons, since I frequently destroy the swords I have.
*GRAAAAAAAGH!*
It tried to ignore me too, rushing toward Fatima alone, but ignoring me was a fatal mistake on its part. As soon as it passed by, I used [Shadow Skip] plus [Cloning], creating a single clone to use the pile bunker that Ember made.
As soon as I passed the weapon to my clone, I moved up to the demon’s face and used a palm strike, sending a powerful energy blast and disrupting the demon’s flow of energy.
The demon blocked its face but was a step too late. Now that its flow of energy was slightly disrupted, the demon’s steps turned wobbly, as if hit by a dizzy spell.
“Watch out!”
Although it was wobbling around, with its momentum alone, it managed to reach where Fatima was. I quickly used [Shadow Skip] once more, popping beside her, then used it one more time to move out of range of the demon.
“… Ugh… Sh*t…!”
As soon as I landed, my vision spun greatly, making me kneel on the ground slightly. I was almost out of energy earlier and even forced out a shadow clone, followed by two instant movement skills. I guess it was a miracle that my energy was even enough for the last one.
I looked over at the demon, and due to its wobbling around, it fell down face-first. The ground shook greatly, even making it crack upon impact. My clone didn’t miss the chance and quickly moved to the back of its head. With a press of a button, the four legs of the pile bunker extended before reinforced wires shot forth from them, piercing into the demon’s flesh and acting as anchors.
The weapon itself was ready to fire at any moment, but without proper anchorage, most of its power would be lost from the recoil. Now that it was properly anchored, all the force was focused at its tips, making it a literal killing machine.
“FIRE!”
I shouted, but my clone didn’t even need my command. At the same time I shouted, he had already pulled the trigger. The almost two-meter-long, ten-centimeter-diameter shaft flew forward at unbelievable speeds. The god-level demon’s skull couldn’t even block it as it pierced deep into its skull. The entire shaft was even made entirely of cursed ore, something Ember made just for this moment.
Although it should have had limited damage due to the speed at which it was moving, the additional rotation made it so that the wound was ravaged as much as possible. The curse in the shaft was stopping the regeneration, making it as deadly as it could be. Technically, like placing the brain inside a blender, the entire content of its head was reduced to nothing but pieces of flesh and juice. The shaft didn’t linger for too long and pierced through the forehead and into the ground, creating another small earthquake.
The shot was so powerful that the clone that pulled the trigger literally died instantly from the shockwaves alone. The pile bunker itself disintegrated after use, as if vanishing after fulfilling its role.
“…”
The demon fell, just like that. I was sure of it as the energy inside its body stopped circulating, which was only possible for those who died.
*SHRIEEEEEK!*
As soon as the second one fell, the third god-level demon suddenly raised a loud shriek. For some reason, its voice sends shivers down my spine. It didn’t take too long before I realized that its voice was emitting a certain pattern of energy, but it was already too late to stop it.
“M-Master…!” 𝘰𝑣𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
“Leader, this is bad!”
Ember and Fang, who were both focusing on scouting the surroundings, quickly found the anomaly. Of course, I found it too, as soon as they entered my range of vision. From several directions, multiple god-level demons appeared. From the energy waves alone, it was obvious that they were at least more powerful than the first three.
“There are… dozens of them!”
Fang’s voice was trembling as she announced that, with her tail standing straight in vigilance. The third demon was slowly backing off, making sure to pay attention to all of us as it slowly. Rather than being afraid of us, it was more like making sure we didn’t escape. It was maintaining a subtle distance that we couldn’t cover in an instant.
‘How come there’s this many god-level demons around here?!’
I cursed in my head, wondering how we could survive on this battlefield. Just as I was thinking of ways to escape, half of the dozens of god-level demons started converging their energies. I was a little familiar with this, as it was exactly the same prelude before the first god-level demon fired a beam from its mouth.
“Everyone, gather around!”
I quickly shouted before activating the Flames of Evolution and Flames of Regression. I think I should’ve recovered some karma earlier, but the amount would surely get emptied instantly. However, there’s a ten-second buffer before the flames’ effect vanishes after the good and bad karma drops to zero, so I could use that time to set up protections around us.
“Ember, Igni!”
I called their names as I set up multiple barriers around them. Since I couldn’t maintain my “almighty” state for long, I embedded as much energy into each barrier, hoping that they would last long under the simultaneous attacks of the god-level demons.
“Yes, Master!”
Ember answered instantly, setting up her own physical barriers—shields,? to be precise—behind the ones I set. Igni was quiet, but she was applying a layer of her flames, the [Ignis Fatuus], before the first layer. It only looked like little balls of fire floating outside the translucent barrier, but even the space between each of them was burning with almost transparent white flames.
“…! EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!”
I roared as loud as I could when I felt that the attacks were released. Six laser-like white beams blasted against the barrier from different directions, immediately cracking two layers of the barrier. The attack was continuous, though, so the cracks were spreading rapidly. Igni’s flames were snuffed out almost immediately, but they did manage to offset quite a bit of the impact.
I watched as the first layer of my barriers failed, then the second, third, and fourth. When the fifth was the only one protecting us, the beams finally faded. It felt like a minute had passed while watching all that unfold, but in reality, it was only a quarter of a second.
“Sh*t…!”
I didn’t let my guard down and quickly reconstructed the barriers, adding five more layers. After all, the next wave of attacks was already on its way. Igni couldn’t place her barrier in time, though, so the next blast took the entire six barriers altogether.
Thankfully, Ember’s shields were able to deflect the beams; otherwise, we would all be cooked thoroughly. Not even ashes will probably remain from us!
“The attacks… stopped?”
All their energies suddenly stopped gathering. It was like they returned to their normal state, doing nothing… Wait, were they delaying their next attack?!
Cold sweat fell down my forehead. Only three seconds had passed, so I still had roughly seven seconds left. However, after that, I would be completely powerless.
“Think of the future only after you survive!”
I convinced myself before creating a clone using my self-styled [Shadow Cloning]. My clones weren’t covered in flames, but they possessed the same amount of energy as my maximum capacity. Using that, each clone set up three barriers before vanishing. I continued this pattern, disregarding my nosebleed, and created more clones to have more and more barriers. Just before the time limit came, I managed to add more than 50 layers of barriers; however, I knew that it wasn’t going to last long.
“…”
At that moment, the flames covering me vanished. Alongside it, an extreme sense of fatigue started to hit me. Not only did I overuse my own energy, I even thrashed my energy paths with the haphazard use of clones and barriers. It was the silver lining that my consciousness still remained, but I couldn’t move anymore.
Just as I fell, Fatima caught my body with a worried face. But rather than worrying about me, I guess she was more worried about the god-level demons who were preparing another set of attacks now that I was down.
“Is this it…?”
I gritted my teeth, wondering. All the girls were doing their best, reinforcing the barriers I made with their own, but each blast of the beams was able to strip one set of barriers completely. With the pace at which they’re firing, we would only last a few more seconds.
“Will… I guess this is it, huh?”
Fatima sighed, a resigned smile appearing on her face. That smile reminded me of her past smile, reviving the memories when I wasn’t able to save her. I gritted my teeth hard, biting my lips until the taste of blood spread all over my mouth.
“The last barrier…!”
Fang’s voice echoed, bringing me back to reality. Time seemed to slow down to the limits as I watched a dozen beams fly, aiming straight toward our location.
“No…!”
I wanted to protect everyone but was able to do nothing in the end… Am I just that powerless? Just as I was wallowing in despair…
“*sigh* I didn’t really plan to interfere, but that girl is getting a bit noisy.”
A familiar voice echoed before we got covered in a red portal. Before the beams were able to reach us, our figures had already vanished from that place.