After estimating my current Energy Reserves, it's enough to go all out for more than a minute.
And estimating the arrival of the three, it's one minute, more or less.
Upon realizing that, I immediately reactivated everything I could use to let us tide through this crisis.
Energy Zone!
Energy Amplification!
Energy Incarnate Transformation!
Domain of Valor!
Bulwark of Invulnerability!
And lastly Energy Linkage!
Giving the three 5% each of my total Energy Control and 10% to Irja through the Link which extended from me and attached to them, halved the cumulative amount I could provide.
If not for my limited Energy Reserves, I would've given them everything I could.
Feeling the 125 units of Level 2 Flux Energy per second to maintain that connection along with maintenance of the rest of my opened buff Skills, made my body feel the strain by using too much energy all at once.
With the Energy Zone in place, it somehow abated a bit of it. In any case, with all of these skills opened, I am now useless on the offensive side.
If I could lodge Energy Thread to those three, it could also provide me a slight relief by draining them of their inherent Level 3 Source Energy.
But the distance and their current alertness were hindrances to accomplish that.
Feeling the sudden change in their body provided by the Energy Linkage, Monady and Axter could only stare at me with added mysteriousness. Even Udann who thought he already knew everything I am capable of doing had his mouth open before renewed vigor filled his eyes.
Irja, on the other hand, had long stopped being surprised at what I could do. Holding the thick Totem in both of her hands, she injected her Energy to manipulate its size, turning it into a thin stick almost the same size as her broomstick.
While I was busy upping their combat prowess, the opposing group was discussing amongst themselves.
"How did you turn into that mess? Two lower worlder a lot weaker than you and you cannot kill even one of them? Are you always this useless, Rowena?"
Within the distance between us, it's fairly easy to hear them and it didn't look like they're trying to prevent us from hearing them.
"Shut up, Yordi. Those two are unkillable. They're more than just ants. They're cockroaches!"
"I will be reporting this to the Company, Rowena. Your evaluation will surely go down."
"Hmph. Do what you want, Sir Larnel. I'm an employee who was tasked to follow you and you're the employer's son. It's natural to give an evaluation. However, do you think it is still as easy to leave this place?"
Hearing this conversation among them provided me with more information about their origins. Company, Employer and Employee? It sounded modern. Perhaps that's why their clothing had a similarity to a suit. Although Rowena's clothing was already in tatters, it still gave off the air of an elite. Yordi and his glasses as well. Only Larnel felt out of place with how he acted. But if he's just a rich young master then that could explain his behavior.
"It's just a bunch of same-rank Transcendents. It's nothing mu—"
Before Larnel could finish his words, his eyes narrowed to a slit and immediately bent his body backward, evading a colorful beam of energy that originated from behind me.
Because he successfully evaded it, the beam continued to fly behind them before it landed on a ruined structure.
BOOM!
Even from afar, we felt the ground quaked from the impact it produced. One could even see a small mushroom cloud rising from its rubble.
If Larner was a tad bit slower at evading, his face would've been destroyed by that attack.
"… I suggest we retreat and think of a way to deal with that." Slowly turning his body to look at it, Yordi was speechless for a while. Afterward, he fixed his glasses in a bid to appear calm. However, the trembling of his legs sold him out.
Perhaps, for the first time since they appeared, this guy finally felt the threat of something.
Injuries could heal given time but if something could kill or destroy you in one shot, stupidity would be the only thing inhibiting you if you chose to take it head-on.
Rowena shivered from it while Larnel who evaded that took his time to straighten his back.
They knew that if they were hit by that, even if it was not enough to kill them, it would disable them and it would eventually lead to their deaths.
Behind me, I glanced at Irja who, like the others, was also surprised at the effect of that attack.
It's no surprise that it came from her. She probably thought of trying the Totem's effect and channeled her most powerful attack she could deliver at the moment, judging from how dumbfounded she was, it probably exceeded her expectation.
But that attack, the others didn't know that it would take a long time to use that. Moreover, Irja's energy was also about to be depleted. If she chose to use that again, she would have to forget delivering other attacks.
"They're starting to think of running away. Use this chance. This means they probably prevented the other reds to come and reinforce them. We might be able to avenge the two who died." I immediately sent a mental message to them. "Monady, can I take the lead temporarily?"
"Go on. If something's wrong I will be correcting you."
"Sounds fair. Well then, Monady please mark Larnel. He's the strongest and the most important among the three. If he failed to run, the other two will not leave him alone."
Commanding isn't easy especially if they don't acknowledge you unless there's a military law that will punish those who will not follow the order of the commanding officer.
However, at this moment, there's no point thinking about acknowledgment. If we let them retreat, they'll come at us stronger than before with the help of the Gigant World denizens. This is the chance to take them down.
"You're right. Leave it to me." Monady replied as she instantly moved and rushed towards Larnel.
"Next, Udann, mark Rowena. Among the three she's the most injured. We managed to injure her to the point of dulling her senses. You could bridge the gap between you to a certain extent."
He's just an early Rank 2 Transcendent. At best he's at late 300 thanks to the Domain of Valor. Both of them were injured but if it's just stalling for time, he could do that.
I am aiming to take the three down. Stalling is just a part of this strategy. In the end, I will have him go for the kill.
"I understand. I'll do my best," Udann replied and like Monady he rushed forward to Rowena who was about to help Larnel.
"Then Axter, take care of Yordi and watch out for something like a poison. The scout behind them was clearly alive earlier but he was probably left there paralyzed and poisoned to death. Rowena was a straightforward fighter while Larnel was full of arrogance. The two wouldn't resort to that kind of move. However, Yordi… It was hard to actually guess what he's thinking. I might be overanalyzing him but keep this in mind."
That's the only thing I could think of about the death of that scout. Poisoned. If not for that then, he was sniped down. It's possible that the culprit wasn't among these three but it's better to be safe than sorry.
"I have no idea how you managed to read them when you two were being hunted by that woman… Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Axter nodded, from his pouch, he pulled three stones. Three Blast Stones. He threw it towards Yordi which pushed the latter to evade. Amidst the dust and smoke made by the Blast Stones, Axter charged towards Yordi with his Output Enhancing Equipment in hand.
"And Irja, you just have to provide support to the three, even your weakest attack will be enhanced by that stick. I will be next to you but I believe you can judge who to target and who to provide support fire."
She doesn't need to deal the final blow. Weakening the enemy and pushing them to dodge towards a risky location is enough.
"… Okay. But, what about you?" She asked.
There's that worry again in her eyes but I chose to ignore it for now.
"I'm already useless at this point but I will still provide support with these and some of my skills. I gave you all a part of my Energy Control and a Skill. You all felt it, use it as you see fit. Moreover, you have to not let them guess that the reinforcements will come any second now. Once they arrived, kill the three!"
I pulled out a handful of Blast Stones and Barrier Stones. The Arm and Leg Power stones could be used as well but I'll make sure not to be put under their line of fire.
As for the skills I gave them through the Energy Linkage, it will be a surprise once the three reinforcements arrive.
To win in this space, removing huge obstacles like these three should be prioritized. Now that there's a chance presented upon us, it's a shame not to take it.
In front of my eyes, the three have successfully marked them and separate the three from each other. And on my side, Irja would shoot some of her colorful energy-based attacks when either of the three would be put in a dangerous situation.
While they're all doing that, 25% of my total Energy Control was put on maintaining the Energy Zone above us, giving both Irja and me passive energy regeneration and the last 25%, I'm currently casting the 6-nodes Aether Elemental Spell: Cure.
It's also a chance to grind for Proficiency. There's no way I will pass on that.
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