At dawn the next day, Lucien and Ren's return found the city slowly awakening from the celebration.
"The barrier is secured," Ren reported. "The indicators at the statues' bases marked nine days, we managed to raise them to 11 once."
"Only 11?" asked Selene, frowning.
"I tried to take them to twelve," Ren ran a hand over his face in frustration. "But there seems to be a limit. The initial ten days of 'God's gift' stretch this limit only the first time, but afterward it seems we can only accumulate forty-eight hours of barrier."
"We'll need daily patrols to carry the million then, also on the wall since we're at it," Selene reflected.
"I've already left a hundred soldiers organizing a messenger system with swifts, but with the enormous magnitude of the wall..." Lucien responded.
"We'll need more people," Elio completed. "Many more."
♢♢♢♢
