Magic: the Gathering
Chronicles, Volume 35
Elena knew that the Planeswalkers and Azorius troops were present on Jund from the very moment they touched the ground. As Elena watched the black-white Maelstrom pulse and throb brightly in the sky, she reflected on the numerous spirits and birds that she had sent high into the air to circle around Jund and scan for any intruders. Of course, no one would be able to detect the enchanted scouts unless they knew to search in the air, and not even Jace had thought to look there. Thus, she had the advantage in defending her temporary base of operations. She turned and watched the combined army pour down the mountains toward her.
*o*o*o*o*
"Let's start with a good one," Viktor muttered to himself, pulling his Simic Sky Swallower card out of his card stack and preparing to cast it. He usually rode on the beast's back while fighting, from the volcano battle against Beta all the way up to Sigma on Zendikar. He saw Kelly, Ashley, Devin, and Makoto prepare their cards too, and Epsilon drew his ivory sword and shouted a rallying cry to his men. All the other Azorius troops drew their swords, pikes, and lances at once, making a deafening combined sound of rasping steel as the men all shouted their courage. The Planeswalkers all prepared their various spells as well, from Ajani enchanting his double-ax with a fiery spell to Gideon Jura raising his whip-like weapon to a ready position.
Then the combined army reached the mountain base and plowed into a towering ethereal wall that appeared out of nowhere.
Viktor crashed into the wall along with everyone else, and their combined momentum that many of the Azorius troops and Planeswalkers piled on top of each other in confusing heaps of bodies. Viktor and his friends were nearly crushed to death under Planeswalkers, with only Ashley's Withstand protecting them. Grunting under the pressure, Viktor twisted to see what was going on, and saw the blue-white energy shield wall shimmering in place, stopping the attack dead.
"Hey! Why'd we stop?" Devin cried while being squished under Makoto.
"Elena raised a barrier to stop us. She knew we were coming!" Kelly growled angrily, clenching her fists. "We underestimated her once again."
"But didn't Jace's Homunculus scan the area and say that it was clean?" Ashley argued, sounding confused and afraid. "Jace is smart. He'd make his Homunculus able to detect stuff like this."
"One way or another, Elena's got the upper hand," Viktor snapped, trying to shift in place for comfort. "Right now, I just want everyone off me!"
It took some time for the assembled Planeswalkers and Azorius troops to get off each other and stand on the mountain slope, facing the stubborn shield wall that blocked them from Elena. Even more frustrating was the fact that Elena herself approached the barrier wall, standing only feet away from Viktor on the other side. Utter glee rested on her face.
"Too bad, children!" she boasted, pointing at Viktor and the others. She tossed her black hair, malice in her fiery eyes. "Looks like I win again, doesn't it? The Multiverse is mine, and your meager army cannot stop me! I can lower this barrier, if you want, but it means fighting against my army!"
"Are you offering us a deal?" Viktor asked.
"Why, yes!" Elena nodded and smiling wickedly, looking right at him. "Either leave me in peace and live, or set foot on my territory and die at the hands of my Enslaved army!"
"We've trashed your guys before," Devin told her defiantly, his hands tight fists. "Remember the battle on Kamigawa, by Eiganjo Castle? You even lost when you had the Reaper King and Eldrazi on your side!"
Elena laughed again. "I warn you, dear child, my army is nothing like it was when you last saw it! I have incorporated many new species into my ranks, including the dreaded Phyrexians! They have such a lovely home Plane. Their Father of Machines, Yawgmoth, is absent. Now... they will have a mother."
"Beast!" Ajani yowled angrily, his canines flashing in the air. His ears flattened against his skull, and he brandished his double-ended ax. "Lower this barrier so we may destroy you!"
"Poor kitty is anxious as ever," Elena taunted him, her eyes flashing malice as she raised a fist to eye level. "Listen well, Planeswalkers! The Multiverse is mine no matter what you choose to do! I'll lower this barrier for you, but you'll then get a chance to see my improved Enslaved army right and then die. Or, you may leave in peace as I complete my mission, thus extending your lives a little bit. Well?"
Elena put her hands on her hips and tilted her head expectantly, giving everyone a patient look. Viktor ground his teeth as he stared at his mortal enemy, who was so close to him. Viktor hadn't seen her in person for some time. Her clothing, if it could be called that, was slick and black and seemed to integrate to her skin and act like armor. Her skin was tinted green, giving her a sickly, witch-like appearance and her black hair fell a little past her shoulders in slightly curly locks. Her eyes glowed a soft red from the intense, defiled magic power in her, and her lips were a dark purple hue.
Epsilon spared everyone the waiting. He clanked forward in his robe-like armor and swished his ivory sword forward, pointing its blade right at Elena. "The day you die is the day the Multiverse will rejoice, from the highest heavens to the deepest hells!" he declared in a thundering voice.
"Well!" Elena chuckled, raising a few fingers to her lips as she smiled, hearing her former servant's threatening words. "Aren't we feeling angry, Epsilon? I take that as a 'no' on the offer to retreat, then? You're such a bad child, joining the Planeswalkers and defying me. You could have achieved greatness with Alpha and I, but now you will perish with them instead!"
Epsilon snarled and shifted angrily into a combat stance, as though to take Elena apart. Following his example, the nearest Azorius troops as one raised their swords to the ready position, prepared to fight for their Grand Arbiter. Viktor and his friends and the Planeswalkers readied themselves, too.
"Come on, Elena. Why don't you prove how tough you are?" Viktor challenged her, his pulse throbbing in his ears. Something occurred to him, however. Alpha's staying further back; I can see him over there, close to Nicol Bolas. What's he planning?
Elena turned her back to everyone and walked a few paces, then raised her arms and swept them apart. "Then behold!" she thundered.
At once, the air around the tip of Jund distorted, and a number of gigantic purple portals appeared, circular vortexes that could teleport Elena's army from place to place. The portals grew in size until they towered many yards into the air, and an avalanche of creatures poured out of each one in an uncontrollable horde.
The ground forces made up the largest portion of the Enslaved army, with creatures of all sizes mobbed together in a confused but deadly stampede. Even from here, Viktor could make out samurai, Myrs, Viashino, Kor, Eldrazi Drones, and soldiers and barbarians of varying humanoid races. There were even a number of Phyrexian creatures in the horde, not to mention a number of artifact creatures from Mirrodin. Viktor knew that the Scars of Mirrodin block featured a Phyrexian invasion of Mirrodin, but Elena's Enslavement clearly ad disrupted that. Phyrexians and artifacts marched side by side in Elena's army.
All these creatures rampaged across the flat rocky land toward the mana shield, but there were other Enslaved creatures around, too. Drakes, dragons, flying Kami, Elementals, and flying artifact creatures took to the skies, ready to back up their ground-stomping Enslaved allies.
Next, the beasts of burden lumbered out of the Portals shortly after the first wave arrived. A number of Naya gargantuans ambled along like living siege engines, the beasts snorting and rumbling in their rage an desire to fight for their mistress. Several giants from Shadowmoor trudged alongside the gargantuans, bringing axes and clubs of appropriate size. Finally, four more creatures arrived from the Portals, the largest creatures yet: a quartet of Pathrazer of Ulamog.
The bigger cousin of Ulamog's Crusher, the Pathrazer was a 9/9 with Annihilator 3 that could only be blocked by three or more creatures at a time. Viktor' gut clenched as he saw why: the four Pathrazers stomped forward with disproportionate speed and agility, using their forked arms to sweep aside the Enslaved creatures that stood in their way. The Pathrazers had no faces, but they were headed straight for the Planeswalker army, and they would blast away anything that got between them and their victims. Viktor recalled the flavor text of the Pathrazer of Ulamog: "No thought but hunger. No strategy but destruction."
Without warning, the mana barrier sank into the ground, with no trace of it left. Elena smiled at Viktor and the others, a very smug and mocking smile. "Have fun, kids," she wished them, then turned and sped across the empty ground in a five-colored blur. She vanished into the approaching horde of Enslaved creatures, most likely heading back to the very tip of Jund to watch over the mini-Maelstrom and Nicol Bolas.
"And now... we have a fight on our hands," Devin said faintly, watching the Enslaved horde draw close, with the Pathrazer of Ulamogs near the front of the army. "Oh, man..."
"If even Devin's afraid, then maybe we all should be," Kelly said fearfully, her eyes fixed on the Enslaved army.
Viktor frowned. What, admitting defeat already? He gave Kelly an incredulous stare, and then she broke out in a wide smile.
"But we shouldn't be afraid of Elena or her army. We're going to win," she added, and that pretty much rallied everyone else to fight the Enslaved army. Viktor and the others prepared their cards and the Planeswalkers prepared their various spells for combat.
Meanwhile, Epsilon pointed his ivory sword at the approaching horde and shouted a wordless war cry to his Azorius troops. Following the lead of their Grand Arbiter, thousands of Azorius troopers shouted their battle lust and swarmed forth in a silver and blue rush, meeting the Enslaved creatures head on. Swords, axes, claws, shields, fangs, and pikes all clashed and smashed against each other in a deafening din as the Azorius troops stemmed the tide of Enslaved creatures, refusing to allow the creatures to take another step forward.
Gideon Jura advanced to the front of the Planeswalker mob and swung his whip-like weapon up into a ready position. "Come on, you lot! Are you going to fight or not?" he rallied the Planeswalkers, and he charged after the battlefront, wading through the Azorius ranks. The Planeswalkers followed Gideon's lead, unleashing their magic as they went. Nissa summoned her elite guard of Elf warriors with her green magic, Chandra fired up her hottest flames, and Liliana summoned auras of death magic into her hands.
The battlefront changed rapidly; due to the varying nature of the creatures involved, the battle split into multiple groups of Enslaved creatures fighting clumps of Azorius troopers and Planeswalkers, providing space to move around in. Dragons and drakes swooped through the ranks, snapping up Azorius troopers in their jaws as snacks. Naya gargantuans used their huge feet to trample the Azorius troops, until the Azorius troopers raised their swords and pikes to make prickly targets out of themselves. Various gargantuans sustained wounds on their legs, their thick hides ruptured and bleeding waterfalls of hot red blood all over the place. Some of the drakes and dragons were slain by Planeswalker magic and Azorius archers, until flying Kami swooped in to replace the deceased dragons and drakes. The surviving dragons and drakes were quick to start avenging their fallen comrades, eating even more Azorius troopers than before. Near the middle of the battle, a red-hided gargantuan with four horns on its head fell over dead, its tremendous body making the earth shudder from the impact.
Viktor knew that he and his four friends could not afford to die here, not now. This wasn't just because of their combat prowess with card-spells, but their all-important Key Creatures needed to be used, too. Viktor still didn't know the specifics, but he knew that those five creatures would be vital to engineering Elena's downfall, and only the five kids could cast anything from their cards. Therefore, their survival was paramount now more than ever.
Garruk Wildspeaker was more than willing to volunteer as a bodyguard. "Hey. Kids," the brawny, shamanistic Planeswalker huffed as he tromped by them. "Let me watch over ya. Can't be too careful." Viktor cowered slightly in Garruk's overwhelming presence. Although human, Garruk towered at least a foot over Viktor, and was proportionately brawnier, with bulging muscles under his rough skin and primal clothing. Up close, he smelled like moss and tree bark, with a hint of wild animal pelt. His breath came in heavy, loud puffs under his half-helmet that covered his eyes and nose.
"O-okay," Viktor nodded jerkily, accepting Garruk's offer without really thinking. Garruk nodded back and tore off his helmet, tossing his rather long, mane-like hair. Primal strength and ferocity glinted in Garruk's stern eyes as he twirled his rather large ax in expert fashion.
"How are the Key Creatures going to be used?" Devin blurted out, asking the question that had been burning on Viktor's mind. Instead of answering, Garruk sniffed and turned to see a pair of Enslaved Myrs that had escaped from the battle and were trying to ambush the kids. Before a single card was used, Garruk roared and leaped right at the Myrs, landing heavily in front of the startled artifact creatures. The Myrs tried to swipe at Garruk with their claws, but the giant green Planeswalker dealt the first strike. He spun around and moved forward like a tornado, lashing out with a huge booted foot. His foot smashed into one Myr's forehead, shattering its head like glass. The momentum sent the pieces of the broken Myr flying, and the other Myr turned, distracted by its companion's demise. Garruk's ax swished through the air and chopped the second Myr in half, right at the torso. The ruined Myr's two pieces fell to the ground, unmoving.
Garruk turned back to face Devin. "To answer your question... I really don't know," he admitted freely, shrugging his linebacker-like shoulders. "Sorry. Jace and Tezzeret are the brainiacs around here, they've got it planned out for when the moment is right. Me? I just smash stuff. And there's a lot of Enslaved stuff here to smash."
"Yeah, I'd really appreciate it if you'd walk the walk instead of chatting!" Sarkhan Vol snapped as he pranced by, fending off a trio of Viashino armed with falchions and morning stars. Sarkhan parried a Viashino's falchion swing with his staff, then he raised his left hand and curled his fingers into claws as a fireball grew on his palm. Sarkhan released the fire in a burst, burning the hapless Viashino into a crisp and adding a scent of burned flesh to the thick air. The other two Viashino tried to run away, but Devin's Shock sent two bolts of searing lightning at them, striking both Viashino in the back. They fell forward and into the ground, defeated. Smoke poured from their fatal wounds, adding to the scent of burned flesh to the air.
"And that's how it's done," Sarkhan said simply, dusting his hand and glaring at the Viashino. "I'm telling you, Garruk -"
"Watch out!" Ashley cried, and she actually tackled Sarkhan in her haste to protect him from an ambush. The both of them tumbled to the ground just in time to dodge an intense beam of blue-white mana that sizzled in the air where Sarkhan had been standing seconds before. The beam faded away as fast as it had appeared, and Sarkhan leaped to his feet to find its source.
"What was that? Who dared to strike me from behind?" the dragon-revering Planeswalker roared, whipping his head from side to side to find his attacker. Viktor looked, too, but he and Sarkhan could only find numerous Azorius troops and Enslaved creatures fighting each other for hundreds of feet in every direction, and none of them was aiming a weapon or staff at Sarkhan. Then, Viktor's stomach clenched in dread as he saw Sarkhan's antagonists: one of the Pathrazer of Ulamogs was trudging rapidly through the battle straight at Sarkhan, and an Ethersworn Adjudicator from Esper was tagging along with it in the air.
"Eldrazi! Prepare!" Sarkhan shouted his warning, raising his staff as the faceless Pathrazer relentlessly stomped closer, wading though the battle like ankle-high water. The towering 9/9 Eldrazi dragged its four hands along the ground like a gorilla, gouging deep trenches into the dirt with its terrifying Annihilator ability. Tons of dirt sprayed constantly from the point where the Pathrazer's hands scraped the ground, as though it were preparing the ground for seeds to be sown. However, this Eldrazi focused only on death and destruction, and every Azorius soldier and Enslaved creature that was in its path was knocked aside whenever the Eldrazi' hands collided with them The rest were blasted into ashes from the Annihilator effect.
All in all, pretty scary.
"Unnatural brute," Garruk muttered angrily, glaring up at the approaching Pathrazer. "Sarkhan! Children! Let us take it down, right now!"
"I will," Sarkhan declared, waving his staff with red and green mana sparking from its tip. The sparks swirled in a hurricane around Sarkhan, and the mana condensed into a quintet of red-scaled dragons that Sarkhan had just summoned. The dragons all flapped their wings to get higher in the air, glaring at the Pathrazer as they all roared in unison. However, instead of charging at the Pathrazer, the five dragons took flight and charged at the Ethersworn Adjudicator.
"We'll back him up," Viktor told his four friends, and he cast his Assault Zeppelid to join the dragons and a mana-pumped Vine Trellis to hold off the Pathrazer for at least a few minutes. Devin's Volcanic Dragon was cast and rushed forward to fight whoever it found convenient, and Ashley's Water Elemental promised to trouble the Pathrazer as an ever-shifting and flowing adversary.
Then, the Ethersworn Adjudicator got to work.
The dragons and Assault Zeppelid were too slow to stop the Adjudicator from using its creature-killing ability. The actual Adjudicator was a Vedalken knight, but he was riding on top of a 25-foot-long artifact gargoyle that had a heavy lower jaw, gorilla-like front arms, and dragon-like wings that had thin sheets of flexible metal for the membranes. Orange mana flowed from the gargoyle's limbs to its chest like blood, all the mana flowing to a two meter-wide orb held in the front chest. The orb was exposed to the outside, allowing it to fire upon its foes. The dragons and Zeppelid got close to the Ethersworn Adjudicator, but the mana focused intensely into the orb, which glowed bright blue and white with the pent-up power. Then, the orb fired a thick blue-white beam of focused mana, just like the first beam that Sarkhan had nearly been hit with. This beam was activated for only two seconds, but it lasted long enough to sweep among the dragons' ranks and vaporize three of them with ease.
"Beast!" Sarkhan bellowed, throwing a fist in rage. "My dragons!"
"Hang on! We haven't lost yet," Viktor shouted back, over the din of battle.
The remaining two dragons and the Assault Zeppelid were afraid to get close to the gargoyle, but Devin's Violent Outburst helped drive them into a battle frenzy, and the Violent Outburst immediately Cascaded into a Shock that zapped the gargoyle in the face. The gargoyle took only minor damage to its hardened facial armor, protected by the Etherium woven into its body. However, the distraction was all that was needed, and the two dragons breathed searing hot fire all over the gargoyle's back in vengeance for their lost comrades. The gargoyle rumbled and twisted in the air to escape harm, but the dragons were persistent, and their hot fires made the gargoyle's armor plates glow red-hot. Taking advantage of this, the dragons swooped in close and clawed at the heat-softened armor, tearing it apart like wet paper. Then, Assault Zeppelid charged and bashed into a torn-up patch of gargoyle armor, plowing right through and injuring the gargoyle's inner workings.
"Yes! Destroy that abomination against nature!" Garruk shouted, weaving his life-enhancing magic to bolster the dragons and Zeppelid further. "Artifice must not be allowed to remain!"
Well, green mana hates artifacts, Viktor thought wryly, with cards like Creeping Mold, Naturalize, and Gleeful Sabotage coming to mind. The wounded gargoyle strained its wings to flap faster, and the metal beast lurched away from the dragons' attack range and took its turn. A dragon tried to get away, but the gargoyle seized it with a massive hand and crushed the squealing dragon into a pulpy mass, then opened its hand and dropped the dragon's remains onto the ground. Devin's Volcanic Dragon got close to help reinforce the Zeppelid and remaining dragon, but then another fighter made itself felt.
The Vine Trellis' destruction was even faster than Viktor was expecting. The Pathrazer of Ulamog trudged right over it as though it were a thin spiderweb, scraping its feet as it moved to help its gargoyle friend. The Pathrazer raised its left arm and swept it in a wide arc, and Sarkhan's dragon and Viktor's Assault Zeppelid were immediately reduced to ashes from the Annihilator ability. The Pathrazer was unable to control itself, however, swung that same arm, aiming at Volcanic Dragon but missing. The two hands on that left arm nearly hit the Ethersworn Adjudicator, until the Vedalken Knight pulled the reins and got his gargoyle to rise into the air and out of harm's way.
Not satisfied yet, the Pathrazer turned to Viktor and the others, letting out a screechy, ear-wrenching bellow as it charged once again, dragging its arms along the ground to create more gouges.
"Not one step more!" Garruk shouted, falling to one knee as he slammed both his hands face-down on the ground and flared up his green mana. At once, a number of trees, vines, oversized flowers, and shrubs sprouted out of the ground, covering a huge area. The vines and trees surrounded the Pathrazer and trapped it, snaring in nature's grasp. The Pathrazer tugged at its restraints, huffing with curiosity and impatience. Then, it tore its right arm free and swept it through the air, making more of the trees collapse into piles of ashes. More trees grew to replace them and trap the Pathrazer's right arm again, but Viktor could see Garruk's exhaustion from the effort of keeping his forest alive.
"Get it! While we've got the chance!" Viktor cried, and Devin sent his Volcanic Dragon at the Pathrazer's head to start things off. Ashley sent her Water Elemental after the Pathrazer too, and Viktor sent out a Fighting Drake bolstered with Giant Growth and Oakenform to make it huge and armored with wood. These three creatures closed in on the helpless Pathrazer, and they scored many gouges and wounds on the monster's arms and shoulders, making it writhe and bellow.
"See it squirm in agony? I love that," Sarkhan snarled in glee, his fierce eyes locked on the trapped Pathrazer of Ulamog. "Let me help!" Sarkhan pointed his staff at the Pathrazer and fired a beam of hot red fire, scorching the thick hide on the Pathrazer's left shoulder. However, the battle wasn't won yet. The Ethersworn Adjudicator was quick to aid its Eldrazi ally, and it swooped in close, charging up its chest orb again. Ashley cast her Withstand to shield the card-creatures from harm, but she had guessed wrong. The Ethersworn Adjudicator aimed its orb at the kids and fired at them instead.
"Whoa!" Viktor yelped, as the beam struck the ground and made it explode like a bomb. He and everyone else was thrown into the air like rag dolls, and he tumbled painfully across the ground when he landed. He scrambled up to his feet, seeing that his friends and Garruk and Sarkhan were all separated from each other by the blast. The Ethersworn Adjudicator dived lower, already firing its beam again. The beam nearly hit Ashley, and only her last-moment Wall of Denial kept her from being atomized. Instead, the Wall was destroyed by the beam, even though it has shroud.
Kelly's Consume Spirit sent three spikes of hardened black mana at the Adjudicator in retaliation for the beam attack. The Adjudicator dodged all three, but one of them grazed its arm and made it hesitate. Quickly, Viktor rifled through his cards, looking for a good one to use. However, they were all creature-enhancing cards or actual creatures, and he was short on time. Then, he saw Cytoshape and a possibility occurred to him. He cast the Cytoshape on the gargoyle of the Ethersworn Adjudicator, mentally altering the card's effect.
The Adjudicator was charging up its beam to fire when Viktor's blue-green spell hit it, and the spell began to warp and bend the gargoyle's metal body as though it were being crumpled. The gargoyle screeched in protest, squirming as its body was warped out of control. Its beam fired, but went wide and hit only empty ground far from any creature or person. Devin got up and gave the Adjudicator a Fireball to think about, heating up its body to make it even easier to bend.
Yes! There it goes! Viktor thought in triumph as the gargoyle was nearly in a ball and helpless, until a series of loud wooden cracks, followed by earth-shuddering footsteps, caught his attention. The Pathrazer of Ulamog had broken free of its forest-prison at last, knocking down all trees in its way as it Annihilated the three creatures harassing it. The Pathrazer had wounds all over its body, including a nasty gash on its left haunch, but it resolutely started to rampage again, charging at the kids with its hands dragging on the ground. The Pathrazer swung both its arms up, creating two tsunamis of earth that sent everyone flying through the air again, utterly helpless. Only Sarkhan avoided it, by summoning a dragon and riding on its back.
"Foul thing!" Sarkhan cursed, shooting a stream of fire at the Pathrazer's head. The fire did little more than warm up a patch of the Pathrazer's faceless head, but it bought the others time. Kelly got her Wall of Bone out and Viktor reinforced it with Vine Trellis, then Ashley's Wall of Denial was added to that. Finally, Garruk added some of his trees and vines to secure the combined wall, frustrating the Pathrazer. The Eldrazi charged and pounded against the super-barricade, but its progress was slow as its four hands bashed repeatedly against the wall.
Viktor was tempted to play Ulamog's Crusher or Simic Sky Swallower, but he had to conserve his mana for Elena and Alpha. However, Devin did play Deus of Calamity, and the huge 6/6 Avatar stomped toward the Pathrazer, bellowing its hunger. Kelly's Drag Down helped slow down the Pathrazer further, making tendrils of swamp matter that gripped the Pathrazer's limbs and shackled it. The Pathrazer started to break free, until Ashley's Curse of Chains helped keep the beast down. At last, the Pathrazer took damage when the Deus slugged it in the chest with its mighty fist.
"Yes! Kick his ass! Do it!" Devin cheered, jumping up and down and throwing his fist through the air. He lost his balance, however, and fell right on his face. Kelly helped him back up.
Meanwhile, the Pathrazer of Ulamog reeled back from the Deus' blow, and it recoiled as the Deus hit it again on the head. The Pathrazer strained and broke Ashley's Curse of Chains and attacked the Deus back. The Deus kicked the Pathrazer's shin, but the Pathrazer was not fazed. It gripped the Deus' arms with its four hands, bringing its face close to the Deus'. The Deus could only tremble as the Pathrazer's Annihilator ability started to turn the Deus to ash.
"Quick! Save it!" Devin cried, but Ashley was already on the job. She started to cast her Holy Day, until the Ethersworn Adjudicator managed to aim its destruction orb at her and fired its beam, forcing Ashley to use te Holy Day to protect herself instead. Sarkhan swooped in on his dragon, and hit the Adjudicator to distract it and help out Ashley. Still, that meant that the Pathrazer got its way. The Deus of Calamity was reduced to scattered ashes in the wind, and now the Pathrazer charged the super-wall with renewed vigor and strained against it. The Ethersworn Adjudicator fired its beam at the wall, and that combined with the Pathrazer's ramming destroyed the wall entirely.
"Get ready!" Garruk shouted, as the Pathrazer resumed its assault.
"Oh, man! What now?" Devin complained.
"Yah!" Makoto got a few of his samurai in the Pathrazer's way out of desperation, but the towering Eldrazi merely swept its arms and reduced them to ashes. Then, Viktor got an idea. It was time to be a little more resourceful.
"Try this, Pathrazer!" Viktor cried, and he cast his Ant Queen for the first time. The giant green Insect itself wasn't enough to defeat the Pathrazer of Ulamog, but her children could help. At once, dozens of 1/1 green Ant creatures spread out from the Queen's body, marching toward the Pathrazer. The giant Eldrazi cocked its head in curiosity, then swept its arms and started to Annihilate the Ants. However, the Queen made more of them, and the Pathrazer was forced to stop and Annihilate them, too.
Now's our chance! Viktor thought quickly, moving his attention to the Ethersworn Adjudicator. Despite being so mangled, the Adjudicator could still its beam, and that beam was destroying Ants to help out the Pathrazer. So, Viktor directed his friends' fire at it, and Devin's Branching Bolt and Makoto's Yamabushi's Flame combined to shatter the 4/4 flying Ethersworn Adjudicator at last, sending its pieces falling to the ground. The destruction orb rolled away like a giant bowling ball, utterly useless.
"Damn them!" Garruk cursed, and Viktor whipped his head back to the main battlefield. The Ants were slowing down the Pathrazer, but now a number of other Enslaved creatures decided to help out at last. A number of Myrs and human barbarians flanked the ants, butchering the insects faster than they could be spawned. The Pathrazer had a clear field, and it charged forth and destroyed the Ant Queen by hitting it and tearing it apart. It set its sights on Viktor and the others, confident that it had trapped them for good. Viktor, though, knew that he had one more card to play. So to speak.
Viktor cast Convincing Mirage to distract the Pathrazer for a few precious seconds, creating illusory doubles of himself and his friends. The mirages all charged at the Pathrazer, and the fooled Eldrazi swept its arms at the phantom threat.
"What are we going to do?" Kelly panted as she and the others ran away from the Pathrazer with Viktor leading them. "We can use really powerful spells to kill it, but what about Alpha and Elena? She's just wearing us down by throwing this Pathrazer at us!"
"Then we don't use spells," Viktor answered, and Kelly made a face.
"What?" she shrieked. "You can't expect Garruk and Sarkhan to kill it on their own?"
"We've got this," Viktor told her, eager to show her his plan. He had reached the scrap remains of the Ethersworn Adjudicator, and the destruction orb wasn't too far away. He approached the orb.
"But... oh," Kelly realized, seeing what his plan was. "Most resourceful, I -"
"Eldrazi alert!" Devin shouted, right before the Pathrazer's four fists slammed down near the kids, impacting like a pair of bombs. Once again, Viktor and the others were thrown into the air from the force of the Pathrazer's ground-pound, and two craters remained where the Eldrazi's fists had hit it. The towering 9/9 Eldrazi was wounded by now from all the attacks it had sustained, but the stubborn beast was pushing through its injuries to keep up the attack. Viktor was growing quite weary of it by now.
"Overrule!" Ashley cried, using her blue-white counter spell to slow down the Pathrazer's next attack. A shimmering wall of sky-blue mana trapped the Eldrazi like water, and Viktor's Lethargy Trap helped keep the beast bogged down. He tugged on Ashley and Kelly's arms to get them over to the Adjudicator orb, which sat still like an eye watching the battle.
"Are we going to use it? But... how?" Ashley wondered, giving the orb a nervous look. "I thought that only the Ethersworn..."
"That tap ability requires black and white mana, and from a blue creature," Viktor explained quickly, aware that the Pathrazer had broken through the barriers by now. "If we channel our mana into this orb, we can use it!"
Without even waiting for the sisters' reply, Viktor tried to pick up the orb, but found it massively heavy. Knowing that Makoto and Devin's new creatures were only delaying the Pathrazer's attack, Viktor used a Vine Trellis to create a pedestal of vines and shoots to hold the heavy orb up at arm level and aimed it at the approaching Eldrazi. The samurai and beasts summoned by Makoto and Devin were knocked aside by the Pathrazer's assault and the monster stomped close to Viktor's party, raising its arms to Annihilate.
To buy time, the three kids cast a number of buffer creatures, and the Pathrazer took a few steps closer and swept its arms, blasting apart the creatures into ashes.
"Hurry!" Viktor urged the sisters, placing his hands on the Ethersworn orb and channeling his green-blue mana into it. Kelly and Ashley quickly complied, pouring their own mana into the orb. Luckily, Viktor's plan started to work, and the orb began to glow bright the way it had when the Ethersworn Adjudicator had used it. The Pathrazer broke free of the creature defense force and reached its hands close to the kids –
And the familiar blue-white beam of lethal mana shot out of the orb, striking the Pathrazer of Ulamog directly on its face.
"Keep up the pressure!" Viktor shouted over the noise, as he and the sisters kept feeding their mana into the orb to keep the beam going. The Pathrazer shrieked deafeningly as it raised its arms to its face, but it was too late. Not even the terrifying Eldrazi could stand up to a creature-killing effect like this, and the beam burned away the Pathrazer's entire head, leaving only a smoking and charred neck in its place. The now-headless Eldrazi fell to its knees, its shoulders slumping and its arms falling limply to its sides. Then, the body gave way entirely and fell over on its side, unmoving.
Feeling utterly exhausted, Viktor let go of the Ethersworn orb and cut off the flow of mana, as did Kelly and Ashley. Feeling his limbs shake from the lack of energy, Viktor got out his Regenerate card to replenish his and the sisters' mana reserves. The spell wasn't enough to fully restore them and the effect took time to work, but it helped. The five kids assembled, giddy with victory. Sarkhan and Garruk joined, too.
"Well. Now that that is over, we can push through the army to find the Defiled One herself, huh?" Sarkhan put in, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. "Our combined army is starting to push her Enslaved army back, just a little."
"I must come to the aid of my allies. Another may take my place in the assault," Garruk excused himself. As though by cue, a new Planeswalker flashed into existence right next to Garruk, startling everybody.
"Hello, all," the new Planeswalker said politely, with a slight smirk on his face. This human man was in his early thirties and had semi-short brown hair, with sideburns that extended past his ears and just shy of his jawline. His clothing was a combination of silver armor and a blue brown, giving him a regal look.
"Hey... do I know you?" Devin asked, squinting at the Planeswalker.
"I am Venser," the man introduced himself, placing a hand over his heart. "I am a disciple of blue and white magic, and I am rather fond..." he vanished.
"Wh-what?" Makoto sputtered, until Venser re-appeared right behind him, making him freak out.
"...of teleporting," Venser flashed a smile. "Anyway. I can help get you all to Elena, and help defeat her. Will you join me, Sarkhan?"
"I... fine," Sarkhan shrugged, giving Venser a funny look. "Children, are you ready? Venser and I are."
Viktor nodded as Garruk departed, intending to use his nature magic to reinforce the Planeswalker army. "Let's go."
Venser offered for everyone to get close to him, and the five kids and Sarkhan clustered around him obediently. Venser closed his eyes and muttered a few words, then everyone vanished in a flash of blue mana. They re-appeared halfway across the battlefield, with new batches of Enslaved Creatures and Azorius soldiers fighting each other. Venser frowned.
"Elena must have protective enchantments beyond this point," he figured, scratching his head. "Fancy that."
"She is the Defiled One. Don't even utter her name," Sarkhan glowered. Venser jumped.
"What for?" he objected. "It's just a name. Avoiding it doesn't make her less evil." Sarkhan conceded.
"She's bound to be close," Ashley said grimly, looking at how close the black-white Maelstrom was, and how near the slumbering Nicol Bolas was. Without warning, Ashley raised a card, and Viktor read the title: Worldpurge. At Ashley's command, a gigantic storm of world-cleansing mana raged into existence, sucking up every creature in sight and throwing them elsewhere on the battlefield. Viktor and the others cowered to protect themselves from the roaring tempest, but they were unaffected by it. As soon as it was over and Viktor uncovered his face, he saw that the field was nearly clear, with only Elena, Alpha, and Nicol Bolas waiting for them.
"Warn me next time," Sarkhan complained, looking ruffled as Ashley smiled apologetically. However, there was no more time to talk. Elena and Alpha started walking towards the invading party, with Alpha in the lead. The blue-black Hunter lowered his hood to reveal his flowing blue-black streaked hair, and his cold eyes and gleaming forehead emerald. His armor was dark gray with glowing-blue, spiral patterns etched into it. All in all, he looked rather similar to Jace Beleren, but Alpha exuded an aura of icy cruelty that Jace lacked. Plus, an unbelievable amount of mana seeped from the man, even more than Beta had had. And Beta had been a monster that took every ounce of the five kids' strength to defeat.
"Greetings to you," Alpha said flatly, resting a gloved hand on a dagger sheathed on his left leg. "You threaten my Lady Elena, so I will be taking all your lives. You will not receive any mercy."
"Nor you," Venser taunted back, pointing. "Are you ready to go down?"
"I am prepared for any challenge you seven may present me," Alpha replied calmly, shifting his booted, armored feet into a combat stance. "I can only hope for your sake that you are truly ready for this."
Viktor smirked. "Back at you, pal."