"Pull back, raise shields!"
Rearing its beaked head back, the tortoise glared down at us as a new sphere of water gathered between its jaws, something that we had gotten a brief taste of earlier when the magic had been redirected into the ceiling - something that was still causing chunks of rock to fall and crash to the earth beside us.
The Demons pulled back and raised their shields, pushing their mana out of their arm and creating an interlocked barrier as the tortoise began to lower its head, aiming its maw at us and releasing a barrage of pressurized water.
Dozens of smaller spheres burst free from its beak, separating from the main sphere and hurtling down towards us like buckshot from a shotgun, crashing against the barrier and exploding as the mana was slammed against another, stronger barrier of mana.
