Ten bolts of lightning, as thick as giants themselves, CRACKED simultaneously, whipping at the Ultramarines.
For the first time since Squad Aegis' arrival, the Marines' advance paused.
There was such a power behind those bolts of lightning that they blackened the earth, creating a large depression beneath the Marines' feet and burying them right into it.
The attack had not only hit the Marines, but it had also burnt a few of the Death Eaters and Magical Creatures who had been standing closest to them to a crisp, instantly killing them.
The Power Armor of the Marines let out sparks and smoke, their HUDs flickering, showing absolutely nothing.
Then, just as they were about to press their Bolters' triggers even before regaining their footing… the SKY struck again!
CRACK!
CRACK!!
CRACK!!!
Three volleys of lightning back to back.
Sergeant Cassian… tasted blood in his mouth.
[Report,] he said, noticing the gurgling overhead calming down.
[Alive,] Brother Tiber replied.
[Advancing,] Brother Gaius and Lucian reported together.
[Reloading,] Brothers Octavian, Quintus, Helion, and Corvin hissed.
Brother Felix reported with a grunt, which could only mean he had abandoned speech.
Then… silence.
Brother Darius was quiet.
With a resounding, metallic creak, Sergeant Cassian stood up, staggering.
He looked around and saw the enemies regrouping to charge toward him and his Marines, thinking that they were injured.
[Astartes…] Cassian said, spitting blood. [Rain hell.]
…
Gasping for air and feeling utterly exhausted, High Priestess Momo grinned as she looked at the outcome of her Spell.
That grin took a sadistic touch as she saw one of the ten soldiers lying flat on a patch of blackened earth, a Dragon clawing at his blue armor.
And even though the rest of the soldiers were getting up, Momo could see the damage they had suffered in their broken movements.
More than that, she could feel a dip in fear in her surroundings.
The Death Eaters had almost thought the soldiers invincible.
With this attack, she had proven otherwise.
With that, she had bought confidence.
Letting out loud, raging war cries, the Death Eaters and Magical Creatures pounced on the remaining nine isolated soldiers, hurling Curses and Jinxes.
Yes.
This was all she had needed, Momo confirmed.
The losses had been heavy, but the ones who survived after this ordeal would become stronger, solely loyal to her.
It wasn't Voldemort who had saved them from this ordeal.
It was her.
Perhaps… this was an event she was fated to overcome.
Perhaps… it wasn't Voldemort, but she who was meant to be the Dark Lady.
The mere thought of that authority elated Momo's very existence, forcing her to straighten her spine instead of relying on her Staff to keep standing.
But, just as she felt the orgasmic thrill of her victory, she saw it happen.
A change.
The soldiers, who could barely stand straight, moved… unnaturally.
Not like broken men, but bloodthirsty beasts, displaying an agility that was far superior to their earlier advance.
On one side, one of the nine soldiers hovered midair like a Dementor.
Then, Momo saw green electricity becoming a cloak around the massive blue armor before the soldier opened his mouth and spat lightning.
The crack was barely audible.
The size of those green bolts of lightning was barely as large as a finger.
Yet, the lightning that the soldier had spat out became a storm, expanding spherically outward, burning right through her army.
Even the one Dragon that had its fangs half-buried in the dead soldier's armor was scorched to death, its slitted eyes smoking as the spherical boundary of green lightning passed through it.
BOOM!
A shockwave slammed into Momo, her head snapping in a different direction, where a soldier was wielding a long, pillar-like weapon. In front of him, a mushroom cloud of dust lingered, pieces of flesh scattered in all directions. Then, jumping straight through that cloud of dust, he fired that weapon again, launching a missile.
BOOM!
Momo fell to her knees.
She couldn't even feel her stomach.
It was like someone had carved a piece out of her innards.
Her eyes lost focus, experiencing the worst case of tunnel vision.
The corners of her eyes hurt, heaviness settling on her eyelids as if she hadn't slept in days.
Screams.
She could hear them.
Those dying screams were sprinkled between the sound of the soldiers firing their weapons as they cut and exploded men and creatures alike.
And, in that moment, Momo recalled her earlier assessment.
She had thought that Dumbledore had sent a group of Muggles with advanced technology. If not him, then surely the Dark Alliance was behind it, the Yellow Warlock trying to take out the competition before the three-way War even began.
But, no.
She had been wrong… so wrong.
The soldiers who had come for her army weren't Muggles.
The figures within the armor couldn't even be men.
Men didn't move like that.
Men didn't fight like that.
Men couldn't just keep coming after suffering such powerful attacks while surrounded by hundreds of enemies on all sides.
Yet, not one of the screams in Momo's ears belonged to them.
The cliff trembled.
Flashes of green lightning overwhelmed the atmosphere, cries of the dead lingering like ghosts here and there.
Momo tried to stand up, but felt no power in her legs.
She tried to cast another spell, but her fingers couldn't even tighten around her staff.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
A massive hand slammed onto the cliff.
Then, with one great pull, the figure climbed up.
A blue-armored soldier with a red helmet, wielding a sword in his right hand, with half of a Wizard still entangled around the blade.
From afar, these soldiers had looked like giants.
Up close, the blue-armored figure stood as tall as the sky.
Momo had always taken pride in her magical ability to draw power from people's emotions.
Because, as long as she fought a sentient being, she would never exhaust her magic, always having a chance to retaliate.
Yet, in that moment, Momo felt… nothing.
All she could confirm was that she had finally been right.
Hidden under the blue armor was no man, but something dead.
An Inferius!!!
Then, as High Priestess Momo — the Headmistress of Mahoutokoro School of Magic — felt proud about finally finding out the soldiers' true identity…
… the world spun in her eyes.
In that spinning vision, the blue-armored giant was already leaping from the cliff, returning to the battlefield, leaving behind two words.
[Alpha Executed.]
********************
AN: Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my webnovel profile to access all options]
You can even subscribe Trial Tier for just 1.99 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month, along with all the Exclusive Images. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones/day: +1 Bonus Chapter next day