“Everyone, DUCK!”

Suddenly, multiple blasts of purple energy came flying towards the group from both their left and right, like tadpoles burning with purple flames.

“Wha-!” The group immediately all ducked, letting the magic attacks soar above their heads and disappear into the fog on either sides. The Wraiths had spaced themselves perfectly so that their attacks would not hit one another on the other end, forming an offset line.

Several seconds later, dull explosions could be heard in the distance as the attacks struck the garden’s walls.

“Hurry! Run!” Acaya yelled, dashing forward as the Wraiths prepared another volley of attacks. “The door is right up ahead! Montu, break through!”

“Understood!”

Montu was the alias of Abdol, the Earthshaker Angelica wielder. He had a large frame and muscular body, so he took the lead, picking up his pace and preparing to ram the door straight open.

“ARGH!” With a roar, he slammed into the door with all of his might, pushing it open… a bit.

Iris’s eyes widened. “This is… there’s debris cluttered behind this door!”

“What?! Then how did those guys get in?!” Tian Long cried in shock.

“Tch… there’s no time to worry about that!” Ashika yelled. “Aquira, use your geysers to blast this thing open!”

“On it!” A short-haired girl named Iyesha clasped her hands together as a light blue glow surrounded her body, signaling the Waterwielder Angelica. She clasped her hands together and grinded them against one another before slowly separating them at last. A vortex appeared between them, and out came a powerful geyser of water that blasted the doors.

But even so… it did not budge. The geyser was doing work, but at this rate, they wouldn’t make it. The Wraiths were still launching attacks, and the Phantoms were closing in fast.

“SKREE!” As if on cue, the Phantoms squealed in delight as they jumped up into the air within distance, claws outstretched and tentacles at the ready. They opened their Glasgow smiles, revealing rows of sharp teeth within their mouths.

Finn furrowed his brows, using Devil’s Timing to detect their precise locations, and prepared to use The Magician card to blast the group of Phantoms away. Reaper did the same, readying his scythe and preparing to jump into the air to slice the Ghosts into pieces, but someone else had them covered — literally.

“Hear me, Mother Earth!” Abdol raised his arms and slammed his fists into the ground, the bright yellow glow around him becoming brighter. “Lend me your strength, O’ Divine Nature, and allow me to shake even the heavens! Code of the Earthshaker — WARD OF THE MOUNTAINS!”

Immediately, several pillars of pure rock shot out of the ground and enclosed the group of them in a large dome, right as the Phantoms jumped at them.

“Good going, Montu!” Acaya complimented.

“Ngh… I can’t hold on for long… they’re piling up on top of the dome…!”

Although it wasn’t much, Qi Ling reinforced the dome of protection with her own ice, layers upon layers of it.

“How much longer, Aquira?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Almost… a couple seconds more!” Iyesha replied, biting her bottom lip in concentration. The debris behind the doors were wobbling, almost broken through.

But the question was, could they last a couple more seconds?

Cracks began appearing on the ceiling of the dome as the Phantoms used their claws and tentacles to dig into it, paired with the Wraiths’ relentless arcane attacks of paracausal energy. The fractures became bigger and bigger, while Abdol tried desperately to hold up his defenses, pouring every last bit of mana he had into this.

Finn, realizing this wasn’t going to work, sighed and made his move.

“Stand aside,” he said to Iyesha, who looked at him in surprise but did as told.

In his mind, he activated the Strength card, allowing him to possess incredible superhuman muscle power for a short period of time. Rearing his fist back, shining with converged white mana, Finn swung forward and unleashed the strongest punch he had ever thrown while Iris, on his shoulders, held on tight.

In that instant, two things happened.

One, the Phantoms tore through Abdol’s and Qi Ling’s defenses of stone and ice, clawing their way inside, mouths dripping saliva.

And two… the door was bust open with a clean strike from Finn, knocking all the debris away and letting them enter.

“Quick, through the door!” Tian Long yelled and charged through the door first while everyone else followed, with Qi Ling and Abdol taking up the rear.

Once they were all inside, Finn slammed the doors shut and held it in place with his extraordinary but temporary strength, while the Phantoms attempted to clawed their way in on the other side.

“Tch…!” He gritted his teeth and held on, but his feet were slipping. One person, even with his superhuman strength, was unable to beat hundreds of Ghosts in a battle of strength.

But they weren’t the only ones with allies.

Iris was also using her strength above Finn, and Abdol and the others joined in to help as well, pushing the stone door together. Faced with a collective, structured team like this, the disorganized Ghosts who had no sense of teamwork without a leader could not simply rely on their raw strength anymore, and were pushed back successfully.

SLAM!

The door was shut tight once more, but no one dared to take their hands off of it. There was still the chance that the Phantoms would break in, after all.

But after a few seconds…

“… They’re gone,” Iris said, having used her Oculus Angelica to sense the Ghosts. “They all retreated back underground, beneath the garden.”

Ashika nodded in confirmation. “I can’t sense them anymore either. They seem to have given up.”

After hearing this, the Theocracy members all checked the pendant around their necks, which held a beautiful red jewel within.

“None of the sides are shining,” Acaya said. “The Wraiths are gone too.”

With this confirmed, the group all let out sighs of relief and backed away from the stone doors. Finn’s Strength card expired, and the glow around his hand faded away.

“Still… who would put debris there, and where are the people from the House of Crimson Moons? If they went this way, they must’ve had to deal with this debris before us,” Tian Long murmured.

“Who said they had to deal with the debris?” Finn cut in coldly, leaning against a wall with Iris sitting on top of his shoulders.

“… What are you getting at?” Abdol asked, frowning with a serious expression on his face.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Qi Ling snorted, placing a hand on her hip and answering in Finn’s stead. “Those scum… they are the ones who set up this barricade.”