Volume 8 Chapter 461 - Defend
'My barrier is…' Riveria's golden barrier started cracking from the sheer pressure of the purple flames, and those flames weren't showing any signs of receding. Riveria hurriedly turned around and shouted in despair, "Gareth!!! Protect Ais and the others!!!"
Gareth immediately snatched two tower-shields from the supporters and held them between Riveria and the group. He wanted to go in front of Riveria but the barrier was already blasted open.
"Riveria!!!" Ais cried out. However, Finn didn't allow the desperate Ais to get close to her.
The flames then reached Gareth, "GUOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The shields on his hand immediately broke into tiny pieces and without much choice, Gareth used his own body to block the flames.
While this was happening, Koneko also took out her hexagonal tower shield and set it down behind Gareth, blocking the flames from getting through him, "Kuhh!!!!"
Koneko's shield, although it only blocked a small part of the flames, was also cracked before the enemy's magic ended with a large shockwave, sending the party flying away.
When Sona recovered from the attack, she saw a crack in her sight and realized that her glasses were cracked after being sent flying. She immediately checked on Aika and Koneko and saw that Aika was already taking care of Koneko's burnt hands.
She then looked around and saw the rest of the forest which had disappeared, along with the other monsters. The Loki Familia members and Tsubaki were all on the ground, but at least they were conscious.
However, the two people who took the brunt force of the magic were not in good shape. Gareth's body was burnt, but he was able to survive because of his endurance, while Riveria was in the same state and only survived because of her immense magical power that passively increased her magic defenses. Also, they could be thankful for their armors with magic defense properties which let them keep their breaths, however, those were already in tatters.
But before they could even recover, the corrupted Spirit resumed chanting, [Roar, Earth.]
"!!!?"
[Come come come, shell of the earth, treasure of the black iron hammer of stars, take the contract of creation and invert it, burn the sky, break the earth, build a bridge, and become heaven and earth.]
"PROTECT RAUL AND THE OTHERS!!!!!" Finn hurriedly shouted.
Bete, Tiona, Tione, Ais, Tsubaki, and Finn hurriedly moved to gather the supporters and the two unconscious people as they were the only people that wouldn't be able to survive if they were to get hit by the enemy's magic.
Tiona and Tione reached the trio's sight and was about to grab them, however, Sona suddenly shouted while looking at the corrupted Spirit, "Focus on the others! We'll be fine!"
"What are you saying!?" Tione shouted and was about to grab them, however, Tiona instead grabbed her shoulder, "Tiona!?"
Tiona first looked into their eyes before smiling, "Goodluck~!" Before turning around to save the others.
Tione was gobsmacked at her sister's response, but when she looked at the trio's eyes, she only saw confidence and seriousness, "Fine…", she sighed. "Please survive.", said Tione before following her sister.
Although it was only Sona who decided not to be saved by others, and even if Aika and Koneko didn't know the real situation, they had full confidence in her, "So? What's the plan?"
While fixing the position of her broken glasses, Sona answered, "Different from earlier, this magic should be stronger in terms of destructive power, but not as wide as the first one."
Observing the movement of Mana and seeing the clusters of them gathering in one spot, Sona continued, "Earth magic… It's probably a meteorite type so we just have to dodge and deflect the projectiles to survive." She then looked towards Koneko and Aika, "Can you do it?"
Koneko and Aika looked at each other before Koneko asked, "Can you predict where they will come from and the range of the actual target?"
"That's easy," Sona answered.
"Then this will be easy." Aika and Koneko both replied with a smile.
[Falling axes of heaven, disaster of destruction - I order you in the name of the agent, the name given to me is Gnome, avatar of earth, queen of earth.]
Numerous large magic circles then appeared on the ceiling of the 59th floor and from it, gigantic sharp rocks that were covered with ominous purple magic power emerged and started their deadly descent to the ground.
"TEMPEST!!!" Ais used her magic to summon the wind and used it to cover the group while the rest used their own bodies to cover for the weaker members of the Familia.
On the trio's side, Sona started commanding Koneko and Aika to dodge to certain spots to avoid the meteors.
However, the magic power which was covering the rocks exploded when they made contact with anything else. So even if they tried to dodge them, shockwaves and splinters of the rocks were enough to wound them.
"Kuhh!!!"
"D-dammit!!!!"
"3 o'clock! 23 meters! Then move to 4 o'clock, 9 meters!"
After a minute, the onslaught of meteors stopped and what was left of the 59th floor's former jungle was a barren place with innumerable craters created by the last magic attack.
This time, everyone was on the ground with bloody countenance and the only people who could move properly were the supporters who were protected. They did their best to immediately initiate first aid and supply potions to everyone on the ground while keeping their tears.
"Ahh…"
"Damn it…"
"Am I… Still alive…?"
"I feel like I'm dying…"
"I'm… fine so go heal Riveria and Gareth instead…"
Even then, everyone tried to get up despite the difficulty. However, despair overcame them when they saw how the corrupted Spirit absorbed the magic power it used and was about to get ready for another round of bombardment. They knew that they wouldn't be able to survive if it used another magic of a similar scale.
What was even worse, was that more monsters from the new species flooded in from both the 60th floor and 58th floor, effectively trapping them with the corrupted Spirit.
There was nothing they could do. Two of their strongest members were crushed, and everyone was covered with injuries. No one had anything to say, and no one could stand. Everyone present knew that they would lose.
Except for a few people, "We'll defeat that monster." Finn said with conviction as he walked in front of everyone.
Everyone looked at him with incredulous eyes but Finn only continued speaking, "What is 'courage' to you? What do you see with your eyes? Fear? Despair? Destruction? I only see an enemy, one that we need to defeat, and our victory."
"We don't need a path of retreat. I'll carve out a path with my spear. I promise you all victory in the name of Fianna. Come with me." He then looked back to everyone, "Or is copying Bell Cranel too much for you? Besides, look at those three. Is it fine to show such weakness?"
Putting her glasses back on her face, Sona smiled at him, "As expected of the Loki Familia Captain. It seems that you already know what to do." She then looked towards the rest of the Loki Familia, "But if it's only you and us three weak girls, then this is really a hopeless situation."
"Don't mess with me! Who said that I'm giving up!?" Bete angrily shouted as he stood up.
"Captain! I haven't given up yet!" Tione also stood up.
"Right! We can't be losing either!" Tiona stood up with a big smile.
Ais, on the other hand, only quietly stood up, but the burning desire to win is also present within her eyes.
After those three, the supporters and Lefiya also managed to regain their bearings and also stood up, "Raul, your group will stay behind and support us! The rest of us will attack that monster!" Finn commanded.
As he passed by the heavily injured Riveria and Gareth on the ground, Finn also said, "Riveria, Gareth, is this the end for you? Then keep on sleeping, I'm going ahead."
Because of those words, both of their eyes snapped open, "Damn it… That conceited Pallum!" Gareth cursed as he tried to stand up, "Hey! Loathsome Elf! Is now the time to be sleeping!?"
Using her wand, Riveria also tried to stand up, "Shut it, you barbaric Dwarf!"
As both of them straightened their bodies, Gareth shouted to the supporters, "Give me an axe!!!" While Riveria instructed, "I'm going to begin my strongest attack! You guys, protect me!"
While passing Gareth his axe, Sona approached Riveria, "Leave it us."
Riveria looked at the trio and nodded, "Great!" She then looked towards the other supporters, "Support the rest! We'll be fine here!"
The last one to get up was Tsubaki, "I've seen something amazing. I can't make myself useless this round too. I'll help out!"
Pointing his spear toward the enemy, Finn shouted, "Starting now, our attack will pierce the enemy! Give it everything that you've got!"
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