The huge Flesh Munchers burst up from the ground and immediately began to tear at the heads and bodies of the zombies. Inside the circular Force Barrier I’d conjured around them, the blood and guts of the zombies began to fly. I could barely see the Flesh Munchers through the bloody mess that now coated the inside of the Force Barrier. There were crunching noises, and the satisfying sound of zombie screams being cut off short as the Flesh Munchers churned through them.

I had one Summoning Point left to use.

Selena fell back, dropping her magitech rifle. “My mana is depleted,” she gasped, and pulled her twin pistols from their holsters.

“Wait!” I shouted. “The Cobra’s Force Barrier is wavering. Wait until it drops!”

My mana was feeling a bit depleted too, but I grabbed the second magitech rifle from my back and fired off a volley of Storm Spheres at the Cobra’s Force Barrier. The last bolt did the job, smashing through the Cobra’s shield and causing the spell to disperse in a shimmer of green sparks.

“Now!” I roared.

Selena began to unload on the monster with her twin Glocks, hitting it in the neck and the head. It reeled back, shocked by the impacts as well as the sudden forceful dispersal of its Force Barrier.

On my left, I glanced over to see the Cougars and the Flora Whelps finishing off the last of the snakes. As for the zombies, the coating of blood and viscera on the inside of my own Force Barrier was so thick that I couldn’t see what was happening. I figured that was a good sign.

There was a tearing, roaring sound, and Astrid dropped her rifle as she expanded and grew taller, transforming into her massive werewolf form. Selena’s feline abilities came out now—I’d never seen her do it before, but she also underwent a transformation. She dropped to all fours, her body shimmering and changing shape to look like some kind of gigantic snow-leopard.

Claws a foot long appeared from her hands, and pale fur sprouted across her body, decorated with dark spots. Her clothing vanished, and muscles bulged at her soldiers and back as her tail lengthened. She sprang to help Astrid in the attack.

And that was when Belinda found her strength again.

She had been hanging back, recovering from the bash to her head which had temporarily disrupted her psychic powers. Now, there was a crackling like electricity from behind us and I saw her transforming into a black cloud wreathed in blue flashes of lightning. As she did so, her voice spoke inside my head.

“Ensnare the Cobra’s head, Jeremy, so I can get close to its brain.”