Since the day-night cycle on this strange new planet was so long, even though it had been over 4 hours since the start of the battle, the night was still as dark as ever.
The rain continued to pour down like there was no tomorrow while the valley became more and more congested, filling with mud, water, and bodies of the defeated creatures and cultivators.
On the ground, the cultivators fought head-to-toe with the smaller wizards summoned monsters. Their bodies created small mounds on top of which groups of cultivators stood, fighting off the other monsters trying to bring them down.
Aer's massive armor was still neat and clean after getting washed by the rain without pause, but it was filled with many small and large cracks all around him.
Nel's pretty dress was completely drenched and her face was pale, devoid of any color whatsoever. All of her attention was focused on supporting the cultivators on the field so she couldn't even manage to spare some Qi for a barrier to shelter herself from the rain.
Keeping them informed about what was happening around them, guiding them and even healing any serious injuries that threatened to take the lives of her companions was her main job. She was the thread that tied all the smaller groups of cultivators together.
She was the only cultivator here with supportive techniques and skills so the pressure of managing more than a hundred people was finally getting to her.
There was a 3-meter wide pentagon underneath her that spun continuously, gathering the spiritual energy from the surrounding for her to absorb. Right now she was not only managing numerous small-scale formations and skills but also replenishing her own Qi reserves.
Multi-tasking like this was one of the main requirements for a cultivator if they wanted to enter such a field.
In the air above, Dai Zhi was basically teleporting all over the place trying to keep the larger Wizard's attack that looked like a huge snake made of fire from reaching the cultivators below.
His expression was grim as flew around nimbly. He could barely use 20% of his actual power in this little valley in the fear of burying everyone alive or even worse, waking up a nearby volcano or the beasts that resided within.
From the corner of his eye, Dai Zhi examined the situation below and his heart lurched. Almost a quarter of the people that came with him were either severely wounded or dead. On the other end, the smaller wizard's speed of creating new monsters had slowed down but still not stopped. It had already been more than four hours since the start of the battle and he was still going strong.
There was no way to tell how much longer the wizards could keep this up. Their mana seemed limitless.
*BOOM*
Dai Zhi dodged to his right, barely avoiding the fire serpent. The serpent hit the side of the valley, starting a small rockslide.
"WATCH OUT!" Dai Zhi yelled, trying to warn two groups below that would be caught within. One of them managed to retreat but the other was surrounded on all sides and got buried alive by several tons of volcanic rock.
"Goddamnit," Dai Zhi grit his teeth, incensed to no end. "Fine, don't blame me for not holding back anymore," he mumbled under his breath and contacted Nel through spiritual sense.
"Make everyone moved back, towards the entrance of the valley."
Nel nodded once and passed the message along to the rest of the cultivators.
"Why are we moving back? We're so close!" Aer swung the greatsword in front of him, cutting several creatures in half.
But Nel only responded with, "Dai Zhi's order, move back now!" and started retreating.
Micha was near the center of the battlefield, keeping a fair bit of distance from the frontlines. He moved along with Nel, firing off arrows made of pure Qi like a madman.
When the majority of the cultivators had moved back, Dai Zhi nodded solemnly and looked at the larger Wizard in front of him.
The Wizard was surrounded by two different barriers, half red and half blue. It had a few wounds here and there but nothing life-threatening. Noticing the retreating cultivators it looked up to meet Dai Zhi's gaze.
They were flying above the valley, at a height of several hundred meters. Below them was a flood of greyish and white monsters, fumbling over one another to reach the nearest cultivator.
Dai Zhi raised both arms above his head, holding onto the two red swords in each one. As the glowing swords got nearer to one another, they trembled and started releasing a bloody fog that surrounded them completely, getting stronger and faster, creating a mini hurricane above his head.
Dai Zhi's eyes gleamed with a sharp light as he muttered under his breath, "Blood Arts: Holy Sword!"
The bloody fog thrummed as if something was trying to break out. And then the sound of the rain got drowned out.
The Wizard's expression instantly turned ugly. It opened its hideous mouth and spewed out a string of odd-sounding words. A red spark ignited above his head, burning brighter and brighter, taking the shape of a ball of red fire that started expanding outwards, setting even the rain alight.
But the fireball had only grown to a size of 10 meters when the wizard looked up and froze.
Thunder rumbled in the clouds above and lightning flashed. And with that flash of lightning, the blade of a gargantuan sword more than a thousand meters in length was illuminated.
It pierced through the sea of black clouds, looming over the wizard's head.
