Erik and his team were standing in front of the shimring barrier. Unsurprisingly, the energy field stretched from the depths of the earth to the sky above, an impenetrable wall of pure mana, which was reinforcing one of whatever kind of energy the generators were making, and that was, though, at least as strong as mana.
Erik was still surprised by humanity's ability to create barrier generators. The technology had proven to be their salvation, the one innovation that had allowed human civilization to endure the endless waves of monsters and world-ending threats. Humanity would have perished centuries ago without these barriers.
Yet when he first learned about them, he had doubted humans could achieve such a technological marvel.
"Now, Amber," Erik said.
The woman closed her eyes, drawing mana from her brain crystal and sending it flowing through her neural links and then to the rest of her body.
The surrounding space distorted and twisted as her power worked. In a flash, the group materialized in a narrow alley between two towering buildings.
The Law Gate, the fortress-like city, spread before them.
"We are in."
The place differed from what they expected. It was a city, but it was just one for the blackguards. Most of the buildings had a militaristic architecture. tal dominated the landscape. Tall guard towers stood against the sky, spaced throughout the city. Various types of defensive equipnt covered these towers.
There were also many kinds of protections on the ground. Barricades, automated turrets, and reinforced checkpoints dotted the streets.
"This will make the invasion harder," Mira said.
These were the sa defenses placed on the walls, aning the blackguards were ready for an eventual enemy flood.
They made it easier for soldiers to defend the city with elevated firing positions, pre-sighted kill zones, and interlocking fields of fire that would force attackers to funnel through deadly chokepoints while under concentrated defensive fire.
"Smart," a clone said.
"What did you expect?" Erik said. "The blackguards are ruthless tyrants, and to get to this position, it ans they are smart..."
Everyone nodded.
Countless soldiers ran in the distance and were coming to their position. Erik and the others hid until they got past their position.
"They must be headed for the walls," Emily said.
Mira nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking the sa."
They crouched in silence for several minutes, watching groups of soldiers rush past their hiding spot.
"They are not even looking here." Emily said, peering around the corner.
"They're too distracted by the battle," Mira said. "You know... explosions, energy discharges..."
A bloodcurdling screech pierced the air.
"And the lovely sound of undead Thaids," she grinned.
However, despite Mira's antics lightening the mood for the others, Erik kept a focused face.
"I need to reach the hangar. There might still be aircraft we can salvage."
The others nodded, but it was clear they didn't like that idea for many reasons. For starters, they felt much safer with Erik around, and while the Chimaeric Demons were as physically strong as him, they didn't have his mana.
The Chimaeric Demons had different mana pools for each of their powers, which ant they could fight for a while. The problem was that their mana pool depended on the neural links they made for each power, and since they still had few of them, they couldn't exactly unleash a lot of might.
Erik turned to June and the three Chimaeric Demons. "Keep them safe at all costs."
"We will, master."
The clones were fully committed, but whether they could actually do that remained uncertain. There was a pause. Erik had a lot on his mind, too. He was leaving Mira, Amber, and Emily in his and the Chimaeric Demons' hands, but he was also worried about his clones.
June was a concern, and he couldn't help but look at him with worry. Even though June looked strong, Erik knew what he could and couldn't do, and joining this battle was the last of the things he had to do.
Using the Instability brain crystal power, Erik said sothing to the clone.
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