A minute.
That's the only time left and everything will end in our favor.
"Another ant!"
Devoid of her previous grace, Rowena screamed once more when Udann's glaive stabbed through her golden arm. If his Strength stat was higher than her Endurance, he could cut off that arm.
Alas, he's weaker than her in all aspects. That full-powered stab that stopped short of her bones was only enough to make the woman screamed at him in hate.
Rowena then delivered a counter-kick right on Udann's chest, sending him rolling away with her footprint creating a shallow crevice in his chest.
Before she could follow up on that, a colorful energy-based attack in the shape of a flaming giant bird came down from above.
BOOM!
To evade that, she also had to roll back but the impact the giant bird caused created a fire flower that engulfed part of her body including her right leg and right waist. When she pulled out and reappeared a little more than 10 meters away from it, the thick gold which revealed itself as some kind of coating in her body melted and dripped down before evaporating. It left that part of her body slightly burnt with her energy unable to flow into it for recovery.
With gritted teeth, she hatefully glared in Irja's direction but that's all she could do. Udann, ignoring that glaring part of his chest, jumped up and blocked her. Soon afterward, an Energy Thread shot out from one of his four arms which lodged on that exposed area of Rowena.
"No, you won't. Your enemy is here." Udann smirked with a trail of blood running from the side of his mouth.
The Energy Thread was the Skill I passed onto him through Energy Linkage. However, instead of draining Rowena of her Source Energy and adding it to his own, he was directing drained energy to his wound, slowly mending it.
Same with what's happening on their side, Monady and Axter were giving the other two a hard time to make some distance and pull out of battle.
On one side, the sense of urgency in Yordi's eyes was already high enough that upon seeing what's happening to the other two, he finally pulled out something he refused to do before.
From the luxurious ring in his forefinger, a long-barreled rifle-like equipment made from some kind of an ice-blue metal was pulled out.
It didn't have the air of something produced from a highly technologically advanced world like the World of Meta. In fact, it was too primitive that it was completely relying on an individual's Source Energy to fire a pellet as big as a toy marble.
Although it looked like that, when Yordi pulled the trigger and the bullet shot out, the cold permeated from it as well as the viciousness of the Energy it contained was enough for me that was around 50 meters away from them tremble due to the extreme cold.
Is that the thing that killed that scout?
It's neither a poison nor a paralysis-inducing item. It's an extremely cold bullet that is enough to freeze someone hit by it. The energy signature from it was probably even enough to disable a Rank 3 Transcendent. If a lone Rank 2 Transcendent was hit by it, unless he gets external help, he would die when the energy he would be using to try and get out run out.
Because Axter took note of what I told him, as soon as Yordi pulled that rifle out, he lifted the collar of his outfit, covering his neck and ear from the biting cold. Afterward, an energy cloud formed from above his head which reformed into a transparent spherical barrier around him.
Just like with Udann, that's the skill I passed onto him through the Energy Linkage. A watered-down version of Nullification Zone.
When the bullet shot out from Yordi's rifle hit the outer layer of that Nullification Barrier, the spherical barrier was seemingly deformed by itself and gathered at the exact point where the bullet hit.
While the bullet tried to drill through it, the barrier which became several layers continuously produced blade-like wisps of Energy. Those blobs of energy spun and continuously hit the bullet, chipping away the vicious Energy contained within it.
However, being the lower version of my Nullification Zone, the bullet eventually passed through the Nullification Barrier squarely hit him on his right shoulder.
For the first time, Yordi showed a rare emotion on his face, he was grinning like a psychopath as he put back his rifle and kicked the ground to deliver the final blow towards Axter whose shoulder was gradually being frozen.
"You're great. That, I can praise you. However, like that one guy who was trying to snoop towards us, you will be a frozen corpse in no time!"
With knitted brows, Axter pooled his energy to resist the gradual process of being frozen alive. Even with the help of the residual bits of the Nullification Barrier, it didn't stop the process.
Soon enough, his knees failed him as he dropped to the ground as his complexion turned pale.
Although I've seen the whole process, I have no way to help that guy at the moment. Cure isn't a long-range Spell, I can only cast it between me and Irja.
With my mind remaining completely calm, I glanced to my side and Irja who probably had the same thoughts as I gave an approving nod.
Changing the aim of the Totem, a quadrupedal beast made of her vibrant energy was hastily conjured and flashed past the distance between us and Axter.
The quadrupedal beast then howled and an ever-changing type of energy attack whistled through the air, aimed towards Yordi.
The Skill which was passed onto Irja through the Energy Linkage was the luck-based Karmic Slash.
Unaware of its effects and being wary of its unnatural nature, Yordi stopped in his tracks and dodged the attack derived from Karmic Slash skillfully.
In light of that, it gave the energy-conjured beast the opportunity to pick up Axter. It put him onto its back before rushing back in our direction.
As soon as he was put down, I directed the Cure that I had just finished casting to him, covering him with milky-white energy which visually expanded throughout his body before coagulating to his frozen shoulder.
Using the 25% of Control that I was using to grind the Cure's Proficiency, I guided the effect of Cure to focus on that part of his to thaw the frost away and stopped its spread.
"Irja, move away from us for a bit, this extreme cold will also affect you."
"… If you can't undo it, step away and don't risk yourself being affected as well. We will remove that altogether later."
Irja said while biting her lips in frustration. Despite that, she listened to me and distanced herself before providing support fire to Monady and Udann.
Since his target was taken away, Yordi's grin left his face as he switched his target to Monady.
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While Daisuke switched his focus on thawing and stopping the frost on Axter's shoulder, Monady who was at a slight disadvantage against Larnel was put under a more definite disadvantage when Yordi joined in.
"We have to leave, Larnel. These guys aren't as easy as we thought them to be. If we stay any longer, we will be the one dying." Yordi reminded when they managed to put a little distance from Monady who's crazily ignoring the injuries she's receiving.
Infuriated with the turn of events, Larnel furiously shouted, "Shut up! You two useless pawns! The Company was lauding you two for your magnificent skills but a few lower worlder put you in this state? I'm going to ask for compensation once we're back at Gobos."
"I know. We will answer for this blunder but at the moment, we have to preserve your life." Yordi acted subservient. Unlike Rowena who was just a hired muscle without any other responsibility than becoming a tool for combat. He's specifically hired to ensure that nothing will come untoward to Larnel as well as giving him sufficient experience.
At this moment, he already judged that they cannot afford to play in this space anymore where life and death hang onto that Core.
"Rowena. Pull back. Hurry up!"
Because they're talking loudly, Monady immediately reacted.
"Hey! Who says you can just come and go after killing one of us?"
"Stand down or become another lifeless husk!" Yordi barked at her but it had little to no effect on the woman.
Monady relaxed her shoulders before releasing a sigh. "I thought of using this at a crucial moment but…"
As her voice trailed, two figures with identical appearances as her suddenly appeared next to her.
It's the Skill that Daisuke passed onto her through his Energy Linkage. A slightly weaker version of Phantasmic Doppelganger.
Although she could only create two clones, she believed that it was enough for her to prevent their adversaries from leaving.
While the two clones sprinted towards Larnel and Yordi, Monady's voice echoed across their immediate surroundings, "Irja, Udann. And you three. Come and help me stop them from leaving!"
From the darkness behind Rowena, Yordi and Larnel, three figures with different Energy Intensity appeared, all fresh and unscathed.
One of the three is Yatapa, Daisuke and Irja's silent acquaintance. From his body, his energy was scattered like smoke closing off the three higher world denizens' escape route.
The other two consisted of the Dafirae Tribe who arrived along with Faren and a freed Transcendent. The Dafirae transformed into Crimson Spirit before joining the freed Transcendent as they both spread open their Domain, subjecting the weakened enemies within it.
At this moment, the battlefield was reversed. With their escape route blocked, Rowena, Yordi and the infuriated Larnel had no choice but to fight for their way out.
The question is… will they be able to do that?
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