It was entirely chaos. Rieren hadn’t paid it much mind yet, having been busy dealing with the giants and trying to stop them from smashing her comrades to bits from afar. She had succeeded, but at the cost of being thrown into the thick of things without much planning.
But the good thing about getting more power was that she didn’t need to depend on careful plans as much. Rieren had enough strength to barrel through a majority of the Abyssals at the back.
Of course, that was made easy by the fact that most of them consisted of E-Grade Armistice Enforcers and the like. As the others continued to advance from the front, Rieren burst into the monsters’ rear with her sword scything through them before they were even aware of her presence.
Monsters cried and fell before her like a house made of sticks in a storm. Blood sprayed around until she was coated with dark fluid all over. It was getting difficult to find places to step. For all the corpses and limbs she threw back with overpowered swings of her sword, the Abyssals taking the dead one’s places pushed them back in towards her.
When it became truly difficult for her to move, the Abyssals lashed out. They tried to use their overlong arms to impede her further, savaged swipes seeking to claw through her.
Rieren was having none of it. A simple use of Gale Blade gave her a momentum that was blistering enough to send the growing pile of corpses and body parts flying. The slices also killed the nearby monsters, but really, the better benefit was the momentary space she was able to carve out for herself.
Continuing Gale Blade’s motions allowed her to leave nothing but a field of Enforcer bodies around for several paces, the ground now flooded with their dark blood. It was a good thing their blood wasn’t too slippery.
Her entry into the battle brought upon the attention of the more powerful monsters near the front. Several of the Blightmanes and Shadeborns who had been about to take the place of their fallen comrades now faced her with growing monstrous delight. They might have a harder time taking on the little army of invaders, but one lone cultivator should be easy pickings.
Rieren summoned her Domain. Water materialized around her, submerging the plethora of monstrous bodies around her and washing away the blood from the lower part of her robe.
The first Blightmane charged. A part of Rieren’s mind knew that their real target was far behind them closer to the centre of the chamber. A corner of her eyes caught even more monsters pouring out of the Abyss Rents. She couldn’t worry too much about it. For the moment, they all had to finish dealing with the main threat.
As the Blightmane reached her position, sending her Domain’s water flying in every direction, Rieren stood her ground. Before, she might have used Fray Passage to evade the furious slashes of its claws and its crushing bites. But now, she had Earthfall Blade to depend on.
She deflected the monster’s first charging swipe. Sparks flew at the contact, the Blightmane’s momentum sending it past her. It tried to lash out with its foot as it passed, but she was quick to deflect that too, which finally opened up the monster for her counterattack.
Rieren ran. One step was enough to start Fray Passage. As the Blightmane twisted around to attack her again, Rieren reached its centre and flashed past. Her swing cut through its weaker midsection, her movement too fast for the resulting spray of blood and viscera to land on her. Rieren stopped herself as the monster cried out and splashed down behind her.
When she turned, more of the monsters were coming. A Shadeborn was rushing over with its thick legs, its cleaver-like sword held high.
But it was blasted by black-and-gold fire long before it could reach her.
“Good of you to join us finally,” Essalina said.
Several rings of dark fire were spinning around her, keeping the monsters at bay. Most of the Abyssals turned away to pursue other targets, though they all kept a wary eye on her as though they had felt the repercussion of turning their backs upon her before.
For her part, Essalina ignored them all. She splashed into Rieren’s domain, her fires eating through the water. “Good work on clearing the path.” Her momentary glance was as sharp as a hawk eyeing its next prey. “Just make sure you don’t die, alright? My heart would break if I couldn’t get to crush yours with my bare hands.”
“Where are you going?” Rieren asked as Essalina continued to walk past.
“To the true battle. These rabble are for you and your kind to deal with. I have better things to spend my strength upon.”
Rieren didn’t get the chance to argue. As soon as Essalina was past the pool of water around them, she rushed away. Her flames caught her shoulder and flowed from it like a burning cape, and she leaped away, borne by them across the air as she headed towards the webbed construction in the distance.
Not that she was going to be missed. The rest of them were doing well at keeping the monsters contained.
Rieren decided to rejoin the battle. It was spread out in little locales. Most were seemingly doing well against the vast array of monsters, but there were a few spots here and there where they were having trouble. She frowned. Places where the B-Grade Abyssals had appeared to wreak havoc.
The first wasn’t one she recognized. At least, not from her past lifetime. All Rieren recalled was the corpse of its lying near where Elder Veylie had been sealing the Abyss Rent.
“Watch out!” Amalyse was shouting as she shot arrows from a magic, scarlet bow along the length of her staff.
Her warning had been aimed at the others facing the monster. A collection of guards and disciples, most of whom Rieren didn’t recognize. She did recall seeing Asclevin at the first Abyss Rent, cultivating it away with the others in Elder Alm’s group.
Rieren’s attention was quickly pulled towards the Abyssal in question. This one was the most bestial of all the ones she had seen and faced so far in the current timeline. It resembled something like a gigantic warthog, with the skeleton on the outside and bristly fur and skin peeled off to reveal a layer of glistening flesh just underneath all the bones.
Instead of a hog’s head, there was a insectoid one with many eyes and covered in bony chitin, a set of sideways pincers ejecting out of its mouth. Its long tail curved upwards to end in more bony pincers.
Even as Rieren watched, the monster swiped to its left and tried to catch a disciple off-guard. She blinked. That thing’s speed was incredible.
Thankfully, the disciple had heard Amalyse’s warning. She ducked under the first swipe of the mouth pincers, then summoned a strange shield that looked like it was made of rocks. It blocked the pincers, then rebuffed the disciple away.
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A guard tried to attack from the back while the monster was distracted, but it again turned with lightning-fast speed. The bolt of green energy from the guard was bashed away by the Abyssal’s head. He would have been trampled by the monster, but he dived away at the last second.
It also helped that the monster’s furious charge faltered by Amalyse shoving her crimson sword at its legs. The blade didn’t really hurt it, but it was enough to make it lose its footing.
Rieren had seen enough. She rushed over, already settling on how to tackle the Abyssal.
As with the others, the monster whirled around to face her. It was almost as though it knew she was a greater threat than Amalyse. That was fine. Rieren’s plan didn’t depend on a surprise attack.
With a guttural screech, the Abyssal charged at her. But it didn’t get far. Rieren had already used Gale Blade, aiming straight for the monster’s legs.
Unfortunately, her target reacted quickly too. While her first Gale Blade slash connected and managed to shatter the outer bone protecting the leg, Rieren didn’t get to carry out the rest of the slashes. As soon as Rieren was past it, the Abyssal had jumped straight up.
“Dodge!” Amalyse yelled, somewhat dismayed. “Now!”
She had likely faced that monster and knew more about it than anyone. Rieren didn’t hesitate to comply, throwing herself back and using Fray Passage to get as much distance as possible.
It was a good thing she had listened. The Abyssal landed with a heavy screech and an even heavier blast. Rieren had pulled herself far enough away from the initial impact’s blast zone, but immediately afterwards, she understood why the others hadn’t stopped running. As soon as the initial blast ended, the ground erupted as an array of spiky bones burst out.
Rieren was fast enough with the help of Fray Passage to get out of the danger area. She couldn’t help staring at the spikes, though. The same kind of white cones that had taken the life of the guard who had accompanied her not so long ago.
The Abyssal—which had to be B-Grade with how powerful it was—located Rieren and charged straight at her with an ear-rending screech. Apparently, it had successfully determined that she was the biggest threat to it in the local vicinity.
Monkey’s balls. That thing was incredibly fast. Thankfully, Rieren was fast enough and knew how to take advantage of her opponent’s still greater speed.
All she had to do was wait until it was close enough. It was dangerous. A second too long, and she would be run over and crushed as though she’d been standing in the path of a landslide. But too early and she would only let the monster change its course. Her skin itched, tempting her to get moving, but she suppressed the impulse and waited. And waited. And—
Now. Rieren dashed to her right, summoning her Domain. Fray Passage took her past the effective area the monster could sweep with its enormous pincers.
Meanwhile, the Abyssal itself failed to check its charge, especially thanks to the summoned water. As it tried its best to halt its momentum, Rieren gathered some greater distance between them. The more the space between them, the higher the chance that her plan might just work.
As she ran, her Domain followed, water rushing over the ground at the pace of river rapids. They had moved the fight away from where Amalyse and the others could participate, though they were running closer. They were distant, though. Perfect.
The monster screeched gutturally again. It didn’t bother rushing Rieren again. Instead, it jumped once, twice, then leaped right at her.
Rieren whirled around to face the monster flying in a parabola. She had paused to stand her ground, ignoring the shouts of warning aimed at her. The cursed Abyssal wouldn’t know what hit it.
Her Domain caught up to her location. This time, Rieren didn’t have to wait too long. She summoned steam alongside the water, keeping it trapped under the liquid’s surface, though bubbles started floating upwards. Just a heartbeat before the monster reached her, she jumped.
Rieren’s leap took her straight upwards. With the help of Fray Passage boosting her speed, she easily cleared the area that the Abyssal struck. At the same time, the monster’s body punctured the trap of water she had erected, letting loose a geyser of pressurized steam and superheated water into its face.
The Abyssal screamed. Rieren grinned as she reached the peak of her ascent. She activated Gale Blade when she started falling. The skill made the world blur with its incredible speed. Rieren sliced across the face and one pincer of the monster, landing with a splash on her steaming Domain. She immediately launched into the skill’s second slash, aiming for the leg.
She should have counted on the monster’s speed. Something that bulky shouldn’t have been able to move as fast as it did. Rieren’s slash missed as the monster, disoriented though it was, still managed to throw itself to one side with incredible agility.
Rieren whirled around faster than a blink to follow up with the third slash, which ought to have at least taken her closer to the Abyssal. But its long tail came into play too fast. Rieren barely had time to activate Earthfall Blade before she collided with the bony, whipping appendage. She deflected the worst of the hit but was still flung back.
At least her fall was saved by the presence of her Domain. A simple splash into the water would have been enough, but the buoyant steam pressurized under her back to reduce the impact even more.
The Abyssal screeched again. Rieren quickly righted herself, but she paused. It wasn’t charging at her again, as she had been fearing.
Instead, the monster was occupied by the familiar black-and-gold flames. It wasn’t Essalina, however. No, her soldiers had stepped forward with their spears, the burning spearheads spraying the Abyssal with a firestorm to keep it at bay.
“Thank for helping us keep it busy,” Amalyse said as she finally caught up to Rieren.
Rieren frowned at her. “Was that the plan? Keep the monster form killing any of us until the Arteroth soldiers could tackle it?”
“You don’t have to be doubtful. Much as I don’t like admitting it, the Arteroth soldiers are good at fighting monsters.”
“Mere soldiers?”
“It’s the technique they’re using. Form of the Eclipse Flame. Its supposedly great against Abyssals.”
Amalyse could drop the supposedly. Rieren watched the Abyssal being suppressed by the fires. They really were effective against the monsters.
“Divine-Aspected Essence,” Rieren said.
She had fought Essalina, and a few other Arteroth too, and most of them had used those same technique. Interesting as it was, Rieren hadn’t bothered looking too deeply into it. But Divine-Aspected Essence was the only good explanation for it.
Amalyse nodded. “That has to be it. We need to assist the others.”
Rieren took a quick look around at the rest of the fight. The Elders were helping mop up the rest of the battlefield, killing hordes of the weaker monsters by themselves. Once the area was clearer, they focused on the stronger C- and B-Grade Abyssals, allowing the disciples and guards to provide support from the rear.
At this point, the disciples were at least strong enough to hold their ground even against stronger foes. Especially since it took bare moments for the Elders to get rid of the weaker Abyssals.
The only problem with that strategy was that the supply of monsters was unending.
Even as they watched, more monsters came through the various Abyss Rents arrayed around this end of the large chamber. Where the disciples were supposed to be assisting the Elders, they were forced to deal with the monstrous reinforcements.
Even when the Elders were able to defeat the more powerful monsters without too much trouble, they were forced to repeat the entire pattern again. The newer batched of monsters also consisted of more C- and B-Grade Abyssals that only the Elders could defeat without suffering severe casualties.
If this kept up, they would all fall far too soon. The usage of their skills might be endless, but continuous use would cause their bodies to start falling to fatigue.
“We need to take care of the Abyss Rents,” Rieren said.
Before Amalyse could reply, one of the disciples came running at them. A thickset boy, called… what was it, Rahl? Or perhaps, Kahl?
“No time to rest,” he said. Though he did his best to suppress it, there was a slight flicker of fear in his brown eyes. “The soldiers won’t be able to push that thing forever if we can’t stop the other Abyssals. Come on!”
He didn’t wait for them to reply affirmatively. Despite the obvious signs of fatigue, Rahl or Kahl rushed to reinforce the Arteroth soldiers as their rear was attacked by more monsters that had emerged from nearby Abyss Rents.
“We need to redirect the soldiers.”
Rieren and Amalyse both turned to see Silk running over. The pale girl looked far too pristine for someone who was someone in the middle of a vicious battle. Her red robes, her dark hair held up in perfect battle bun, all of it seemed too perfect.
“What do you mean redirect?” Amalyse asked.
“They use Divine-Aspected Essence.” She pointed behind her. Rieren followed her finger to see Cerill in the distance poking at an Abyss Rent with his spear. A whirling vortex of white-gold light was attacking the Abyss Rent, which was ever so slowly shrinking. “It works against the Abyss Rents, but slowly. If we get a lot of them together—”
Amalyse slapped a fist into an open palm. “We’ll stop those monsters coming in for good.”
Rieren nodded. A quick look around showed them that they couldn’t keep the monsters at bay forever. But now, they had a path forward to deal with it.
“Alright, let’s get to it,” she said.