Syltra's eyes lit up again. Together with the other mages, she let loose a barrage of fire, ice, and lightning.
The creature was vaporized in midair. Her voice was ragged from nonstop chanting. Her arms shook. Her mana reserves were basically empty.
She felt cursed. Not long ago, she had finally escaped from the frontlines, just barely. She hadn't even gotten a single sip of hot cocoa in her tiny dorm room before the city alarm blared again.
Beast tide incoming. All capable fighters were immediately conscripted. She barely had time to grab her wand before they hauled her to the tower.
Of course people protested. But the moment the commander showed the Lord's decree, no one dared speak up.
When they saw the scale of the beast wave, hundreds of thousands, endless, they understood. If the wall fell, they'd all be dead.
Even the nobles joined the defense. The proudest of them broke down the moment their friends were ripped apart on the battlefield. Three hours had passed since the first wave.
Syltra muttered something strange. A chant not from any human tongue, something shaped by magic itself. She stepped into place, drawing a glowing rune with her boot while tracing symbols through the air with her fingers.
The nearby elemental forces stirred. A bright sigil rose from beneath her feet, circling around her as if waiting for her command. She held it together with sheer willpower.
When she tapped her wand to the center, the ground in front of the wall cracked open like a monster's mouth. It swallowed over a hundred beasts at once, grinding them into mush as the soil slammed shut again.
This was a mage's power, not brute strength, but pure magical force. But Syltra looked ready to collapse.
People thought spellcasting was just waving your arms and saying cool words. Wrong. Her arms were shaking from exhaustion, her voice almost gone.
A spell like that took minutes to prepare, and she had to stay focused the entire time. Luckily, she was a silver-rank mage and still had a bit of potion left. Otherwise, she'd be flat on the floor.
"How is this still not over…"
She whispered under her breath, casting another spell out of habit. Her movements were sluggish, drained. Then she heard a wave of shouts all around her.
"There! That freak! Target it! Bring it down!"
A massive, horrifying serpent surged into view, its long, grotesque body crawling forward on thick, insect-like limbs that crushed anything in its path, even other monsters. Each of its many heads looked different, shaped like twisted versions of various beasts, and lined with jagged fangs.
Its back was covered in spines that pulsed with energy. But the worst part? It had an aura that drove nearby monsters insane, whipping them into a violent frenzy.
With every hiss and roar, more of them turned into wild, mindless beasts. Naturally, every mage and soldier focused fire on it.
But this thing was no pushover. Each head controlled a different element, one breathed fire, another spat ice, another shot bolts of lightning, and one spewed acid that melted anything it touched.
Friendly fire meant nothing to it. Dozens of soldiers were already dead. Some monsters, too. But it didn't care.
One of the serpent heads leaned back and blasted the wall with a stream of green poison so corrosive it melted steel like candle wax. Screams echoed as armor and flesh alike dissolved into sludge.
Even the defenders, seasoned warriors and battle-hardened mages, were shaken.
Still, under a coordinated onslaught of spells, arrows, and explosives, the beast was starting to falter. Explosions lit its sides.
Fireballs tore into it. Blades of wind sliced open massive wounds that leaked glowing bile onto the ground.
"ROARRRRR!!"
But it didn't stop. This monster regenerated fast, too fast. Its wounds closed almost as soon as they formed. Worse, its blood was toxic.
The areas it bled on turned dark and warped, killing anything nearby and spreading contamination. Ordinary attacks weren't enough. It had to be frozen solid, buried deep, or burned to nothing.
"We're losing ground!" someone shouted, panic rising as more defenders collapsed. Some burned to ash, others simply vanished into puddles of acid.
A lightning strike hit the tower near Syltra, blasting stone into the air. She was thrown back, hair singed and the smell of ozone thick in her nose. Her back was soaked in cold sweat. Even as a silver-rank mage, this thing scared her. Really scared her.
She reached into her coat and pulled out a scroll. Not just any scroll, a rare one, glowing faintly with power. She'd swiped it from her master's study, hoping she'd never have to use it. But now? There was no choice.
At this rate, the wall would fall. The city would be overrun.
"Fall back! Get out of the blast range!" she shouted.
A second later, the sky turned gold.
A ball of blazing light appeared overhead. Like a second sun.
It was the Inferno Sun, a weaponized solar core created with dozens of overlapping magic circles. Hanging in the sky like a god's eye, it poured heat across the battlefield.
Snow melted instantly. Steam hissed up from the earth. Even monsters with armored hides caught fire in seconds.
Carapaces cracked. Flesh bubbled. Bones glowed red. Lava erupted from the superheated ground, swallowing hundreds.
Syltra clenched her teeth. She could barely hold on. "Drop…" she whispered.
The link between her and the spell snapped. And the sun fell.
It crashed down like a meteor, aiming straight for the serpent. The moment it hit, everything turned white.
The serpent screamed. Its eyes burst from the heat. Even the ones that grew back popped like bubbles.
"GET BACK!!" someone screamed.
Shields were raised just in time as a shockwave blasted outward. The wall shook. Fire rolled across the land.
Chunks of molten rock and burned flesh flew through the air. A piece of the serpent's body, blackened and still smoking, was flung halfway across the field.
Syltra was thrown off her feet. Her ears rang. Her vision swam. Even inside the tower, she felt the impact. Her whole body hurt. Her head felt like it had been split open.
That scroll… it was on another level.
She realized then just how far apart she and her master really were. That spell? It wasn't just a fancy fireball, it was an entire weapon system. If her master had cast it himself, he might've flattened the entire battlefield.
Worse, he probably could've summoned two at once. Syltra? She was just the fuse. Just a launcher.
"…Is it over?" She could barely speak. Her voice was raw, her soul drained. That blast should've ended it.
But then, In the far distance, something moved. A massive shadow. Twisted shapes surrounded it. A new wave.
Her eyes widened. "Oh no…"
And just like that, everyone on the wall knew. The nightmare wasn't over yet.