Devon snapped his fingers and another shield flared into existence before absorbing a stream of magma. The enchantments burnt out on the absurd volume of mana they had to channel, but not a drop escaped. A flick of his wrist sent the scrap metal flying towards another of his opponents' eyes.

He was forced to duck under another attack, losing any initiative. A horrific scream came from his left and he tossed out a metal orb to hover over the field. With each skeletal spine that pushed out of the ground, a beam of energy pulverized it back to dust.

He stood at the center of a ring, a dozen thick chains waving around like the tentacles of a sea monster, batting stray projectiles out of the air and absorbing mana that would have been harmful.

As a sandstorm kicked up to his right, he tossed out yet another of his contingencies, adding a partial gravitational pull to the side and compacting the sand back to stone. That one was fucking expensive. After they killed these fools Devon was demanding first pass at looting their belongings. It was already going to take years to replace everything he had spent thus far.

To his left, Jade was dealing with her own trio of attackers. Her skin had transmuted back into bark, though reinforced with enough mana that made her tougher than any mortal tree. Plants that had no business in northern Merista were shooting out of the ground, entangling and acting as shields. A cloud of spores pushed out of a few blooms and blew unnaturally straight at the center. They dissipated before they got there, Tascal was a coward who's whole cultivation centered around neutralizing others.

Jade tried again, this time with animated vines that drooped to the ground when they got close. The woman was unphased at the denial. Her mass of newly sprouted and soon-to-die ambulatory trees marched on Permin to her other side, acting as a barrier to the man's stronger attacks. The giant mantis's limbs were sharp but they couldn't reap a whole forest. The weaker clouds of insects were giving Oro something to do as they burned to ash in dragon fire. Then roaring in anger as his true target slipped away every time they got close.

As he threw out yet another expensive, unique enchanted item in order for it to burn to ash, Devon contemplated how to change the flow of the fight. Ideally Martin and Laurel would win soon and help them clean up the dregs. But Dariella and Vulurus were the true dedicated combatants amongst their foes and wouldn't go down easy.

The defensive shielding behind him was holding firm, recognizing the splash effects from their battle as a threat to the City. The distance didn't drown out the screams.

**********

Leander jumped in front of a child, younger than him if not smaller, and pushed out his mana to demand the air become a barrier. Just in time for the panicking woman to bounce off and keep hurrying. She never noticed the near calamity. But the kid did. They shouted a "thanks" over their shoulder as they resumed fleeing the Arena.

Cooper had told him to let them go. The Arena was safer than anywhere they were going, but trying to force people to stay would have been even more dangerous than this stampede.

King Edward was somewhere with his crowd of guards, but Leander wasn't sure where. Which meant it was left to the sect and the visiting cultivators to minimize damage.

A gout of fire slammed into the defensive dome nearby, and spread out, turning a small patch of the sky orange as it sought entry. He could maybe see why the mortals were panicking. Even though Laurel and Martin were handling it, which meant no one would be getting through.

When his area quieted down he jogged back onto the Arena floor. There he found Cooper directing the rest of the sect members. The visitors were there as well. With their own leaders in battle, they had drifted closer for any news.

"We need to spread out through the Flats. If anything gets through, that's where it will be."

"And what are we going to do if one of the people who can do that gets into the City." The Somorin gestured to the City shield where a cloud of something black as night fizzled and popped where it impacted the golden light.

"If we can slow them down –"

"How? By dying?"

"I'm willing to hear other ideas." Cooper was calm as he watched the group sharing glances and shifting their weight back and forth."

"We should go to the sect house." Rian, who so rarely spoke up, was gently pushing his way to the front. "It's a Core thing. They get mana and power from all the mortals around, but in a pinch, cultivators can bolster it. The extra willpower does something I don't really understand, but it helps."

"You're sure?"

Rian shrugged. "I'm sure we aren't going to last long enough against someone that can threaten Martin. It's better than nothing."

"Fine. Everyone willing to help, follow us to the sect house."

They ran off in a pack, jogging through streets that were roiling with frantic Verilians. This wasn't like the beast waves they could prepare for. All people knew was that the City was under attack.

Every few blocks Cooper would shout for people to return home and remain calm. The pack of dangerous cultivators at his back did nothing to quell the rising panic.

They reached the sect house quickly, the battle still raging outside the City. It would take months to make things nice again.

The sect house defenses had been engaged but with their mana signatures they were able to bypass those and thunder up the stairs and into the rotunda. No one would be relaxing today.

"Rian, your show." Cooper gestured him forward.

"Right. Okay." The nervous young man flinched from the gazes trained on him, but didn't stop his explanation. "I only know that it's possible. You should be able to do a sort of temporary pledge."

Putting his vague words into action he walked over and placed his hand on the Core pedestal, which shone with light as it channeled so much of the mana needed for the wall. An instant later Rian was staggering away, collapsing onto a nearby couch. A shaky thumbs up assured the rest of them that it worked.

Leander hurried forward. If there was a way to help protect the City he would do it. Placing his hand on the warm pedestal was easy. What came after was less so. He confirmed he wanted to help with defense, and then there was an awful sucking, like his blood was being drained. When he could take no more, he slumped beside Rian to watch the rest.

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One after another, the weaker cultivators did what they could to contribute to the fight. He hoped it would be enough.

***********

Martin's skin was more burns than flesh. Worth it. Dariella was just as ragged. One arm hanging limply at her side not working and the fucking lens she had been using was shattered into smithereens and scattered across the peninsula.

The others were holding but the numbers were wearing them down. He had to finish this.

His spirit was strained from the battle and the chaos grating down on his senses, or he would have noticed the change.

But he could hear it now. A roar coming from the south. He narrowed his eyes at Dariella, but she seemed as confused as he was. The others would have to hold against whatever this was. Marrying his aspects had been the work of decades, but now it was second nature. A tsunami of earth rose and collapsed on top of Dariella, shoving her deeper below the surface.

**********

Laurel was fighting an army single-handed. She was physically fine, having avoided taking most of the direct hits. But neither had she done much damage to Vulurus after the first few attacks, which was a blow to her pride and to the survival of the others.

The bastard had glued shards of rock onto his body with mana, they were slowly shifting back to something that could charitably be called an arm.

A roar came from the south. Laurel couldn't spare the time to investigate as she continued.

Her opponent's reaction was even better. Part of his army of minions had reformed, putting themselves between him and the newcomer. Either a clever feint or an admittance that whoever or whatever approached, it was not on the Order's side.

Laurel took the dare. For a moment she got close enough for her blade to bite into real flesh. She made it count. All of her focus bent towards making the blade as sharp as possible.

With a cry she ripped it back out, blood fountaining across her face and clothes, the metallic scent mixing with the ozone and dirt that filled the air. Her followup strike bounced off crystal. All of the minions converged on Vulurus, covering him in an ever-wider barrier that Laurel could tell would take too long to cut through.

The breather let her turn her attention to the newcomer. Newcomers, she saw as she tried to make sense of the oddest tableau she had seen in some time.

Laurel should be forgiven at first for thinking it was a two-headed monster approaching at speed. After a few blinks, it resolved into two people, a woman riding on a man's back as he sprinted overland. Each step propelled them closer to the site of the battle, which came to a pause at the bizarre interruption.

Well, mostly came to a pause. Laurel didn't care who these people were. Eight bolts of lightning slammed outward, angled towards each of the Order members. None were lethal on their own, but half landed and spurred the rest of her side into taking the advantage.

As the strangers got closer, a metal hummingbird flitted next to her ear. The size of a mosquito, there was only a moment to notice it before it stabbed through her earlobe to become involuntary jewelry. With the change Laurel could hear explosions and shouting from all corners of the battle, echoing from her own hearing and through the accessory.

"I recognize the guy." Devon's voice was warped but recognizable where it whispered into her mind. Laurel suppressed the shiver that wanted to come through the intrusive communication.

"Who?" Martin grunted.

"Rao the Rockhead. From Gyrilix. Body cultivator."

"That can't be his name," Martin said.

"No. But if you prove a point by slamming your forehead through a block of marble, people remember."

"I don't give a shit about the name. Are they on our side?" Laurel spat as she continued her assault.

"I don't know." Devon's voice cut in and out as a particular harsh sound of metal tearing apart came through the transmission.

She glanced over to where Vulurus had sequestered himself. The shell of golems thrummed with growing energy. Pieces were chipping off under her constant attacks but not quickly enough.

Rao and the unnamed woman were getting closer. Enough that Laurel could confirm the tell-tale bulging muscles of a body cultivator, and a pair of lavender wings folded down the other's back.

If they were here as reinforcements for the Order, then Laurel and her companions were in trouble. On the other hand, a few more allies could tip things in their favor. She couldn't risk it.

She aimed towards the ground in front of their charge, and sent a small bolt. Not enough to kill a body cultivator, but enough to send a message.

Laurel couldn't tell if it was received, because Rao simply smiled and waved, before angling towards the dome surrounding Vulurus. His companion lifted off and angled towards the rest of the fight, but Rao kept running. He sped up, rearing back a fist and pressing forward, slamming into the shield in a cloud of dust and noise.

Not in a position to turn down help, Laurel swept the residue away, revealing a deep crack in the dome, mana spilling out in a trail of golden smoke.

Further back, a purple haze was encompassing the battlefield, small areas cleared around each of Laurel's allies. Even Darielle and Martin were encompassed, though the violence of their fight was pushing the magic back.

"Anyone?"

"She's helping," Jade announced. "Some sort of mental attack."

"She has a name," came a sultry voice, whispering through the crack Devon had made in her own mental defenses.

Laurel swore and heard the same sentiments expressed through the rapidly heating communication construct from Devon.

"Kallia Heartwing. At your service. My husband and I saw the battle and have tried to assist."

"Someone married that guy?"

"Shut up Devon! Kalia, if you're helping, keep helping!" Laurel shouted the last line and then ripped the hummingbird out of her ear when it started to scorch the skin. She tossed the now flaming metal off to the side and turned her attention back to the fight at hand. Too much mana pouring through too quickly had turned the delicate enchantment to a pile of slag, but it had been worth it.

Two more allies right now would make all the difference. Even in the handful of breaths since they had arrived on the battlefield, the pair of master cultivators had made a difference. The mass battle with Jade and Devon was already turning around.

Rao was also almost through the barrier Vulurus had erected. Which meant she needed to get back in the game. A wounded animal was most dangerous when it was cornered.

Sure enough, the pulsing mana sped up as layer after layer of the makeshift chrysalis crumbled. The mass of crystal and rock glowed for a moment, then shattered outward. Laurel pushed most of the shards away with air and dodged higher to escape the rest. A few still lanced through her body, the wounds bleeding freely. Rao had been closer and took the explosion head on, but he charged forward without a scratch. From her own vantage, she had seen a few of the shards simply bounce off his skin.

Behind the explosion, where Vulurus had hidden, was a monster. Laurel could see the remains of the man in the pale skin tone and shreds of dark hair, but that was it. Grotesque was the word that flitted across her mind. Too many limbs, too many different types of golems fused together. She recognized that kind of technique. It wasn't something a cultivator expected to survive.

Laurel was more than happy to oblige. She hadn't spent the time he was sealed away idle. With a silent apology to the council, and whoever would have to clean up after her, she released her own technique.

Winds whipped in a tight spiral around Vulurus, lightning crackling in and around, held by Laurel's willpower as blades of plasma instead of seeking the ground. The sky above their battlefield was black with the clouds her technique had gathered. All of it, she released at the enemy cultivator.

She watched dispassionately as her storm rent Vulurus limb from limb. Even Rao had backed off instead of trusting in his own body reinforcement. He sprinted for the most annoying of the other attackers, the one who's area of effect techniques were keeping anyone or anthing from getting close enough to do any damage.

Laurel watched to be sure Vulurus died. Every piece of his mutated body that split off she pelted with more and more lightning. Until all that remained was ash and gore.

She dipped where she hovered in midair, then forced herself to steady. A technique like that took a lot of mana, controlling it and then dissipating the storm before it ravaged the City wasn't easy. Her work wasn't done.

The fight had shifted to seven on six and Laurel had no intention of letting any of these cultivators walk away.

Her goals had been handed to her on a silver platter. Today the Order of Decorra would be relegated to history.

**********

Lawrence panted behind his mask. A natural veil strong enough to hide a master cultivator slinking around another's domain didn't exist. That had never stopped him before. A year of focused research had netted a prototype. The second year of development had given him the working version. Discomfort was a small price to pay for genius. So he kept pushing through. It was like breathing through a muddy straw, but the dampener didn't just keep his mana signature from leaking, the way a normal veil would. Any idiot paying attention could see through one of those. Instead, his invention would erase him entirely. The strongest spiritual senses could scan the area and see nothing.

Not that he would leave anything to chance. The fight outside the City barrier was working perfectly as a distraction, all part of the plan. A few of his own allies would die as a result, but that was within expectations as well. Hopefully it would be the ones that had been the most vocal dissidents over the recent years. Of course, his most loyal followers were keeping things contained back in Laskar.

He snorted as the sect house came into view. It was fine, he supposed, for a few battle maniacs without a shred of taste between them.

But the location exposed them as the unprepared fools they were. Unguarded, barely defended. Arrogance. Breathtaking in its scope, but it was making things all that much easier for him, so he would choose not to be offended.

The building itself was at least set up as a fortress. Not enough, but at least they weren't entirely fools. A smile ghosted across his face. They could have rebuilt their precious Citadel, and Lawrence still would have made it through. He wouldn't bat an eyelash if he had to sweep through this City to complete his plan, leaving death and destruction in his wake. The kindly masters of the Eternal Archive had made it easy on him.

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