Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]

"Hahahaha!" Peter laughs, that smug, scumbag smirk on his face. That haughty attitude, the way he glares down at me with contempt. The way he raises his head, casting aspersion down upon Chloe's whimpering body as she fights off his malaise. Even the gestures of nonchalance he makes with his hands, as though he's wiping dirt off them. Every bit of it sickens and disgusts and angers me far beyond my ability to healthily cope.

But that's just fine, because there's a man in front of me who needs to be paid a good old fashioned beating. Catharsis might not be good for me, but damn is it going to feel good once his face is properly caved in and his ass is torn a new one.

"You know, I have to say. Normally, I'd leave my subordinates to deal with the riffraff so I can focus on my magical research. But I have to say, there's a certain degree of satisfaction that comes from doing it myself."

"Just… shut up and die already." I grab Filia and point their blade directly at this monster in human skin. "You've caused more than enough grief and pain and torment for far too many people."

"Oh, I assure you. I have done nothing but bring peace and comfort and protection to those living under my aegis. Sometimes people disrupt that stability, and for their transgressions against us, justice both high and low is mine to dispense by royal decree."

"I said, shut up and die already!" I cry out.

I charge, Filia in hand, ready to pierce this monster's heart and end his reign of terror once and for all. Even as I charge, he looks at me so smugly as I approach. His hands move outward, as though he's about to try some sort of mental manipulation spell upon me.

[You have been targeted by [Aura of Enfeeblement]. [Indomitable Will] effect activates, passively negating this Skill.]

I notice the instant he realizes his Skill has no effect. For the briefest of instants, his eyes widen, then furrow, and then that damn, smug countenance reemerges. I stab and he dodges, creating an illusory double. Quite a good one, too. He's managed to perfectly simulate his appearance, right down to the reflections on the crystalline floor and the way the light refracts upon his skin and clothing. Sadly for him, however, his double sticks out like a sore thumb when I analyze the [Ether] signatures with my [Archangel's Gaze], ignoring both doppelgangers and attacking the real one directly.

My blow nearly lands, only for it to pass right through him… No, not right through him. He managed to shift between himself and his mirror image at the last second. How annoying.

"You have good eyes and a strong will," he says mockingly. "It's a real shame that you're going to die here. Were circumstances different, you would make a fine underling. 'Tis a real shame that you won't be leaving my little monolith alive."

"We'll see," I say.

"Defiant to the last, I see. But have you forgotten that you are here, in my dominion, all alone? That foolish girl crumpled before my first attack. Your other friend and that insurrectionist scum are lying prostrate on the floor. You might fancy yourself able to resist, but your power is ultimately limited, while I have a bottomless wellspring from which to draw."

Sure enough, Cara and Kristil are both lying down. They're able to breathe at least, but little more than that. Kristil is trying to resist with everything she has, tiny sparks almost invisible to even my eyes appearing between her fingertips, but short of the occasional whimper or twitch of her fingers, she's completely immobile. Cara, despite being higher level, isn't even managing that much. And Chloe is still quivering in the fetal position, fighting off whatever that first attack was meant to do.

She told me to trust in her. And my faith in her and her abilities is absolute. But that means that I have to do what only I can do right now, so she can do what she needs to.

"Let's see about that," I say.

I grip Filia tightly, preparing a thrusting motion toward the vile soon-to-be-dead Lord Mayor. He smirks at me, mirroring his position against his doppelganger and attempting to strike me from behind. At the last second, I spawn my wings and float above his burst of raw Etheric energy. As he reorients himself, I tilt my weapon downward and thrust a burst of Wind-aligned [Elemental Ether Strike] directly into the crystalline floor at my feet. The ground cracks, giving way to my enchanted weapon, which cuts through the Crystal's interior, albeit with some difficulty.

"A valiant effort," Peter says, though I know he's just mocking me, attempting to destroy my morale. "But a futile one. Even if my Monolith weren't endowed with self-repair enchantments, there's no way you'd be able to do enough damage to it before your [Ether] supply and lifeforce expire."

"Well, you won't begrudge me for giving it the old college try, I hope."

I stab once more, then again, then again. Sure enough, the Crystal is already starting to repair the damage I'm doing. But I know that, no matter how much he gloats, the regeneration capabilities of his little toy aren't infinite. Vast, perhaps, maybe beyond the reach of any reasonable individual, especially when I'm also being attacked and having to defend and dodge at the same time.

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The one saving grace for me is that he's specced extremely heavily into his control and manipulation magic. The other Skills that he's revealed are movement and evasion techniques, along with the usual array of buffing spells and basic array of elemental strikes that most mages can do. To my knowledge, Chloe— a pure healer with an affinity for Light magic alone— and Kristil— who specializes exclusively in Lightning magic— are the exceptions, not the rule.

Unfortunately, I'm unable to gain a decisive advantage against him. Worse, Chloe's [Health] continues to fade, forcing me away from my usual defensive fighting style, and toward one more offensively-slanted. One which leaves me vulnerable. Even Filia, whispering into my mind, alerting me as to how best I can use their abilities, isn't able to fully shield me from the assault now coming at me from multiple directions simultaneously.

Twist, bend, backflip, somersault, cartwheel. My movements are quick and acrobatic, flowing like water, stopping only for the briefest of instants when I'm shifting direction or blocking an attack. And physical attacks are now happening alongside the torrents of magical energy assailing me.

Peter, having seemed to realize that his previous efforts were getting him nowhere, has begun manipulating the very structure of the Crystal itself. No longer can I count on solid footing when I land. Instead, spikes of sharp, diamond-hard material jut out of the ground and fly from the walls and even collapse down from the ceiling like dislodged stalactites, shattering on impact and sending myriad shards cutting through the air. With so many attacks on all sides, I find myself unable to dodge them all, instead using my spinning swordstaff to deflect the ones I can and trying to have the ones I can't bounce off my breastplate or buckler instead.

"Seraphina. If his spells are affecting your friends' minds, we might be able to set them free with my [Broken Chains] spell."

"Will that work? Can you still cast magic while under the suppression array?"

"I am uncertain. However, I know that you can, and if we synchronize our [Ether] together as Cara and Kristil were doing earlier, we should be able to push my spell out of this body and out into the world."

"That's a good idea, and if you think it will work, then I'll trust you on this." I silently remark back. "I had been meaning to ask about your spells for some time. I had seen that you could cast them when I first equipped you, but the System description didn't give me any further information about what the spell does."

"It's a lot like your basic [Unlock] glyph, except it is considerably more advanced and works on bindings both physical and metaphysical alike."

"A lot like my [Indomitable Will] Skill, then?"

"A little bit, yes. In either case, we should hurry. Unfortunately, I only have two uses of them until tomorrow, and we must be quick about it if we're to tilt this battle back in our favor!"

"Then we do so and restore Kristil and Cara."

"If I may ask, why not Chloe? Surely her healing magic is the most important thing. And your feelings for her are by far the strongest."

"This is… what she would want. And she said before she took Peter's attack that this was something she had to do. I trust her, and I have to respect her wishes, even if I hate seeing and feeling her whimpering in pain, fighting off his attack."

"I– Understand. Chloe is a remarkable and selfless, compassionate young lady."

"And I'm very lucky to have her."

I channel [Ether] into Filia, synchronizing their magic with my own the way Cara and Kristil did earlier, and in the midst of chaos, I feel my mental connection with my swordstaff being drawn just a bit closer. Their mind nearly touches my own, to the point where thoughts between us are able to cross though if given but the barest impetus. Not quite a full mind meld, but a little bit closer than what Chloe and I naturally have with each other.

Thoughts flow through my head about the possibility of pushing our [Angelic Bond] further, along with fears that that might not be the wisest idea. I shelve the idle curiosity of Scientist Seraphina and focus back on the task at hand.

With our magic now synchronized and our willpower aligned, the two of us together unleash [Broken Chains]. A single beam of light emanates out from the tip of Filia's blade, striking Kristil right in the right temple. The instant it hits her, she flails outward. The air sparks, then roars with a deafening boom as indoor lightning flies down from the ceiling, enveloping the [Lightning Elementalist] with a violet glow.

She screams as well, floating upward, back to her feet through sheer power and force of will, muscles unnecessary for such an action. Etheric chains are wrapped around her, previously invisible even to my eyes. But now they incandesce a vibrant white light thanks to our spell, and Kristil fights violently against her restraints. They rattle, attempting to tighten around her and force her to heel once more. But now, with her focus empowered and her rage nearing its boiling point, it's only a matter of time before she breaks free for good.

Peter, that damnable scumbag, doesn't remain idle through it all. He continues to attack me with ferocious attacks on all sides, but they have been abated to a small degree as he's now forced to try to restrain Kristil as well.

And this gives me an opportunity to press the offensive, attacking the Crystal with as many strikes as I can muster. I stab and slice and I even bludgeon with the blunt end of Filia's heft. No matter how vast this symbol of a tyrant's oppression is, it isn't infinite. Enough strikes, enough small cuts and scrapes can and will, together, bring the whole thing tumbling down. That's how it always starts. With a whimper, not with a bang.

"I–" Kristil starts. "I– I– said… Enough with your damned shit! Get your goddamned bullshit out of my head, you sick asshole!"

Or maybe not. All at once, the chains which had previously bound Kristil's mind and nullified her power are shattered, falling down onto the ground like pieces of useless scrap metal before dissolving into the ground beneath her.

"A commendable effort," the slimeball remarks. "But nothing more. Now then, once I'm done with your friend, I'll– What?"

Kristil grabs something out of the air, clenching her fist. A jolt of electricity passes through the invisible tendrils of the Lord Mayor's chains, and for the first time all fight, it seems as though we've finally done some damage to the man's real body.

"One time," Kristil says. "You caught me off guard with that trick one time, and that's one time too many. Now then, it's my turn."