"Umm, Idonea; I don't mean to be a bearer of bad news, but they're catching up to us." Said Sarah hesitantly while wrapped over Idonea's shoulder, looking behind them as she viewed several beasts closing in on them despite her flying as fast as she could.
"I already know; I can see them through my divine sense." Replied Idonea with an ugly expression as she glanced behind her, spotting several flying and running beasts chasing behind her.
'This isn't good; the moment the first Divine monster appeared, I had a feeling this might happen; however, I thought if we left early enough, they wouldn't catch up to us, at least not this quickly.' Thought Idonea while eyeing the numerous monsters, which all radiated the power of at least a Divine King.
If it were just one monster with the strength of a Divine King, I'd be confident in surviving for some time, especially considering they're mindless well, at least most of them are mindless; the one that injured Marley didn't seem to be as dumb as the rest of them, since it actually dodged her attack. Either way, if any of them happens to be even somewhat intelligent, we're finished.
"Sarah, take this." Said Idonea as she summoned the crystal ball that contained Elif's Heavenly Scar before handing it to Sarah.
"A-Are sure I should have this? What happens if I miss? What if I possibly injure or, even worse, kill one of you?" Questioned Sarah timidly as she carefully held the crystal ball while warily looking at the monsters in the distance.
"You won't miss unless you are facing the complete opposite way. Also, if the worst-case scenario happens, and one of us ends up dying, it's not like it's the end of the world; that attack can't harm souls, or at least Marley and my souls. His Highness had given us a small piece of his soul, so in case we happen to get caught up in the attack, it would destroy our body, but it would ignore our soul. If that does happen, it's fine; our physical bodies can always be reforged." Stated Idonea calmly as she looked at Sarah; well, she at least tried to; all she got was a face full of her butt.
"I-I understand; If it really comes down to it, I-I won't hesitant to use!" Replied Sarah solemnly as she glanced at the gravely injured Marley, hardening her resolve though she still sounded a little uncertain.
"Relax, Sarah, this is just a precaution, though make sure you're far away from the attack area. His Highness gave Marley and I a piece of his soul, not you; you'll die, soul and all." Said Idonea seriously while Sarah swiftly nodded, looking like a bird pecking a tree.
"A precaution that'll most likely happen." Muttered Idonea silently with a frown as she sensed the beasts closing in on them, knowing she'd eventually be forced to fight them.
There wasn't much I could do right now; while we didn't have any useful pills given our predicament, we did have a few artifacts and talisman that could help us out, but it wasn't enough. Every few seconds, a new monster appears in the range of my divine sense, and even if I used everything I had as optimally as I could, It still wouldn't be enough to save us, though hopefully, it could prolong our survival, at least until their Highnesses arrive.
As the minutes rolled by, the monsters chasing us that previously numbered only a hundred or so had now entered the thousands and continued increasing rapidly; not to mention, they were very close to us now.
'Tch, if I continue flying, I'll just waste more Qi before I'm forced to eventually engage in combat with them.' Thought Idonea aa; she looked behind her, only to see a horde of monsters chasing her in the air and on land.
"Sarah, get ready to fly some distance away with Marley; I'm about to fight them; hopefully, I can hold them at bay for some time." Remarked Idonea with a hardened gaze as she suddenly threw both of them forward while she turned around and faced the approaching horde.
"T-Try to survive! I know their Highnesses must be close by!" Yelled Sarah with a painful expression while gritting her teeth, feeling utterly useless, as she caught Marley and flew away, though her speed was significantly slower than Idonea's.
"Haa, I truly hope they are." Murmured Idonea with a sigh as she suddenly summoned a rapier from her dimension ring before injecting a substantial amount of Qi into it while pointing it toward the sky.
"Sword Barrage!" Said Idonea, and just as she said that, the silver rapier in her hand glowed brightly before hundreds of ethereal blades appeared floating above her.
Facing the horde of monsters, with but a thought, I commanded the hundreds of ethereal rapiers to shoot toward the thousands of enemies before me; following my will, they did so. With the ethereal rapiers approaching the monsters, they decimated the first wave of monsters along with the following few waves as they pierced through enemy after enemy; yet even so, what I was wielding was just a high-tier Saint artifact. It may be powerful, capable of killing a few hundred Divine Kings despite me only being a peak Divine Lord, but it had a limit, and as the ethereal rapiers started shattering, I knew I'd reached it.
I could use it again, but the ability used a large chunk of my Qi, roughly fifty percent of my remaining Qi, and after all that flying, I didn't have too much left. Switching out my weapons, I stored my usual rapier in my dimension ring and held the artifact so I could use it quickly in a time of need.
Summoning numerous talismans, I slapped a few onto my body, each one protecting me in different ways, whether it's surrounding me in a bubble-like structure, covering me in ethereal skin, turning my body intangible, and a few other ways. Fully prepared to the best of my capabilities, I started activating my attack talisman, causing various things to shoot toward the incoming horde, whether it be lightning, fire, ice, swords, axes, vines, poison, or anything you could think of.
Still, even with my onslaught of attacks, I was being pushed back; it wasn't because the talismans were weak; in fact, they were relatively strong, each capable of killing several monsters, yet several didn't mean much in the face of multiple thousands of enemies.
"Tch, this isn't going as planned; it hasn't even been two minutes, and I've already used half of my talisman." Muttered Idonea with an ugly expression while a monster that resembled a jaguar leaped toward her before slashing at her with its razor-sharp claws.
Sensing the incoming monster, I attempted to evade its paws, but it was too fast; its claws ripped right through my protective bubble while flinging me a good distance away. Stopping myself, I continued using talisman after talisman, but they continued pushing forward, all the while stripping me of my protective talisman until I only had one remaining.
'There goes my last one; now I'm exposed.' Thought Idonea as she was sent crashing into the sea of monsters by what seemed to be a mountain gorilla.
Sensing my last protective talisman shattering under the force of the monster attack, I swiftly flew out of the crater and sea of monsters, intending to stall them for just a little bit longer, but when I tried summoning more talismans, I suddenly realized I was completely empty.
Not only did I run out, but it was also at the worst time, as a flying monster lunged right for me with its sharp talons. I quickly brought forth my rapier to block it, as I didn't have enough time to dodge, though I knew blocking the attack from a monster with the strength of a middle Divine King was next to suicidal.
However, just before the monster attacked me, its body was suddenly hit with lightning, frying it just mere moments as it swiftly died, falling to the ground below.
"Heh, y-you could use some help, I-Idonea." Remarked Marley with a forced smile as she slowly approached Idonea while using several talismans.
"Appreciate it; that attack would've made me look like you." Said Idonea as she looked at Marley, who still had a bloody, gaping hole in her torso.
"T-That would be a-an amusing sight." Replied Marley as she handed Idonea a stack of Talisman.
"Now then, with m-my help, we should b-be able to stall t-them a little longer." Added Marley as the two began using their talisman simultaneously, stopping the monster's charge, though they knew it was only temporary.
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"Shit! Idonea, y-you sure you don't h-have any talisman s-saved up?" Asked Marley in exhaustion with an intense frown as she used the last of her talisman against the horde of monsters.
"I was just about to ask you that question, Marley." Replied Idonea with a frown, equally as exhausted as Marley.
Just when I was about to signal Sarah to use the crystal ball, we suddenly heard the familiar voice of a little girl, one that filled us with relief and joy simultaneously, knowing that we'd finally managed to be saved.
"Reaper of Death: Decimate!" Muttered Elaine, and from nowhere, a large black arched wave appeared as it approached the massive horde that was about to rip Marley and Idonea to shreds.
Seeing Her Highness easily kill hundreds of beasts put my mind to rest while also filling me with awe. I've always known Her Highness was powerful, but for someone half my age to kill so many monsters we were having trouble with was weird, to put it lightly.
"F-Finally; a-alright, Idonea, I-I think I-I'm going to s-sleep now. I-I'm tired." Said Marley with a light smile as all the adrenaline that pumped through her system began dissipating, causing her to fall unconscious.