Eilish was exhausted, her breath heavy, and her forehead drenched in sweat. She glanced left and right.
"I'm tired... My mana is almost depleted. I've used all my potions," Eilish said between breaths. She realized that she needed to create an opportunity before she collapsed. With her remaining strength, she knew she could still do it.
Swoosh!
On the other side, Alice was locked in combat with her opponent, a Three Shackles veteran who was keeping her at bay. She pushed the parasite to its limits to gain an advantage, but she recognized that defeating her opponent was proving difficult.
It would likely take a few more minutes to secure a victory, and by then, it might already be too late. Leilus, Drami, Sekmet, Marcus, and Paolo wouldn't be able to hold out much longer, given the relentless assault by several experts.
Meanwhile, the other warriors were occupied with the officers of the Deadly Sins, which explained why Alice and her group hadn't been overwhelmed by enemies.
The fierce battle raged on.
Hundreds of experts had perished, their energies slowly dissipating. The ground was stained with blood, and flesh littered the battlefield. The overpowering stench of blood tainted the atmosphere, making it sickening.
The relentless combat turned this place into a grinding machine.
Battle cries of all kinds echoed across the battlefield, mingling with the cacophony of explosions.
The once-proud towering structures in the city now lay in ruins.
The Blue Cross Squad found themselves in dire straits. The formidable experts trying to eliminate them were relentless, leaving the squad no option but to focus on passive defense, unable to mount a counterattack.
A Three Shackles Realm expert moved swiftly, sending Marcus hurtling away. The protective barrier around him shattered, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
Ugh!
Marcus coughed up a substantial amount of blood as his vision blurred.
"Marcus!" Drami shouted, desperate to reach her lover, but Leilus and the others held her back.
"Don't go!" Sekmet said in a serious tone.
"We can't move recklessly!" Leilus emphasized. He raised both of his hands and channeled a significant amount of energy into the barrier. "Conserve your strength! We'll find a way to destroy that thing! Our comrades are keeping most of the enemies occupied! It's our turn to take action!"
Paolo glanced at Leilus and admitted, "I can't hold on much longer. I won't be able to assist you in maintaining the barrier."
Leilus turned to his friend, took a deep breath, and focused on the enemies attacking the shell-like barrier.
"I'll count to three. Then, we'll disperse the barrier and move in different directions. Our objective is the device. We are warriors of Olympus!" Leilus declared firmly.
Suddenly, a massive explosion occurred, prompting everyone to turn their heads.
Boom!!
A mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke billowed a hundred meters above the ground, while a sea of flames spread out.
"Eilish!" Alice, who was on the opposite side, widened her eyes. She tightened her grip on the spear and propelled herself into the air.
Swoosh!!
Not only Alice but also the Four Shackles experts engaged in aerial combat turned their attention to the ground battlefield. They all witnessed a powerful explosion that obliterated dozens of experts.
A dozen One or Two Shackles experts wouldn't have posed much of a threat to them individually, but the situation was different this time.
Ugh!
Eilish spat out a mouthful of blood. She was in a sorry state, her entire left arm badly burned, her natural defenses shattered, and now in a vulnerable state.
A Three Shackle expert stared at her with crazed eyes. "Y-You... You didn't care about yourself at all?!"
Eilish forced a smile onto her face. "No, I sacrificed my arm to free some of our warriors. I can repair it later."
Eilish was the one responsible for that explosion. She cleverly redirected her opponent's attack toward the targeted area. However, she knew this alone wouldn't suffice. That's why she disregarded her own safety, channeling her energy into the enemy's energy beam to amplify it. This action, in turn, burnt her entire left arm, and the potential consequences of failure would have been dire.
"Y-You...! I'll kill you now!" The Three Shackles expert clenched his teeth and lunged at her.
Eilish responded, "I'm not your opponent anymore."
As soon as she uttered those words, a strand of flesh wound itself around her feet. In the next instant, it pulled her to the ground, causing her opponent to turn his head.
What he witnessed was a figure cloaked in a mass of flesh. This figure was still locked in combat with another Three Shackles expert, but he could see a strand of flesh connecting it to Eilish.
The figure shrouded in the mass of flesh was Alice.
"You!!" His anger flared. He was about to pursue her when he sensed several fluctuations behind him.
Boom!!
He turned his head and saw several figures rushing toward him. The explosion had enabled this group of warriors to defeat their opponents, and now they were ready to join the fight.
Boom!! Boom!!
The sound of explosions resonated throughout the surroundings.
Alice stepped back, cradling Eilish. Eilish was visibly exhausted and likely unable to continue fighting. Nevertheless, her efforts had significantly contributed to helping the other warriors eliminate their opponents.
In that explosion, a total of eleven One Shackle experts and four Two Shackles experts had perished. Even a Three Shackles expert was left injured, providing an opportunity for a warrior from Aaru to end their lives.
"We have a chance..." Alice murmured to herself. She glanced at Eilish and inquired, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine... I just have a little energy left," Eilish replied.
Alice nodded and focused on the expert blocking her path. She whispered, "Keep this guy occupied for a few seconds, and I'll move to free the Blue Cross Squad."
"How do you plan to do that?" Eilish inquired.
"I'll accompany the warriors from Aaru. They'll advance to destroy the device, but some of the Two Shackles experts surrounding the Blue Cross Squad will obstruct their path," Alice explained in a hushed tone.
"I see... The Blue Cross Squad's pressure will ease with the arrival of the Aaru warriors, and you'll seize the opportunity to engage the Three Shackles expert ahead," Eilish comprehended Alice's plan.
"Yes... Can you buy me some time?" Alice asked.
"Of course, I can manage for at least ten seconds. My mana is running low, and my natural defenses are shattered," Eilish replied.
"That's enough," Alice affirmed. "I'll create a diversion."
Upon saying those words, Alice brandished her spear, causing the temperature to plummet. A potent blizzard swept across the land, and enormous ice boulders descended from the sky.
Her opponent frowned as he witnessed her use this skill, tightly gripping his sword as flames burst forth, clashing with the blizzard.
Bang!!
The ice boulders melted, giving rise to a veil of steam. From within the steam emerged a figure that launched an attack on the man.
Alice's opponent was taken aback, for the figure wasn't Alice but Eilish.
"I'm your opponent!" Eilish roared as she swung her staff down.
Swoosh!!
On the opposite side of the battlefield, the pressure on the Blue Cross Squad had significantly diminished. The several Two Shackles experts who had been attacking their barrier were now gone. However, a greater threat had finally arrived in their midst.
It was the Three Shackles expert.
"Go!" Leilus shouted.
Paolo, Drami, and Sekmet promptly ceased providing energy to the barrier. Simultaneously, the Three Shackles expert launched a fierce assault.
Bang!
The attack came too swiftly, and the barrier crumbled without any resistance.
Leilus lunged at the enemy with a determined look on his face. "Go! Scatter!" he commanded.
The Three Shackles expert widened his eyes as he witnessed Drami, Sekmet, and Paolo being propelled in different directions. He quickly grasped their plan.
He seized Leilus' weapon and delivered a powerful blow to his abdomen. Then, he struck him in the face, sending Leilus flying several meters away.
Ugh!
Leilus couldn't even react; he was propelled away in an instant.
Bang!
The Three Shackles expert paid no further attention to Leilus. He turned and pursued the nearest target.
"None of you will escape from this place alive!"
His speed was astonishing. In less than a second, he caught up with Drami.
Drami recognized the imminent danger, but it was already too late. The man had already initiated his attack.
Bang! Bang!
Drami coughed up a mouthful of blood as excruciating pain overwhelmed her body. She felt her bones crack under the relentless assault, with ripples in the air converging toward her.
The man delivered ten strikes in rapid succession before launching her toward the ground.
Boom!!
Drami's body plummeted to the earth like a meteor, creating a substantial crater upon impact.
