Although the succubus tamers were performing more than exemplary, exceeding any and all expectations I had before, there were still some problems if they were to continue onward.
‘The god tamer’s battle…’
The main reason why we only chose to surveil the four cardinal directions was because that was the general location where the god tamers were fighting. They were all literally stuck in the middle of the enemy lines, fighting with no leeway to even take a short break.
Another minute passed, and the operation was proceeding smoothly, breaching two-thirds of the to-be-reclaimed lands. Soon, the video feeds started showing intense battles ahead, spreading far and wide.
However, as soon as they approached, the land before them suddenly surged after a nearby explosion.
“…! Everyone, detour around the god-level battle!”
I quickly sent my orders to everyone. As soon as my voice echoed, all the girls quickly took distance and swerved a long way around, bypassing the extreme battle that was happening nearby.
‘If they took even a single step on the god tamer’s battlefield, then those girls would’ve died…’
It was scary thinking that they were literally a step away from the death zone. Fortunately, they managed to move out of the way and maintain the same pace of clearing the demons around.
“UGH! AAAARHGH!”
Suddenly, pain coursed all over my body.
Now that I realized it, I was already standing at the pool, meaning I had stopped ingesting the supply of energy recovery potions. I could feel the energy washing away from my heart and vanishing somewhere far away.
“Master!”
Ember, worried, tried to run in my direction, but I quickly waved my hand and stopped her, resuming my lying-down position. My energy was almost out, so I gulped down as much liquid as I could.
The recovery soon balanced out the consumption, plus a little more to recover my almost used-up energy. As soon as my situation stabilized, I could finally breathe calmly once more.
‘That was close…’
If I was late by even a second, then my body would probably end up dried as all my energy gets sucked away. Well, if that happened, then I’d just faint, but the problem was that the Status Augmentation cast on the succubus tamers would get undone, exposing them to grave danger.
‘I can’t let ten thousand girls who entrusted their fates to me die because of a small mishap!’
At the three-minute mark, they were finally at the border. However, the girls were struggling to push back the remaining demons, as the enemies were full of 9th-stage demons. They were swarming around like housewives, hearing about a grocery store’s bargain sale.
By the looks of it, they would need more time before they could clear the field.
*BAM!*
At that moment, a loud explosion echoed. I thought it was from one of the four monitors, but there’s no audio feed coming from them. Suddenly, Guren turned around, his face distorted in panic and anger.
“It looks like your prediction was correct!”
As he spoke, I, too, felt something change. The barrier around the entire Seimei household fell!
Furthermore, as soon as the barrier was disabled, two powerful presences were detected. Both at the god-level.
“This… God-level demons!”
I was actually expecting Noir to come and kill me personally, but instead, he sent two god-level enemies to wipe us out. I guess, thinking normally, without god-tamers to protect us and without a weakening barrier that lowers demons’ power levels, this situation was fatal… Well, he just wasted two of his chess pieces!
“Igni! Handle the one on the south. Ember, help Igni!”
“Yes, My Lord!”
“Copy, Master!”
Without waiting for any further commands, the two of them quickly ran out of the hall and turned to the right. The problem was the other one…
“Fang, Fatima, can I ask this of you two? Wrap up the demon at the North!”
Fang was merely at the 7th stage. Even though she was a lot stronger than a normal 7th stage, even stronger than the lowest-level 8th stage, her defense was paper thin. If she gets hit even once, then it could lead to a fatal injury.
Still, without hesitation, Fang saluted with a fierce smile.
“Got it, Leader! Just stay here and wait for good news~!”
Just like Ember and Igni, she ran out of the hall as soon as she received her orders. I watched as her small back left the hall and turned to the right… Then she returned and passed by the door again, heading to the left, where the north end was.
“Fatima, please watch over Fang.”
Seeing her excitedly running to battle, only worries filled my head. Of course, I made sure to drink the potion pool every now and then while speaking, ensuring the continuous operation of the Status Augmentation.
Fatima simply smiled before gracefully running out of the room. It was as if she wasn’t in a hurry at all. Wait, why did she kneel beyond the door?
*BANG!*
After a few seconds of gathering strength, she fired the rifle. Did she…
*ROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!*
As if to confirm my guess, a loud and painful roar echoed from the north. It looks like Fatima’s bullet did cause significant damage to the god-level demon.
Fatima smiled and walked back to the hall, bathed in everyone’s gaze.
“I blinded its right eye. Fang should be able to take advantage of that.”
“…”
It was amazing how she handled a monster of that level in an instant. However, although she was hiding it, I could see that the energy in her right arm was out of whack once more. Without “healing” her arm, I guess she can’t fire another shot.
“Sit down and rest first. I’ll heal you when the Status Augmentation is over.”
“Of course. Thanks, Will.”
Fatima simply smiled and walked away, going to a far corner and sitting against the wall. Seeing that the same injury happened to her, I guess she’s using her own energy to absorb the recoil of her gun form. After all, with a body in the 3rd stage, there’s no way she can resist the recoil without being seriously injured.
Anyway, now four minutes have passed. The succubus army was now completely owning the demons around the frontlines, restoring the previous frontline base that the other tamers quickly reinforced.
Just adding a weakening barrier was enough to ease up the battle for everyone.
The succubus tamers were still busy fighting, but their time was running out. Before they fell from overusing their bodies, I ordered them to all retreat to the Seimei territory. After all, right now, this place is the safest.
“Well, ignoring the two god-level demons sieging this place, at least.”
Five minutes.
The effect of Status Augmentation ended, and my body’s excessive usage of energy quickly stopped. I also stopped drinking the energy recovery potion pool, but the ones I already drank were still giving me energy slowly. It was hard to move, as my stomach felt slushy. I think I drank too much potion… I feel like throwing up.
“I need to expend this energy before it causes an overload!”
Of course, wasting energy is a no-no. I, instead, ran out of the hall, still topless, and turned to check the two demons visually.
The one fighting against Fang, the leopard-like demon, looked battered already. Well, half of it, at least. Fang was leveraging the fact that it only had half of its vision, moving only in the area that was supposed to be its blindspot.
Seeing Fang fight so meticulously, I felt a sense of relief. With this, she should be fine for a while.
On the other side, Igni was literally tanking all the attacks from the god-level demon. She didn’t have a shield, only her flaming sword and a bunch of skills, but looking at the battle, they seemed almost on par with each other.
The demon couldn’t injure Igni, but the reverse was also true. Even with Ember’s support, their firepower wasn’t enough to pierce the scales of the zombie-like dragon demon before them.
“I guess Igni’s side needs more support.”
Without wasting another second, I ran to where the two were. Their fight was fierce, but Igni was limiting the damage to the surrounding structures by moving around the same spot repeatedly.
Ember was using her exoskeleton-like armament and was taking advantage of the openings that Igni made, landing a hit or two each time. Their battle was balanced, but their stamina wasn’t limitless. Both were showing signs of fatigue already, especially Igni, who was blocking the attacks directly with her sword and body.
“I’ll be joining the fight!” 𝑙𝑖𝓇𝒶.𝑐ℴ𝑚
I may have a lot of skills, but the ones that can be used to injure the enemy are limited. After checking the energy flow inside it, I quickly gathered energy between my hands.
Bluish-white light started to condense, and the energy from my body and from the air was gathered into a small sphere.
“But a sphere has little to no piercing power…”
Noticing the fault in my design, I quickly modified it. Raising both hands, the small ball floated above my head as it changed shape, turning conical as it rotated rapidly.
“I don’t have a name for this skill, but… Take this! Energy Drill!”
It was nothing but sending a clump of energy against the enemy. A simple attack, to say the least. However, the demon wasn’t afraid of such an attack and fired a breath that looked like it could induce a plague if it landed.
“Too bad, you picked the wrong move.”
The drill I sent, made of solidified mana, had grooves along its body. As it rotated, it created a vacuum and sucked everything along the way before dissolving them at the core, where the densest energy was present.
The breath attack was completely sucked in and neutralized. The drill also flew straight, aiming for the core of the demon.
“That’s one down.”
I didn’t even need to watch how it ended, as the result was already obvious. I turned around and quickly ran to Fang’s side… But then a wave of weakness hit me. It was the feeling of a large amount of energy being used up.
Through my link with the girls, I quickly noticed the anomaly.
“… Fang!”