Those from a different dimension would arrive, and save people from untold cruelty. The ground will shatter as weapons will be brought to life. Dimensions once far away will close in like predators circling prey. The undead will know fear. The Mazurians will know urgency. The solar races will know pain.

-The Prophecy, unredacted

"I'm just going to get this up and out of the way. Why did you do it? Why did you break the spatial barrier meant to keep the bulk of interdimensionals away? Why the swarm of assassins at the school?" I calmly top off my gun while asking the question. I feel like I'll need every bullet.

"Don't you see Esstrey? They are interdimensionals! They have a great deal of experience with interdimensional travel! We can return home, and no longer have to worry about this crazy world with monsters and dungeons!"

"..." The world isn't crazy, only its people.

"You yourself told me to keep the kids safe, so I will. I always planned to. With this we can all go home, back to earth. Do you not miss your home?"

"..." I'm not sure if there is a place for me to return to.

"The attack on the academy was needed, and I'm sure as Spetsnaz you understand the importance of paralyzing enemy leadership before an invasion."

"..." Keyword being importance, killing enemy leadership does more than make an invasion easier.

"We can go home Esstrey, all you have left to do here is help me destroy this silo. The Mindflayers promised a safe ride back home for all of us. If we fight, we only endanger the children left. We don't have to fight, you are not the enemy I want."

"I am the enemy you deserve. Russia does not negotiate with terrorists, or their hostages." The RPK in my claws sings vindictive hatred in my hands, and Ena responds by shifting herself away. The robot next to me has already run off, no doubt taking a more defendable position for what is to come.

Shifts in space appear along the treeline, the clearing quickly devolves into the ever familiar battlefield, as mindflayers enter through space, and leave through death. They launch multitudes of elemental attacks, their attacks rarely connect as most are stopped by a barrier of water. The attacks that do get through instead land on my scales, and fail to do much due to my sheer size.

Regardless of their effectiveness, my position is still bad, and I do not need to fight alone. I slowly pull back to the lack, leaving a trail of corpses in my wake. Whenever I get the chance, I kill mindflayers with magic instead. This battle will be long, and I need all the ammo. Arriving at the lake, I hear the sounds of battle. Nosks's cannons are working overtime to thin the hordes of Mindflayer. The fight ends at my arrival, but not by anything I did.

I catch a flicker of Ena before my ship detonates, killing the whole crew aboard. Dead mermaids rise to the surface of the water, crossbows still held in their claws. Many Mindflayers were caught in the blast as well, disposed as pawns meant to keep my forces in place.

"W-where the fuck is everyone?" I get no response, the lake is silent for now.

"You all better not be dead!" Before I can check for any survivors, blasts of magic hit the area behind me, more Mindflayers emerge on the beach.

"Alright, here we go!" Justice hits the squid faced fucks hard. Their confident attitude from seeing my forces in tatters, replaced with fear.

"Kol da Nok! Bir lo zham!" Their guttural language is pain to the ears, I respond my silencing them. They want war, they can have it. I charge at a few of the isolated ones, and rip their limbs off. Turned into docile little things, I deposit the dying Mindflayers into my water barrier to get carried with it. Carrying the meat-shields, I charge from group to group in the forested area by the lake. Every Mindflayer I kill is either joining my barrier, or turning into a decoration found in a cannibal forest. By the time I reach the clearing with the silo again, I see a larger group of Mindflayers attempting to enter a hatch.

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"I AM STILL ALIVE, YOU FUCKING AMATEURS!" My PKM rips into the unaware and aware with uncaring equality. Non-physical barriers are completely disregarded by the mass-produced pieces of lead. More portals appear, and I see Ena moving amongst them.

Just as enemy reinforcements arrive, their reinforcements are hit with a wave of black, and leaves corpses behind. Kyla flies over the battlefield, raining down terror on the exposed interdimensionals below. A squadron of high ranking demons follow close behind her. Mindflayers come running out of the forest, and into the clearing, as another group falls to well aimed crossbow bolts. Eden joins the fight with a group of Empire elite's, and the Mindflayers running from him quickly fall to aerial bombardment.

Large flesh-beasts start appearing out of the portals now, and fire large blasts of magic at the flying squadron. Kyla gets hit in the side, and starts descending like a downed fighter jet. A few of her squadron fall out of the sky dead, and those who don't follow her to the crash-site below. I gesture to Eden to head for her. I'll handle the clearing.

As I toss a few flashbangs at the flesh beast, I pull out the ballista sized crossbow from my back. The flashbangs go off, and all attackers are blinded. I had my eyes covered, and now my bolts tear through the flesh beasts. The bolts cleanly cut through, and their sheer size allows for multiple enchantments. The flesh beasts detonate, Urist's enchanters being well known for their explosive enchantments. Looking at the hatch, I see that they broke it open at some point. They must be trying to head for the missile.

Jumping after them, I make my way inside. The close quarters combat is no advantage to the squid-heads. The entire facility no doubt seems like one big death trap to the interdimensionals, who simply can't read the directions scattered about. Regardless of the inability to navigate on the side of the mindflayers, the bots are even worse off. Many corpses of bots are scattered about, and their wrecks serve as a reminder that only living things can cast barriers. Most of the machines seems to be maintenance as well, but that hadn't stopped them from putting up a fight.

I reach the final door to the silo, and shred the Mindflayers attempting to breach the airlock. Behind me, I hear the voice of Ena.

"You got way too far Esstrey, I should have just focused on shooting down the missile. Your 'friends' have been causing a lot of trouble for my forces upstairs." I smile, and turn around. Found you.

Ena recoils in fear at seeing me, I can smell her fear, and see her blood pump faster. Delicious blood. Of a different type of the blood covering my body, but blood regardless. The fuel of life. The delectable aroma is interrupted by multiple things happening. A more advanced robot jumps in front of me, and pushes me out of the way just as space gets shredded, along with the robot itself. A larger signature of space magic appears in a nearby hallway as well, and a shoggoth begins filling the hallway with herself. The attacks launched by Ena get interrupted by a counter-barrage of spatial magic. She attempts to retreat, but I leap into the mass of flesh that joined the fight. The inside looks like I am in space, surrounded by void, and the little stars that I know to be eyes. I quickly feel the void flesh shift around me, and I am launched.

Barreling through multiple mindflayers who just entered the arena, I am launched with massive speed at my target. The crossbow and the PKM are left behind. Ena conjures spatial magic, and rips me to pieces.

I am turned into chunky salsa, and Ena closes a blast door to keep Cathy at bay. The wounds across my body are numerous, normally I would bleed out within the minute.

"Why did you make me do this? I never wanted you to hate me." Ena looks on me, and I reach a clawed hand out from one bleeding body to another.

"I don't hate you, only slavers get that privilege. I'm simply stopping a genocide." Ena's eyes grow wide at the realization that my voice is still calm. It is too late for her, all the blood on both of us turns into tiny spears, and eviscerate her body. The blood of her troops covering me, my own blood, and her own wounds pouring out all dig into her. Her wounds explode, as my blood magic blitzes across her skin. Using my own body as a puppet again, I shove my claw into her chest, and pull out her heart.

That's one less problem in the world.