A rumble was heard over the horizon.
Everybody in Fantasia felt it in varying degrees. The common folk mostly thought that there was a weak earthquake for a bit, something that was not enough to impede their mundane activities.
Cultivators on the other hand felt it was much more than just an earthquake.
The fluctuations of mana around them won't lie, and that was enough to send them on full alert.
That being said though, it was quite surprising for the Mystic Guild and the Morning Sun Federation to not warn them about this.
Usually, anything weird that was about to happen to their territory was being observed and predicted by those two organizations. Their duty includes informing the public about it no matter how light or tragic it would be. However, for some reason, they are slow today.
This makes a couple of people wonder if there's something wrong on their side.
Unfortunately, they won't be given much time to ponder about that. And it's because of the surprising development that was bound to disrupt the peace that they fought so hard to achieve.
"Hey! Up there! What are those!?"
These words were enough to spark the fuse and light it up.
Many people looked above them only to see numerous spatial tears opening. Even commoners could feel the sinister aura of those portals, certainly, they weren't good news at all.
Then, without any theatrics whatsoever, they came.
Angels and Demons appeared in the skies of Fantasia. Their numbers were so great that they almost blotted out the sky itself.
Mass hysteria and panic ensued in the crowd at the sight of invaders. They were understandably terrified since the appearance of invaders meant that their lives were threatened.
It had to be known that this was the first time that most of these people saw this many invaders up close to them. Previously, they could only see them from the broadcast of the Federation, and the authorities were usually there to defend them.
Right now though, they managed to bypass the walls that they built to separate their home from them. The invaders are here and they are attacking them directly.
"Fear not, my people. The Mystic Guild has this covered."
That voice was familiar to every single one of them. It belonged to the man who established the Mystic Guild itself and lead it to its resplendent reputation today.
It was Ashton West. And his words alone were enough to appease their panic.
"Please go to the nearest Federal Center to you. There are people in there that will keep you safe. Don't mind the invaders, they won't be able to lay a single finger on any of you, I promise that."
And just like that, order returned to the masses. They picked themselves up and began walking towards the nearest Federal Center.
Once the fear was eliminated from their systems, curiosity began taking root. Ashton promised that they won't get hurt but what exactly was his plan to resolve this situation?
The answer was quite simple actually. In fact, it was being carried on at this very moment.
Kill with extreme prejudice. That's his order. And the Guild Members didn't need to be told twice.
They appeared and began slaughtering the invaders who dared to intrude in their homes.
The invaders weren't even able to descend properly because they were immediately engaged by the Mystic Guild Members.
Colorful lights exploded from the clash, numerous shouts could be heard all over Fantasia due to the intensity of the clash.
There were at least a million invaders here, and frankly, the Mystic Guild was outnumbered but that doesn't mean that they were beaten.
This isn't the first time that they've handled this many invaders. And it certainly wouldn't be the last.
As Ashton promised, the citizens of Fantasia won't be harmed in any way, shape, or form. Each time something remotely dangerous was headed their way, a golden barrier would appear around them, protecting them from any type of harm.
Nobody even saw his shadow yet he was able to protect this many people. This speaks volumes as to why Ashton was an extremely popular and important figure in Fantasia, and why he held so much authority and power over people.
This wasn't just the extent of Ashton's method to protect his people though.
The moment the invader horde stopped appearing from the Spatial Tears, he immediately forcibly closed every single one of them and used the same thing to initiate a complete Spatial Lockdown on Last Bastion.
This way, he effectively cut off the invaders' room to retreat, trapping them here and making this place their grave. Don't forget that he had taught his men the way how to kill the invaders permanently so that sentiment isn't meant to be taken lightly.
Fortunately for everybody, Ashton had seen this coming.
The moment they managed to bypass the Twisted Heavenly Bulwark, he knew that their walls had essentially become useless. That's why he immediately made a couple of plans to counter that.
Boom!!!
Ashton who had been observing the situation from the comfort of his office saw a marvelous streak of golden light zipping across the skies. He raised a brow and looked at it closely.
To his absolute surprise, he saw a creature that was tearing clusters of invaders in mere seconds before immediately going to the next.
"Jeeves!?" Ashton blinked in disbelief. "Right, I've almost forgotten about you."
Said creature was, in fact, a golem named Jeeves.
Jeeves was a System Reward he got. A protector golem that is usually inactive. It will only move when it detects a threat to the place it's protecting.
This was the first time that the invaders happen to arrive this close to their home so Jeeves was never seen them active before. It's different now of course.
Jeeves doesn't need orders, it understood the assignment completely and carried it out faithfully. The golem's strength scales with the threat it senses, meaning that Jeeves was always meant to be stronger than the threat it's facing. Hence it is able to crush clusters of invaders with little to no effort.
'Well, it seems that I wouldn't need to send the Big 3 after all. Jeeves has this covered.'
Ashton stopped observing Jeeves because he knows that it will do its job properly anyways. With it being active on the field, it's practically over for the invaders.
The guild members are doing a good job rounding up the invaders. Most of them are clearly experienced already. Those who were still relatively new to the guild were being guided on the field by their seniors.
This became a good time to teach the newer kids what it's like to fight invaders on the live battlefield. This sense of pressure was a good grinding stone to temper them.
Of course, Ashton had his eye on them. Nobody was dying on his watch. He might've become an Aether Soul Mage recently but that doesn't mean that he lost his skills as a White Mage.
So long as someone has even the faintest pulse on their body, he can bring them back to life. Ashton wouldn't be proclaimed as Humanity's Greatest White Mage for nothing.
Plus, he didn't like the idea of people dying on his watch. If he could help it, he would make it so that nobody dies until this war was completely over. Unfortunately, that goal is a little too steep even for him to achieve so that's very unlikely.
All he could truly do is to minimize the casualties as much as he could.
Humanity was already severely outnumbered. If their numbers dwindled even more from this harassment, then it would seriously affect their efforts on fighting off the invaders. This is why it's important to minimize the casualties.
Just as he expected, the invader army didn't last for long. With Jeeves being active and the overall efficiency of the Guild, the threat was completely neutralized before severe damages took place.
Some parts of Fantasia were damaged but it was fine, it could still be repaired. In fact, the moment the battle was over, Ashton immediately issued missions to help out with the repairs.
The citizens would be kept in the Federal Centers for a little bit longer. Just until the repairs were done. They could go back once everything was the way it was before the invasion happened.
After issuing the missions, Ashton got into thinking.
Since this happened once, there is absolutely no doubt in his mind that it would happen twice and it wouldn't stop there.
He had a firm grasp of the invaders' plan. After all, it was he who manipulated them into doing it this way in the first place. If there ever came a time that he was not sure? He could just quickly visit them in their dreams to have a refresher.
Since this would become a normal occurrence from now on, he had to adjust some plans to match their current situation. Thankfully, he had seen this coming and already laid down the foundations to do so.
Now, they just needed some time and they would be ready for the next wave of invaders.
