The sound of glass breaking, as shards from a nearby window scattered across the ground, was drowned out by the noise of broken nails clawing desperately at the wooden walls. The rock covering the windows was once strong enough to stop even the most determined of Corrupted, but could now only delay them as chunks of the walls Sam had created crumbled.
“Everyone to me! Mark I need eyes out there!” Sam shouted over the din of noise.
Jonathan, Wesley, and Jason ushered their backline into the center.
“Shit, I’m sorry guys I didn’t mean-” Terry started, as another window burst inwards.
“Not now! Mark!?” Jonathan shouted over him.
Mark sent a large amount of Mana and Prana into his construct and created a secondary layer beyond one that was now reinforcing the building. With a thought, the spell expanded beyond the wall and exploded outside, stretching up into a dome around fifty meters in any direction. Mark controlled the threshold and called the Mana to bring back information turning the shambling bodies outside into glowing figures in his vision.
At the same time, Sam slammed her hands together and ignited a ball of flame above them about a meter across. She then poured Mana into it until the ball took on a purplish hue before the ball suddenly shrunk into ten quarter-sized spheres. The heat radiating off them was enough to make them all sweat, and when Sam glanced at Mark, he connected them with a link. Right away he fed her real-time location of every Corrupted in his range.
The sound of dull thunks rang out as ten tiny fireballs flew toward the wall at terrifying speeds. Their heat was so intense that they sunk through the wall as though it weren’t there.
From there, only Mark and Sam could see as the spell tore off in separate directions and proceeded to fly threw the skulls of any nearby creature. They moved on exact paths, without wasting an ounce of movement as the ten little fireflies whipped around the battlefield and reaped the Corrupted's lives. Leaving caved-in skulls and carbonized brain matter behind. Nothing could survive the sheer heat coming off these dots of light when they passed, causing even the moisture in the air to scatter. Their path may have seemed meandering but it was perfectly calculated by Sam to kill as many of the creatures in as little time as possible.
Inside, all one could see was brilliant bursts of violet light leaking in through the windows. Followed by a cry cut short, but even with all of this, the sounds outside never seemed to waver. In fact, it was getting louder, as Mark noticed more and more Corrupted entering his range. Seeing no end in sight Mark doubled the range of his outer construct and balked as numerous creatures came streaming down the hillside.
There was a sudden swarm of Corrupted crashing into the iron door Mark had set up earlier and a Titan slammed up against it. Letting out a heavy ringing sound throughout the room
Jonathan grunted as he drew his blades and looked back at Terry.
“How many did you see out there?”
Terry's brows furrowed
“I dunno, a lot? They're mostly low threat but they were led here by a Corrupted human. I saw him watching you guys and then he spotted me.”
Jonathan cursed.
“Mark, can you feel him out there?”
“A hundred and twenty-seven in our direct vicinity. Another Two hundred and fifty-four coming down the street. I can’t feel the presence of a commander.”
Which was true, even though Mark had pushed his construct to the size of a football field he still couldn’t feel the corrupted human.
Sam lifted her hand into the air and created another sphere of fire crushing it into ten more fireflies and sending it out to surround the building.
“Well, we can wait here like sitting ducks,” she said.
Jonathan looked over to Jason and nodded his head towards the door. Jason froze for a second and then smiled.
“Wesley, you’re on defense,” Jonathan said as he and Jason stepped up beside the iron door. All it took from Jason was a single swipe of his blade and the soft wooden walls splintered outward in an explosion of shrapnel.
The new hole was big enough for them to stand side by side as a faint screen of force rippled in front of them.
The Corrupted outside didn’t give them long before swarming toward the opening in an attempt to enter the building.
However, the moment the duo stepped out the sounds of dying Corrupted swelled as they both began cleaving through the hungry horde.
Mark on the other hand was still searching for their would-be assailant but he was unable to find anything out of place. He hesitated in expanding the construct again, but not because of resources, he had plenty of energy to spare. The real problem was processing that much information at once, Even if he released his limits, there was no guarantee Mark would find what he was looking for.
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“Okay everybody let's sustain this rate if any more arrive we’ll have to make a break for it. Terry use [Meditation] and help us when you can.”
The man looked exhausted but nodded. Suddenly Mark felt one of the nearby buildings further up the hill collapse as a stream of Titans poured out of it.
Adding hundreds of Corrupted to the total. Sam was already pushing it maneuvering twenty individual flames, but she began creating another fireball bringing it up to thirty.
Mark sent out his [Animated Minds] when he felt blankets of Ghasts arrive in the air. Hundreds swarmed down as though from thin air.
“What the fuck is going on, where are they all coming from,” Jonathan shouted from the entrance.
“I don’t know but this is starting to get hairy. Everyone get ready to leave!” Sam shouted as a swarm of her fireflies swept down from on high and passed through the nearest wave of enemies. Leaving only a burning mass of graves in its wake.
Tremors began to shake the building as Mark realized something was making its way up through the floorboards. Mark sent a construct below them but some open maws slipped through the gaps. Mark wasn’t sure how, but the Naga had managed to get through his defenses. Mark felt a sharp spike of pain shoot through the back of his skull as a headache began to build behind his eyes.
Wesley moved into position and began killing the Naga that dared to approach while covering the three of them in his Aura.
Mark didn’t know what the hell was going on but something was hectically wrong. Vertigo pounded in his ears and there was only one other time he had felt like this, but before he could pinpoint it, he felt someone enter his construct. She was near the edge of his range but Mark would have known her face even if he were blind.
Daphne walked into Mark’s construct wearing her gentle smile. The moment Mark saw her he froze. She looked as beautiful as he remembered, but now black veins were snacking up from her chest as they marred her neck. Glowing yellow eyes stared directly at Mark and she began to laugh.
Mark knew it was impossible, he’d seen her body go up in flames, but he couldn’t look away as Daphne kneeled and a second form joined the scene.
When Grace stepped into his construct Mark couldn’t find the words or even the emotions. He was so empty that as he looked on Sam had to shout to get his attention.
“Mark! I don’t know what that is but it isn’t real!”
Her shout pulled him from his grief. Mark had forgotten she could see through his eyes.
Letting out a slow ragged breath Mark let his shoulders relax just a hair, and raising his hand he triggered [Telekinetic control].
“...I know.”
When the spell encompassed both of the women Mark could feel the weight as it crushed everything in a five-meter collum under intense pressure.
Mark was still shaking when Sam grabbed his head between her hands.
“Mark we have to go. Everyone retreat to us now!”
Another sharp spike of pain lodged behind Mark’s eyes, but as the ceiling began to cave in, he unleashed a wave of Mana, pushing the debris away. [Telekinetic Control] blasted the roof outward with the force of a brick of C4.
This just exposed them to the real threat beyond. Above them, a storm of wings circled them like the eye of a storm. The light of countless eyes shifted the skies to red. Ghasts began to dive down and crash into the screen. There was no way out of here, even if they fled they would quickly be surrounded again and Mark would eventually run out of power to maintain the barrier.
And they couldn’t even escape because there were too many of them for the waystone to carry.
“Mark, something’s wrong—clear our heads!” Sam shouted as she got Terry to his feet.
Mark’s eyes widened; he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of that sooner. What had made him hesitate?
[Cleansing Surge] flushed through the construct, and at first, nothing changed. It felt like something was melting away, but whatever it was, it was so thick that Mark couldn’t burn it away with a single use. Pouring more power into the spell caused the scene above their heads to shimmer, but then it faded out again. For an instant, Mark thought he saw a strand of silk clinging to the corners of his construct before it disappeared.
Seeing the results, Mark clung to the magic and flooded it with the largest amount of prana he’d ever used with this spell.
[Cleansing Surge] washed through the area, revealing countless strands of silk glowing a vibrant purple, connecting everyone in the room—even reaching Jonathan and Jason outside. The illusion shattered, and the countless Corrupted that seemed to surround them vanished; in their place, less than a hundred remained. Corpses were strewn about the area but far fewer than they had killed.
Mark felt her before he laid eyes on her. Turning, Mark cast [Benediction] on Sam as Terry pressed his hand up to Sam's ribcage and released a spike of blackened bone into her heart.
Sam screamed and the outside bloomed into an inferno of purple flame as she lost control of the spells outside. The whole area baked under the purple flames, but Mark bore the pressure as Terry lunged forward. His form melted away to the of a Corrupted human. One that Mark was all too familiar with. The last time he’d seen her she’d been working for Grace alongside Tristan, but she managed to escape, and at the time they couldn’t chase her.
Her spider-like body came into full view as a second bone fang protruded from her hand and sunk into Mark's outstretched palm. Going straight through it and plunging into his shoulder. Transparent venom dripped from the fang, causing the woman to smile happily.
“You’re a hard one to fool Mark, even when we threw everything we had, you still rejected it. It's not a problem though, you're going to die either way. You murdered her, you deserve everything coming your way.”
A burning sensation was already spreading from Mark's wound and Sam was passed out on the floor. She was alive but Mark needed room to work.
Glancing behind himself Mark could just make out several Corrupted he’d never seen before. They were spider-like in origin but were carried by far few legs, with spike coming off them in all directions. Each was connected to a strand of their own.
And while Jonathan and Jason had already changed back into the building they were blocked by countless cords of resilient silk, slowing them down. Wesley was currently wrestling with two of the spiders in an attempt to avoid getting bitten. No one would make it in time.
The Corrupted woman pulled the fang out and wound up to stab Mark again but he was beyond furious. Summoning up the image of Daphne once more was all the strength he needed
The whole room shook as Mark's construct encased the entire building, crumpled inward under the full weight of his spell.