<h4>Chapter 743 743 Barrier</h4>


    ?There was a lot of tense waiting at the airport while the weapons were distributed to the defence lines, and magical fortifications were erected to go along with the actual barrier.


    Now that they understood that this was an all winter every year sort of event, the Fae and Demons that had borders to protect were working quickly to obtain the services of others with solid Earth Magic skills, in order to erect walls, and dig moats that would keep the attackers at bay, even if there were no magical barriers in ce.


    That was an infrastructure project far beyond anything that hade before, but with a handful of very well-paid Rank Six Fae involved, they were going to be able to create the border wall as fast as a Faerie could fly.


    It would be a game changer for the defence of the Free Covens, and for Myrrh, who was already starting on the same n, but starting from closer to the Fae Forest, where they hade to recruit helpers.


    That would actually end up diverting a lot of the monsters toward the Frozen Wastes, but it would send them past the Fae Forest first, where the defensive spells would calm them and remove curses. It would be a logistical nightmare for Forest Grove in the near future, unless they also erected a wall to keep the monsters in the mountains, but there were enough people who relied on the movement of the monster packs that they were unlikely to do it.


    Instead, they would let the spells calm the monsters, then hunt them at their leisure. Once they were no longer berserk and only attacked based on instinct or hunger, the problem would be back to the normal state for the region, which everyone was already ustomed to.


    "You know, if you''re going to go all out, you should hire people to do roads as well. Most of the connecting roads through the Free Covens and Myrrh are in lousy shape at best, and having a nice, solid surface would really speed up trade caravans." E suggested.


    "Is it that bad?" One of the Demons asked.


    "It is. Most of the roads are a twenty kilometre an hour zone, where travelling any faster with a cargo truck risks damaging your freight. That is why we''ve been using airnes. Well, part of the reason we''ve been using airnes. Travelling along the ground at hundreds of Kilometres an hour is just a bad idea in general." E amended.


    That got the town leaders talking, as there was the matter of budget to consider, workers to pay, spell hours to calcte and benefits to consider.


    They were very fond of these new technologies that they had discovered, especially the ones in Myrrh and the human nations, like televisions,puters and video games.


    Especially video games.


    The adaptation of the devices to mana resistant versions was proceeding apace, and soon enough they would be able to bring them home with them, to y in the Demon Realms and Faerie for the first time, but until then, they had the exclusive privilege of gaming in their spare time here.


    "Alright, we will work out the details when we have spare people after the battles have died down. Improving infrastructure never mattered all that much at home, since half of us can fly, and most of the rest use nature magic to move between trees, but I can see how it would be a great benefit here." One of the Fae agreed.


    They were deep into the discussion of the potential benefits and costs of the infrastructure program when the first calls of imminent attack began, and the rifles began to fire. The guards were using single shots, firing explosions and wind des into the undead in the most conservative manner possible, trying to determine the proper firing pattern for a defensive line with these weapons.


    Unlike the southern section of the Monster Tide that had hit Myrrh Coven, there were very few Rank Three monsters, and no more Rank Four undead here within sight of the airport. Even without sending out the special forces, the defensive line was doing a decent job of holding the undead at bay, and they hadn''t yet made it to the barrier.


    But they would soon, and the ranking Fae and Demons were all eager to see what happened when you mixed a defensive vine boundary with an unholy me barrier. Not only were they ipatible elements, but the two barriers operated in an entirely different way.


    Everyone who could fly took to the air for a better viewing angle, while some of the more enthusiastic Wrath Demons flew to the back of the crowd to hack their way back to the wall. For them, it was a two for one deal. They got to see the barrier in action, and they got to fight.


    "Are you going to fight?" E asked as Wolfe carried her up into the air with a tform of Gravity Magic.


    "Not today. The guards have it, and nothing is getting through that barrier. It''s been activated and fed by a whole group of Rank Six Fae and Demons. These are Rank Three undead, even in a massive group, they don''t stand a chance."


    E shrugged. If they took action, it could be even quicker, but most of the group was more interested in what was going to happen when the attacking line got to the actual magical barrier. There was no question that they would have to repay Wolfe in some way for helping make that barrier core, but exactly how much would be determined by how well it performed.


    Both the Fae and the Demons were particr about debts, though the Fae usually used them to y pranks on people.


    Pranks being a rtive term, as they were asionally fatal, but they were done for the amusement of the one owed the debt.


    The first Undead made it to the barrier, and giant vines, covered in deep blue mes, reached up from the ground and smashed the creature a hundred metres backward into the crowd, tearing its body apart on impact with the other undead.


    There was a shimmering fire barrier ten metres tall, with ming vines at the base, and the Demons were looking at it the way that most men would look at a lover.


    "It''s beautiful. It burns, it smashes, it can be put up around the yard. What more could a Demon ask for?" A woman near Wolfe sighed in longing.