The bombardment on Heritage Basestation had gone on for hours, to the point that Gemini had grown somewhat used to it. Nelson, and the other sentries that had been posted to the camp as a result of trauma related issues, had shown adverse reactions when the bombardment started, and when the Paragons sieging the camp unleashed their cultivation, most of them had fainted.

The other sentries had been likewise affected. The weakest of them succumbed in short order too, and for a moment, only five sentries were still conscious in the camp, a rare sight.

Only after a concerted effort by the Paragons of Ark City did the suppressive might dissipate, but the damage had been done. Those who hadn’t regained consciousness had been carried away into the depths of the camp, where they were probably receiving treatment and priority tickets out of the Five Lands.

Nelson, however, wasn’t one of them.

The mouse-type beastfolk had regained consciousness shortly after the Paragons of Ark City had dispelled the coercive might the hostile Paragons had created over the camp, and was currently watching the camp gloomily. Another shockwave rampaged across Heritage Basestation. It wasn’t much in terms of strength, but it was enough to shake another snowman to dust, and Nelson’s face darkened for the umpteenth time.

None of their snowmen had managed to make it after hours of sustained attacks. The barrier had absorbed the worst of it, but whatever that had made it out was sufficient to destroy the little decorations that the guards had erected. Only the ones that the otherworlder’s sister had set up were still standing, and even then, some of them were on the verge of collapse.

Someone emerged from the depths of the camp, shouting frantically for a guard.

“What’s wrong?” Gemini approached the man.

“An army of snowpyres are on the march towards this passageway to Heritage! The Campmaster needs to know how much time does he need to stall for before the teleportation occurs!” The Harvester — Gemini could tell from the grey cloak on his back — looked around frantically. “Can you tell the —”

A particularly strong shockwave shook the camp, and a wooden shed fell apart. Dust shot into the sky, and the Harvester’s gaze followed it up just in time to see the eight Paragons unleash another volley of energy, hundreds of sigils trailing behind them. Gemini could tell what they intended to do with them. The moment the barrier broke, the sigils would activate in concert and bring ruin to the entire city…but the hero felt that the less people here knew about that, the better.

“Blighted Night, there’s really an attack!” The Harvester stared at the sky for a moment, and then shook his head. “It’s not the time for this, me!”

He looked around frantically, but at the moment, a white-haired man appeared from seemingly thin air.

The white-haired man raised his hand, an air of nobility around him, and said, “Sentry, I’ll take care of this. Harvester, report.”

“Lecturer Shirou, we’ve beaten back the enemy elites from the East-West Alliance and the Southern Continent, but a large horde of snowpyres are making their way here. Campmaster Nalus wants to know how much time is left,” said the Harvester.

Gemini didn’t show any outward response, but his heartbeat sped up for a moment when he heard ‘Southern Continent’.

The white-haired man frowned. “What’s going on? The South working with the alliance? No matter. Return and tell the Harvesters that they just need to hold for fifteen minutes and then retreat. Lecturer Gaius has his own orders to cover that, but his third order need not be executed if they manage to hold that long.”

“Yes, lecturer.”

“Go. They’ll need you for the battle.”

The Harvester scurried off.

Lecturer Shirou, if Gemini got his name right, looked up into the sky. “It never rains but pours, eh?”

Gemini wanted to ask, but a huge presence abruptly appeared at the furthest ends of his awareness as he opened his mouth. It was something that dwarfed the Paragons sieging the camp, a singularity of might that drew the eyes of everyone present. An oppressive atmosphere spread out from beyond the horizon, and Gemini found himself labouring to move.

Something stirred within him, and as the hero-turned-guard was freed once more, he turned to Nelson, who was at his side. His friend had fallen unconscious once more, the only thing keeping Gemini from assuming that Nelson was dead his heaving chest.

His heartbeat turned erratic as the impossibly dense mass of energy approached the camp at a breakneck pace. Time slowed for a moment, as the sky clouded over with a prismatic energy, a phenomenon only the newcomer could cause.

The barrier, which had held out effortlessly against the onslaught of the eight Paragons from the East and the West, groaned as the massive presence approached. The eight Paragons themselves turned to face the newcomer, the sigils behind them vanishing as they moved.

Lightning…fire…all sorts of elemental manifestations danced around their bodies when the sigils vanished, but the alarmed expressions they wore hadn’t changed a bit by the time these displays of elemental fury trampled towards the newcomer with an unstoppable force.

Cracks appeared on the ground and the barrier guarding the camp flickered wildly as the all-out assault by the warriors who stood at the world’s peak landed on their target squarely. For a moment, a small sun threw the dimly-lit world of the Intersection into a rarely-seen clarity, lighting up every nook and cranny of the sky and land.

The area around the blinding sun warped slightly, and the camp started to shake violently. At the same time, the barrier shattered into pieces as the buildings closest to the small sun uprooted themselves. Some of them were clearly responsible for supporting the barrier's existence, but with them swept up, the barrier that surrounded Ark City could no longer sustain itself.

A second source of gravity seemed to have appeared in midair, and unsecured items began to zoom towards the small sun. A suction force pulled at Gemini, and it was he could do to hold on to the unconscious Nelson while digging in his heels. The lecturer at his side pressed something hidden in his robes, and metal armour encased his form.

The others who were unconscious elsewhere in the camp weren’t as lucky. Gemini spotted a guard he knew by appearance float off the ground, sucked in by the small sun. Tents and buildings throughout the camp continued to break apart, the debris headed towards the blinding light.

Gemini glared at the small sun — it wasn’t something that any Paragon could create, not even if eight of them were in attendance — and a small girl came into view. Her limp form floated into the air, and before he could remember who that person was, it suddenly vanished from existence.

He hadn’t had time to rub his eyes to confirm what he saw when the gravitational force reversed with a vengeance. Air blasted outwards, and before Gemini could do anything else other than to close his eyes, the surge of air had slammed into him like a truck, sending him flying.