Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!-Chapter 287: Breaking point (7!!)

'Think, Etaria, think!'

Figuring out the path that would take her out of the way of the hail of tiny arrows relentlessly chasing after her was taking most of the princess' mental resources.

The strange, floating monster moved in an extremely erratic, unpredictable way, always finding an angle to turn its weapons to the spot Etaria was trying to get to. And what was even worse, it started as a mere annoyance, but as the cat and mouse chase continued, the accuracy of this strange monster's attack continued to increase.

By now, Etaria had no other choice but to move erratically as well, dropping any and all attempts at figuring out the path in advance, forced to infuse as much chaos and randomness into her movements as she could.

And so, the princess would run up three steps only to leap to her right, fall on all fours, and freeze for a second before rolling to the back and starting to rush right back the way she came.

At first, it would take a second or two for the enemy attack to reach the spot Etaria left. By now, however, she could constantly feel the changes in the air from hundreds if not thousands of tiny projectiles flying through it right behind her back.

'I need to get rid of that thing!'

Desperate to break this unfavorable status quo, Etaria pushed herself even further, buying herself two seconds to rest and observe the situation at the cost of tapping into her absolute reserves of mana.

'To think that I would use it nearly all up so quickly…' Enjoy exclusive chapters from novelbuddy.com

The princess, just like most of the supremes throughout the world, grew used to the endless presence of the world's mana within the sphere of her domain's influence. And although her own reserves of mana were considerably greater than anything a mere ascender or even a promoted ascenders could ever bring to bear…

Without the active replenishment happening in the background at the very founding level of the domain, not used to operating long-term within the limits of her own power, Etaria was quickly reaching her absolute limit.

Something had to change. Something had to give in. The current status quo was a fake one, created by the momentary balance of power, a balance that was already shifting.

'I need to kill it!'

Raising her eyes up to the sky and locking them on the extremely weird and unnatural movements of the strange, round monster, Etaria gritted her teeth…

Before dashing forward, to escape the hail of projectiles that quickly chased after her, cutting her two seconds of break into just a single second.

'Those attacks are getting closer and closer…' Etaria gritted her teeth, keeping her voice locked within her throat so as not to waste even the tiniest bit of energy by pointlessly voicing her thoughts out.

Dashing to the side, Etaria gathered a considerable bit of mana in her right hand, preparing to turn it into a golden projectile she could cast toward this strange, flying monster…

"No, you won't!"

Madam's voice filled the air with tension and Etaria's soul with dread. And the very next moment, a blob of white shot across the forest, moving right past the princess at a speed too great for even a supreme human to react.

But what was even worse, while Etaria's opponent didn't use this opportunity to deliver a powerful strike… She still did something to disturb the formation of the princess spell, forcefully scattering the precious bits of mana Etaria gathered.

'This damn bitch!'

Once again forced to escape from the incoming hail of projectiles, all Etaria could do was curse her face.

'And where the hell is Zanba?!'

With every passing second, the situation was turning from bad to worse. The flying beats continued to improve its aim and rapid readiness to switch it around.

Madam, her supreme opponent, continued to reach greater and greater speeds, no longer bothering to engage with the princess and reaching full satisfaction by just disturbing Etaria's attempts to summon even the simplest, most straightforward spell.

'At least our forces should be about to finish mopping everyone down,' Etaria thought, only to jump to the side again.

And in her desperate bit to find something, anything that would break the status quo and give her an edge over the two monsters cooperating to bring her down… Etaria did the one thing she would never consider an option before today.

An action that would shatter her pride as a supreme. A bid to exploit the numerical advantage of her troops to gain an edge over Madam.

'She has to be tired too!' Etaria argued in her head as she slowed down for a second to figure out her position and the direction she should turn…

Only to pay dearly for it, when the hail of projectiles finally caught up to her, scrapping against her outermost barrier… and shattering it in a window of time too small for Etaria to even notice its passing.

Etaria's first barrier was pretty much the standard issue rune barrier that all of the ascenders within imperial forces would receive on the day of their class promotion. That's why, this barrier shattering wasn't that much of a big deal nor even something for the princess to concern herself with…

But then, her second barrier shattered as well, as soon as the first of the thousands of projectiles slammed right into it.

'Wha…?'

Etaria's third and last barrier held.

Contrary to the other two, it was a barrier spell actually on Etaria's supreme level, consisting of more parts and logic to its structure than the princess herself could even wrap her mind around.

An ancient artifact of their bloodline, the courtesy gift of his majesty the emperor himself on the day Etaria became an adult woman and picked up the banner of the golden legion.

A shield that actively made use of the domain of its wielder, along with the standard consumption of mana that was out of the ordinary only within the aspect of how much and how quickly it drained its host's mana.

The third shield didn't break, but the energy of the projectiles that slammed into it had to go somewhere. And due to the angle those shots came, Etaria suddenly found herself pushed not only into the ground but what was even worse, in the opposite direction of where she wanted to move!

Between Etaria's attempted leap to avoid the attack and the effects the projectiles brought upon and through her barrier, Etaria lost her balance, then footing, and finally fell to the ground, burying her face directly into the moist undergrowth.

'Crap,' the princess cursed, pushing her hands into the undergrowth all the way to where she could feel solid ground before pushing herself up and struggling to start running again.

Between her fall that brought even more chaos into her movements and how she stumbled to start running again, the time she gained by the attacking monsters fixing the aim of its attack was lost to how slow she moved at first.

And between those two, when Etaria picked up the pace and started to run once again, she returned right back to the very same status quo she was growing to hate with all of her mind and soul.

'I need to get to my army,' Etaria decided, gritting her teeth in frustration over the circumstances that forced her hand like that.

For a supreme to seek assistance from mere ascenders was as unheard of as Supremes directly duking it out… Only that, the fight between supremes happened. Rarely and with long periods of time between one and the next… but they happened.

Fights between supremes happened. Supreme seeking assistance from lower ranks, however…

'Just a little bit more!'

Pressured by the hail of bullets constantly chasing her all around the forest, Etaria continued to invest more and more of her reserves, even going as far as tapping into her physical limits.

And just like that, with a shadow of death chasing all over after the princess, she managed to reach the concentration point of her army…

Right at the moment one shout took over everyone's minds.

"RUN! SAVE YOUR LIVES!"

Taken aback by a blatant call for desertion and retreat, Etaria stopped in her tracks…

Only for her feet to dig about half a meter into the soft, moist ground when the hail of the projectiles finally caught up with her and furiously slammed into the top part of her barrier.

And so, pushed down into the ground and already struggling to maintain her last and best barrier, Etaria was forced to come to terms with the reality.

Her army was collapsing, starting to retreat right before her very own eyes. Their support that she counted on in turning the tides of the battle was no longer something she could ask for, given how it was now her time to shine while protecting the army's retreat.

But, stuck under the constant hail of those tiny projectiles, feeling her barrier start to crack already and her mana reserves reaching their very bottom…

Etaria had no other choice but to come to terms with the fact that this battle that she so recklessly and desperately threw all she could at… was lost.

And just when this thought struck, the hail of metal finally came to a stop, offering the girl the very first moment to regain her breath since the battle started.

But by now, it was too late forprincess to change the outcome.

Not with panic already settling in into the devastated crowds of the armies of imperial vassals. Not with corpses of their colleagues stacking up all around the place. Not with hundreds of soldiers in strange, green uniforms swarming the place and actively pushing against any attempts of Etaria's army to regain the initiative.

The princess took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

'This battle is lost. What that spy warned me again has come to pass. That's why, for now…'

Feeling the frustration fill every last nook and cranny of her soul, Etaria gritted her teeth.

'For now, all we can do, is try to escape.'

With this realization in her mind, Etaria opened up her eyes… Only to see that several hundred men she just saw turning around to escape have now turned into a field of corpses, with only a lucky fee somehow avoiding any injury.

This bloody, gore… grotesque even sight of mangled bodies, torn limbs, and puddles of blood forming all over the place was the final straw that broke Etaria's confidence and forced her to acknowledge the reality…

And then adapt to it.

"General Retreat!"

Investing a tiny sliver of her mana into her voice, Etaria shouted from the bottom of her lungs. Using the fact the hail of projectiles, for some reason, came to an end, she dropped her last barrier before pushing herself out of the hole and standing up straight.

"The battle is lost! Run!"