Gege didn't need to ask anymore as she just spied on his thoughts and understood what he was planning to do.
"Be ready," he kept his gaze fixed upon the incoming small army while checking the portal from time to time.
There were still some mages running through it till now. Although they were now so few, only numbering in the tens, that prevented the ones outside from activating whatever they were preparing.
And that gave him some precious time to act.
As for Doaf, Amera, his werewolf, and others they were doing just fine in disturbing the flow of the enemy mages.
Despite they lost the initial surprise advantage after the first few minutes, they still kept the other mages under complete check.
And Gege also helped at brilliant times while using her portals to absorb any careless mages.
"Now!" Arthur suddenly gave the signal to her to act and the next moment his body flashed and vanished from the chaotic place around the portal.
The next moment he appeared at the incoming mages. The army all around was familiar with his way of fighting, and still they were surprised by his bold move.
They never imagined he would be brave or foolish enough to come at them all alone.
But he wasn't.
"Take all the mechas out," he shouted the moment he appeared there, "and let half appear at the second portal now."
'What about the portals I'm summoning? Can't we make them appear and disappear through them?'
Arthur didn't have much time to consider this. "Do what's best for them," he said while finally using his sword technique he just activated before coming here.
And the next moment a couple of mages and another group of monsters fell under his blade while the rest were dispersed all around.
"Swoosh!"
"Swoosh!"
"Swoosh!"
Yet Gege chased them with her portal. This time the portals didn't directly aim at them but they simply stopped a couple of meters to their sides before a group of ready mechas flashed out of them.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The world was instantly filled with wild explosions yet the mechas faced some difficulties in killing the mages. After all they were still prototypes and the mages were much stronger than any foe they fought before.
"Gege," Arthur shouted the moment he noticed that.
'I know,' she simply read his mind at this moment and the next the portals that took the mechas out flashed to engulf the surprisingly attacked mages and swallowed them inside the garden.
"Great," Arthur praised, "keep pushing them," he kept flashing in and out while fighting with his sword phantom all the enemies he could hit.
And like this the fight kept raging wildly for a long hour.
'Ding! There are no more mages coming from the portal now,' the system suddenly said, 'Ding! I believe they would move to activate their hidden technique.'
Arthur turned his head instantly to spot the portal void of any mage. "That's not bad though," he muttered, "they are still not able to group."
'Ding! I believe we should press harder.'
'Harder than that?' Gege was surprised, 'there is nothing else we can do.'
'Ding! Yes we have,' the system suddenly said before adding, 'Ding! Did you forget that pet of yours?'
Arthur paused for a moment before asking, "Is he awake?"
'Ding! He is,' the system answered, 'Ding! He was long since you acted to draw the mages inside the array to trap them, or even much earlier than that.'
"Good," Arthur nodded, "send a word for him, let him come and bring all the big boys along."
'Will he help?'
'Ding! At this moment, anything would help.'
'Alright.'
Arthur kept fighting while many of his mechas started to fall. After that initial hour, the enemy had already recognized the pattern of their attacks.
And also developed an effective strategy.
"Rumble!"
"It's another wide attack fire," Arthur said, "dammit! I lost a lot because of this fire."
'Ding! The point is they are getting steadily closer to the portal.'
"No news of the allies?" he couldn't help but turn to glance at the portal, still empty. "That's weird."
'I bet they are slow and afraid to come through.'
"Nah, something definitely looked weird," Arthur said when he noticed the increasing number of mages on the other end of the portal.
'Ding! It seems they aren't able to cross,' the system suddenly said.
'What's difficult about crossing a portal?'
"I… have the same hunch," Arthur turned his eyes all around, "someone here must have control over the portal by now… wait…" Arthur's eyes suddenly shone brightly while he took a wide glance all around, "they aren't trying to come to the portal and activate the array."
'Then why the hell are they desperately fighting like their lives depend on it?'
"It's because they are trying to escort someone," Arthur muttered while turning around, "who that person might be?"
'Ding! It's a hard task to find a needle in a stayhack,' the system said.
"But this person should be weak," Arthur muttered, "someone who is far more important than anyone else. I… can't believe I missed such a person in the earlier fights."
'Perhaps he isn't visible to us after all,' Gege suddenly said.
"What do you mean?"
'C'mon, you have been passing in and out of the garden world for the entire battle. What if you went inside and didn't come out?'
'Ding! That's possible and impossible,' the system said, 'Ding! If that was the case then how would that person know when his allies came to rescue?'
'There is another way to do it,' she suddenly said, 'remember the dormant portals I left behind? If someone already knows where the portal is and went inside then this person can be alarmed easily by their arrival.'
Arthur paused all of sudden and his vision of this fight changed drastically. "Can we detect it too?" he hurriedly asked.
'I can,' she said the good news, 'but I'll need you to move back there and start moving all over the place.'
"For what?"
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