Elementals Landing

“Pardon me,” the Scholar said to the Succubus. “You keep attacking; I run for us both.”

The Scholar ran away from the broken inner barrier faster than the Succubus thought he could run for a human.

“Good idea,” the Succubus said, straightening herself up and launching her attack at the incoming hyenas and the giant.

From her hand rained purple arrows that spread over a large area of the hyenas, slowing down the elementals and puncturing them. The arrows bounced off the giant's skin like toothpicks. It didn’t take long for the elemental giant to advance farther than the weaker hyenas.

Even though the barrier dome on the human side was still as strong as new, it didn’t bode well if the elementals could come that far out from the portal.

The Scholar spread his hand out behind him and turned the cracked hot ground sticky liquid. The giant’s foot sunk into the liquid up to his ankle. It slowed him down but did not stop him.

The frontline of the elemental hyenas couldn’t stop themselves in time and fell into the trap, drowning slowly, while the rest came to an emergency halt.

“Good work,” the Succubus said just as the Scholar passed the portal's threshold.

Not wasting a golden opportunity, the Succubus shot out lances at the giant. Instead of piercing the giant, the lances elongated into ropes that circled around, tying him up. With his feet bound and still sunk in the soft ground, the elemental fell to the ground in a loud thug. He roared in frustration as he struggled to free himself.

Although stopped by the soft ground, the hyenas didn’t give up. Without being able to advance, they switched to using their sonic screech attacks instead. In high-pitched frequencies, dozens of sonic waves rushed forth. The few humans that had arrived to help the Witch squirmed and clutched their heads in pain.

The Scholar stumbled for a step or two, then resumed running after putting up a barrier around his body to protect himself from the sound waves.

The Succubus wasn’t affected at all. Such was the sturdiness and strength of the demons. She threw down a flat barrier at the portal entrance that stopped the sonic attacks.

With the two barriers, the flat one she had just put down and the domed one on the human side, they were safe for the moment. The Succubus jumped down and ran to the Witch.

Around and inside the magic circle, the humans, affected by the sonic attack, bled out of their ears. They slumped to the ground panting and struggling in pain.

The Witch still continued on with the ritual without any harm done to her. The Succubus sighed with relief.

The person who had manifested water was out cold and fainted. Her robes were soaked with the water that fell to the ground.

The Darkness twisted and churned in a black mist over its section. The Light element, however, was fading. The young man, whom the Scholar had charged with helping the Witch, collapsed on the ground. Determination never left him as he stared at the Light, trying his best not to let it drop.

“They’re feeling extremely nauseous and dizzy but alright for the most part,” the Scholar said, his hand touching the limp young man. “We need to get them up fast. The sooner we seal the portal, the less danger we’ll face.”

“I can help with that.” The Fleur from the gate ran toward them, face flushed. Behind the green-cloaked traveler trailed the guard who had kept preventing the Fleur from entering the city.

When the guard saw the Scholar, he saluted in a hurry. “Your Grace, my apologies. This person claimed they could help with the portal but had no identification. I tried my best to prevent them from coming in but was overwhelmed in the end.” His face was pale and afraid, but he reported his failure nevertheless.

The Scholar nodded at the guard. He turned to the Fleur and examined them up and down.

“If you’re really a Fleur, then you can heal, yes?” the Scholar asked the Fleur.

“Of course,” the Fleur said. The traveler put their hands together and whispered something into their hand, then threw her hands up in the air. Flower petals scattered and whirled around the injured people before disintegrating into their skin.

The young man in the Scholar’s arm slowly regained focus in his eyes. He sat up slowly, still keeping his eyes on the Light Element. “That’s much better,” the young man said, kneading his head.

“That’s good enough for me,” the Scholar said.

He dismissed the guard who had been watching anxiously on the side. The guard left hurriedly, glad he wasn’t punished.

As the indistinct shouts from inside the portal grew louder, the Succubus was the first to notice. She took one look and sighed, shaking her head at the impending trouble.

Before long, everyone from the human side turned their attention to the portal, and their expressions hardened instantly. Not too far in the distance, dozens of chariots raced across the barren field pulled by bipedal elemental lizards wearing armors.

Red-skinned humanoids manned the chariots. They looked almost like the elemental giant with their bare chests and skull necklaces, but they had fiery horns that blazed brightly on their heads. They carried swords, arrows, and spears. Some even looked like they carried magical canes.

Among the chariots was a large contraption that ended with a point. It was manned by several red-skinned humanoids with magical canes or orbs that glowed with magic. This was likely the beam’s origin.

“This does not look good,” the Succubus said.

“There are humans who live in portals?” the young man asked, perplexed.

“They’re not humans just as demons are not humans,” the Scholar replied. “Just like the Fleur here, they are magical beasts who were infused with something from nature. The Fleurs are magical beasts born from flowers. These elemental magical beasts are fieries. They’re born from the Element of Fire.”

The Succubus nodded. “They haven’t learned speech as the Fleurs have. Instead, the fieries can telepathically transmit images and emotions to each other,” the Succubus said. “Since they have intelligence and learned how to use magic, it makes them the most difficult elementals to fight against.”

Magic-wielding fieries put their hands on the contraption, and the device started to glow.

“Looks like we’re going to have our hands full,” the Scholar said.

Turning to his fellow arcane artificers, he took a headcount. Only eight were here, excluding the Witch and the demon. This was as much more than they could hope for in a city in the boonies. The only reason there were this many was because of the festival.

Elementals were not as strong as demons but much stronger than humans. Soldiers were gathering, but they would be helpless meat if they were to fight against the elementals. It would take perhaps fifty humans to slow down even one of the hyenas, but they still wouldn’t be able to kill it. Mana was the only effective weapon. Even the strongest swords masters would not be able to put a scratch on an elemental if they didn’t imbue their swords with mana.

The Succubus, now visibly annoyed, opened the voidspace and retrieved an orb the size of her fist. The sphere was clear and pristine and made from the purest of diamonds. She threw it up in the air, where it floated above the ritual circle. From the orb, a diamond-strong dome descended upon the group.

“This is a one-way permeable barrier that will protect you and allow you to attack outsiders while inside. This dome can’t be made bigger. You’ll be safe if you don’t step out.”

After leaving the explanation, the Succubus paced back to the portal with agitated steps, muttering how they were at such a disadvantage. The Scholar assigned someone new to the water section and followed behind the Scholar, the Fleur trailing behind.

When the Succubus passed through the mirror barrier and arrived at the portal, she put up a magical black screen that darkened the portal's surface, but what happened inside could still be seen.

“What’s that for?” the Scholar asked.

“It’s so that they can’t see our side. To them, it’ll look like a black wall,” the Succubus said.

Instead of slowing down at the sight of a black wall, the chariots picked up their pace.

The Succubus approached the portal but stopped before the outer barrier. She bent down and touched the ground. The earth vibrated. “I’ve set some trenches from here to the portal. Don’t go past this line, or you’ll break the surface and fall in,” she said, eyeing the Scholar. “By your lack of magical tools or conductor, you’re a mage, aren’t you?”

“That’s right,” the Scholar Mage said.

“That means you cast instantly since you don’t need incantations or runes, but you’ll run out of mana fast,” the Succubus said.