That was a mistake. In his haste, his energy flow became irregular, and his martial technique became disturbed. Poof! Benedict felt his innards contort as blood spurted from his mouth. The pain was so bad that he almost believed he broke his legs! Although it might seem rare, backlashes with martial techniques were still possible. Due to the pain, he blacked out. The moonlight under his feet scattered, as he lost control over his technique. As he and Shirley were moving at high speed through a narrow tunnel, any mistake could be lethal.
He started falling forward, which Shirley noticed immediately. At this rate, they would crash into the ground or the wall. If that failed to kill them, it would certainly put them one step in the grave. They had to stop! Since she in his arms, that made it difficult to execute any movements, so she thought rapidly. The best solution was to pull him closer, shift their balance, and enter a roll. They hit the ground spinning and slammed into a wall. Bang! While Shirley did use her plate armor to absorb most of the impact, the force still stabbed into her body like many knives. She groaned. There were probably several broken bones in her body.
"You idiots!" Lady Mel screamed while running over.
She saw Benedict use his martial technique, grab Shirley, and then crash into a wall… The situation was severe, but there was no need to panic like this. It was the epitome of stupidity! At once, she was reminded that these two Royal Guards were less than half her age. They were basically children. Because they were not in a position to move, she dropped the person she was holding and unsheathed her longsword.
"Sir Welkis!"
"I know!"
He went behind her and began casting his earth spell again. As a Half-Condensed Drop Arcanist, he had a considerable Magic Energy reserve, except quite a bit of it had been consumed in the previous battle. It took a long time to recover Magic Energy, so he treated it like gold. That was why it was better to not engage in battle, rather than waste it. However, this was not the time to be picky. With Lady Mel protecting him, he could concentrate on his spell.
Very quickly, the bugs caught up and unleashed another volley of silk. The Grand Knight raised her sword and assumed her stance, her aura bursting out. Then, using her Martial Perception, she proceeded to track every single projectile. The biggest challenge was that none of these silk arrows could be blocked. They needed to be cut down, which changed her approach. Thankfully, everyone was behind her, so this narrowed the area she had to defend. Her longsword moved, and in an elegant, yet extremely fast swordplay, she slashed more than ten silk projectiles in the air. The others shot past her and pierced into the stone walls. The woman calmly exhaled. It was a perfect defense! The problem came after that. More and more bugs entered her perception range, making her cringe. Her initial estimate of thirty was wildly inaccurate because she sensed more than a hundred closing in! As strong as she was, she could not fend off an army. Their hopes laid in Sir Welkis's spell.
Shirley coughed and struggled to her feet. That crash messed her body up. Benedict was still unconscious, which worried her. A backlash in his condition had terrible repercussions. Hopefully, he was okay. For now, she had to focus on the threat facing them. Lady Mel and Sir Welkis sensed her movement, but before they could say anything, the insects launched their second volley. It was easily twice as dense! There was no room to breathe! Lady Mel quickly focused, as her longsword moved before she thought about it. She had to rely on instinct to survive. Using minimal movements and perfect execution, she struck down everything that came her way. Almost, that was. No matter how efficient she was, she was one person. Trying to knock down these many projectiles with hardly a gap or pause was impossible. One or two skirted past her defenses and landed perilously close to the people behind. Her defense was failing!
Sir Welkis decided to abandon his spell and join the defense, when someone else moved first. It was Shirley! Energy Acceleration! Although she only had enough Martial Energy for this one technique, she used it without hesitation. If Lady Mel failed here, they would all die anyways. She targeted Sir Welkis's sword and unsheathed it from his waist, then struck the silk arrows that Lady Mel missed. It was the first time they fought together, but Shirley used her Mock Perception, and Lady Mel her Martial Perception. Their coordination could not be too bad. It was silent, because the silk did not produce a sound yet, it was unbelievably intense for the two. Everything ended in a split-second. Around them littered numerous silk threads. They successfully blocked the second volley!
Shirley dropped to one knee as she violently panted and her vision darkened. Most of what she recovered from their short break was used up. Broken bones stabbed into her innards, which made it particularly agonizing. Fortunately, they delayed long enough because Sir Welkis's spell activated and sliced through the rocks overhead. Boom! Like before, massive boulders came crashing down and sent a huge ripple through the ground. When the dust settled, everyone saw the tunnel completely walled off. Lady Mel and Sir Welkis did not lower their guard. They used their Martial Perceptions to check the situation out. Only when they were sure it was safe did they relax. Shirley felt relieved. She was barely hanging on. What about Benedict? Was he okay? Her mind wandered, when she felt water under her hand.
"Huh? Why is the ground wet?" Shirley asked.
Lady Mel and Sir Welkis tensed. Drip, drip, drip… The waterdrops turned from a trickle then into a stream. More and more water came from above. An ominous crack split through the rocky ceiling. One of the flaws with Martial Perception was proper insight. For example, if something was out of sight, did not move, and made no sounds, it was effectively invisible to a Perception Realm. There was no sensory information to perceive. This was different from a Magic Perception, which could perceive everything in an area around the user, and a True Perception, which combined the best of both worlds. What this meant was… they failed to sense what was behind the stone ceiling. Or rather, what the stone ceiling supported.
Sir Welkis was the first to react and screamed, "Brace!"
Boom! The entire ceiling exploded followed by a huge torrent of water. Whoosh! The roaring waterfall crashed down with supreme force and crashed into everyone. It was like a tidal wave! Although Sir Welkis warned them, it happened so abruptly that everyone was knocked off their feet and swept along. In her haste, Shirley barely managed to grab a hold of Benedict and the other unconscious man before they washed away; however, the current was unrelenting and fast. She could not stop herself! Just as another wave smashed into her, two arms went under her armpits. They were like a pair of iron grips, rooting her in position. It was dark, but she did not need to guess to know it was Lady Mel and Sir Welkis. They must have saved her. Lady Mel had stabbed her longsword into the wall, and Sir Welkis had fetched his sword and did the same. Their swords were all that stood against them and the endless waves. It was humbling to experience the power of mother nature. It could even leave Perception Realms helpless!
They thought the water would run out at some point. They were wrong. The volume of water was actually rising! At first, it went up to their thighs, but soon it reached their torsos. Faced with the nonstop waves pelting their faces, breathing became arduous. Shirley had it worse, since the waves pressed her broken bones. She choked on the water. It felt like she was drowning. Her grip on Benedict was slipping. No! If she let go, he would get washed away by the current and drown. Unfortunately, her body was no longer in her control. Her arm muscles tore from the immense force caused by the waves, and once it started, there was no stopping it. She despaired once she realized this. Was Benedict going to die here?