After resting, the team regained their strength. The fight above had intensified. The ceiling seemed ready to collapse above them. Yet, those inside the blocked room didn't even make a peep. The True Order was determined to succeed or die trying.
Ramona ordered the remaining troops to prepare themselves. The shut doors loomed in front of them. An electric tension coursed through the air. This would be a fight for the fate of the entire nation. Somehow, Aayla felt like her world was about to change once again, just like it did one year ago.
"Are you ready?" Ramona asked one of the wizards. After they nodded, she took a deep breath. "All right. Breach the doors!"
The wizard began to chant, and the door began to spark. The formation etched into its metal smoldered and shook. A few minutes later, it exploded with a bang.
Before the team could rush forward, roars and snarls burst from the room. Magical beasts poured out to intercept. A bloody scent filled the air as the enemies clashed. Neither side yielded. The mindless ferocity of the beasts matched the desperation of the humans for a time.
The humans slowly started to prevail. The numbers of magical beasts were simply too low to stall them for long. When the final bastion of the True Order was finally breached, Aayla finally came face to face with the man who started this whole battle.
Several masked wizards blocked the summoning circle and the True Order agents controlling it. Two elaborately robed wizards attracted Aayla's gaze. One was patiently waiting with the hooded wizards while the other was in the center of the circle. A blood-red crystal hovered above his outstretched withered hands.
The first one spoke calmly. "Ah, so it's Dean Heston. I see that you've brought several of your colleagues with that motley group of yours. No wonder my defenses didn't last as long as I'd estimated."
"The Prophet of Truth. So, the True Order was indeed crazy enough to summon whatever it is that's destroying the city."
"It's called a demon," The Prophet of Truth laughed teasingly. "They're not mere fairy tales, you know. Tsk, tsk. I would expect a professor of the renowned Nafriton University to have a more open mind, like my friend here. You've met the Prophet of Terra, right?"
"You must mean homicidal and idiotic. Not everyone is as crazy as you are."
As if enraged, the masked figures silently attacked. Spells flew wildly from both sides, but the Prophet of Truth seemed undisturbed. He only fiddled with the boxlike artifact in his hands. Though no words were exchanged, his warriors seamlessly attacked Ramona's forces.
"Even if you succeed here, do you really think that the other nations will do nothing after they hear about that thing? They'll just destroy this country entirely."
The Prophet of Truth smiled. "They can try. But the True Order has a trump card. One so powerful that they won't dare. A new age is beginning. One that will belong to us."
Ramona frowned. That fire monster destroying the city above was powerful, but not that powerful. It wouldn't be able to cause havoc like it is now if the defenses had worked properly from the beginning. A group of powerful wizards could still bring it down. The True Order's mind control wasn't that unique either.
"Today is just a proof of concept. And it's been working brilliantly. After today, word of our deeds will spread throughout the entire world."
Ramona sneered. "Then the other countries will invade and the churches will revolt. Do you think anyone will tolerate evil magic, let alone a demon, walk free?"
The Prophet of Truth's face warped into an evil, fanatical sneer.
"Precisely," he sneered. "That's what I'm counting on."
**********
Even from behind her, Aayla could sense the concern of Ramona and the other wizards. If the demon ravaging the city wasn't the actual trump card, then what was? What could the True Order be hiding that's more dangerous than that?
Aayla looked again at the summoning formation. The robed man in the center giggled as the crystal turned in his wrinkled hands. She realized what it was, and who that man was, at that moment. That man should be the Prophet of Terra, originally known as Dr. van Brakke.
Those hands looked so ancient and flimsy, and that voice was so hoarse. Yet, the sheer insanity dripping off that man was the same, if not thicker. He should have just been here for a year though. How did he get so old and so skilled at magic? The crystal was much larger and redder than she remembered. It used to easily fit inside the spatial coordinate plotter. Now, it had the diameter of the artifact's outer ring.
If that crystal could open dimensional portals to Terra, then maybe it could summon larger, more powerful demons. The True Order could also invade and import resources from Terra. That crystal itself should be the True Order's trump card.
How much does the True Order know? That was the key to this issue. Aayla glanced at the Prophet of Truth and pretended to inadvertently show her face. She got nothing more than a passing glance from the Prophet. He did not appear to recognize her.
Just as the battle below reached a stalemate, the battle above reached a turning point. A pained screech shook the air. The formation shook and shone brightly. Several of the True Order agents maintaining the formation screamed in agony. Some merely coughed up blood while others began to disintegrate into ashes.
For once, the Prophet of Truth frowned. He glanced back at the formation.
"What's going on?"
"The summoned demon has taken serious damage. It must be that Stallesso Forolan. Well, it's only a high demon, after all. I'll summon another one."
The Prophet of Terra began a long chant. It was nothing like what Aayla had ever heard before. Even the professors seemed confused by it. The words were harsh and overbearing on the ears, with an odd allure to them. When Chris, Jacki, and Aayla turned their heads toward Daren, he shook his head.
As the chant stretched on, the formation glowed brighter and brighter. Maddening laughter came from the Prophet of Terra. The energy emitted from the crystal flared out of the formation.
"More, more!... Give me more!... Hahaha! I can feel it! Brother Truth, we will be victorious today! Someone stronger has decided to answer my call!"
The remaining summoners all screamed and turned to ash. The Prophet of Truth furrowed his brow.
"No need to stretch yourself. Another high demon should be enough. Don't break the crystal. Take some of the backup summoners."
Before anyone else could move, the Prophet of Terra turned his head. Aayla could hear his neckbones pop as his head turned all the way around. She quickly blocked her face.
"DON'T GIVE ME THOSE TRASHES! The demon only wants the crystal's energy. It will be enough. Just get me that artifact to stabilize it. We've never even used a quarter of its current power. Let's see just how strong this summons will be."
Bones popped and cracked again as the Prophet of Terra's head swiveled back to face the crystal. In the back of the chamber, two trembling True Order acolytes carried a box towards the formation. Aayla and the others' instincts told them that the Prophet of Terra must not get whatever was inside.
"STOP HIM!" Ramona roared as she rushed into the battle. "DON'T HOLD ANYTHING BACK!"
"RESIST THEM! OUR VICTORY IS NEAR!"
The Prophet of Truth gritted his teeth and nodded his head towards the acolytes before heading into battle himself. Only he could hold off Ramona.
The acolytes carefully opened the box and then held up the artifact inside. Aayla recognized it as the rings of the spatial coordinate plotter. Dr. van Brakke held it when he was sucked into the portal that brought them to Tellus. He had it all along.
With a wave of his hand, the golden artifact leaped into the center of the formation. Its rings spun and realigned as it hovered in sync with the crystal, like twin stars. With both the crystal and the plotter, the formation slowly stabilized.
Dark motes of light formed a new ball in the sky above. Much darker and richer in color, it easily attracted the attention of the military. The injured demon snarled as it retreated to guard the forming demon. All of its minions rushed back to join it.
Just as the tide of battle had previously swung in the military's favor, now it favored the True Order. The ball kept growing larger as the military was pushed back.
Aayla's face paled. If that thing was summoned, then the battle was lost. But what could she do? With the energy it was emitting, she couldn't even get close. Though her bracelets could absorb some of the mana from the battle, her mana stores were running low.
As she stared at the ball in the sky, she noticed it suddenly begin to churn and swell. A feeling of dread pounded her heart. Aayla switched her bow into a shield and pushed the others behind her. Before anyone could react, their vision went dark.