The flow of bodies was constant. They came down the stairs without end. Some were carried down on stretchers, others were helped down the stairs by their comrades. Some were beyond help, too injured or too far gone to be healed. Others were quickly bandaged and sent back out again.

Most didn't get back up.

Healers rushed around using their Magic to heal the injured just enough to save their lives in an attempt to save their Mana for others. Several Healers had already collapsed. Their unconscious bodies were in the back office of the Underground bunker on one of the bunks.

Doctors treated the injured using salves, stitches, and bandages. But there never seemed to be enough. They had already run out of a Salve meant to prevent infections and were almost out of a Blood Clotting Salve. They had long since run out of Numbing Salve. Bandages were being torn from clean blankets or banners.

Evelyn and her friends helped as best as they could. They were unskilled in the art of Healing and knew little about Mundane Medicine, but they helped carry supplies, move the injured and dead, and kept the floor as dry as they could.

If someone slipped, it could prove disastrous.

Lunaria was very well versed in Healing Magic, and had a very large Mana Pool. She stayed in the area where they kept the critical patients, doing her best to keep them alive. Moving from one patient to another, only stopping briefly to drink small amounts of water at a time.

Evelyn took it upon herself to ensure that the drinking water that was given to the Healers was dosed with a small amount of Mana Potion. It was not as effective as drinking the Potion straight, but it also prevented the side effects of drinking a lot of Potion in a short amount of time.

Instead of a large influx of Mana all at once, the dosed water instead increased the Mana Regeneration rate. It was far from healthy, but would not cause permanent or lasting damage, nor would it send the Healers into a comatose state.

Evelyn found herself holding a Mage Light over an Injured soldier as a Doctor attempted to stitch up the large gash on her thigh.

The Soldier bit down hard on a leather bound stick, groaning with each movement, not from the needle and thread, but from the deep wound.

The ground rumbled, causing the ceiling to rattle. Evelyn draped herself over the exposed wound, blocking the falling dirt.

"There we go!" The Doctor finally exclaimed, tying off the stitch before cutting the thread with his own teeth, "We will be back in an hour to cauterize it." He explained, already moving onto the next patient.

A man who had taken an axe to the arm.

Explaining his process to Evelyn seemed to help calm himself.

"Because the System helps the body heals, all we have to do is ensure they don't bleed out or suffer internal damage. We stitch it up, letting the wound begin the process of healing back together, then we come back and cauterize the wound, sealing it completely. It will leave them with a nasty scar, but will keep them alive and functioning.

They can go to a healer after this siege is over and get the scar removed, if it bothers them.

Most women tend to prefer this process for cosmetic reasons, but most men tend to leave their scars unless it hinders their movement. I suspect this to be a societal effect.

But with the injury closed, it allows the body to focus on healing the damage and replenishing the lost blood. The most critical part of my job is to check the injury before I close it, making sure there isn't any internal bleeding or other internal injuries that could prove lethal.

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Healers can do all of that with just a simple touch, but as we can see, while they can do much better treatment individually, with a large amount of injured, they do not have the endurance or Mana to help everyone."

Evelyn listened with only one ear, she did not really care what the man was talking about, which she suspected he knew, but he kept talking. Evelyn suspected he would continue talking to himself if no one was around to listen to him.

The Docter finished up the axe wound and moved to the next. Evelyn followed him, but the Mage Light in her hand began to flicker before vanishing. Her Light was not the only one.

In a moment, the Underground Hospital was cast into shadow. Panic and fear spread rapidly among those inside.

A Mage tried to conjure another Light. It materialized in his hand for a moment before fizzing out again.

One of the stretcher bearers lit a torch and held it up, casting a portion of the room in a reddish orange glow. Others grabbed torches from the storages and soon the entire Hospital was lit up with fire.

"What happened?" Evelyn asked the Doctor, but he seemed just as clueless.

One of the Injured, a Mage by his clothes, who had taken an arrow to the side, spoke up, "Whatever is going on at the castle is drawing in so much Mana now, so quickly, that any Mage weaker than the cause will be unable to conjure Mana outside their body before its stolen away.

And considering there isn't a single Mage in the city, quite possibly all of Humanity, who is stronger than Lord Ashborn, the only Magic that will work is that which is internal. Touch Magic, or Magic Tools and Equipment."

"How come I never learned about this?"

"It's called many things. Mana Void, Mana Vacuum, even Magic Tempest. I prefer Vacuum because it seems the most fitting. And you likely never heard about it because its almost never happened. It requires a single source to draw upon tens of thousands of Mana, nearly all at once.

Unless you studied the topic of Mana itself, it's unlikely you would have known about it.

Whatever Lord Ashborn is doing, it is pulling in so much Mana, so quickly, that we can't use it. But if we can't use Magic, its unlikely the Demons can either."

"Is that a good thing or bad thing?" One of the other lightly injured asked, a Soldier with a spear wound to the shin.

"Depends? Who relies on Magic more? Us or them?"

The Soldier was interrupted by the sound of battle. A sound that had been distant, but always present, now much closer.

"I guess we are going to find out soon." The Mage groaned, standing up as he pressed on his side.

He was not the only one who stood.

Regardless of their injury, if they could stand, they did so, headed for the stairs. They helped each other limp up those stone steps, weapons held weakly but firmly in their grasps.

Liam looked at Evelyn from across the room, as did all her other friends.

Evelyn considered for a moment, before she nodded.

They put down their tools and mops and grabbed their weapons, heading for the stairs.

Evelyn stepped out into the light of the setting sun, and into the frontlines of the battle itself.

Just fifty meters in front of the entrance to the Underground Hospital, Devils and Argalon fought against the Human and Undead defenders. Without Magic, the two forces clashed with muscle and blood.

Her friends crowded around her near the entrance, staring at the war right in front of them. Since the Siege began, they had been eager to fight, but now that the fight was right before their very eyes, they hesitated.

They had been in many battles before, against various Monsters, this had given them the false impression that they were ready for a war.

But there was no such thing.

Swallowing hard, Evelyn stepped forward, "Our job isn't to kill them! Our job is to keep them away from the Hospital and survive! Is this understood?"

They all nodded, gripping their various weapons harder.

"Stick together, protect one another, when this is over, lets all have dinner together!"

Evelyn led the charge forward.

With a roar, the young men and women charged towards the Demons, afraid yet firm. Just before Evelyn clashed, Liam stepped forward, crashing into a Devil with his shield.

David flipped over Liam, his arm transforming into the crystalline limb of an Earth Elemental and spearing the prone Devil through the chest.

Emma threw a fan of throwing knives, striking several Devils, and giving Felix and Ulex an opening to cut them down. Harper stayed back and used her bow to shoot any Demon that got too close to her friends.

Illa pulled the injured back and used what little Healing Magic she could to keep them alive before sending them back to the Hospital. There were many she couldn't save.

Tyron, his Earth Magic disabled, instead used his large frame clad in heavy armor to tackle an Argalon's hip, toppling it and allowing nearby soldiers to swarm over it. He grabbed its discarded axe and dove in, trusting his thick armor to deflect blows while he ripped apart their own.

But they only helped to slow the Demons. The Hospital was past the Inner Wall. They had somehow breached both walls as Evelyn could see the Inner Gate still blocked with boulders and there was still fighting on the walls themselves.

The city had been breached.

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