Professor Aldric was still staring at the ground and muttering when another monster broke free from the pack and made a beeline for him. Professor Glory was already swarmed and didn’t see the attacker, and Professor Aldric wasn’t paying attention. The beast came within a few feet of the professor, jaws extended to bite his head off, but caught a boot to the face before it could.

Volmar Merton, from Rainer’s class, stood protectively next to the professor. He roared a challenge at the rest of the incoming horde, just before he dove in and started punching and kicking anything stupid enough to come near him. Cira Barclay was there as well, water whips flailing and cutting through monsters by the dozen. Apparently, they’d thrown in their lot with Professor Aldric. He noticed and gave them both a grateful nod.

As if spurred on by the reinforcements, the slow pull of ambient mana suddenly became a fierce tug. It violently sucked the cloud of mana towards the center of the bloody circle. It formed into a writhing, seething ball of darkness before slowly dropping to the ground in front of the professor, seeping into the earth and disappearing. The haywire gate gradually shrank and finally collapsed in on itself. Just before it closed, however, Professor Rainer’s body tumbled out in a heap, covered in black liquid. He blearily looked around himself, then passed out on the spot. Lilianna couldn’t tell if he was dead or not, and honestly didn’t care. He’d need to fend for himself.

She was glad the core problem was solved, but blood-thirsty beasts that were hell bent on killing them all still surrounded them. Then Professor Aldric shouted, “Necras Kishir Lagan Tera Manas!”

Lilianna’s felt true terror claw up her spine as stony hands formed themselves from the ground itself, thin arms slowly emerging from the earth behind them. There must have been hundreds of them, all grasping blindly at anything that was nearby. Both Cira and Volmar yelped and leaped back out of range. The only place they didn’t emerge was in the barrier or near the professors.

Howls of pain rang out, only a few at first, but soon many more. Panicked shrieks filled the air as the hands grasped each monster in a bone crunching grip. Slowly, inexorably, the hands sank into the earth once more, their prizes being dragged along with them.

The creatures began resisting fiercely. They beat against the stone arms, clawed at them, bit them, but nothing stopped their inevitable doom. Lilianna watched with sick fascination as some monsters tore their own limbs off to escape, only to be grasped by yet another hand once again.

The merciless arms dragged their victims into the depths of the earth, the creatures shrieking madly as they were slowly, but unrelentingly, buried alive. They struggled like drowning men before their cries abruptly cut off beneath the ground.