That very first second made it clear why the event was described as a wave. There was no lead-up to it, the moment the gate was opened a flood of demons poured out, crushing each other in their haste to get through to spread chaos and destruction wherever they could as all the traps that had been set up showed their futility.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t worked. The second the demons came through they couldn’t escape them, the rush of oncoming bodies pushing the ones at the front into them, keeping them from avoiding even if they wanted to as the beasts were burned, crushed, ripped to shreds and otherwise killed.

No, the problem was that his teacher had been correct. With everything going off, more and more were simply piled on top until the effects of them vanished, with thousands being killed in that mad dash but serving as a barrier against each one for the later monsters that came through.

And monsters they were. Ben had known in theory that the bodies of demons were diverse, only sharing their scales and eyes, but he hadn’t expected just how diverse as creatures that were mostly claws and mouths came through, a giant larger than an elephant from his homeworld, things with what looked like misshapen or uneven limbs came out, even if they were sure to have some yet unseen benefit and many more. If it wasn’t for their unifying factors then anyone would have doubted they came from the same race as they even killed each other to get just a little bit further, pushing to the front lines as each soldier stood at the ready while mages cast their spells from the distance, delivering whatever extra bit of death they could.

Seeing it all conveyed a single emotion. Hopelessness. In seconds the otherworldly beasts already sacrificed enough of their kind to mark a mass tragedy, without a hint of slowing down. Ben could clearly imagine how every person at each of the invasion points must have been feeling. It was only the one he was stationed at that got to trade it for a bit of hope as Iberu got to prove the worth of what he’d spent so much time and energy on. With the enchanters rushing to finish whatever final bits of setup there was, the weapon went online, firing out a solid beam of black mana and hitting the ground right before where the strange gate had opened, showing an instantaneous effect as it did.

It all but polluted the area with its violent spell and displayed all of the power it was outputting on the unwitting creatures rushing out as they stepped into it. It was the immediate loss of momentum, the crashing to the ground as they lost all strength in their muscles, being crushed and buried under the ones that came after they went through those same effects, only for it to keep going. Their very bodies were breaking down, rotting before his eyes as a time effect mixed into the spell sped up the process as they died and merged into the dirt beneath them, with it continuing for each following member of their horde.

Someone in the crowd began to cheer and it wasn’t long before it turned into a loud roar as thousands of voices joined, his own mixed among them. No matter how bad things looked, there was a future, and there was hope. Warriors made quick work of killing the few that had either gotten too far to feel the weapon’s effects or else had been some combination of strong and fast enough to get out of the area before it could kill them, yet still leaving them all but crippled from the brief exposure to the effects.

It was only the few flyers that came through that were immune to the damage taking place, but that’s what the mages were for as spells were shot off as fast as they could be, tearing through flesh and bringing them crashing to the ground, either within the weapon’s range where they perished shortly after, or else to be killed while they were down by whoever was closest on hand and wanted the experience.

Through it all, Ben did see brief moments of hesitation from people, moments that had cost some lives as they struggled with the sorrow, the system effect that made the demons equal to any person in their mind, but the feeling of war trumped it for many more as they pushed the feeling away or simply didn’t notice it with all the battle would cost if it was lost, the psychological effects waiting for when they’d have their moment to truly reflect on what they’d been through and all they’d done.

It was as the weapon’s beam stopped that he couldn’t help but admire its use in that regard too. He didn’t know if Iberu had accounted for it back when he’d been in the planning phase, but it put a healthy amount of distance between those using it and the deaths they’d caused, likely easing the mental strain they’d be under from the overwhelmingly violent act.

Seeing it in action only made him want to examine it in even greater detail as his eyes pulled away just a second to look back at it, having to process what he was seeing.

Panic. Iberu and those working under him were rushing around the device with frantic faces, for what reason, Ben couldn’t say. He was about to grab Falk to rush over, wanting to see if their time had come when a different sound pulled his eyes back to the battle.

Screams, not in triumph as they had been only moments before but instead filled with fear and pain as the ring of mana that had penetrated the earth slowly faded, letting demons through as people were forced to fight them in earnest, all while it finally snapped into place for Ben. The weapon wasn’t meant to deactivate at all. When it had he’d simply assumed the effect carried for a while, the same way Thera’s earth healing spell would, but it clearly needed constant output, meaning something had gone horribly wrong.

He understood that in the same moment as his teacher, and without a word he pulled his hand from Thera’s grasp as he and the yeti rushed over to the device, needing to know if there was anything they could do.

“Iberu!” Falk roared. “Where do you need us?”

Ben didn’t need to ask, the moment he was close enough he could see what had happened. As the one primarily responsible for Thera’s equipment, it was something he’d probably seen more than any other person on the planet. The enchantments that made the device what it was were breaking one by one under whatever was giving it its power.

It didn’t make any sense. The amount the weapon required was already insane by all accounts, the idea that the power coursing through it wasn’t just enough to get the job done, but so far above it that it could even cause that sort of damage meant it was astronomical, more power than he could imagine getting into a single tool, especially if the sphere he’d identified in its schematics really was what contained it all.

He didn’t understand what could possibly make the thing before him run without just destroying it, but he understood what he could do as he ran amongst the various enchanters who were rushing to fix everything they saw break and ran his hands along it, not fixing anything, instead putting his minds to making dozens of sacrificial enchantments at once, feeling his mana dip dangerously low as he put each one where he could to take the strain off of the tool.

Enchanters yelled at him but he didn’t listen, simply doing what he had to while they kept working away, as they slowly realized one by one that whatever he was doing was keeping things from getting worse, giving them the leeway to fix what they needed to as his teacher joined him to do the same.

“Quick thinking boy, I knew it would be a good idea to have you here.”

“Ha, well it looks like you absolutely needed me as an extra body. I’m willing to bet that you and I are the only ones here who know how to make these, meaning that we’re entirely responsible for putting them together until anyone else can get the practice. This is going to be a long month.”

He felt like his fate was sealed for the foreseeable future as he watched ones he’d already made begin to break down. Even buffed he could only regain his mana so fast, but Iberu slipped in beside him, watching what Ben did with his mana sense as he began replicating it, showing the skill that left him as not only the head of the craftsman’s guild but let him break through to be a magic smith.

“Like this?” The troll asked as he laid them down, Ben looking over to judge the work.

“That will definitely work. I’d say you just need practice, but it looks like we’ll all be getting plenty on that front,” he laughed as he worked to replace everything he’d built up as they crumbled. “Just what the hell do you have running this thing? Did you squeeze a star into here or something?”

“Ha, should we live past the third wave then maybe I’ll tell you. For now, can one of you two train the other enchanters on how to make these the moment you’re free?”

“I’ll do it,” Falk said, focusing on Ben as he did. “You have more experience with these than I do so you’re more valuable here. Just call me if you need to switch out, alright? Better to get a fifteen-minute break than for you to fall into mana exhaustion for who knows how long.”

“You got it Falk!”

It was with those words the machine came back online, firing off its deadly ray to end everything that was in its path, but he didn’t have time to appreciate whatever was happening. Everything he had was focused on enchanting, applying them again and again as some unseen person handed him a mana potion, watching as he downed it and threw away the bottle to let himself keep working.

What was left of his headache was coming back in full force as he couldn’t help but wish he had just a little more mana at his disposal, the only thing keeping them afloat being that he had Iberu beside him.

“So just out of curiosity, how many other awakened enchanters do we have here?” He wanted to know, with that detail being key in how they’d deal with things for the next month.

“Falk, yourself, and I. The rest of my team is seventh to ninth in level. Who knows though, maybe we’ll get lucky and this will be the push needed to get a few of them over the edge.”

“God, we can hope. Okay, what that sounds like to me is that we’re all on eighteen-hour shifts for the entire month. One of us will have to be on it at all times while your people are split to help us unless you have a better idea. Please have a better idea.”

“Ha, unfortunately, it seems that our particular futures are sealed. And speaks volumes to the potential of expanding the use of this to every invasion point.”

“If you modify the enchanting system you use, it should still be possible. The ring system I submitted a report on is incredibly stable and it still shows most of its benefits when combined with other systems. Not that it helps now, but like, assuming we have a future it’s something to look into.”

“Ah, I do remember seriously considering if I should have all of the enchantments we’d already worked on redone after reading your report. Unfortunately, it’s a little too late for me to regret not doing so.”

The entire conversation was done through gritted teeth as they both worked, having no choice but to ignore the world around them in favour of devoting all they had to their work.

Ben was the faster of the two, having multiple minds that could be used to create many enchantments at once, but Iberu had a far greater mana pool, the man having built it up for years before his skill awakened and then continued to develop it further after. It meant that while Ben could act on the fly, he was constantly on the edge of mana exhaustion while Iberu was more consistent in placing them.

And this is just going to get worse.

They were both buffed at the moment by the food they’d received and Ben had downed a potion on top of it, but both would wear off sooner or later. It was enough to make him regret not taking a single one of the god potions he’d given Sonya, but it was too late for that now. All he could do was keep putting his all into it, spending every bit of mana as it regenerated if it meant keeping the world around him safe.