Within the city, beneath the stone gate.
The soldiers, standing in strict formation, were urgently carrying out search and rescue. Magi from all over the city were rushing to the gate, determined to uncover the reason why this gate had suddenly and inopportunely appeared here.
Though the scope of the crisis wasn’t wide, it had erupted in the bustling city center—enough casualties to make anyone’s blood run cold.
“Hurry, take him to the Church! Anyone who knows healing magic, help! He’s fading fast!”
“Don’t come any closer! I’ll say it again! Civilians, keep away! If possible, get to safety at once.”
“No good, I can’t make heads or tails of this magic. Can anyone contact Lady Dorothy? She’s a court magician—she’ll definitely understand this!”
Chaos reigned, yet within the chaos there was a peculiar stability, as if Sorus City, which had endured several hardships already today, had grown all the more resilient.
“Master Joni, this way, please! Could you take a look and tell us what this all means?” A young magus supported the white-haired Joni, helping him up high to overlook the enormous gate and the magic array engraved beneath it.
Joni squinted, peering down at the ground now mostly obscured by blood and rubble. Suddenly, his eyes went wide with shock. His body leaned back involuntarily—he nearly fell over.
The young man immediately caught the frail old man, and heard him muttering under his breath.
“This… this… how can this be!”
The young man hurriedly asked, “Master Joni, have you discovered something?”
“Pocket, pocket!” Joni trembled as he lifted his sleeve, revealing a pocket. The young man quickly reached in and pulled out a piece of crumpled, oft-revised white paper.
He unfolded it, and was surprised to see that the magic array drawn on it was almost identical to the one below.
“Everyone, come here!” Joni called, but his voice was so faint the young man had to repeat it. Only then did a few young magi with free hands gather around.
The scene reminded many of their days as students, but now, the very future of Sorus City was at stake.
“Here.” Old Joni pointed with a hand as gnarled as a tree branch. “This means blood. Extending here, it’s empowerment. Here, it’s transformation…”
Every stroke of a magic array had to be concise—redundant lines only wasted mana and caused more problems.
Thus, the meaning of this array was simple: transform blood into power.
No doubt, humans would never use such an array.
“I taught you all this: this simple magic array is just the core to keep the whole operation running.” Joni pointed to the massive gate, tracing the intricate, bizarre reliefs on the doorframe. “Look… that’s the main body of the array.”
At that moment, all the magi felt their scalps tingle.
After all, every stroke of a magic array must be as simple as possible.
But the tangled lines on the gate couldn’t even be called merely “complex”—they were beyond description.
Suddenly, the giant stone gate began to hum, setting off alarms in every soldier’s heart.
Then, a faint glow appeared on the gate, a subtle color like a dragonfruit dropped into water—soft, pinkish red—spreading silently from the doorframe and solidifying into a curtain of light.
The curtain of light was like a veil, separating the worlds inside and outside the gate. Within the rippling veil, something seemed to be stirring, ready to break through.
“Something’s coming!” a soldier cried, raising his spear at the shimmering curtain.
“Alert! Form ranks! Messenger! Report immediately!” The squad leader swept a glance at the stone gate, shouted the order, and the rescue soldiers grabbed their weapons, forming up in front of the gate.
The stone gate was too massive, so the soldiers formed a circular defense on whatever ground they could stand on, encircling the gate.
You didn’t need to know magic to understand: a gate is meant for something to pass through.
Buzz.
The light curtain shuddered—if it were water, everyone would see: something was about to emerge from the undercurrent.
“It’s coming!” the soldier shouted.
What answered him was a shrill, piercing screech.
“Kill! Kill!”
A green-skinned creature, only two-thirds the height of an adult man, swung a bone club as it charged from the curtain, aiming straight at the lead soldier.
But before the club could even swing halfway, the soldier’s spear pierced its skull clean through.
Yet more Goblins tumbled out of the gate, shrieking as they charged.
“They’re Goblins! Stay alert! Hold the line!”
Someone else shouted, and the soldiers instinctively tightened their ranks, using their spears to skewer the Goblins before they got too close.
Just Goblins—every one of these soldiers had killed more than they could count.
If it were only a few Goblins…
Thud.
Suddenly, a soldier was sent flying, his neck twisted as he hit the ground. In his place, a nearly three-meter-tall Orc swung a giant club, unleashing a deafening roar.
Indeed, such a commotion would be strange if it were only Goblins.
A few Lizardmen, their skin covered in dark green scales, leaped out next, brandishing spears and scimitars, their long tongues flicking with their weapons as they hissed and attacked the soldiers.
Kobolds, holding staffs with candles on their heads, skulked in the shadows, chanting spells the soldiers couldn’t understand and tossing energy spheres into the crowd.
Then, even bulkier Trolls lumbered from the gate, drooling stupidly as they picked up chunks of rubble with their half-man-sized fists and hurled them at the soldiers.
The soldiers’ defensive formation was instantly thrown into chaos. Though these were just lesser demons, the sheer number and variety of them—right here in the city, an environment to which the monsters held every advantage—left the soldiers unable to fight at full strength.
Take the Trolls for example: out in the wild, the best way to hunt them was with harrying tactics, exhausting them before delivering a fatal blow.
But that was out in the wilderness. Now, inside a city full of people to protect, they couldn’t move freely at all.
“Damn it! The circle’s broken!”
“Patch it up! Even if a few get into the city, there’s nothing we can do! Trust our comrades! Our task is to hold here—no matter what!”
“Hang in there! Don’t die! If we survive, I’ll confess to Martha at the Shop!”
“Enough! Less talk, more stabbing green skins!”
Above, Old Joni’s frown was as deep as the wrinkles on his face.
“Master Joni, maybe you should head back and rest. It’s too dangerous here.”
“What nonsense! Do you even know what’s happening?” Old Joni shook his hand angrily, his face dark.
The young magi knew old folks needed some coaxing, so they quickly followed Joni’s lead: “Please, tell us what’s going on?”
“Would you need such a huge array just to open a large-scale portal? Such a complex magic array for that?”
Old Joni snorted, trying to toss the question back to the youngsters, but when no one answered, he could only continue:
“This is a nested array! These low-grade demons are just the prelude! Once the Blood-Drinking Magic Array below absorbs enough power, the real magic will begin!”
“Then…” The young magus wanted to say, “Can’t we just keep it from drinking blood?” But glancing at the carnage below, he realized that was all but impossible.
“Hmph!” Old Joni snorted again. “An open conspiracy! An open conspiracy! Either these wretched monsters die here, or they go on a rampage. No matter what, I’m afraid we won’t be able to stop it.”
“To break it, unless… you destroy that gate entirely.”
Cecilia glanced at the note in her hand covered with magic array sketches—unmistakably Joni’s handwriting—then looked toward the distant, thunderous battle at the massive gate.
“Lita, can you do it?”
“Do it, my foot! These freaks! They’re not that easy to kill!”
Lita shouted nonsensical complaints as she swung her sword, driving off several Lizardmen that had approached her and Cecilia. The black blade came down, leaving more sticky, lifeless Lizardmen in its wake.
“You’re right. Dorothy’s purpose is probably to release some magic here. She’s either waiting for the right moment, or she’s preparing the spell somewhere. I have a guess, but I’m not sure. Let’s get out of the city first.”
“Understood!”
Lita grabbed Cecilia with one hand, swinging her sword with the other, cutting down the last few stray Lizardmen, and hurried toward the city gate, now deserted.
Just around the corner, they spotted a few green-skinned Goblins glaring about, bone clubs and scimitars ready, searching for something.
The street held only Lita and Cecilia. Nowhere to hide—discovery was inevitable.
“Humans! Humans! Kill!” The lead Goblin, feathers stuck in its head, raised its weapon and signaled the others.
Strike first!
“Lady Cecilia, stay close and don’t leave my side.” Lita’s eyes sharpened. With one arm around Cecilia’s slender waist, she charged the Goblins.
The Goblins looked up and saw Lita rushing toward them. They quickly raised their bone clubs, ready to meet her.
But as soon as they saw Lita’s face, the feather-headed Goblin shrieked.
“Gwaah! It’s that crazy woman! The crazy woman’s here to twist our heads off! Everyone fall back!”