"Get away!" Shirley screamed. She summoned a powerful burst of Martial Energy to forcefully shove Lord Xiaobo away. She had no time for this! Just as she turned around, she staggered. Her body was in a worser state than she thought.
"Damn it!" Benedict shouted too.
He received Lord Ru's sword directly, using his Bloodline Ability to mitigate the damage. Sadly, his application was sloppy, due to his mental state, so much of the blade pierced his skin. He bled like crazy as a result. Still, neither he nor Shirley cared. They were more concerned about Elizabeth and Freon! The two of them simultaneously executed their movement techniques. Moon Flash! Energy Acceleration! Their opponents got another free hit in, while their backs were exposed, but they quickly caught up to Little Sword and Sentinel Mao. The latter whipped around to defend themselves as Benedict and Shirley unleashed their techniques. Cloud Sea Style: Crashing Waves! Energy Acceleration! Two brilliant strikes erupted, plowing through the battlefield. However, their opponents had seen it coming. Thanks to their superior Martial Perception, and Benedict and Shirley's poor condition, a single sidestep was enough to evade it. The techniques could not even graze their clothes! Nevertheless, Benedict and Shirley managed to delay Little Sword and Sentinel Mao for a split-second.
As the fifteen or so enemy soldiers pressed on, Elizabeth cackled madly. Summoning her Magic Energy, she instantly activated her spell, Gale Shockwave. Boom! A massive windstorm blasted forth from her. This was one of her close-range wind spells that she used to defend herself. The gust was so strong that no one could stand on their feet anymore. Even the Ten Dawns and her friends could barely hold on. They were all blown back! The entire cliffside shook from the pressure, shaking more rocks and trees loose. It was getting dangerously close to triggering a landslide. However, despite the seemingly impressive performance, her spell lacked killing potential. Everyone got up and shook off the dust with hardly a scrape on them. It did nothing but buy them some time. That was it. Their enemies charged at them once again.
When they got closer though, Elizabeth unleashed another Gale Shockwave. Boom! The second windstorm was stronger than before, catching everyone off-guard. This spell operated on very simple principles: the more energy she uses, the stronger it becomes. It was a 'brute force' type of spell. This should have been a perfect chance for Elizabeth and her allies to escape, but… it was not that simple. The enemies were attacking from every side, so she had to cover every side with her spell. That meant there was nowhere safe to hide. She was hitting her allies too! Benedict, Shirley, Freon, and the two Ten Dawns… The remaining survivors struggled to stabilize themselves amidst the storm, grabbing onto any tree or rock they could. They could not escape, even if they wanted to. The only one who could move was Elizabeth. Hence, they looked at her in confusion. What was her plan?
However, only she knew she had no plan. It was an act of desperation, a final attempt to delay the inevitable, because realistically, what could she do? Rena, her trump card, was no longer responding. Elizabeth could not rely on them anymore. Reinforcements were also unlikely to find where they were, much less arrive to save them. So, what could she do? The interference strength continued to steadily rise, forcing her to use more and more Magic Energy with every spell. Her Core was draining rapidly. Moreover, her enemies were starting to adapt to the spell's effects. They were beginning to gain ground. She estimated she could use the spell, at most, three more times. That was her limit. After that… everyone would die! She raced through the options but found no solution. There might really be no way out! That realization nearly drove her mad. Like Freon, she began to think it might be better to commit suicide and blow up the entire cliffside! That was better than losing!
The third Gale Shockwave! She had two more spells left and her nervousness was starting to show. Time was ticking down. She had to decide quickly! But when she looked at her friends and the Ten Dawns, she hesitated. What about them? What did they think? Did she have the right to decide for them? Could she… take their lives? Hesitation and guilt gripped her heart. That split-second pause was enough for some soldiers to recover and send flying strikes her way. They then reached her in the blink of an eye. Although the interference strength did weaken their lethality, it was still sharp as a knife. It could not be underestimated! Whoosh! A massive slash landed on her chest, slicing her from waist to shoulder, and went deep enough to hit bone. The force sent her flying and splashed blood everywhere. It was her first real injury since these battles began, and it was a brutal one. Two more flying strikes landed on her legs and chest while she was in the air. They came dangerously close to hitting her head and killing her! Despite surviving… the degree of these injuries was severe. Bang! The girl crashed into the hard earth as the pain paralyzed her. Blood drained out of her wounds like a broken glass.
Benedict and Shirley tried to get on their feet, but their pain kept them down. Their bodies would not respond! The Ten Dawns were in a similar state, having over exhausted their Cores. They could barely stay conscious. Meanwhile, Freon spat up blood. Thanks to Elizabeth's unannounced Gale Shockwave, it blasted him out of his double-casting and caused a backlash. His Core trembled from the recoil. None of them were in good shape. The soldiers however quickly recovered. Elizabeth's spells were no more than a slight annoyance to them. Leading the pack was Sentinel Mao. She had a personal grievance against Elizabeth, after Elizabeth killed her younger brother, Cardinal Shaolong, more than a year ago. She would get her revenge here! Little Sword, Lord Xiaobo, and Lord Ru were not far behind either. Of course, their main objective was still to capture Elizabeth alive. While the previous flying strikes left her half-dead, she would not die that quickly. They would clean up the battlefield first!
As the enemies raced in again, a fourth Gale Shockwave slammed into them! Boom! The massive surge of wind blasted everything and everyone back, bending trees and upheaving rocks. A huge shockwave tore into the cliffside and sent dust sky-high. It looked like an explosion went off as the entire landscape was cleared! Elizabeth was not done yet. Despite bleeding enough to dye the grass red and aching enough to paralyze her body, her hands never left her bow. Her eyes had a trace of madness. If the situation was hopeless, then so be it. They would reunite in the next life! Her remaining Magic Energy funneled into her final two spells. She was going to double-cast Gale Shockwave and Eclipsing Theatre. This was her last strike!
"Now!" Freon shouted, as he summoned a huge wall of flames.
By sheer luck alone, Elizabeth's last spell had separated everyone cleanly. She was hit by three flying strikes, so no one thought she could cast another Gale Shockwave. Even the Perception Realm Experts did not consider using their Martial Perceptions. It looked that grim for her. However, she defied everyone's expectations. They underestimated her incredible willpower! When she used her fourth spell, her enemies were standing up and unaware. Therefore, that massive surge of wind hit them the hardest, sending them flying back a great distance and dazing them. At the same time, Benedict, Shirley, Freon, and the Ten Dawns were stuck on the ground, since they could not move. The windstorm was thus much weaker for them. They remained close to Elizabeth. This was a golden opportunity that Freon did not miss. He created a wall of flames that divided the two parties and shouted to Benedict and Shirley. Their Martial Energy was instrumental here!
Benedict and Shirley instantly understood. Despite their explosive pain and gruesome injuries, they knew they could not fall here. This was their only chance. They had to succeed! They screamed and forcefully pushed themselves to their feet. Summoning as much Martial Energy as they could, they executed their movement techniques. Moon Flash! Energy Acceleration! The stress on their muscles almost tore their body to pieces. It was a pain unlike anything else! However, they bore through it. Benedict grabbed Freon and Ten Dawn Yvonne, while Shirley snatched Elizabeth and Ten Dawn Runenda. Everything took seconds. That was how fast it was. And when Freon's wall of flames ended, they were gone!