Whoosh!
Continuing to distance himself from the battlefield, Valyr took a brief glance at the four before returning his attention to the surroundings in front of him.
'I promise you guys that your efforts will be more than worth it,' thought the young man to himself, eventually stopping in front of a dilapidated three story building that looked to have been made entirely from concrete.
Sitting down, Valyr brought out the arquebus from his spatial bracelet, as well as the sack of gunpowder he had brought along just for this very purpose.
Taking in a deep breath, he went through the process of arming the gun for firing, loading in a bit of the gunpowder into the barrel.
"I've only fired this a couple more times before entering the inheritance, so I'm gonna need to find the right balance between firepower and safety before the minute is up.'
With this in mind, he then proceeded to place the bullet he would fire into the barrel, jamming it deeper into the barrel with the help of a metal rod.
Placing a bit of gunpowder on the small bowl on the side of the barrel, Valyr let out a long and drawn-out sigh as he stood up and aimed the arquebus at the building behind him.
"I hope this mix is the right one." Then, as he held his breath, he conjured a small flame and slowly brought down to the small bowl.
And then...
Bang!
...
"What is Valyr doing?" Though he heard an explosion resound from afar, Hal could not pay attention to it for the meantime, instead focusing it all on the quadrant leader before them.
"Grraaaaaggghhh!!!"
Swoosh!
Without hesitation, the quadrant leader attacked the four with even greater fervor, charging towards them as it swung its mana-imbued fists.
Seeing this, Hal briefly looked at the others and nodded before dashing towards the quadrant leader.
"[Blade of Six Paths]..."
Summoning the strength of his Intent Seed, he willed both the energy of his Intent and his mana to head towards blade before slashing down at the quadrant leader.
"[Golden Mortal Reflection]!"
Bang!
In less than an instant, the golden blade transformed into a screen that protected the four of them from the quadrant leader's offense.
Though, with how the quadrant leader's strength had grown even further compared to the previous phase, the screen only served to hinder the quadrant leader for just a brief moment.
However...
"[Thousand Free-form Alchemical Style]..."
"[Ceaseless Refinement]!"
Whoosh!
Just as the screen appeared to be on the verge of cracking, a long strand of white mana appeared out of nowhere, heading straight for the golden screen.
Then, once the two had made contact with one another, the golden screen seemed to have returned to its state at the very beginning.n/(OVELBIn
Though, not long after, the screen grew more and more impervious, causing the quadrant leader's momentum to eventually die out before it could even break through the screen.
"Nice!" Seeing that his skill's existence had been prolonged in order for them to stall for more time, Hal looked at Faulus with a grin and gave him a thumbs-up.
"It's the least I can do," said Faulus in response to Hal's reaction, smiling soon after.
However, just as it seemed that the golden screen would last for a bit longer, the quadrant leader grew enraged and sent a barrage of mana bolts at it.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Urk..." In response to the series of attacks on the screen by the quadrant leader, Faulus' complexion swiftly turned pale as blood started to trickle out of his nose.
Noticing this, Loreina became terrified as she shouted at him. "Dispel the skill, Faulus!"
Hearing this, Vera and Hal looked to see what was going on, only for them to have terrified looks on their faces as well after seeing Faulus' gradually worsening state.
Similar to Loreina, the two of them urged the alchemist to dispel the skill after seeing the consequences of its usage.
Unfortunately, as if he ignored everything that was going around him, Faulus continued to infuse more mana into the skill, causing the golden screen Hal conjured to remain standing.
Yet, it came at the cost of his own body.
Bang!
Hearing another explosion resound from the same place earlier, Vera briefly glanced in the direction Valyr headed to earlier before returning her attention to Faulus.
"[Intermediate Mystic Combat Style]..."
"[Eternal Mystic Barrier]!"
Whoosh!
Then, without giving the alchemist any heads-up, she forcefully dispelled the golden screen with a defensive skill of her own, hoping that the move would be enough for Faulus to return to his senses.
"Cough!" With the connection to his skill being forcefully dispelled, Faulus coughed out a bit of blood, prompting the others to look at him with a bit of concern.
Fortunately, after this, instead of remaining foolhardy and casting the same skill on Vera's barrier, Faulus looked at the others with an apologetic smile as he took out a health potion from his spatial bracelet.
At this sight, the other three inwardly let out sighs of relief, only for the barrier Vera conjured to be broken by the quadrant leader.
"Graaaaggghhh!!!" Hearing the quadrant leader bellow out in rage once more, the four of them swiftly got into their places as they proceeded to keep the quadrant leader at bay.
Utilizing all of the skills in their arsenal, they continued to keep the quadrant leader occupied with breaking through their defensive skills, with each of them rotating the skill they used.
In fact, they were even able to sneak a few lucky attacks here and there, though the damage they dealt amounted to a few thousand points at most.
Still, it was better than nothing.
"The minute is almost up..." Hearing another explosion resound from where Valyr had gone to, Hal had a slight frown on his face as he wondered whether or not they would be forced to stall for a bit longer.
Fortunately for them...
"Move out of the way!" As if a being with great strength had finally lost interest on them, the four of them felt great burdens being removed from their shoulders as they followed the command given by the familiar voice.
Whoosh!
Not long after, a familiar being had taken their place, standing in front of the quadrant leader with a determined expression.
However, rather than wield a spear or a magic scepter, the young man instead wielded a weapon that none of the four knew anything about.
But, before the four of them could ask what he was doing...
Valyr finally made his move.
"[Descent of the True Wyvern]!"
"[Full Burst]!"
Bang!
'-179,840!!!!'
