Unfortunately, the ladies' prayers were not heard, as the next day the situation repeated itself.
The difference was that many more creatures attacked this time than the previous day.
-We are so screwed.
Anna said, clenching her bow harder in her hand.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that the damaged gate would not withstand this kind of assault, even with all the trees they piled up on both sides of it.
Moreover, even if they used all their arrows, they would at most make only a small dent in the number of creatures that were approaching.
-Let's hope that the pulse will reactivate soon.
Natalie said, preparing to fire her first arrow.
The girl was pale as a sheet, seeing the number of enemies taking part in the assault.
She and everyone else knew that if the pulse didn't reactivate soon, then they were doomed.
-Focus on keeping the creatures away from the gate and prepare to set it on fire.
Lin Mei shouted her commands, hoping that they could hold on and that the flames would be enough to buy them some time.
This time, they let the enemies come even closer, to make every arrow they had count, and the first ones to fire were all the women who mastered Anna's archery technique.
There were not that many of them, but their arrows were the most deadly for the creatures.
The moment their salvo hit the front lines of the enemy forces, most of the first line was wiped out, with most creatures ending up cut in half by the technique, but it didn't change a thing as the second line simply stepped over the corpses in front of them and pushed forward.
The next volley was fired by everyone at the same time, and it also caused a lot of damage, taking down dozens of creatures, but it barely slowed them down.
Wave after wave of arrows reined at the grotesque army, but except for taking down some creatures, the effects were negligible.
In less than ten minutes, the creatures arrived at the piles of trees in front of the gate and started to climb over them with ease.
A moment later, a familiar sound of the creatures hitting the gate was heard once again, and to make matters worse, the trees obstructed the archer's ability to target the creatures directly attacking the gate.
-Throw the bombs.
Lin Mei commanded.
The moment she did, four incendiary bombs flew at the gate, exploding with fire the moment they hit the trees pulled up under it.
This made the creatures take a few steps back, and those that were attacking the gate were now trapped, with almost half of them already set on fire.
The trees were not dried up, so they didn't burn as well as the women imagined, but they did burn in the end, blocking the assault on the gate and burning every creature that was trapped by the flames to death.
Luckily, the creatures seemed to be afraid of fire, so they stopped their assault on the gate, seemingly unable to decide if they should try to attack the walls or try to attack another gate.
This delay bought the ladies quite a bit of much-needed time, and before the creatures could decide on their next action, the pulse reactivated, forcing them into retreat.
-It worked for now, but we can't rely on this trick forever.
Anna said as she sat down to rest.
-Yeah, and don't forget that the pulse won't last for too much longer as well, so the next time they might not be so disoriented.
Irine sat beside her.
During these few days, the ladies discovered that the creatures that would tear them apart in the forest with ease were not only weaker but also seemed to have trouble figuring out what to do when they approached the city walls.
With no evidence to the contrary, they assigned this to the effect that the pulse had on the creatures.
-Truth be told, it matters little in the end.
The gate won't stop them anymore.
When they attack again, the pile of trees is all we have to stop them, and even if we burn them again.
There won't be anything left to stop them after that.
Natalie said, approaching them with bottles of honey water in her hands.
-With any luck, we will be able to stop them for a day or two longer at most.
She added, distributing the bottles and taking a seat next to her mother.
Natalie didn't sugarcoat anything, since everyone knew that she spoke the truth, and two days was a very optimistic assessment.
All the ladies knew that the moment it came to close-quarters combat, they would lose.
Not only were the creatures faster and stronger than they were.
They also held a significant numerical advantage.
Right now, they could only wait for Paul to break through.
Speaking of Paul.
While the ladies were defending the city, he was visited by an unexpected guest.
The being assured him that they were in his mind, and it was the messenger from the heavens, sent to him to discuss his ascension attempt.
Paul could not see the messenger, and all he could say was that its voice sounded feminine, and it was a humanoid.
As for anything else, he had no clue as the being was wearing a cloak, making it impossible to see even a bit of its body.
-Let me get this straight.
Paul said after hearing out the messenger.
-The heavens will allow us to ascend, but only if all of us return to the beginning realm as soon as we find a portal, and if we don't, then they won't allow me to ascend with all the women in this city?
The human asked.
-Correct.
The messenger confirmed.
-Usually, the groups that ascend are no larger than fifty people, which is fine, as the limit is one hundred people.
Since no one has tried to exceed the limit for tens of thousands of years.
Everyone forgot about it and started believing that there is no limit.
The being explained patiently.
It had a hard time figuring out why the heavens decided to strike a deal with this human, but it was its job to make sure that this human was convinced and agreed to the heavens' plan.
Paul didn't plan on being stubborn.
Especially since he and his ladies planned to go back anyway, and he also suspected that most, if not all, of the ladies in the city had the same idea.
-Alright, I agree to this condition.
Is there a specified time period we will need to stay in the second realm?
Paul agreed.
-No, there is not.
If you so desire, you can return to the ascension realm as soon as you get to the beginning realm.
-Does that include all the women I'll be taking with me?
-Yes.
-Then we have a deal, and to make things easier, I'd like you to ask the heavens to send us near a city with a gate to make it easier for everyone.
-It is acceptable.
The messenger agreed after a moment of silence.
-Thank you.
Now, if there is nothing else, I'd like to continue my break through.
In the end, we don't have much time left before the crystals break.
Paul said, happy that the heavens didn't make things difficult for them.
-That won't be necessary.
The messenger said, surprising him.
-The Hevens decided to help you, as a gesture of appreciation, for your cooperation in this matter.
As soon as these words fell, Paul felt the bottleneck that he had been trying to overcome for the past few days disappear as if it had never existed.
At the same time, the messenger vanished.