With all the preparations in place, the ladies focused on keeping guard at the walls and the gate.
There were not enough of them to keep guard around the whole city, so they focused on the part that was nearest to the place they were staying.
Other than that, they also prepared some traps outside the gate and walls.
The idea was simple: dig a pit and insert some spikes at the bottom.
No matter how strong the creatures were, if they fell, then this would ruin their day in a hurry, and even if they didn't die, they would at least be injured.
Additionally, every time the creatures approached the city, and they did so every day, not to mention coming closer and closer each time.
The ladies would use this opportunity to shoot some arrows at them from the walls, killing and injuring many creatures in the process, and retrieving their arrows once the beasts left.
-How much longer do you think it'll take?
Gu Man asked Anna when they were keeping guard at the gate.
-I have not the slightest clue, in the end, Paul is the first person I know who reached this cultivation stage.
But it's been eight days now, so I don't think it'll be that much longer.
The girl answered.
All the women were wondering about this matter as it was their only chance to escape, and they all knew that they didn't have much time left, as the intervals between the weakening of the pulse were becoming shorter and shorter, proving that the crystals were reaching the end of their structural integrity.
Everyone in the city knew that when they broke completely, and the pulse vanished, it would not be long before the creatures stormed the city, and by that time, they would at most be able to buy a few hours before they were all killed or dragged away.
-Let's hope that Paul will be able to ascend before that happens.
Natalie, who was also at the gate, said, pointing at the edge of the forest where hundreds of silhouettes could be seen moving between the trees.
They have been killing the creatures for the last three days, but no matter how many they killed the next day, there would be more of them coming.
-I think it's about time for the crystals to be swapped.
Elaina said, climbing to the top of the gate to join them.
As if to confirm her words, the wave of creatures came out of the forest.
There were a few thousand of them, and they were not in a hurry to shorten the distance to the city, but steadily approached like they had all the time in the world.
This time, they also didn't stop at the same distance as the day before and proceeded further, reaching the gate despite a rain of arrows that fell on them from the gate and the walls.
The arrows killed dozens of them and injured even more, but the creature's wave was not even bothered by it, and the injured ignored the wounds and the arrows sticking from their bodies.
When they reached the gate, the first beasts started striking it with their fists, shaking not only the massive door, but the whole gate as their terrifying strength slammed into it with the force of a battering ram.
These creatures were immediately targeted, and a rain of arrows and spells fell on them.
Fortunately, Anna managed to finish developing her archery technique and taught it to some of the ladies.
The only flaw of this technique was that the further away the target was, the more Qi it required to be effective, but since they were aiming at the creatures who were standing next to the gate, they could fire many of these arrows, taking out a creature with each shot.
Unfortunately, the creatures didn't care, and when one died, another immediately took its place, continuing the attack on the gate.
-I never expected that these trees would hold out for this long.
Natalie said while she sent another arrow into the mass of creatures.
-It's a good thing they do, and even better that you came up with this idea.
Sun Ning smiled at the girl.
She had an idea to drop many trees under the gate, blocking it and making it more difficult to breach.
For this purpose alone, a group of a hundred women went out of the city and gathered as many trees as they could, from the very edge of the forest.
The bigger trees further inside would be much better, but they didn't dare to venture into the forest anymore, afraid of being ambushed.
As they were talking and sending arrow after arrow into the horde of the creatures, the gate started to deform under the constant attack.
Just as it looked like the gate was about to be breached, and a group of archers stationed a small distance away raised their bows to greet the creatures with another salvo of arrows.
The creatures stopped their attacks and started to retreat, chased by more arrows and spells that constantly hit them.
As soon as the creatures disappeared into the forest, a few ladies slid down the ropes and started gathering the arrows, while another group assessed the gate.
The heavy doors were dented and even cracked in many places.
Furthermore, the gate itself had a lot of cracks.
-This gate won't withstand another attack like this.
Gu Man stated the obvious.
-We can't do anything about that; at most, we can drop a few more trees on this side of the gate as well to make it harder for them to reach it.
Anna said in a serious voice.
-Even if they breach the gate, we can set the trees on fire to hold them off for a bit longer, but after that, we will need to abandon it.
Natalie, who just slid down, chimed in.
She remembered that most of the creatures feared fire.
-That's one way to stop them, but after that, we won't be able to hold the gate or the walls any longer.
Gu Man nodded in agreement, but her expression was grim.
As long as they could protect the walls, the creatures were at a disadvantage, but the moment the gate was breached, the tables would turn, and she hoped to leave this place before it came to that.
Luckily, they had a few trees that were left after blocking the inside part of the gate, so they were immediately dropped outside, shielding the gate.
This would not stop the creatures for long, but it would take them some time to bypass this obstacle.
Additionally, the ladies left a few spears hidden by the leaves, in hopes of taking out a few creatures, when they rushed at the gate once again.
After all that, they all climbed back to the wall and resumed their watch, hoping and praying for Paul to finish his breakthrough before the creatures attacked again.