Chapter Fourteen: Horror and Chaos
The faces gnarled as their heads flew towards the teams of Arcane Guards and sorcerers. Their faces became paler and paler, losing all form of luster.
The teams couldn't help but gape in horror as these horde of creatures swarmed towards them. And to think that the whole woods was filled with these swarming creatures made everything eerie!
All the teams quickly casted the Magical Barrier spell in oneness before they even used their mystical items. This was because the heads were moving very fast and had almost neared them. Using any mystical item in this situation would result to them losing vigilance, giving the creatures a wide array of chances to chew off their bodies.
Seeing the magical barriers, the creatures didn't lose hope. Instead wide smiles appeared on their faces as if they were telling the teams that their collective effort to ward them off was in vain. They opened their mouths and long tongues slithered out of them, green liquids drooling over their mouths. On a closer look, the teams saw that these weren't tongues but proboscises! They were literal mosquito proboscises!
Sizzle!
Their proboscises touched the surfaces of the magical barriers and then they began sucking off magical energies from the barrier.
A team who had a mystical item which looked like a lightning bolt immediately got into action by infusing their mana into the mystical item.
Seeing what the team was about to do, another team quickly decided to use their own mystical item as well. It was shaped like a star and was glowing brightly.
Day of Rapture!
The team which had the star shaped mystical item quickly used theirs. They had knowledge about the mystical item which the other team was using and knew what it was capable of doing. An Array three item like it was a city level mystical item! They knew that this mystical item had several side effects, one which was being very destructive. Even the wielder of the item wouldn't be able to control the range of attack of the item. This was very dangerous as not only them would be affected but the city as a whole! This was why they used this Array three item which pertained to the School Of Astrology. It would instantly move them out of this space into another.
Four Wheels of Thunder!
The team which had the lightning shaped mystical item finally used it just as the other team had used theirs.
The sky turned dark, several runes appearing in it. The runes then joined together to from a large hole in the sky.
Boom!
Torrents of lightning bolt shot of the hole towards the whole city, crashing down on it.
But then just as it crashed, everything seemed to have entered another world and was not affected by the torrents of lightning bolts.
The teams in the woods saw themselves standing in a world different from their own world. They were locked out of space!
Boom!
There was a white gust of light which came with the downpour of lightning bolts, blind everyone. They couldn't even open their eyes.
Then the hole in the sky closed, the torrents of lightning bolt stopping instantly and the sky becoming normal again.
The Arcane Guards and sorcerers recovered from the extreme light and looked before them. The horde of creatures had been dealt with.
"Pheeew," one of the Arcane Guards sighed. Then he smiled, "That was pretty close but it wasn't close enough."
The others frowned at him and he shot his mouth up immediately, his face turning very pale.
The great number of teams which had come to MythVille Woods had reduced drastically to only five and this happened within a few moments.
Looking ahead, the whole team members couldn't help but frown. The portal which had opened earlier was still there. It was if the torrents of lightning bolts hadn't reached it as it remained.
"C-can we sit this one out?" the same Arcane Guard who had talked before whispered to his team members. They were Arcane Guards from the School Of Wizardry and were of Unit 002, Order of Hellenes.
The other team members ignored him as they were focused on the portal which was still there. Apparently, everybody was very vigilant as the slightest mistake would result in their deaths.
"I think we should close up that portal," a sorcerer said with a grim expression. He was holding a black box in his hands. The box was covered in golden runes which seemed to have lives on their own. This was another mystical item from the School of Astrology.
"Keep watch," he told the other teams. "This will take five minutes."
The others nodded, keeping their vigilance. They knew all mystical items were bound to have side effects. Maybe this one's side effect was time—wasting a lot of time.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The drops of water continued, the blackness of the portal thickening with every drop. Each thickening became darker than the other as if the portal would go on and on, blackening till eternity.
There was tranquility as they kept on watching, awaiting the sorcerer who had asked them to watch. Using this time, some of them who were Arcane Guards stole glances at him since they didn't know him.
Dark hair, blue eyes and narrow lips. They immediately turned their eyes from him and focused on their businesses. He wasn't even special to begin with. He was the same as Arcane Guards as well.
This sorcerer slowly reached out his right hand towards the box. It was as if a force was stopping him from touching the box as his movement was slow. Although he was forcing himself to touch the box, his movement was still slow.
He didn't panic as he knew this was just a side effect of the mystical box. Space contraction was one of its side effects. The wielder would usually suffer from space contraction.
Then he touched the box and opened the lid. Immediately he did so, everyone felt space contract around them. They couldn't even breath as there was not even space for oxygen!
Slowly, the portal which was ahead of them began closing as if affected by the space contraction.
Just as the portal was about to close, a pale hand reached out of it. This very movement stopped the portal from closing to the chagrin of the Arcane Guards and sorcerers. With awed, horrified and terrified expressions, they stared at this pale hand.
Pa!
The hand shot of the closing portal with a sharp sound and came to hover in the air, before the sorcerers.
This hand was covered with red cracks from which green liquids oozed out continuously. Whenever the liquids touched the ground, they vaporized instantly as if they were touching something with a high temperature.
The hand then turned vertically, opening itself so that its palm became visible. In the palm were eyes, a nose and a mouth. They eyes were turbid and bloodshot while the mouth was curved upward into a smile.
The sorcerer who was holding the mystical box, seeing this, quickly stopped the portal from closing up to avoid the extraterrestrial creature from remaining in their world for too long.
The hand then spoke, "After numbers of years of not being able to access this dimension, I finally am able to do so!"
Seeing this creature, the Arcane Guards and sorcerers knew that it was at least equivalent to Array four to be able to break out of the space contraction.
The fingers of the hand then clenched into a fist, chaotic energies seeping out of the hand.
Space, time and reality were torn apart around the Arcane Guards and sorcerers. Everything became so chaotic that they didn't even know what they were up against.
Sometimes they would see themselves in a sea and sometimes in a desert. Sometimes they would see themselves standing in the sky, their head downwards to the earth.
"Its equivalent to the School of Witchcraft!" one of the sorcerers shouted, warning the others of the strength of the creature.
In the midst of the chaos, the hand continued shooting out of nowhere, pulling an Arcane Guard or sorcerer before devouring him completely. It was a shocking sight as the small mouth of the hand could actually devour something larger than it within a short time!
All the teams would have been completely wiped out if not for the mystical items they possessed and the magical barriers which were still around them. This magical barriers were able to hold out against it for some time due to their high defense not only against physical attacks but all forms of attacks as well! But then, since this creature was above them, it could still break the defenses of the magical barriers and break into them.
Screams resounded in the woods as several Arcane Guards and sorcerers were devoured in the midst of chaos even though they had mystical items with them.
Donald who had been cut away from the team in the face of the chaos clutched the mystical item he was holding tightly, ready to use it immediately. This mystical item was very small, like a tiny mustard seed. It was green and dim, exuding a powerful aura.
Like other mystical items it had one or more side effects and Donald was very sure of that. Moreover the side effect of this mystical item was just one but it was very dangerous. For this mystical item to be used, it demanded three to four people or else the wielder would disintegrate immediately after usage, fading out of the face of this world.
Seeing that everything was chaotic and the other teams didn't have a proper way of dealing with this extraterrestrial creatures due their Magic Arrays and mystical items, Donald decided to sacrifice his life to save them.
This mystical item was called the Pearl of Miracles and was equivalent to the Array three, Imperial Magus of the School of Thaumaturgy. It was capable of performing miracles, making unexpected things to happen.
Smiling, he spread his mana across the item as his right hand clutched it tightly. A green hue appeared around this mystical item, glowing in Donald's palm.
The pale hand, seeing this was alarmed. It had sensed the Magic School and Array equivalent of this mystical item. Without wasting anytime, it vanished out of space, shooting out behind Donald.
Hands of Miracles!
Donald had already activated the mystical item, making it come into effect just as the finger of the hand tore through his back, grabbing his heart.
"No!" the hand screamed as it was immediately sent back into the portal within a short moment. It couldn't even defend itself against this Pearl of Miracles or counterattack. It couldn't even stop itself from going into the portal and could only stare at the Arcane Guards and sorcerers with angry expression.
"I will come back for you!" the hand said as the portal closed up. "I will devour your mana!"
Donald who had expended his mana due to the weakening of his Magical Body quickly collapsed to the ground, the mystical item dropping from his right hand. His vision became very blurry but he could still see that everything had become normal again and they were in the woods.
"Donald! Donald!" he could hear his name being screamed but he couldn't react to it. Then everything became faint around him, his vision becoming dark.
"Save him!" it was Mark shouting as he rushed to Donald. He took out his magic wand and cast some spells to heal him but he wasn't reacting. Then he touched Donald's chest to feel his heart beat. It had stopped.
The other Arcane Guards and sorcerers had already gathered, looking at the person who had saved them.
"He's dead," Mark said in a low voice. "He's actually dead."
Everyone wore solemn expressions and didn't talk. They could only stare at the Arcane Guard who had died.
Then Mark stood up and said, "I will get you Walter if it means dying!"