"Myra, you and Ira need to get out of there!"
"Working on it!" Myra unconsciously shouted, looking back with wide eyes.
The sky was turning black behind them, and the ground in the distance was morphing into black ichor. Monsters swarmed in their direction, with the corrupted Primordials gaining on them.
Whatever resistance remained was wiped out with ease as these corrupted, unafraid creatures collided with insects that still held some instinct of self-preservation.
Many insects didn't, but those who did were fleeing toward the exit, trying to take bites or hurl acidic balls at Myra and Ira along the way.
Ira tore into a wasp, its body splitting in half. Myra was forced to turn and send a shard of jagged red energy behind them, running a corrupted Primordial clean through.
'Tell me this isn't going to pour into our world, Atlas!' Myra panted, a small spark of fear forming inside her as she watched the deadly massacre in pursuit.
'It won't! The gate will close the moment you're through! Some might make it, but Selena will be sealed. Just focus on getting out of there alive!'
Myra gritted her teeth, doubt swelling because of his alarmed tone, but there was no other choice. Her attention returned to shielding Ira and killing any corrupted that came too close.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Primordials and dragons roared in alarm as the hordes started to swarm back through. Immediately, they took action, burning and tearing apart as many as they could.
It was a one-sided massacre, with many of the insects immediately trying to burrow underground, sprint for the sand dunes, or fly past them. This made the Primordials suspicious, ordering the dragons back and giving the gate a wider berth.
When Myra and Ira flew through the portal, surrounded by attacking enemies, the Primordials and dragons bellowed in triumph and moved in to assist.
The translucent portals, once revealing the ebb and flow of the desert world beyond, flashed. They glowed brilliantly and four of the five portals' surfaces vanished, leaving only the divine gate chassis with intricate designs behind.
The one remaining glowed before its surface blackened and bubbled like Selena's Eldritch pustule body.
Several corrupted Primordials had broken through after them, and instantly, the soil became a bloodbath of black ichor and blood. Dragons fell. Two Primordials died after their tired bodies collided with the bloodlusting corrupted, before those corrupted were finally killed.
The main contributor?
Myra, with her red energy tearing off one's head and pouring red mist into another's body, which then violently exploded. Ira, too, finally had his moment.
In a violent clash of tooth and claw, with his front torn open by sharp claws, Ira ripped the throat out of a corrupted Primordial and roared triumphantly.
It was the bloodiest portal and the only one that did not break its connection with the other world.
"Atlas, what's going on?!" Myra called out atop Ira's back. Ira looked back at the portal, snarling as blood dripped from his chest.
'It's over. You've won.'
"Then why hasn't the portal closed?"
'One remains as a marker. An idle connection, should we need to use it or want to take over that world.'
"Are you insane?! The war is won! Destroy this portal, now!"
'I cannot. You must trust me, we need this portal for the future.'
Myra shouted angrily, "Why?!"
'Do you want your people to fight again? More of Celeste's children killed? Selena's world can end wars and worlds before they reach An-Ki.'
'A weapon. Atlas created a weapon out of the husk of a defeated world and his mistake!' Myra thought, shocked, as she began to use her red mist to heal Ira's chest.
"But what if it backfires? What if this doesn't go according to your plan and she invades our home?"
'Then I'll destroy her world,' Atlas's tone sounded dismissive. None of this sat well with Myra, but she couldn't argue with it either. She had no idea of the full extent of Atlas's power and if he created their world, this seemed plausible.
Plausible, but disliked.
While Myra, Ira, and the rest cleaned up their side, Celeste had a battle of her own.
Multiple corrupted dragons and Primordials had also escaped before the portals closed. One side of her body was charred from a corrupted Primordial's Dragon's Breath, and her face was marked with deep gashes.
She struggled to break away before her guardian Primordials ripped the corrupted off her and tore it to pieces. The last of the corrupted were finally dealt with.
Though her injuries were harsh, they weren't life-threatening. Her vision sparked as she struggled to remain airborne, flight slowly stabilizing as she roared in pain.
"Celeste, please retreat to safety to recover! We've won, let us burn the remaining invaders!" one Primordial advised, both furious and concerned.
"I will not rest until I see them all burn," Celeste growled, her sapphire eyes wandering over the exploded corpses of her fallen children. "Hunt them down. Kill them all!"
With renewed fury, the Primordials and dragons around her branched out for the hunt. Celeste herself descended and tore apart an emerging sand-termite, bellowing Dragon's Breath into the tunnel it came from and scorching dozens.
The war was over, and all that remained was for the victors to recover and celebrate.
-----------
Atlas exhaled with relief at his console.
"Whew! Thought I'd be forced to use some of my rewards immediately," Atlas exclaimed, eyeing Celeste rampaging despite her injuries.
"Congratulations, Weaver Atlas! With your first conquered world, your power has risen dramatically. These rewards, while lesser than if you had consumed Weaver Xag's world, should suffice for now."
"I'm not too bothered," Atlas shrugged. "I can use her world to force other Weavers to submit while my homeworld remains untouched. She's pretty much a god now."
"This strategy only works if I attack first," Atlas added. "If Weavers form a coalition and declare war, they can bypass Selena by opening gates on An-Ki."
"So your plan is...?"
"War."