Standing up, Noah turned around and walked back to the village. As he was walking though, he noticed some strange fluctuations outside. Fearing what might have happened, Noah rushed back to the village. As soon as Noah reached the village, he was shocked by what he saw.
Hundreds of gigantic beings hovered around the village, bombarding the barrier he placed with thousands of spells. The village was in a state of panic as others ran about taking the children inside their homes, and others praying for safety. Fortunately, no one succumbed and surrendered to the demons.
"Everyone!" Noah shouted, which caught the attention of the villagers. As soon as they saw him, they immediately rushed to him, asking what to do. The leaders were also there, waiting for his response, in hopes that he has something to save them.
"All of ye are to go to the sacred site, young and old! Prayeth to the heavens for the blessings of divinity! The Almighty God hadst revealed that there might be some divinities under His rule that are willing to give ye their blessings! It is up to thy fates whether you can or cannot receiveth those blessings." Noah proclaimed.
"What about thou?" Lamech asked his son. "I shalt hold the demons off here, so make haste!" He answered before stepping forward, shielding the people behind him.
"Ye hast heard the Servant of God!" Elric, who had begun leading the children, shouted, "Make haste!"
Soon, all of the villagers rushed to the sacred site, in hopes of obtaining the blessing and helping him defend.
"Thou'st been abandoned, mortal." One of the gigantic demons spoke condescendingly, "Surrender, and thou shalt be spared."
"Just because ye hadst not seen His authority looming over thee doesn't mean that He is not here." Noah sneered, "He has declared thy destined fall, we are just waiting for the right time."
Hearing how disrespectful he was, the demons were angered, "Thy God is not here, nor will He ever be. This is our dominion." The same demon who spoke before replied to him indifferently.
"Not here? Then feel His power once more!" With a shout, Noah struck his wooden staff on the ground, sending huge shockwaves throughout the land. The sky then cleared as the dark clouds moved aside to welcome the grand light of heaven. As soon as the light touched the demons, burns started to appear on their skins as they wail and stepped back, far from where the light could reach them.
"Hiss!" Baring their fangs at him, the demons felt their blood boiling in anger. In the face of all that hate, Noah only sneered.
"Together!" As they were hissing at him who was within the light of God, one of the demons suddenly shouted, which alerted the others, and as if they remembered something, their expressions all lit up. In a harmonic manner their hands started moving rapidly. Balls of blood slowly formed in front of them as they muttered blasphemous things.
As Noah listened, his mind slowly became clouded with anger, but he quickly regained his sanity, looking at the demons outside with fury, "Sullying My God, how dare ye!" He waved his staff, and, lo and behold, similarly numbered balls of light appeared above him.
Zang!
Both at the same time, the orbs of blood and light darted towards their targets, the balls of light attacking each and every one of the demons whilst all the hundreds of balls of blood going at the same direction; All towards him.
Although the orbs of blood were weakened by the divine light, it was still numerous. On the other hand, the orbs of light that were fired by Noah reached their targets, albeit they were easily avoided or redirected.
Unfortunately for Noah, that attack consumed a lot of his divine power, so he wouldn't be able to attack once again without having to take down the barrier that was surrounding the village. Seeing how gleeful the demons were in seeing his predicament, it seems that was their goal all along.
"He's weakened! Blast this barrier down!" The demons cheered before each and every one of them started preparing their own attacks at the barrier.
Noah narrowed his eyes and inhaled deeply. It would seem this would be a whole lot harder than he thought it would be. He now regretted that he let his impulsive thoughts take over for a moment.
Wait…
Impulsive thoughts?
How did he even let the impulsive thoughts take over? He thought to himself.
He then scanned his surroundings, checking for something strange that was surrounding him. Soon he discovered what was wrong.
The village hadn't really been at a period of peace. The demons who hadn't participated in that previous attack weren't really apprehensive. Throughout that 'peaceful' time, the demons were actually spreading miasmic energy surrounding them. The energy came from a plant, and therefore wasn't filtered by the divine light that was protecting the village from those who intend harm. Because it was from a plant, it was treated a part of the natural order, and was therefore accepted by the barrier to enter within the village.
Now, Noah really became impressed with the villagers, being able to resist even that. Still, he wasn't in a position to celebrate. He still had to modify the barrier. But because his divine power greatly decreased, he couldn't even do so.
Seeing him realize the problem and not even being able to solve it, the demons laughed at him mockingly. "Where is thy God now? Where is He now?! Hahaha!"
They continuously bombarded the barrier with attacks, and Noah could only sit and put all of his energy into reinforcing the barrier.
Since the beginning of the attack, more than three days had already passed. Noah, almost already fully depleted of divine energy, was now only relying on his staff to stand up. His arms and legs were so thin that his bones were already visible. Still, his determination to protect the village was still ever as radiant.
Although it was the case, he could already see himself falling sooner. He could only pray to God Almighty to let the other villagers to continue his legacy of bringing the people of God to safety once God's Judgement befalls the world.