Everyone bowed before Laz as he stood upon the air, gazing out at the shadow dragon in the distance. The only ones able to maintain their footing were Pooja and Hera both because they were leaders of their race, in Pooja’s case, or a former Empress, in Hera’s case. Also because their realms were still slightly above Laz even if their strength wasn’t. That didn’t mean they didn’t feel the pressing need to bow, it was just because they had been firm for so long that they didn’t give in to it.

"This is... surprising..." Pooja said, turning to Hera.

"Doesn’t this mean that?"

"That my former husband is now dead and gave over his authority to my current lover? Yes. That’s what it means so stop grinning like that. You’re making a fool of yourself."

"You can’t tell me you’re not slightly entertained by this?" Pooja asked, her smile not fading.

"That’s beside the point. What this also means is that my husband is dead and that beast out there has absorbed a good portion of his power. While it didn’t seam like it broke all the way through, it’s damn near close to reaching the Ancient God Realm. And you know what that means, especially for us."

"I’m aware. But what else can we do? At this point, that boy in the sky is our best option for beating that beast."

"But he’s still lacking. The energy gained by killing the beasts here is plentiful, but he has no time to truly digest it while he’s out here fighting, meaning a good portion of it’s going to waste. And besides..."

"He seems to truly get stronger when he’s..." Pooja held up her hands and making one into a circle, she used her finger on the other hand to indicate a finger going into the circle.

"I wonder about you... I really do. But yes. That seems to be what really makes him stronger," Hera said as the energy shifts in the sky calmed down.

"It’s helpful for us as well as I’m sure you’ve noticed. It’s not just about that massive dick he has, it’s also the amount of energy he pumps through you when he’s pumping you... Great... now you’ve got me thinking about it."

"Keep your legs shut, this is a battlefield. And we have no idea how those beasts will react. There is no way they still have many god level beasts left, is there?"

Just as Hera said this though, a massive howl rang out from outside the gate as suddenly dozens of beasts of all shapes and sizes emerged, each one with a aura that made the two women feel chills down their spine,

"KILL THEM ALL!" Came a cry from someone beyond the wall, sounding very eerily like the late Emperor’s voice.

From out of the darkness came dozens of god ranked beasts, many at the early levels but as more and more came into view there were also several at the mid levels and even some in the upper realm of the level 7 beasts.

Seeing this even Tamesis was taken aback. She and her team finished up their work quickly and activated the seals but then ran back to where everyone was gathered.

"These walls were meant to keep out god realm attackers, but even they have a limit. Back in our Empire, gods were rare and mid level gods almost impossible to meet. My father was only a high level god when our Empire fell so even with the reinforcements on this gate, with so many god beasts attacking it at once, I’m not sure how long it will hold.

Laz spoke up first.

"What about the fortress itself?" He asked, looking off into the distance back up the road.

"The fortress was made using even science and techniques that we didn’t fully understand hence why the escape protocol worked the way it did. Even my father couldn’t leave a dent in it’s defense, but I’m not sure how seriously he ever tried to do so. But that feeling from that one beast out there... it reminds me of when those damn lizards attacked our home planet. It feels like a realm beyond anything we had ever seen," Tamesis said, still shaking a little.

"Have everyone begin pulling back to the fortress. This gate will not hold now that the shadow dragon is no longer occupied. We need to strike and retreat upwards the whole way. Princess. I was able to make the gate self destruct last time due to it’s age and disrepair. Are you able to set this one up to do the same?"

"Of course. Blowing it up will even be easier than fixing it. But once we do that, the gate will be gone forever..."

"It’s alright. I’m not sure we even have much of a chance of survival, much less rebuilding. For now, we need to live to have any hope. Can you remote set the gate to explode at a time of your choosing?"

"Sure. Simple for this princess."

"Good. Do it. Everyone else, prepare to run."

Just as Laz said that, the first wave of attackers hit the gate, making the structure groan underneath the weight of the attack, but it did hold.

"GO. NOW!" Laz ordered as Tamesis prepared her runes and seals.

As the energy holding the gate surged, a flash around the fortress up the hill was seen, showing just how big the backlash was from the attack. As for why it surged, Tamesis, surprised by the attack said it was because,

"The fortress and the gate are linked together. But while the fortress can handle most of the power from that little stick of the world tree, the gate can handle maybe about a strands worth. So after being hit, the backlash travels back up that strand and into the fortress. If they keep doing this, it could weaken the fortress as well," as she finished up the paper rune in her hand and handed it to Laz.

"Inject your energy into this and wait for the magic to happen," she said with a smile and a laugh.

"You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?"

"I’ve been sleeping for so many years and since I’ve woken up, I’ve not gotten to blow up a powered gate with runes? Hell yeah I’m enjoying this. I’d never had been able to do this before. I was even able to cross wire some of the rune to interfere and react to each other, something we are told to absolutely avoid unless we want to kill someone. Doing it intentionally?" Tamesis leaned forward and kissed Laz while they were running, causing her guards and maids to start yelling at Laz.

"This is what living is all about," she said while still running and laughing.

"The energy should cut off any second here," she said as they made the hill leading up to the fortress, stopping to watch.

The gate’s protections seemed to switch off right at this moment, causing it to go from a shinning jewel in the night to a blackened but still beautiful gateway. As they watched on, the beasts began to swarm it, slowly at first to test it but then as a massive group that started to beat the stone apart piece by piece.

Even the shadow dragon landed on the ramparts and looked up at Laz’s fleeing figure with what almost might have been mistaken for a smile. Just as the beasts were about to go even more wild, Laz injected his energy into the seal paper and it seemed like, for just a moment, the world stopped.

Bright light began spilling out of the gate as the beasts hesitated to react, all but the shadow dragon and a few of the stronger level seven beasts with better instincts hone over the course of their lives. Many of them jumped away, trying to put distance between themselves and the gate, but it was far too late.

A flash occurred that grew outward from the center connection and sound no longer held sway on the world as the massive flash grew bigger and bigger until they had to close their eyes from looking on. The death walkers brought their shields in front of the retreating column before the world was swallowed by the white light.

By the time sound and vision came back to them, there was nothing but a massive cloud of dust that reached the sky and nothing else within range could be seen. Taking deep breaths, the remaining solders couldn’t help but shudder at the sight as even their numb muscles tried to relax to almost no avail from tensing up so long.

Everything from about ten meters in front of them was now gone.

Tamesis’ fingers dug into Laz’s arm from next to him and he could have sworn he heard her mutter,

"I’m so wet right now..."

as a massive roar echoed over the mountains.

High up in the air, the great beast of a shadow dragon, an almost blurry figure in the clouds, roared out it’s frustration and looking down on the humans, dove straight towards them.