Leraie and I stared at the oncoming horde of monsters in silence, the large, muscular, and powerful Ogres stomping down the street with those black metal collars firmly coiled around their bulging necks, allowing the Cultists behind who summoned them to give them orders to attack us.
The group of Cultists in front of us were still sheltering in place at the onslaught of attacks that were sent their way, but with this new threat steadily approaching us with the strength and simplemindedness only a monster could boast.
With Jahi and the others who knows how far out, Leraie and I needed to continue to hold our own against this onslaught, just like the Cultists in front of us did as well - so, we poured more mana into our defenses whilst trying to maintain the spells attacking that group as well, hoping that we could create a stalemate to stall for just a little longer.
That was all we needed - a little bit longer; just a few more minutes, that's all.
Diverting our mana from one set of spells to another meant that the one receiving less mana weakened significantly, and sadly that was the offensive spells that were trying to reach the group in front of us... but thankfully they were still strong enough to keep them on their toes and on the defensive.
Ogres stomped down the street and snarled at us, their bulging stone gray flesh rippling with power as they made their way towards us, their horned heads and sharp, deep brown eyes promising violence should they reach the dome.
Mingled in with the muscular hulks that were lurching towards us were the usual little goblins that scrambled between the legs of the Ogres, trying their best to avoid getting stomped into mush beneath the stampede of Ogres that had flooded the street.
With a horde of monsters coming from one way and a group of magically talented Cultists in front, Leraie and I were in a bit of a tight spot, but one that we were more than capable of getting ourselves out of.
Siphoning a bit more mana away from the offensive spell above the group of Cultists, I instead used that mana to instead repeat my techniques again, sending crescents of wind whistling into the oncoming horde and catching the off guard as I cut a few Ogres and Goblins down.
The crescents sliced cleanly into their flesh and cutting them down, arms and legs dropping to the ground whilst large gashes appeared in their chests or heads, revealing the bones and muscle beneath their rough, leathery flesh.
My hands blurred in front of me as I waved them this way and that, looking like a conductor more than a magician as I directed the choir of wind around us to create a killing crescendo for the horde.
Those crescents flew through the air swiftly, but as soon as the first row of Ogres fell to the sudden and deadly gale of magic, the ones behind grunted and growled as they coated their grey flesh in brown mana, toughening their flesh at the cost of mobility as they slowed down.
However, that added defense was damn near impervious to the speedy, yet somewhat weak blades that rained down on their sluggish advance, meaning the only things that fell beneath my assault were the Goblins and the occasional Ogre that had a weaker body and weaker mana than its brethren.
Behind them, the portals remained open, spilling forth more and more monsters that began their march on our fortress, their mortal overseers giving them orders to advance forwards and tear down the building around us so that they might expose us and attempt to kill us.
"I'll focus on the defenses, Miss Katherine..! Please, push them back before we are overwhelmed!"
Hearing Leraie's strained voice, I nodded and fueled the dome just a little bit more before pulling back all of my mana, beginning to weave together a new set of spells as I stared at the oncoming horde.
Tracing out dozens of runes, I crafted a spell and tossed the Ritual Circle into the air again, letting it expand and enveloped the surrounding area in my personalized Domain, the temperature dropping as the breeze picked up into a gale, while ice formed on the ground, rubble and walls, emitting a chilling frost.
With my Domain beginning to take effect around us, I started weaving together yet another spell as the Ogres began to slip on the ice on the ground, stumbling together and slowing their march even more, while the Goblins unfortunately found themselves slipping and sliding around larger comrades.
Meanwhile, the Cultists across the street began to drop their barriers and try to resume their attacks, taking this lull and trying to retake the advantage as they began to chant again, their unusual magics flaring up once more.
However, their voices caught in their throats as they heard the sound of one of their number fall to the ground, her blood and brain matter painting their cheeks a reddish pink.
Looking down, they saw a headless corpse laying in a pool of blood beside them, the Deerkin's body twitching as her muscles enjoyed the last few electrical impulses of her life, which had been cut short as an arrow of ice exploded inside her skull.
Another Cultist dropped, suffering the same fate as the first as two arrows struck their body, one to the head and one to the chest, the wind swirling around the arrow's tips exploding as soon as they entered their target, ripping out large chunks of flesh with ease.
Their barrier barely returned as a storm of those arrows rained down on their position, and with its swift return it lacked the power needed to withstand such a concentrated attack, allowing a few to crack open their protections and create entrances for the other arrows to slice on through.
Impacting the cobblestone, the ice arrows shattered and sent my deadly crystalline slivers flying through the air, cutting into their flesh and spreading frost amongst them, eating away at their flesh and stymieing their mana, causing the barrier to falter and eventually break as more and more arrows rained down on their position.
Cutting the Cultists down with a storm of dozens of arrows, I turned the Ritual Circle from the group of mortals to the horde of monsters, redirecting the storm and bringing it to bear against the mana clad Ogres, who stomped forwards and walked into the rain of arrows with that idiotic determination that made them so dangerous.