Work for the competition "Academy of Magic: New Generation!", But not selected. "From the direction of the Citadel there was a resounding roar. A bright flash pierced the space and illuminated the surroundings of the Academy, overtaking its inhabitants with horror and panic. The moment froze. All the inhabitants of the Academy ran out into the street, asked each other about what had happened. The eyes of the townspeople were directed towards the Citadel, above which an iridescent canvas appeared, descending to the very ground. - Some kind of magic spell? Artifact tricks? - the worried residents assumed. Meanwhile, those who were supposed to come to the rescue had already put on their ammunition, took up the magic weapon and moved closer to the Citadel. As it turned out, the canvas turned out to be a substance shimmering and sparkling from the rays of the sun, through which it was impossible to pass. Neither sword nor magic could destroy it. Many dropped their hands trying to get inside. The barrier that appeared around the Citadel caused panic on the city. The local Magic Corps has gathered the best guards, mages and psionics from all over the Academy. They rushed to the Citadel in a hurry to deal with what was happening. As they approached the barrier, they sensed something ancient, the presence of someone ... ... inexplicable. All psionics flatly refused to even try to move on. Only one of them, a seasoned one who had descended into the Dead World many times, stayed and tried to examine the barrier. The barrier could not be broken even with the psionic's abilities. Little by little, everyone began to feel the hopelessness of the situation and their helplessness in front of something unknown and insurmountable. A cry was given to all the worlds that trouble had happened and the help of everyone, everyone who had at least some idea of ​​how the barrier could be destroyed, was needed. For weeks, the best minds of all dimensions have been trying to smash the impenetrable wall that envelops the Citadel. But no one came to even the slightest success. Neither mages, nor magic guns, nor magic bombs, nor mass spells had absolutely no effect on the barrier. But one day, while everyone was trying to bomb the barrier, a young intern on the work of maintaining the Portals in working order suggested not breaking the barrier, but somehow getting rid of it in a different way - to move, move or distort. Since in its essence the barrier resembled the same magic. Everyone, exhausted by attempts to break the barrier, immediately agreed to the new method, clinging to any straw. Mag-maho engineers constructed a magic flux distortion to create a corridor in the barrier that could be traversed. Launching a colossus the size of a couple of houses, a low rumble was heard and the barrier began to slowly change its shape at one point, where the distortion was directed. The theory turned out to be correct - the barrier turned out to be a superdense accumulation of magic. Over time, the substance began to flow slightly higher, opening a passage across the bridge to the Citadel. A group of heroes from the Corps immediately ran deeper to the rescue, unaware of what had happened there. As they approached, they saw that the Citadel, which was an example of architecture, was cracked. In some places, pieces fell off, frozen in the air, several pieces were scattered at the entrance to the main council chamber of the citadel. At the ceiling were visible reflections of the substance, which flowed down to the open gates to the hall and closed the further passage. The power of the distorter was not enough to fully raise the entire substance. It felt like the closer the magic was to the Citadel, the higher its density. The group entered the gate and approached the stairs leading to the back of the hall. They hurriedly climbed it and saw a picture in front of them, from which their hearts sank. Before them, a huge sparkling ball hung in the air in the glowing stream of the magic barrier. And behind him and behind the barrier were the subtle silhouettes of the Archmage and the Masters. The heroes looked defiantly at what was happening. What can they do ... what can they do now? "