['Zecht (★★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Norn (★★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Maddock (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
[...]
['Tamo (★★)' is on the brink of death. His life is in danger!]
[...]
['Ashta (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
['Jyrgil (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
My comrades eyed the windows bewilderedly.
They all turned to me for answers.
"Party 2 and 3 are in trouble! Something's happening in the city!"
Jonah shouted.
"Hey, Serafina! What the hell is going on?!"
Shanny asked me, already berating in tone.
While still focusing on untangling the knots on the barrier, I shifted my gaze slightly to her.
But before I could say anything, two voices burst inside my mind.
[Serafina! The goblin corpses are coming back alive! Even the headless ones! What's happening?!]
Zecht asked.
"I'm sorry, Zecht. Something I did in the temple caused this. Can you hold on?"
I asked him back.
[They caught us by surprise and now the whole wall is teeming with living corpses. But at least they died for good once you killed them the second time. Maddock and Luan are a little rattled, but I think we can still pull through. Maybe.]
He replied nervously.
Another voice interrupted him, Ashta's.
[Hey! Party 3 needs help! That idiot Jyrgil is dead and one of us is badly hurt! We can't defend the southern wall with just the three of us! Not when the dead monsters are coming back alive!]
The southern side would not last with only three members of Party 3.
We needed to send them reinforcements soon.
"Just hang on, Ashta! Help will be coming!"
I told her.
[Hurry!]
She shouted before disconnecting.
Shanny came to me once more.
"What's the matter?! What's going on with the other parties?!"
"The dead enemies have been revived. Party 3 are now down two members and needs help securing their wall."
"We need to help them then!"
Shanny urged.
I nodded to her.
"I'll open up a portal so some of you can return to the city right away and help Party 3."
I released my hold on the pedestal barrier so I could focus casting my dimensional magic.
The whole temple suddenly rumbled.
[Malaikat's Barrier has weakened!]
[Leakage occurring!]
[Power of the Wings is being unleashed!]
[Time remaining until temple's destruction:]
[19:11] -> [18:40] -> [17:27]
The timer on the quest suddenly reduced drastically.
I immediately returned my hold on the barrier.
[Control over Malaikat's Barrier has been restored!]
[Leakage halted!]
[Power of the Wings is being contained!]
[Time until temple's destruction:]
[17:23]
The timer stopped decreasing rapidly.
Apparently the moment I released the first knot, something the barrier was containing started to leak.
I bet that something was what powering the destruction rune around the temple.
But it seemed my mana inside the barrier could compensate the knot release on its runes and mitigated the leakage.
"What just happened?"
Jonah asked.
"Forgive me, I can't let go of my hold on this barrier until I'm done dispelling it. We would immediately be buried with the temple if I did so long enough. Until then, I can't create a portal for us to go back."
I could multicast. But not for two such advanced method of sorcery.
Shanny stomped her feet.
"Forget it! I'll just run back there! Who's coming with me?"
As soon as she announced the invitation, the temple's grand entrance closed shut.
The two other gates inside the temple swung open. Heavy footsteps were drumming from the shadows beyond.
"Enemies!"
Darius shouted.
Marching from the two gates were armored knights made of rocks. Moving statues.
Each was carrying a heavy sword as tall as the young Tarran. The knights themselves were two heads taller than the towering Jonah.
They all stiffly walked around the room until they surrounded us around the pedestal.
Our two golems immediately positioned themselves against the knights, anticipating a moment of hostility to initiate their charge.
[Knight Golem Lv.12 x20]
"None of us are leaving! Not until we defeat them!"
Trudy stated, raising her sword toward the statues.
"Make a circle around Serafina! We can't let any of them reach her!"
Jonah instructed his comrades, aware of my vulnerable position.
They all quickly positioned themselves around the pedestal barrier, weapons raised, facing the knight golems.
"Grhh! Why does these bastards have to show up now?!"
Shanny grunted angrily at the moving statues.
While still stuck on the barrier, I addressed my comrades. My voice was tainted with the sense of helplessness and inadequacy.
"I can't support you with my spells, so you need to take care of them on your own. I'll do my best to dispel the barrier quickly."
Their gazes remained fixed on the knights. But I noticed their slight nod acknowledging my words.
Several knights from different directions of the circle began to move and raised their heavy swords.
Along with our own golems, my comrades rushed forward to respond in kind.
Clang!
Though the knights' weapons were made of stone, they clashed against my comrades' blades and spears just like how steel would.
Fortunately, my comrades had fought enough battles for them to outmaneuver the humanoid enemies.
Crash!
Using their enchanted weapons, my comrades tore through the knights until they were reduced into pieces.
Meanwhile our golems smashed through the rows of knights and destroyed them into blocky fragments.
Not even the knights' heavy sword could withstand against my golems' fists.
Seeing the enemies were being handled, I diverted my attention back to our unsolved issue.
"Zecht, I need your help!"
I said while picturing his face since my hands were still hovering over the barrier.
The fairy said I did not have to put my fingers behind my ear to use the communication blessing.
[What's the matter?!]
He replied promptly.
"I need Norn to leave the eastern walls to help Party 3 in the south. There're only three people defending their side. They need someone to help them and Party 1 is currently stuck in the temple."
[Does it have to be Norn?!]
"She knows the city best of all of us. She can get to the southern wall quickly."
[O-okay then! Hey, Norn! Serafina wants you to help Party 3! Get on with it!]
Now that matter was settled, I could finally focus on dispelling the barrier.
Over the course of the conversation, I had managed to untangle nine more knots.
90 knots remaining.
[Time remaining until temple's destruction:]
[14:49]
['Tamo (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]