Disaster at the Portal Part 2

The giant regained its mind, and the chariots crossed over to the human world. The wolves rushed forward with full steam. Other elementals still far in the distance did the same, giving their all to come into the human world.

From behind the Succubus, Scholar, and the Fleur, a large magic diagram passed them overhead and overlapped the portal. The circle was not big enough, but it expanded to fit the opening.

The sealing ritual was finally ready.

For the wolves, though they might not understand what that magic circle meant, their animal instincts beckoned them to run even faster. They slipped in right under the magic circle and into the human world. It was such a close call that the magic circle grazed the last wolf’s fur as it passed through. Since the seal was never meant to be a barrier, the wolf came out unharmed.

However, the sealing ritual wasn’t complete yet. Slowly, the magic circle adhered to the portal's edge and started to pull it in closer, shrinking the opening.

In the meantime, the chariots ran past the newly solid ground, but they didn’t get much further. There was a second hidden trench just past the first one, and the chariots in front, including the one carrying the canon, tumbled into the trap.

The giant also fell in, its feet stabbed by the earthen spikes below. The few chariots that managed to halt fell into disarray, their formation broken. The fieries yelled and screamed as their comrades died or were wounded below. The surviving mages grasped their canes, readying to cast magic to rescue their companions.

“Oh no, you don’t,” the Succubus said and aimed her hands at them. Black arrows zipped towards the mages, but not all of them were hit. Some fieries reacted in time and blocked the incoming attacks with their swords and shields.

The sprinting wolves from behind leaped over the fieries and cleared the trenches, their movements agile and graceful.

The Scholar raised his hands to his lips and blew. A raging gust of wind swept through the wolves. The gale only slowed the running elementals but didn’t stop them.

The Succubus reached into the voidspace and took out a gleaming scythe. The elegant weapon made, with one piece of silver metal, was sharpened to a razor-sharp gleam.

However, before she could swing her scythe, giant thorny briars erupted from the ground under the wolves. The monsters couldn’t avoid the sudden attack. The tangle of briars imprisoned them.

The Succubus looked back at the Fleur, and the latter gave the Succubus a nod.

However, the wolves were not entrapped for long. Fire gushed out from the mouths of the elementals, burning the briars and freeing them.

Meanwhile, from further back, the fiery mages raised their magical canes and orb high up in the air and healed the injured wolves.

At the portal, the opening had shrunk to half the size. The threshold was too high for most animals to leap over. Fortunately, the other elementals were too far behind the wolves to make it while the portal was still large.

From the skies above, elementals that looked like wyverns made an incredible dive towards the opening. Their ferocious roars punctured the human world as they flew desperately to zip through the portal.

However, the Witch wouldn’t let them pass that easily. Keeping one hand at the sealing diagram, she drew the other hand back. She added a cool, blue shade of mana that sparkled with ice crystals and thrust her hand forward.

Ice webs shot from her hand, expanding as they flew. Some wyverns dodged around it, spinning agilely. With deft evasions, they resumed their rush towards the portal. Some were too slow and got trapped—their heads, claws, and wings tangled into a mess as they fell. The ice webs held their form as they steamed against the hot skin of the wyverns, causing them pain.

More ice webs followed, and a contest of the survival of the fittest reigned in the air.

With the web slowing the flight of the wyverns and taking them down, the impending catastrophe lessened, but three wyverns still made it through the portal.

The fourth wyvern almost made it through, but the shrinking portal mercilessly cut off a large chunk of its body after its legs. The monster fell to the ground with a staggering, painful thump. Succumbing to the inevitable blood loss, its fate was sealed. Not even the fiery mages could heal the dying wyvern fast enough as its life force drained away.

Meanwhile, when the Witch was handling the dragon, the fieries had rescued their comrades. They healed the wolves while under the attacks of the Succubus, the Scholar, and the Fleur. Magical projectiles fired from both sides without stopping.

As the Succubus fired her mana-infused arrows at the elementals, the Scholar imbued them with his own magic, strengthening them. Dark demonic arrows coated with mage blue mana pierced the elementals, dealing greater damage to the enemies.

The Scholar constantly changed his tactics, adding electricity magic to the demon’s projectiles or imbuing them with poison. As the Succubus attacked, the Scholar enhanced.

Such enhancements were only possible because the Scholar was also a mage, and mages could cast instantly without any incantations. They also didn’t need any outside objects such as conductors to output their magic, thus removing another layer of time latency.

The Fleur in the back healed any injuries the Scholar or the Succubus sustained. The vines on their bodies absorbed any damage they received and healed them. With the continuous healing, the Succubus and the Scholar Mage could focus on offense with minimal attention to defending against the elementals’ attacks.

Even though it was their first time working together, their teamwork was seamless and perfect. So perfect that the Succubus wanted to be in denial. Even the Scholar and the Fleur felt the smoothness of their teamwork. Their flawless cooperation made them feel invincible.

The fight between the elementals and the trio waged on fiercely. As one attacked, the other defended, and the cycle continued.

Even with the healed wolves, the elementals lost numbers on their side. However, aside from the scratched-up Succubus at the forefront, the Scholar in the middle and the Fleur in the back were still in almost perfect condition.

The portal was now completely closed.

The three wyverns that got through the portal didn’t waste any time or opportunity. Faster than the eye could see, the first wyvern sonic dived at the Witch.

The first attack that hit the diamond dome didn’t do much damage.

When the second wyvern hit, the loud thud created tiny weblike cracks. While the barrier was as strong as diamond, its hardness was also its weakness. Diamonds were one of the hardest substances in the world, but brittleness was their weakness.

The other two wyverns circled around and lined up behind the last wyvern, preparing to charge. Once the barrier shattered, the two wyverns would be in perfect positions for the follow-up.

Faster than the other two wyverns, with a speed that broke the sound barrier, the third wyvern dived with an ear-shattering boom.

With that speed, there was no doubt that the diamond-strong shield would shatter.