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The crowds emerging from the stadium were densely packed, with students and masters scrambling to find each other and make for the ships. Several masters flew up into the sky and began to help direct everyone along.

"Stick together," Lydia said as the friends ran down the central street, past the dorms and the infirmary. "If we get separated, we're never going to be able to find each other!"

Behind them, magical pulses rippled outwards as dragons began to display their incredible might. From the outside, the stadium still looked normal, but there was a sense of foreboding in the air. Anyone worth their salt would be able to see that something ferocious was taking place inside.

Algon narrowed his eyes as he glanced back. "Wait, what's that?" "What?" James said, looking back and stumbling slightly. "I don't see anything."

"I thought I saw something for a moment. Like a wispy tendril of white energy? Can't find it now, though."

Lydia frowned for a moment before activating her Weird powers. Her eyes gained the ability to see the energy flowing through the air, and her expression dropped like a rock.

"Oh nuts, we have to go! Right now!"

"Why, what's wrong?"

"You guys can't see it all the way yet, which is a good thing. But I guarantee that every mage that can understands just how bad the situation is right now."

The group dodged around several slower students, and continued onwards. Up ahead, they could see the jungle, and, slightly beyond the walls of the school, the ships the dragons had been talking about. Lydia was still looking back.

"Simply put, I think the Omega Rift's opening up. The amount of energy being released behind us is absolutely terrifying, and most of it's clearly not from this world. In fact, I'd say it's about the same as the mist we faced back in the temples."

At that time, the masters flying overhead were shooting the stadium looks more and more often, and began to push the students along a bit faster. Up ahead, the first wave reached the escape vessels and began to climb aboard.

"We're going to make it!" Delta cried happily.

"Hold on," Lydia suddenly shouted out. "Somethings happening..."

Abruptly, the entire planet shuddered and the surrounding space seemed to scream out violently before wrenching. Everyone was knocked to the ground, and the nearby buildings all collapsed, the ground cracking into pieces. Overhead, the sky turned dark.

James coughed violently before standing up, wincing a bit before shaking himself off. Behind him, he could sense a massive aura of energy blazing into the air, dark and otherworldly.

"The rift must have opened," he thought, looking around for anyone else.

Dust filled the air, making it difficult to see. Nearby, he could hear spells being cast, presumably to help clear the debris and gather everyone together again. A figure hauled themselves up from the group not too far away. James ran over to help and found that it was Lydia.

"We need to get out of here," the Weird said, her mind never stopping in its analysis of the situation. "It's going to get so much worse the longer we stay here."

Seeing James' look, she explained as they tried to regain their bearings and find anyone else nearby.

"That blast wasn't the rift opening. At most, it only partially cracked the seal the Gods put on it. However, it's still absorbing magic from us and the dragon's battle, so it's only a matter of time before it fully unleashes its power."

A thought entered James' mind. "Where are the ships? Did the blast destroy them?"

Lydia pointed. A short distance away the escape vessels could be seen. Remarkably, they were unharmed, and all the nearby mages were swarming over.

James let out a sigh. "Thank god, there's still hope. Let's find Algon and Delta and get out of here before things get any worse."

He began to walk forward, hunting around for his friends, but suddenly screams rang out through the dust, along with a hissing whisper. James felt an overwhelming sense of dread.

Lydia, shockingly enough, spat out a curse. "It just got worse. Look!"

The trees behind the ships trembled before white energy exploded out, racing towards the mages. Accompanying the wave were huge beasts of every shape and size, several of which looked like...

"Ran?" James' eyes widened. "Oh crap, it's the corrupted beasts!"

---

Back in the stadium, massive waves of energy echoed through the ground and often seemed to have the ability to bring the entire structure down. Nu was constantly on the defensive, choosing to block and parry most of the attacks coming from Rentor and Voltus. However, they were most definitely not his biggest concerns.

"FALL BEFORE GRACE AND GLORY!" a small form roared as it shot once more from an unexpected direction.

A punch containing the force of a collapsing star crashed down onto the Celestial mage, who just barely managed to teleport out of the way. With nothing to block him, Strike hit the floor, which instantly fractured into a thousand pieces. Energy rippling through his suit, he rebounded without hesitation, turning into lightning and blasting back up.

"Electric Tempo: Striker Stance!"

Lightning filled his fists and Strike unleashed a tremendous number of punches in the span of a single second. Nu hissed and condensed space to form a barrier in front of himself while he readied another teleportation spell. It didn't hold for long, though, as the Dragon General tore through it like it was paper. The snake was tossed back into a wall, creating a massive explosion. When the dust cleared, he looked up and spat out a mouthful of blood. Strike frowned.

"You do have some skills. Any normal mage would have been blown to bits at the very least."

Nu let out a hissing growl. "I assure you, I no longer fit your definition of normal!"

Space rippled and he disappeared, rematerializing at the top of the stadium.

"Spatial Void!"

Portals opened in the sky and began to rain down blasts of condensed energy. Rentor stepped forward and raised his shield, energy flowing off of the sides to completely block the attack. Nu sneered down, but his senses tingled, flashing a warning. Instinctively, he infused Void energy into his tail and thrust it behind him while also sending out a web of Celestial energy to lock down the surrounding area.

BOOM!

Strike appeared behind him, flashing out of nowhere with a fist charged with lightning.

"Electicae Devastation!"

His attack connected with Nu's tail, sending the latter flying away, although unharmed. Strike went to follow up but felt the restriction of the spatial web, and so chose to fly back up in the opposite direction instead. His eyes glowed before a massive beam of energy erupted from his hand.

"Sharplight Blade!"

Nu dodged the beam by teleporting, but was locked in place when he had to block a lightning spear from Rentor. The delay cost him, as Strike charged his hand again, this time unleashing one of his signature attacks.

"Arclight Beam!"

This spell was comprised of tendrils of pure magic wrapped around a pillar of lightning. Nu understood instantly that any barrier he condensed would shatter, so he instead slithered through the air, creating a sigil of shining power.

"Special Move: Spatial Infinity!"

The Arclight Beam approached the snake, but seemed to elongate as it got closer. Finally, it vanished into nothing. This was the true version of the move that Aura had used against Delta in their fight.

Strike halted for a moment to observe his opponent. "Just like I expected from a Grandmaster Celestial mage. However, I hope you realize that that's not going to be enough to beat a Dragon General!"

Nu laughed. "I do not have to beat you. I only need to wear you down until your energy drains away to feed my spell."

Strike's gaze darkened. "Then I'll take you down before that can happen!"

He shot forward, vanishing in a burst of pure speed, and the Headmaster readied himself once again to take the attacks.

"Gah, where is that idiot?" he thought, tongue tasting the air.

His thoughts scattered as Voltus fired off beams of energy that arced through the air. Nu dodged, but Strike appeared in the air and absorbed the attack, his Flash Armor crackling with power. Nu hissed, letting out a powerful blast that rippled through space, forcing each dragon back.

With a flash of his tail, the Headmaster materialized the Void sigil, now glowing noticeably brighter. He let out a cry, and a suction force enveloped the dragons. Strike braced himself against the ground, but to his shock, he saw wisps of lightning rising from his armor and scales. Looking over, Rentor and Voltus were facing similar situations.

"You're able to bypass our defenses?" the General asked.

Nu didn't answer right away, his concentration on something else. Then, with a scream, the air twisted directly above the stadium and a massive sigil took shape, difficult to see against the darkened sky.

Strike faltered. "The Prime's seal!"

Nu strained, and a fragment of white energy seeped out of the golden light, crashing into his body. His scales rippled with energy and began to glow, letting off a dark pulse.

"As I said before, foolish dragon, I no longer fit your definition of normal. Now die!"

Strike growled and his armor flashed with light. Then, he kicked the ground and soared back up to fight.

---

Another pulse of energy ripped through the battlefield, knocking the mages off balance as they tried to hold off the corrupted beasts. James stood in front of Lydia, channeling Earth and Fire elementalism to keep them both safe as she scanned for their friends.

"I can't see them anywhere," she finally said, the glow in her eyes flickering as her magic waned.

"We need to get out of this dust," James said. He unleashed his magic, creating a wide explosion of air that blew everything away, but it didn't do much to help. Instead, a beast turned to look at him with dark eyes, then howled and charged.

"God damn it!"

James swung his hands out and unsealed his dual swords. Taking a defensive stance, he channeled his magic to increase his speed and dodged out of the beast's path. It resembled some sort of wildebeest from Earth, and its horns dug into the ground as it ground to a halt, roaring in anger. James didn't wait, dashing forward and slashing at its next with his swords.

BOOM!

He found himself on the ground a moment later, having been blasted away by some sort of defense mechanism. Groaning, the boy turned over and got back on his feet, trying as best he could to shake off his injuries. The beast looked at him and roared again, furious that it had almost died.

James grunted and flicked his arm up, a sigil appearing on his palm. A spire of Earth Ementalism shot out of the ground and impacted the beast's underbelly, tossing slightly into the air. James followed up by dissolving the ground under it, sending the monster plummeting into a very deep pit.

"Are you alright?" Lydia asked as she ran over. She rummaged through her amulet and found a couple of healing supplies, a combination of things the Ikirians had provided and she had purchased.

"I wish that those things weren't resistant to standard magic," James groaned. "Blasting it with a fireball would be so much easier."

"You sound like Delta," Lydia said, but her joke brought them back to their current situation. After a few moments of resting, James stood up and began to continue the search, with Lydia packing up her supplies and heading after him.

They soon reached the main battlefield and emerged from the thick dust to find a tremendous fight occurring. Hundreds of beasts were pouring out of the jungle from every angle imaginable, accompanied by that deadly white mist and attacks that seemed to originate from the trees and plants.

James roared and raised his hand. The nearby air chilled as the surrounding heat rushed toward him and was released in a wave of fire that blasted away several beasts. A nearby Celestial student sealed off space in front of him, blocking a blast of energy. James nodded his thanks, and stomped his foot, sending a burst of power through the ground that erupted upward into spikes, skewering several more enemies.

After initially being surprised by the flood of corrupted, the mages regained their focus and largely began to work together. Although the students were not absolute powerhouses, a consistent bombardment of spells still did quite a bit. With the extra firepower, the masters were able to focus on shielding the escape ships, dealing large amounts of damage whenever they did find an opportunity to attack.

"I think that we're winning," Lydia said as she observed the battle.

James shook the numbness out one of his arms and jumped back up to her position. He sealed away his dual swords and looked around, still finding no trace of Algon or Delta.

"We should head back and find those idiots," he said. "Let's go."

The two began to leave, but where halted by the emergence of a series of snake-like monsters that hissed as they raced toward him. The Pure Elementalist frowned.

"Dang it, I should have known better than to put my blades away."

He jumped back into a combat stance, a little more wary this time due to the numbers advantage. The snakes let out shrill cries and shot thin white energy rays out of their mouths. James cursed and flicked his hand upward, created a protective wall, but they drilled through it like paper.

"Watch out!" Lydia cried. She reached into her amulet's storage and found a small capsule that she had prepared before leaving. Throwing it out, it burst into a large energy shield that enveloped James. The energy rays hit, and the shield shuddered before managing to reflect their power up into the sky.

"Thanks," James said and jumped at the beasts, swinging his swords as he went. Lydia sighed.

"I only have one of those left," she yelled out. "Don't get into any more trouble."

As her friend fought, her senses suddenly flashed. She turned around to see what was the matter, but at the same time almost every master-tier Mythical mage froze and let out a shout of alarm.

Lydia felt a wave of something wash over the entire battlefield, causing the corrupted creatures to cry out. A moment passed, and then she felt an extremely strong drain on her magic before the bracelet triggered. Looking around, she saw that James and the other mages were experiencing the same thing. However, while James had a bracelet like her, the others were not so lucky. At nearly the same time, they all faltered and then fell to the ground, faces contorted with pain.

"The energy-draining spell's expanded!" Lydia said. "Oh no!"

The Mythical masters were the first to react, indicative of their status. Quickly analyzing the design of the spell, they began to form energy shields to cover the students. However, the corrupted noticed their actions and responded with piercing beams of energy that roared across the battlefield. The masters were forced to stop their spells and hurriedly defend themselves. Several were even blown back after not being able to react in time.

The other masters tried to help, but with the drain on their magic, few were able to do anything. Slowly, but surely, the coordination of the mages was falling apart.

"Gah!" James cried. He tried to advance, to provide assistance, anything but found himself blocked time and time again by the seemingly endless hordes of beasts. "Lydia, anything?"

"I've got nothing," she replied, rifling through her amulet's storage. "I can't even call Delta or Algon, and all of the rest of my supplies were for supporting, not for full-on defense!"

James let out a growl and leaped at another wildebeest. His swords hit its horns, and they glowed with Void energy before exploding, sending him flying once again.

"Wall of Fire!"

Flames blocked the advance of the enemy, giving the friends a chance to regroup. James sighed with relief, but his joy was cut short when one of the beasts charged the wall.

"What is it doing?" he wondered, but then his expression fell.

The beast crashed into the burning wall and bounced off, roaring in pain. It didn't get lit on fire, though, and soon recovered, charging once more. More corrupted joined in, and soon the wall was flickering significantly, indicating that it was rapidly losing energy.

"Dang it," James cursed. "We don't have much time."

"Hold on!" Lydia said, fiddling with her amulet. "I'm trying something; just buy me a few minutes."

James looked back at the corrupted outside the barrier and gulped. Many more were also on their way.

"With the number of enemies building up right now, this better work." He blasted out several lightning beams that didn't do much due much. "Otherwise, I think we might be screwed!"

---

Strike dashed out of the way of another blast and looked over at his dragons.

"Come on," he growled. "This is taking too long. Increase your magic!"

"Yes, sir!"

Rentor flicked his hand, summoning a huge lightning spear, and Voltus' mouth opened, crackling with energy. Strike also acted, putting his hand behind his back and filling the tips of his fingers with power. He spun in place and roared, sending his hand slashing across the sky.

"I didn't think I would have to use something like this, but you have forced my hand! Ultimate: Lightning Aspect - Dragon Storm!"

A tremendous wave of energy shot toward the headmaster, bursting with lightning bolts. It was accompanied by the lightning spear and Voltus' Elemental Affinity. Nu narrowed his eyes and gathered his energy, body shaking. A massive sigil appeared, thrumming with power.

"Ultimate: BLACK HOLE!"

An all-consuming void ripped open space in between the fighters. Every attack instantly dissolved, disintegrating into nothingness and collapsing into a single point. An enormous suction force enveloped the dragons, who braced themselves against the ground. Everything around them was vacuumed inside by the overwhelming power, but they managed to resist.

The black hole vanished, revealed the ruined stadium around them. Most of the seats were gone, leaving only empty platforms of metal, and vast chunks of the stadium floor had been sucked away.

Strike looked up a Nu, who was now panting heavily, his body wavering in the air.

"You actually mastered one of the legendary spells of Celestial magic. That was completely outside of my expectations. However, you're done. This ends now."

The Dragon General flicked his hand, sending chains of lightning arcing up to ensnare the headmaster. He groaned slightly as they bound him, but did nothing else, completely drained. Strike passed control of the Rentor, and turned around, gearing up energy zip away to check on the escaping mages and masters.

"Oh, and please prepare a report for the Primes," he said. "They need to have Master Dioul personally come down here and seal this rift for good, I think."

He twisted his leg, preparing to run, but the space around him congealed and held him fast.

"What?"

He forced his body around, trying to see what was going on. Behind him, the chains that had held Nu exploded and he floated into the sky, appearing to turn transparent. Voltus roared and flung out a lightning whip, but it passed straight through him.

Nu laughed weakly. "Ah, better late than never."

A hulking figure blasted its way through one of the walls of the stadium, and the dragons turned to face the newcomer.

"What the..?"

"You have attacked the headmaster," Mr. Teilion said emotionlessly, raising his fist into the air. "Now die."