Leo felt a dark shadow fly over his head and looked up to check the situation. A pair of legs full of youthful charm appeared in his line of sight; Majesty was stepping on the crevices of the cliff wall, tossing down Shock Webs and Fire Blasts.
"Majesty, it's dangerous! Watch out for the Fallen Shamans!" If she were knocked down by a fireball and fell directly into the monster swarm, even the gods couldn't save her.
"Haha, Brother, look where I am!"
Leo understood instantly—she had already reached Level 18. The figure above him was his sister's Shadow Warrior (Note 1).
With all three of them at Level 18 and having learned new skills, clearing the monsters became a bit easier. But the good times didn't last; ten minutes later, the Fallen Shamans joined the battlefield. They wretchedly gathered at the entrance twenty meters back, incessantly lobbing fireballs at Leo. Fortunately, Sike could use Slow Missiles (Note 2), which significantly slowed the flight speed of the fireballs.
Leo was helpless; he couldn't dodge at all and was forced to switch his aura to Resist Fire. The group's damage output immediately dropped by a notch. The Fallen charged even more fiercely; blood had already seeped through the stone wall, making the ground so slippery it was difficult to maintain a steady footing.
"Leo, my Mana Potions are almost gone." Gerdie needed to use Find Item to coordinate with everyone, so her mana consumption was the fastest.
"Brother, I only have half my Mana Potions left too." Majesty, who handled the magical DPS, was also burning through blue at a terrifying rate.
Leo himself could leech mana and life, so his mana potion consumption was actually the lowest. However, the durability of his weapon was dropping rapidly. His shield's durability also began to slowly decline after the Shamans joined the fray, and the healing potions he had downed made his stomach feel very bloated.
He kept two Mana Potions as spares and quickly tossed out the rest. Fortunately, they had Gerdie in the party; they had accumulated a considerable number of Mana Potions over time.
They held out for another thirty minutes until all the Mana Potions were exhausted. Suddenly, Leo's pressure surged, and the slain Fallen were being resurrected continuously. The Fallen piled up layer upon layer, nearly ready to vault over the low wall.
He could only use the Shadow Warrior to guard the rear while they retreated—wait, there were plenty of Mana Potions dropped outside the wall.
"Incest, Telekinesis (Note 3)! There are many Mana Potions outside." Leo didn't seek to kill; he used Smite repeatedly to knock back the Fallen and buy time.
Incest was stunned; she had forgotten she even had this skill. After three attempts, she finally managed to smoothly pick up a potion from the ground.
With Mana Potions available, they were all given to Gerdie to use Find Item. The other two women relied entirely on natural mana regeneration for their spells, hiding behind to throw projectile weapons and shoot. When they ran out of arrows, they used Telekinesis to pick up drops from the ground.
Due to the lack of mana, their firepower dropped again. Although they could barely hold the line, the pressure on Leo was now skyrocketing.
Many of the Fallen rushing over had full health and could no longer be killed instantly. He couldn't balance attack and defense simultaneously; many times, he used a "trade injury for life" fighting style. Fortunately, the corpse disposal was timely; otherwise, this fragile line of defense would have been breached long ago.
How much longer until the reinforcements? His healing potions were nearly gone, he was on his third weapon, his second shield, and the durability of his armor was almost at zero. His gloves and helmet had even exploded directly after taking multiple hits.
Drinking healing potions one after another, the blood on his forehead mixed with sweat and flowed into his eyes; the salt stung his eyeballs, blurring his vision. He felt he might collapse at any moment.
"Time's up! Hold on for a few more minutes. I'm opening the portal now!" Sike finished speaking, jumped down from the boulder, retreated ten-odd meters, and tore open the specially-made Town Portal scroll.
Bishibosh, who had been hiding in the rear, saw the light emitted by the portal and felt things were spinning out of his control. He let out a roar of rage, though his shrill, squeaky voice sounded comical regardless. His already crimson face puffed out blue smoke as he conjured a massive fireball and hurled it directly at the portal.
"Forget the high-grade materials! All of you can die in the spatial turbulence!"
"Damn it!" Leo roared as he watched the expanding fireball. He used two charms to restore his vitality, filling his health to the max. He stowed his weapon, took out a Light Healing Potion, and held the liquid in his mouth. Raising his shield, he jumped directly to block the incoming fireball.
BOOM! A violent explosion rang out, sending stone fragments flying from the cliff walls.
The power contained in the fireball exceeded Leo's expectations; his shield shattered instantly. He was immediately enveloped in searing flames, the smell of roasted meat lingering in his nose. He lost 80% of his health instantly and was blown backward by the blast. He hurried to swallow the potion he was holding in his mouth.
Leo wished he would quickly lose consciousness from the pain so he wouldn't have to experience the taste of being roasted. After flying several meters, his face hit a plump, soft cushion and finally stopped. He sniffed; a scent that made one's heart race drifted into his nose.
"Oh my, what a lovely lad. You truly are enthusiastic. I just came out, and you already want to learn climbing techniques? But Big Sister is busy right now. We'll talk about 'our business' tonight." The light from the explosion still lingered in Kyoko's eyes; she had just had her life saved by this little fellow.
She brought out a unique gold Gothic Bow, its frame wrapped in holy exorcism power. One could only hear the dense explosions of the bowstring; a quiver of arrows was entirely emptied in ten seconds, and the mangled remains of the Fallen coated the passage.
Bishibosh's reaction was extremely swift. The moment Kyoko appeared, he felt a pang of heart palpitations. His projection was no match for this woman; he immediately and skillfully rolled onto the ground. Touching his broken horn, his courage shattered; he didn't dare pause for a second. Accompanied by a thin, long shriek, he rolled all the way down the mountain.
Kyoko's display left Leo dumbfounded. This fire rate was too exaggerated—it was practically a "metal storm." A single arrow would shatter several Fallen.
Rogues kept emerging from the portal, though their aura seemed much weaker than Kyoko's.
"Do not pursue. Let the fleeing enemies go. Our goal is to find a suitable location to establish a frontline outpost," Kyoko yawned after her single attack and commanded lazily from the rear. "Lad, half of the items dropped in this battle will be yours as a reward. You can rest now; someone will deliver your reward after the battle ends."
The three women crowded around. After confirming Leo was okay, they all slumped to the ground, lacking even the strength to lift a finger.
Although his body felt the ache of extreme overexertion, how could he not witness this once-in-a-lifetime war scene with his own eyes? He downed several Light Healing Potions, bringing his health back to the safety line.
Dragging his weary body out of the crevice, he saw the Rogues had already formed ranks on the slope, continuously volleying arrows. Many Fallen were pinned to the ground by the rain of arrows falling from the sky while they were scrambling away. After leaving behind over a thousand corpses, the Fallen finally fled out of the Rogues' range.
Leo felt a surge of satisfaction. Heh heh, didn't expect that, did you? Was it fun bullying your Grandpa earlier? He sat on the ground and took out his wine bag for a few sips. When the body is exhausted, a couple of drinks to speed up blood circulation ensures he won't wake up with a sore body tomorrow.
(Note 1: Shadow Warrior is a Level 18 Assassin skill that summons a shadow of oneself. She can use the two skills you are currently using. In this book, two skills known by the user can be preset for the shadow.)
(Note 2: Slow Missiles is a Level 12 Amazon skill that illuminates nearby enemies and reduces their missile speed for 12 seconds, slowing them by 33%. Radius: 13.3 yards. Mana cost: 5. Prerequisite: Inner Sight.)
(Note 3: Telekinesis is a Level 6 Sorceress skill that uses mental power to pick up potions and gold, trigger switches, knock back enemies, or talk. Previously it could pick up equipment, but it was later patched out; this book assumes it can pick up equipment.)