The Dawn of the New World

"RETREAT!"

No one was stupid enough to go against her orders after seeing the monstrous tidal wave that was coming their way so the few that were still outside the barrier retreated at once.

But obviously, that was not going to be enough. The barrier protecting Argham was like any other and needed a constant supply of spiritual energy to stay powered. Every direct impact against it was neutralized by using this same energy and the stronger the impact the more energy was required.

Watching the stampeding horde getting closer Hazel and many others knew that if they ran directly into the barrier like that it might as well break at once.

But it wasn't like they could go out and stop them in person.

Hazel stomped the Grail Seeker twice, "Reinforce the barrier! Everyone to the front! Use your laws and do whatever you have to slow their advance!"

She looked around before focusing on a young man that was about to run out with the rest and called him out by name, "Mosak, come up here!"

Mosak was a 17-year-old boy with short black hair, an emaciated figure and dark circles around his eyes. It looked like he hadn't slept in days or even eaten anything in weeks and for good reason.

He was the one that had been helping the refugees by making houses for them.

He nodded and quickly sprinted up the watchtower.

"How much area can you control at once?" Hazel asked immediately.

He thought about it for a second before answering, "100 square meters in any direction."

"Can you separate it into different sections?"

He looked right into her eyes and realized what she was trying to do and nodded.

"Half."

"Alright, do a 10-meter wide section on both sides about 30 meters away."

"Yes."

Mosak extended both hands and closed his eyes. A brown-colored energy covered the palm of his hand as he wriggled each finger one by one. The ground 30 meters outside the barrier began to change and unbeknownst to anyone else it was turned into a bog a few inches under the surface.

Hazel jumped down and went up to the middle section which was left untouched. Her grip tightened around the Grail Seeker to the point that her knuckles turned white.

The corrupted spawn neared and as usual, the grunts were the first ones to reach them since they were the fastest units.

As expected the moment more than a few grunts stepped on top of the bog the ground collapsed under their weight and swallowed them right up. Unfortunately, the ones behind them had built up too much momentum and couldn't stop themselves in time so rows upon rows of deformed humanoid grunts were pushed into the bog that didn't seem to have an end.

It swallowed hundreds of grunts within seconds while only a small fraction made it through the 40 meters wide area that was left unchanged in the middle. The larger creatures that were coming up behind them saw this swiftly changed their direction to walk over this section as well.

The grunts reached the barrier first. A great many of them were either pushed away or slowed down to a crawl with the help of various laws. Some of them were even killed on the spot when they entered a particularly deadly territory.

Of the larger creatures, the ones in the lead were built like walking tanks. Each one was about 9 meters long and 3-4 meters wide with the body shape of a rhinoceros.

Their heads and shoulders were covered in extremely thick chitin-like armor and scales which along with their extremely large size and weight meant that they were perfect to lead the charge into any battle.

And it was a huge plus that they didn't feel any fear or pain.

About six of these massive monsters were in the first lines and only two were momentarily slowed down by the bog while the rest managed to move over the middle section.

As they neared each stomp created tremors on the ground that made the cultivator's knees weak just by standing straight. They passed through the law territories as if they didn't even exist and were almost on them.

Rhisiat who was the closest to Hazel voiced his concerns.

"They will directly connect with the barrier, we can't allow that to happen. The collective impact will be disastrous and might even destroy the barrier! We- I will-"

Hazel shook her head, "They won't make it to the barrier."

"Wh-"

Before Rhisiat or anyone else could react her feet pushed against the ground and she sprinted out in a maddened rush.

"HAZEL!" Fulke shouted from the back but it was too late.

She swung the Grail Seeker from side to side and cleared away mobs of grunts that were in the way before raising it over her head.

The Grail Seeker's golden light flowed down into her body and created a barrier around her. With every step she took the barrier became brighter and brighter until no one could even look at her directly.

She was like a miniature sun in the dark of the night. Only a faint outline of her figure could be made out if one forced themselves to stare directly at her.

Two ethereal words echoed in the surroundings before everything went quiet.

"Soul Crusher!"