Bab 192: Chapter 192: One More!
Floating in the air, I watched the portal contort into abnormal shapes as it started shrinking in on itself; while that was occurring, I sensed Elaine approach me from behind, causing me to turn around while smiling in triumphant, though before we could even bathe in our victory, Elaine didn't slow down, one bit and slammed right into me.
"Brother! You're hurt! Are you okay!?" Exclaimed Elaine in worry as she looked up at Elif with teary eyes, deep in his embrace.
"Yes, Elaine, I'm fine, though it does sting a little, and it's ruining my clothes. Actually, considering it's my blood, it may very well be enhancing them, now that I think about it." Replied Elif with a soft smile as he looked down at Elaine while the two were hurdling through the sky.
"Hmm, are you sure? You're not lying to me, are you, Brother?" Asked Elaine with a pout as she suspiciously eyed Elif, who merely chuckled and tenderly rubbed her head.
"I'm fine, Elaine; it was merely a shallow cut and looks bad because of the amount of blood. With Miss Lynda's help, it should heal within a day." Said Elif with a smile as he stopped their momentum, causing them to float upside down while their long silver hair swayed in the wind.
"If you say so, Brother." Replied Elaine with a sigh of relief as she also smiled in joy, though that was only for a short moment before disappointment consumed her heart.
Looking down at Elaine, who was digging her face into my chest, I noticed she seemed to have lost her joy, which caused me to forcefully remove her face from my chest and lift it, though she constantly refused to look me in the eyes, which only served to confuse me; however, before I could question her, she spoke first.
"I-I'm sorry, Brother, even though you trusted me to destroy the formation, I failed, and you were forced to do everything yourself; my presence was completely useless." Said Elaine in a self-mocking tone as she belittled herself, which wasn't something Elif liked to see.
"Stop belittling yourself, Elaine; I won't lie and say you were extremely helpful to make you feel good since I don't want you to get complacent. But you weren't useless, either; without your help, I wouldn't have known about the formation, nor would I have figured out how to deal with it." Stated Elif solemnly with a slight frown as he forcefully held Elaine's face so they could make eye contact.
"Listen, while it may not sound that important, considering all we needed to do was destroy the formation, you should know more than me that violence isn't always the answer to your question, even if it's a good answer. What if I destroyed the formation and caused the portal to explode, or something worse, like making the portal permanent?" Added Elif lightly as he pointed at the collapsing portal, which was now smaller than a tenth of its previous size.
"Well, I suppose, when you put it like that, I did help a little." Muttered Elaine softly as she rested her head on Elif's chest while her mood slowly improved.
"You did more than what I would quantify as a little, but just know this was a team effort; I wouldn't have been able to do it without you and vice-versa." Said Elif softly as he kissed Elaine's forehead while rubbing her head, causing her to smile as she soaked up his warmth and love.
Anyways, with Elaine seemingly back to her usual self, I flew the two of us toward the shrinking portal, which was now only a couple hundred meters tall, many times smaller than its original size. Although it may seem like we've won, I still remained vigilant, as the premonition from when I first saw the Nether Monsters wasn't disappearing.
So, for the next few minutes, I stood at a distance and eyed the portal down, making sure nothing somehow managed to escape through it before it closed for good.
"I'm going to go check on Sarah, Brother. It's been a little over a day; I want to ensure nothing bad happened to her." Said Elaine as she reluctantly released herself from Elif's embrace and started flying south, completely ignoring Idonea or Marley.
"Alright, I'll catch up with you; also, kill any monsters you encounter; we still need to rid them of this realm. So far, we've only finished half of the job." Replied Elif as his eyes never once left the portal, which was now the size of about an average Elf.
"Okay." Said Elaine with a nod as she glanced at Elif, though when she did so, she sensed a massive amount of power from the other side of the portal.
Sensing the incredible amount of power, I instantly grabbed Hokori and released a powerful heavenly scar toward the portal, just in time for two large, purple, monstrous hands to grab the edges of the portal, seemingly keeping it from closing. When my purple sword wave landed atop those hands, that creature didn't so much as flinch as my attack did absolutely nothing to it; I only saw a slight mark where it landed.
With an ugly expression, I was about to attack again, even if I knew it would most likely have zero effect, but before I could, the monster raised one of its purple hands and pointed it right at me as a large amount of Qi converged toward its palm, prompting a small reddish Qi sphere to form.
'No, that's not aiming for, it's aiming at-' Thought Elif with widened eyes, and without a single thought, he utilized the elven body flicker, moving at the fastest speed he could muster as he appeared right before Elaine, just in time to block the reddish Qi sphere.
As I defensively held Hokori, from the sheer power radiating off that speedily approaching Qi sphere, I knew I wouldn't be able to block it, not even for a split second, so I swiftly summoned every talisman I could, whether they were meant to be used for attacking or protecting and activated them, hoping they could slow the Qi sphere.
Though they did nothing, that Qi sphere easily destroyed everything it came into contact with as it approached us; I was barely given enough time to protectively embrace Elaine before it collided with me. The instant the Qi sphere hit my back, I felt nothing but agonizing pain, causing me to grunt, though that wasn't all, as the Qi sphere exploded, releasing an enormous amount of volatile Qi that flung Elaine and I far away from the portal.
The amount of pain that was traveling through my body right now was far beyond what I was used to; the only thing comparable to this was undergoing a heavenly tribulation. Just a slight twitch of my body caused me to nearly grunt in pain, but as I looked down at Elaine, who was mostly fine within my embrace, I internally released a sigh of relief.
"B-Brother!" Exclaimed Elaine in worry as she eyed Elif's bloody and battered body; while she wasn't able to see much, considering he was wrapped around her like a ball, she was able to use her divine sense.
Before Elaine could start asking questions about my health and whatnot, I stopped her as now wasn't the time for that; despite my bad condition, that monster was still trying to keep the portal open forcefully, and I needed to deal with it while it was still occupied with that.
"W-We can speak later, Elaine; we need to stop that monster." Stated Elif as he released Elaine from his embrace despite the pain and wounds that ravaged his body, especially his back.
Stopping just a few meters above the ground, I took a few deep breaths while evaluating the extent of my wounds before looking back toward the portal, which still hadn't closed yet.
"Elaine, don't interfere, okay? I won't be able to protect you while fighting against that creature." Said Elif, glancing at Elaine, who was sporting minor injuries as she floated directly beside him while constantly looking at his ravaged back.
"A-Are you sure you'll be okay, Brother? That strength wasn't something you, nor any Divine, could resist." Replied Elaine in concern as she looked up at Elif, who gave her a reassuring smile.
"No, not completely confident; after all, I'll be facing a Celestial. Even with the few things at my disposal for desperate situations like this, I am still at a disadvantage. However, where are we supposed to go, Elaine? We are isolated from Father and Mother without a way to contact them, and we can't fly away; if that monster manages to enter this realm, we would only be able to run away for so long; it would eventually find us. You know that, Elane." Stated Elif softly as he wiped away Elaine's tears that threatened to escape since she knew there was a high chance Elif could die.
"Besides, do you think I'm just going to forget that the creature tried to kill you? As an Elder brother and a Prince, I can't let that monster think he can bully my precious little princess and get away with it." Added Elif with a cheeky smirk as his words slightly cheered-up Elaine.
I wanted to stay a little longer with Elaine, but I couldn't delay any longer, so without saying anything, I flew into the sky, heading straight for that monster, intending to stop the monster while it was still distracted by the portal.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Ozonelayer
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