The wind howled across the frostbitten peaks as Ery followed Commander Jhett and the others to the summit platform of Northstar Stronghold. The elevated vantage point revealed the full horror of the battlefield. Below, a sea of chaos writhed—more than sixty enemy cosmic experts spread like a storm across the skies, hovering nacingly over the barbarian horde. Tens of thousands surged across the icy valley floor, pressing against the stronghold's battered walls like a living tide.
The western flank was the most concentrated. There, Ery's eyes fixed on five newly arrived cosmic experts, their auras fierce and unstable. Accompanying them were three godly beasts, their imnse forms looming like death incarnate.
Among them, astride a grotesque, winged monstrosity that resembled a bloated mosquito, rode a female warrior. Her aura struck a familiar chord—unmistakably, it was the barbarian beastmaster Ery had faced before within a new body.
The stronghold's barrier was already buckling. The once-vibrant shield flickered and shimred, strained under the relentless assault of the enemy magus. Explosions rocked the air—spells detonating, elental clashes thundering in every direction. Arrows and bolts of magic rained from the ramparts as the defenders, just a few thousand in number, fought desperately to delay the inevitable.
"Damn it…" Feil muttered, her hand gripping the hilt of her blade as she scanned the horizon. "How long will the barrier hold?"
"Not long enough," Jhett answered grimly. "We barely recovered from the last siege, and this place—it's not finished."
Northstar Stronghold had been a rushed project, a desperate construction raised around a spatial rift that was never ant to see war. Its magical foundation was unstable, its formations unanchored to the land's natural ley lines. Without fully integrated defenses, they were relying entirely on stored spirit crystals to power the barrier.
If those ran out…
Jhett turned to the old man, the figure of quiet authority who stood unmoved amid the chaos.
"How is it, Elder?" he asked, voice steady but tight. "Will you help us? You and Feil, with twenty of my strongest warriors, can strike at their main force. I'll handle the defenses."
The Supre Magus did not answer at once. For a heartbeat, silence hung in the air. Tension coiled.
Then, slowly, he shook his head.
"No," he said.
Gasps rose from nearby officers. Feil's brow tightened. Even Lord Ariel looked stunned.
But before the tension could erupt, the elderly magus raised one hand. The air around him thickened, resonating with ancient, weighty power. Runes materialized midair—golden, complex, interlocking. The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly as mana surged in.
From the earth rose titans of tal and stone.
One by one, twenty constructs erged—each over twenty feet tall, their gleaming golden armor etched with ancient inscriptions. They moved with weight and grace, not like re tools, but as if they possessed a purpose.
"I am best at defense," the Supre said simply, as if that truth were self-evident.
The golems marched with thunderous steps toward key positions around the stronghold. Two took to each gate. Four others ford a ring around the central spatial node. Their presence stabilized the battlefield in an instant. The pressure from the forces faltered as their attention was pulled to these titanic reinforcents.
Commander Jhett's stern face broke into a grim smile. He nodded once in respect.
"Then we adjust." He turned to the young elf, granting him authority over the defense, then looked to Feil, his eyes burning with sudden fervor. "Alright… just like old tis."
Without another word, the two shot into the sky—streaks of light trailing behind them. Twenty of the Northstar's strongest warriors followed in a wedge formation, diving west toward the heart of the enemy's main force.
The heavens cracked open.
Where once there was a tense stillness, now the skies were a maelstrom. Grand Magus t Grand Magus in a storm of destruction. Bolts of condensed plasma and cosmic fire collided with walls of ice and sound. The sky pulsed with energy—dozens of duels erupting in every direction like stars going nova.
Below them, spells slamd into the outer walls as barbarian magus unleashed their fury. Explosions pounded the stronghold's defenses like hamrs on a war drum. Ice fractured. Stone crumbled. A chorus of screams and warhorns rose like a death song into the high mountain air.
Ery did not leap into the fray imdiately. Instead, he watched, eyes sharp, studying the battlefield. The golden golems proved devastating, their heavy fists flattening ranks of invaders. But it was the Supre's next move that truly changed the tide.
A deep hum rolled through the mountain as he lifted both hands skyward. Ancient sigils burned into the ground—Tier 9 earth magic, unspoken and absolute.
[Dominion of the Land]
The earth trembled violently. Cracks split the frozen stone. Great rifts opened and swallowed multiple enemy units. Spikes of jagged crystal erupted like spears, skewering magus mid-flight. With a single spell, thousands perished—one act of power that shattered the barbarian advance and forced the enemy cosmic experts to intervene directly.
And they did.
The beastmaster shrieked an order, and all three of her monstrous godly beasts surged toward the southern gate. They dove as one, fangs bared, claws outstretched, smashing into the failing barrier with titanic force.
"We need to reinforce that gate!" Ariel shouted, ready to deploy another unit—
"I'll handle it," Ery said.
The elf blinked, startled. "You?"
A one cosmos Grand Magus—an alchemist, no less—stepping forward to face a beastmaster commanding three godly beasts? Many around the battlefield stared at Ery in disbelief, so with frowns, others with barely hidden smirks. It sounded like a suicide mission, a joke made in the heat of war.
But Ery only offered a calm smile. "Well... we all need to do our part."
He called for assistance from two others—Veyarel and Ivaris.
"Let's get our payback," Ery said with quiet confidence.
The mont the female barbarian beastmaster caught sight of Ery atop the wall, her fury ignited like dry tinder. With a guttural roar, her bloodlust erupted.
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