Portal “Echo” was located on the southern tip of what used to be Mexico. An armored vision of the U.S.N.A. armed forces set up a position in front of the portal, but they were quickly pulled back, replaced by a Warden task force.

The Warden task force was commanded by Warden Command Unit CU188. It included a single B-1, 80 F-1s, and 5,000 Warden Striders. It wasn’t anything significant, but Jean’s forces were stretched thin.

Due to their very nature, Warden units were better at holding a position and raining down artillery down on the assaulting forces, and Purifiers were better at overwhelming enemy forces and sieging a position. One was the shield and another was the spear. Jean had all the Warden forces spread out across the globe, defending the portals. All the Purifiers were made into reserves. The warping mechanics meant they could be deployed into battle very quickly.

CU188 acted according to the protocols programmed. After analyzing the first engagement and the Roman soldiers, Jean had her AIs develop the ideal tactic against these Romans. Trenches were dug and mines were set, anything that could make it tougher for the Roman legionnaires to get close and personal and use their melee weapons. S-1s formed the first line of defense. S-2s the second. S-3s were miles away. They had quite the armor, but as artillery units, they should never be in a position to use their armors.

The Warden B-1 towered in the sky. 80 F-1s were inside its hangar. From what Jean saw, the Roman javelins could do nothing against the floating metal fortress. It would be safer to keep the fighters there than to have them on the ground and risk getting taken out during liftoff.

Initially, the entire Warden line was nearly dormant. Apart from a few patrols and the Command Unit itself, all the other units were set to hibernation so they wouldn’t waste energy needlessly. Since observers covered the battlefield, there was no risk for the Command Unit to be assassinated.

When the portal started turning, the entire legion was re-activated.

The portal exploded to ten times it previous size, just like the one on Jean’s side. But right here, there wasn’t a Reapress to block the exit, so just as the portal was finished, its creators sought to put it to work.

Lines of figures formed at the portal. It was obvious they were different from the initial cohort. For one thing, they were mounted. Tall men on white horses charged through the interdimensional gate without hesitation. Like the legionnaires, these horsemen carried javelins on their backs, but they carried small round shields rather than giant rectangular ones. They had swords, but they remained on their belts. In their hands were long lances.

Roman Equites. Roman Cavalry.

“Enemy identified. All S-3 units open fire.”

The Command Unit gave the order almost immediately, but the Romans were quicker. By the time the Wardens started unloading, the first line of horsemen were already meters away from the portal. The second line was forming.

The S-3s were the first to act. After all, they were the only ones in range. The cannons strapped to their back roared, sending countless rounds at the portal. Advanced targeting algorithms, coupled with the brilliant intelligence supplied by the observers, made sure every round found its target. The second line evaporated before they could even set foot into this world.

Unfortunately, the rounds aiming for the first round mostly missed. Only a few lucky shots tossed a few men off their ride.

CU118 took everything into calculations.

“Estimation on hostile speed and agility are inaccurate. Current tactic is insufficient.”

Through the observers, the Command Unit saw what unfolded very clearly. The S-3s didn't mess up. Their rounds were supposed to land on the Romans if they continued at their established velocity, but as soon as the shots went out, the Romans somehow knew what was coming for them and suddenly accelerated. The shots landed behind them.

The Command Unit didn't know how the Romans did it. Maybe they had supernaturally keen senses. Maybe they planned on doing this all along. Those were irrelevant anyways. It wasn’t paid to do thinking like this.

By the time the S-3s loaded their ammo again, the third wave was already deployed and the fourth wave was on the way.

“All S-3 units, deploy barrage. S-1s and S-2s, open fire when ready.”

Another round from the Warden artillery sent 80% of the fourth wave of Romans to whatever god they worshipped, but the first wave and the third wave were already on the move. Thanks to the enlarged portal, they each consisted of around 200 units. 800 horse feet clashed down on the ground almost simultaneously as 200 giant hybrids of men and beast charged forward with unwavering spirit. It was a sight that could give the strongest men PTSD. The weaker ones would simply turn and run.

It was an unstoppable tidal wave of red. Thankfully, the Wardens didn't give a damn about it.

The S-1s and S-2s finally opened fire, covering the field with the clicks of their guns. They consisted of most of the 5,000 Warden Striders. They were technically considered cannon fodders, but Jean’s efforts to improve them have shown. In less than a second, a hail of bullets rained down on the first wave. Acceleration runes on the barrels and the loading system made the guns fire much quicker. Fortitude and acceleration runes made sure the bullets could punch a clear hole through any enemy before fracturing. Quantum computers did millions of calculations in a fraction of a second, ensuring that as many bullets would hit the enemies as possible.

According to the calculations of CU118, this amount of firepower should be enough to rip the horsemen to pieces. There was a reason swordsmen and horsemen were being phased out by musketeers and cannons. If it was the U.S.N.A. forces here, the disadvantages the cavalry were facing would be irrelevant, but the Wardens were an equally powerful foe.

What the Command Unit saw next almost fried its CPU.

The Roman Equites rested their shields on their mounts before holding onto the lances with both hands. They started swinging the lances in front of both their mount and themselves. The idea that someone would try to block a literal wave of bullets with a spear would otherwise be hilarious...except it was working.

A mountain of bullet shells were on the ground. Numerous shots hit the lances every second and lost their momentum. The broken pieces hit the ground and were stamped over by the mounts. The riders managed to hold their lances in place during hundreds of collisions every second.

From time to time, a rider would fall and never to rise again. The S-1s and S-2s could kill the Roman Equites if enough bullets made contact, but the Romans were doing a damn good job making sure they wouldn’t happen. Somehow, their lances blocked nearly all incoming shots. Some of them twisted and turned their bodies, dodging the bullets that simply could never be deflected.

Even those who were grazed by a few shots shrugged them off. Only when riders were washed over by dozens of bullets would they die. That was no easy task, given that a single S-1 bullet could rip open a tank from the U.S.N.A.

By the time the Equites got to a distance too close to be comfortable with, CU118 knew it was in trouble.

There were only twenty or so mounts left in the first wave. Well, that was before a storm of explosions suddenly consumed them. Landmines. Landmines modified from Terran spidermines. They went off as soon as the horse legs hit the designated ground. No amount of reflex could save them then.

When the smoke cleared, not a single corpse of the 20 dead was left. The mines evaporated everything.

But that was just a small victory. The third wave was already right in front, and they were barely hit. The fifth and the sixth wave were showered by the S-3s, but they were even more scattered than the first wave. The S-3s tried shrapnel rounds, but most of the shrapnels were easily dodged.

The B-1 in the sky and the 80 F-1s finally started blasting, but they faced the same problem as the S-3s. It was as if the Romans could sense danger and move out of the way. By the time the lasers and missiles reached the ground, they were already out of the blast range. The missiles could lock onto heat signatures, but that function was designed for other fighters, not human beings and horses. Sure, the barrage of tens of thousands of guns was still killing Romans every second, no matter how skilled they were, but that wasn’t quick enough.

Trenches became jokes as CU118 watched as horse after horse leaped over the five meter wide obstacle. They might as well grow wings and fly.

Previously, CU118 didn't find the need to call for reinforcement. According to previous analytics, it believed it had sufficient forces to hold the gate. But previous analytics were working on inadequate data and thus were false. This group of intruders made the cohort look like child’s play. If it was them that took part in the first engagement, then both U.S.N.A. regiments would have no chance of surviving.

Well, it wasn’t too late now. The Warden Command Unit immediately made contact with Jean Turner. By the time the call went over, there were ten lines of riders already on the blue planet. The Warden Command Unit could distinctively see at least ten more lines forming in the portal. The other side must’ve only send a single wave across at first because it realized the Warden artillery could do serious damage to the frozen units in transit. But now, with the S-3s too busy keeping the third wave from crashing into the S-1s and S-2s, the Roman commander felt confident to take the risk and send in thousands at once. After all, their enemies should be too busy keeping their men from getting sliced apart with their firepower.

“Creator, we are under attack. Over 4,000 mounted hostiles have came across the portal and overwhelmed our forces. Estimations suggest the existing forces will be defeated within five minutes. Reinforcement is advised.”

The response came quickly.

“Hold your ground at all cost. Reinforcement is on the way.”

And hold the ground was exactly what the Warden Command Unit did.

Contrary to the belief of the Roman commander, the S-3s were redirected to the portal. Dozens of shrapnel rounds landed on the Equites in transport. Explosions and flying shrapnel tore apart the defenseless and frozen horsemen. Bodies of elite horsemen covered the floor of the portal. It was a heavy blow that erased hundreds from the Roman ranks.

But this came at a price equally heavy. Without the suppressing fire and after surviving the field of landmines, the rest of the Equites finally carved their way into the Strider lines.

S-1s held their ground. As cheap ranged units, they weren’t exactly designed for melee, but they had their ways. The ones in the back kept on unloading at point-blank range as the ones in the front stood still. They waited as the lances ran them through or the horses slammed into them. Just then, they exploded.

Self-destruction. One of the most common methods of war by the Warden forces. It was cruel and demoralizing, yet highly effective.

The Romans were caught by surprise as dozens of them were knocked over by the blasts right in front of them, dead or dying. But that was about it. A single trick couldn’t be used twice on soldiers this elite. When the next Equites struck the Warden Striders, instead of piercing them, they slammed the Striders back into their own ranks. The damage was the same. The Striders were so fractured by the blows that they were no longer functional, but they could no longer self-destruct. The few that tried it ended up taking out their own.

Warden casualties grew sky-high. They have pinned the Romans down on the ground and repeatedly bashed their face in. Now it was the Romans’ turn to return the favor.

S-3s kept on firing. The S-1s were being depleted quickly, and the S-2s were doing the tanking role of their cheaper counterparts. F-1s slid across the sky, sending torpedo after torpedo into the enemies on the ground, but they weren’t enough. Even if their targets were doomed to suffer a direct hit, the horsemen around them would quickly get out of the blast range. A handful of men for every round of bombardment was simply not enough.

Plus, the horsemen weren’t defenseless either. Hundreds of them reached for their javelins. The F-1s pulled up quickly, but they still lost three F-1s from the waves of projectiles sent into the air.

From the point of view of the B-1, the red were overwhelming the white.

The Warden Command Unit knew it couldn’t let this continue. By its command, the B-1 started lowering in altitude. As it got closer to the ground, the accuracy of its shots grew proportionally. More and more Roman Equite fell at the hand of the metal beast. With the support and distraction of the B-1, the Striders started making a stand.

Suddenly, one of the Roman Equites raised his hand.

“Javelins ready!”

Nearly all the Equites in the field left, almost 3,000 of them, raised their javelins.

“Throw!”

Countless explosions covered the B-1 as all the javelins crashed into its armor. The ship’s fortitude runes were turned to full power. If it was the ship before the World of the Runes, then it would be gone already. It was only the runes and the new alloy it was refitted with that kept it in the air.

But nonetheless, it was on a timer. Its job of distracting the Equites was successful, but that success might come at the price of its existence.

The portal was still functioning. There were no longer lines of Equites passing over. Rather, the elite horsemen were replaced by square after square of Roman legionnaires that Jean has faced before. They might not be the most deadly, but their numbers were terrifying. During the initial contact, there was only a single cohort. Now, there were at least twenty in the field, with more in the mail. Thousands of Roman legionnaires stepped over the field of horse and horsemen corpses and approached the Warden lines.

Their job was simple. Support the thinned down Equites and hold the land that they fought so hard to take from the Wardens.

The Warden Command Unit was already contemplating using the ship’s nuclear arsenal. Jean was hesitant in covering the enemies with nukes because it would leave a near permanent scar to Earth’s environment. She didn't know how the Protectors would react if she saved Earth from the Romans, only to have its population die off from the radiation. If she had to, she would, but it would be a careful and calculated decision.

Fortunately, it never came to that.

Five yellow vessels appeared in the air. At nearly the same instant, 20,000 light beams came down from the sky. One Swordguard emerged from each beam. Its rune blade and rune blaster were ready.

Help was finally here.

The Purifier deployment was hardly slacking. After all, it merely took two minutes from the request for aid from CU118 to the fleet’s arrival. But in that time, the Equites have nearly mopped the floor with the Striders, took down a Warden light battlecruiser, and have covered the entry of nearly ten thousand Roman legionnaires.

The higher the power level, the more time mattered. At the level of the Protectors, a few milliseconds meant enough time to strike hundreds of times. At that level, the two minute deployment time was no different from two years.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and Jean’s help got into position in time. The Warden task force was pretty much wasted, but some of its critical units were still alive to fight in the battle that would soon continue.

But they were no longer the big players. The Purifiers were.

As of the moment, in front of Portal “Echo”, 20,000 Swordguards, 2,000 Cruiseguards, and 3 Capitalguards faced off 3,000 Roman Equites and 10,000 Roman Legionnaires.