A Rattling Monster

The moment I can finally see properly, what I notice is the huge battlefield all around me. But I must say it, those Nine Heavens gods were really prepared for anything. I see a sea of crystals floating in space and not moving at all, they probably were destroyed the moment they exit this portal. As for the shadows, I can see them trying to run away, past the robots and Heroes defending this place. But they are decimated too.

Now, I understand why they were not really worried about anything. But that was just the first wave of fleeing monsters coming from the Void and probably the agilest and less durable of them all. Now, right behind me, the octopi are beginning to appear one after the other. The previously 5 meters fissure leading to the other universe is enlarged to nearly 80 meters. The sheer number of creatures are disrupting the efforts of thousands of years from this side. Stuck between two tentacles from those Ancient Ones, many slugs are squeezing to escape the doom from the other side.

The thing is, my oath didn't do anything since I am back after doing nearly nothing. I was right about that; they would have killed me if I came back alone. Right now, I can stay near the white portal and not get caught by the movements of the others. And enjoy the scenery. Those robots from Thoth are doing a huge work, blasting everything coming near the Nine Heavens. Near them, thousands of Heroes are casting spells after spells. Lightning, fire, ice, energy, everything. Even if we are in space, those spells are still capable of traveling a short distance and hit the permanent assault of the Void.

But I can see them slowly retreat, letting more and more space to their enemy. From the previous 1km where no one could cross, we already have two kilometers before we can grab a Hero and it keeps growing. The Ancient Ones are really strong against all those attacks and the frontline is getting closer and closer. For now, the Nine Heavens haven't lost a single Hero, but it will happen very soon.

GROAR

WHAT?!! Why can we hear that here? I turn to take a look at the portal, and no one is leaving anymore. That crocodile probably caught up with his meal and we are …

SLURP

WHAT IS THIS? RUN AWAY! I instantly begin to retreat and even if that exposes me to the attacks from the Nine Heaven, I don't care. A huge tongue managed to pass through the portal, which is now bigger than a small mountain. And from that, the pink tongue is grabbing all the monster too close. Now, every creature from the Void is fighting with their lives on the line, since they are not even safe if they are too close. Following this apparition, and this sound that surprised everyone, the Nine Heavens are reacting a little too slowly. And finally, the first robot is destroyed, surprising since they were dealing with the teleportation of the slugs quite easily.

I can see the Devourer of Gods on the product of Thoth getting blasted a second later, but the deed is already done. And that action redirected multiple spells to that slug, an overreaction. The group near the destroyed robot get assaulted by an Ancient One and quickly get crushed. More and more of those scenes are happening everywhere. Now, I can begin to hunt personally some of the Heroes, by taking advantage of the confusion. It is still a little bit risky, but I have two shields to guard me and a mass of situational allies.

However, the only bad side is the fact that our number of creatures alive is very low. Barely hundreds of us managed to escape both the tongue of the huge crocodile and the attacks from the Nine Heavens, now, only the slugs and squids are alive… No, finally those shadows make their move. I can see them replicate a robot and begin to deal with the laser by using more laser. At first, they were trying to make everyone forget about their existence, but now that the situation is dire, I think they realized that they need to fight too. It is a good addition, but the other still have thousands of people.

Wait, the crystals are moving, that bunch of cowards. They were all faking their deaths, I can't even trust them anymore. I would have done the same thing. Some are truly dead, but more and more are reorganizing themselves and moving toward the Heroes. Each time a spell is cast on them, they store it in one of their limbs and release it toward the original caster. That can work when only a few spells are targeting the crystalmen, but when they were alone in the beginning, I think a lot of them were still destroyed by the huge number of things thrown at them.

The only still real issue is the big tongue moving behind us. Even after all that time, I can see the white portal shaking terribly and letting more and more of that deadly weapon pass. It is a race; we have to push the frontline more quickly than this huge monster can destabilize the white fissure. Let's do this, but before, I spread multiple spirits across all the battlefield. After that, I am using my new spell to take out all the strongest Heroes that I notice. Huge woman looking like an angel with white wings and capable of creating magic shields for her allies? [Annihilation]. A robot looking like a terminator and using two plasma machineguns, or something similar, and decimating the Ancient Ones rushing toward him? [Annihilation].

With that, I receive numerous reply from the System, saying that I killed a Hero from a God, again and again, and again. Sometimes, he tells me that I have gained a new spell but I don't have the time to look for that. It has been five minutes since I passed the portal, but the defense from the Nine Heavens is still holding on. Now, some of the shadows and slugs manage to bypass it and just flee. But each time, a group of reinforcements arrived and deal with them. Seeing this, everyone on my side understands that we need to achieve a victory, a true victory. Or we will be eaten or hunted.

Now, the Nine Heavens notice me and begin to target me more and more. But I still am capable of teleporting and with my beacons in place, they can't encircle me and kill me. I waste a lot of their efforts, but now, I can barely use one [Annihilation] before needing to leave the location and teleport away. Each time I appear, multiple spells are launched toward me. Now I really begin to suspect something capable of knowing where I will teleport. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to counter the other Devourers of Gods that easily.

GROOOOOOOOAR

C'MON! STOP DOING THAT! For a second, everyone stops doing anything and just looked at the teeth appearing from nowhere. That's really bad, if we can see his teeth, the head will arrive soon. Can we be that unlucky?

ZZZZZIP

HEY! I SAW THAT! [Annihilation], that pesky robot tried to do a sneak attack. Good thing my [Veil of Darkness] is really strong. Right now, both sides have less than a hundred members. We have barely more than thirty, and only one Ancient One alive. Nevermind, a laser just pierced his tentacle and reached eyes, he is out. A few crystals, few Devourers of Gods and a dozen of those shadows. But now, we are using a guerrilla tactic, since their firepower is scarce. We keep dodging and trying to disperse them, that way, we will be able to win. In the back, I can see some Heroes trying to close the portal and not taking part in the ongoing battle. None of the creatures coming from the Void are attacking them a strange thing.

Because, if they don't close this thing, we are all going to die, in fact, we should probably just run and let the Nine Heavens deal with this. And as I say that, I see a batch of robots coming toward us, I guess they still have enough forces to deal with us running away. [Annihilation], [Annihilation], [Purple Moon]. I try to disrupt the formation as much as I can, but that's still not enough. Maybe if I absorb some energy lingering around us... Ah, much better. I don't know why, but I felt that I was running out of mana, but now, I am fine. I wonder how much energy I have stored because I can still feel it, maybe I can gather more from around …

GROAR GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR

NOT GOOD! I turn around, and what I see is a huge maw closing on all of us. I need to get out before …

CRUNCH