In front of them were the military personnel who had their guns pointed toward the gate. They knew their guns were ineffective, but they didn't have much of a choice.
Just a few spaces ahead, there were several hunters whose ranks ranged from B to S-rank. They were the main shields, but Steve could feel the fear in their hearts just by looking at them.
At the forefront, however, was the middle-aged man he had seen at the airport: Yuri Orloff. It turns out he was a barrier specialist, and that was why they had called him.
Several excavators and trucks filled with mana stones of all ranks could be seen as they offloaded, dumping the tons of mana stones on the ground around the gate.
After about an hour of doing so, Steve saw the man start chanting and performing some weird moves before he saw a thin layer of energy rise from the mana stones. It had really formed an energy shield.
"Get ready, the gate will open soon," Steve said as he stood up.
The shield may have been a good idea, but it had also created a mana-rich environment around the gate, which in itself wasn't exactly a good thing.
Just as he said that, they all heard a low rumble from the gate, and just seconds later, Steve felt the mana within the area triple in quantity.
"The gate is opening!" Steve said, using mana to amplify his voice so that all could hear him even though he wasn't shouting.
As soon as he said this, everyone immediately became alert.
Looking around the crowd of hunters, he could tell that they had been patronizing Arcane a lot. Around 90% of the hunters here were kitted up in the Hunter suits he had designed.
They were all made to boost one's fighting capabilities by one rank, so he understood why most of them would rush to buy them. However, he himself wasn't in any combat suit.
He was still dressed in his suit, same with Judy. His body was now much stronger than before, so the suit wasn't needed as it once was.
Though that wasn't the main reason; his suit had better stats and abilities than the combat suits, so there was no need to get dressed in one.
As they waited, Steve saw the massive gate open as something began to walk out of it. The creature was tall, standing at the same height as the nearby skyscrapers or possibly even taller. It was a giant.
"It won't hold," Steve announced as a bow appeared in his hand.
This was one of the few things he could do now, after the death of the Architect. He could quite literally create anything he wanted from thin air. It didn't matter if he understood its makeup or not as he once had to.
"Everyone get back," Steve ordered as he pulled back the bow, ready to shoot.
As the creature raised its weapon, a gigantic sword that was probably half its size, Steve immediately let go.
The arrow, made entirely of mana, flew through the air in a straight path before lodging itself in the creature's eye socket.
"Aaargh!"
The creature screamed in pain as all hell broke loose. The military immediately opened fire.