On the tip of Wisey's beak appeared a thin translucent layer of barrier that was sparkling in orange light as it churned the mana ball.
Before their eyes, the mana ball was slowly being ground like a solid material by Wisey's barrier.
From afar, the leaders of the righteous side were shocked to see Eli appear in this type of clothes. Though the lowest of the knights might not know, they knew that it was Eli who was behind the mysterious garment.
Moreover, they were shocked to know that this is how she was able to contain such a terrifying attack from Rachana.
Unfortunately, Rachana's shock was just momentary. She easily composed herself and flashed a confident smile saying, so what if you had a spirit companion? How many attacks can she guard against me?"
In her words, countless mana orbs appeared surrounding her.
"Oh heavens…" The other knights exclaimed as they saw that these mana orbs all appeared ready to attack the mysterious figure fighting with them.
"How will she be able to guard with that?" They could not help but worriedly ask.
Kayden and Mishael looked at Eli with the same level of worry. They wanted to rush forward to help her, but they were still occupied with the Lieutenants keeping them in check.
It seems that the moment Eli appeared, the Lieutenants also made it so that they couldn't come to Eli and help her deal with Rachana.
"Now, let's see if you can avoid all of this." Rachana smiled and controlled all the mana orbs to target Eli and Wisey.
"Wisey," Eli called out.
"Let's go!" Wisey answered.
Then Wisey flew back to Eli's shoulders and disappeared, seemingly disappearing. Then the next moment, Wisey's barrier appeared to cover Eli's entire body in a cube.
While the mana orbs were coming Eli's way, she did not move and just uttered, "Expand!"
Shiuuuu!
Instantly, the cube barrier that originally only covered her body then at her words the cube expanded by several meters.
It did not wait for the mana orbs to arrive but instead, the cube expanded until they were all dissolved.
"Eli-chan, if we keep this up, you'll be exhausted," Wisey told Eli mentally.
"I know… she is not an easy opponent and also more experienced. Let's go all out and do not drag this out anymore." Eli responded. "Baobao, I need you to lend me your powers again, Wisey, I need your agility."
"Alright, count on us Eli-chan!" Wisey responded.
"Sure, master!" Baobao also responded.
Then immediately raised her staff and shook the bells on top of it.
Rachana was shocked about the power of Eli, especially on how the barrier was easily able to deal with her orbs and so she became extremely vigilant.
It also intensified when she saw that Eli stopped and used her weapon in a different way. She knew that Eli was up to something and so she decided to no longer test the waters and go all out as well.
"Beasts!" She shouted, in an instant, ten cursed puppets that were several times even larger than the curse puppets Kayden saw in the laboratories appeared at once.
They charged at the barrier while Rachana also went forward to strike the barrier using her strongest move.
"Puff!" Eli did not expect such a sudden move and could not help but vomit a mouthful of blood.
The attack of the ten curse puppets with the strength of A-class mages and Rachana who contained both the curse and the asani power is not something she could bear alone.
"Master!"
"Eli-chan, hang in there!"
Wisey and Baobao shouted in worry as they knew the impact of the damage in Eli's body.
"!!!" Kayden used every bit of his self-control not to shout Eli's real name nor call him sister in front of the enemies, but his panic was completely evident on his face as he was also unable to see that the Lieutenant was attacking him on a blind spot.
"Dr. Kayden! Watch out!" The soldiers immediately warned Kayden, making him move to dodge the Lieutenant's attack.
Unfortunately, the Lieutenant attacked him from an angle that is extremely tricky and so Kayden was not able to avoid the attack which caused him to have a severe wound in the shoulders.
"Tsk… tsk.. Young man, you cannot be concerned about other people when you are at war. The enemies won't wait for you!" The Lieutenant swung his sword and the drops of blood from Kayden's body landed on the ground.
Kayden did not respond but instead used another potion to trick the lieutenant to force him to stand back. The poison around him really annoys the lieutenant but he blamed his luck on having to face such a troublesome enemy.
With the distance his move created, Kayden immediately took medicine to stop the bleeding on his wounds and to heal his body. Though his healing potion is really effective, the wound was deep, and was even afflicted with curse power and so the process of healing is slower.
Even so, he did not think about it much and decided to deal with the Lieutenant fast.
Meanwhile, Rachana managed to see Eli's situation as the stain of blood seeped through her mask down to her white garment. She got excited and continued to attack.
"I'm fine…" Eli said, but her body was already trembling in pain as she was dividing her focus into maintaining the barrier and channeling her consciousness to the spiritual realm.
Eli closed her eyes and begged the heavens once again.
She knew how difficult her opponent was. Even when she already did a lot of training, compared to Rachana who was born and raised to become a fighter, she could never compare.
She realized that even if she was 'gifted' as the paladin, she still could not make it if she tried to do everything on her own.
In her heart, she was saying this prayer with the deepest sincerity:
"Dear Great One, my Father in Heaven…
I know now my shortcomings and my limits.
I humbly ask you to show mercy on me and forgive my arrogance…
For I know now that you are the source of everything I have.
From my gifts to this life of mine,
To my child, Johann, my love Leon and my family.
Even this mission and responsibility came from you as well.
And so I surrender all my pride and plans…
I cannot do anything if I do it alone.
Please look upon me and take over!"
Unlike the prayers she had made before, there were no changes that could be seen outside after she prayed.
Instead, from her consciousness, Eli could see that her soul was being rained down by light, lifting up her spirit and strengthening her soul.
As it touched her, it felt like a burning fire that kept her mind running and her body alive. Though it was raging, it was comfortable for Eli.
The next moment, she felt a newfound energy coming forth from her spirit, and all the pain she felt, including the heaviness from the relentless attacks of Rachana and her curse puppets suddenly faded away.
When she opened her eyes, her dark midnight eyes lit up with a golden fire at the center of her pupils.
"Thank you, Great One, for hearing my prayers." She smiled as she looked at Rachana, facing her with newfound courage.
Courage not coming from the confidence she had for herself, nor the power and talents she possessed.
But courage because she knew that the One who gave it all to her had been with her the whole time!
