Ten aircraft carriers approached Darwin, each having its own fleet escorting it. Thousands of boarding craft broke off from the main fleets and began advancing towards Darwin. Tanks, armored vehicles, and a boatload of soldiers were on them. They started firing indiscriminately at Darwin, cannons, missiles, and machine guns. America still had mostly technological weapons, though it did possess some level of magic technology and various magical items. However, they were very limited due to two factors: the low population of people who could make such things and the fact that they were also treated as slaves, meaning these tools became rare in America.
A touch of arrogance prevailed in America; they believed their technology was superior to magic. Their deeply rooted belief in guns made them think that guns were better than magic. It didn't help that they could enchant the bullets. Loud shouts of "Get some!" or "Die, motherfuckers!" were heard from the soldiers as they indiscriminately shot at Darwin.
Of course, Darwin had long since been evacuated, and even the soldiers stationed there had already withdrawn. Though they were of greater quality, the quantity would definitely overwhelmed them.
The Americans blew up the port for some unknown reason; not exactly sure why they did that. Then again, I'm not sure why they're shooting at an empty town and indiscriminately destroying buildings. I witnessed all of this using clairvoyance magic when I was deciding where to go next. I had it to the teleportation circle in the Hub that led to Darwin. I saw Sophie there and smiled at her. After teleporting to Darwin, we headed to what was now the former port and began dancing. This was a spirit dance. Normally, only spirits can perform a spirit dance; however, there's an exception if two people love each other. They're able to perform the dance as a duet. The missiles, bullets, and all the projectiles they were firing at us just completely missed. They were being magically redirected.
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The spirit dance temporarily linked the spirit realm and the material realm. A few spirits started showing up, and all of a sudden, soldiers froze and began dying. Summoning a spirit is a temporary contract. You exchange mana for the spirit's services. The energy of the material realm places a great burden on the soul, even more than the energies of the spirit realm. However, the energy of the material realm can be blocked by matter, which all beings in the physical realm are composed of. Spirits are beings without a physical body, and their body is composed entirely of energy. Meaning, to maintain their existence in the material realm is difficult, and they have to expend a large amount of mana to do so. This is why the spirits ask for mana, to expend very little of their own mana to do whatever tasks they were summoned for. Most of the mana they ask for is just for maintaining their existence on the material plane, and the rest is for the job. They still end up using some of their own mana.
As for the reasons the spirits want to come to the material plane, it's because the strain it places on their soul greatly strengthens them. It's like an anime protagonist's bullshit power-up, way faster than the steady and slow accumulation in the spirit realm. Although the energy of the spirit realm is less potent and puts less strain on the soul, it cannot be blocked by physical matter. As such, the overwhelming amount of spirit energy pouring in due to the temporary connection between the material and spiritual realms would destroy the soul if it were too weak to handle it. Our souls, as they are strong enough to perform the spirit dance, are simply absorbing the energy and strengthening themselves. My soul has been strengthened by my unique magic; after all, it underwent a transformation because of it. Sophie doesn't have unique magic; she's a devil, the highest caliber of demons, which have extremely resilient souls. More and more spirits are showing up.