Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]

The Lord Mayor has lost whatever vestiges of sanity he may have once had. That's the only thing I can think of as I struggle through his completely unhinged rants and attacks. No longer is there any semblance of restraint or intelligent thought behind his actions. No longer is he directing his attacks at me, combining his illusions and control over the Crystal to try to thwart my movements. His actions are nothing less than an act of self-destruction, a way of saying 'I don't care if I live, so long as I make sure that you die'.

His primal screams of anger and rage echo through the warping chasms. Shards of citrine color rain through the chasm, striking everything with abandon. Through some mysterious force, however, my comrades— Cara included— are unaffected by the relentless barrage. It's as if he's deliberately not aiming for them.

Is there some part of him that still feels he can win? Who, despite his outward madness, is trying to keep them alive, so he can hook them up to his Crystal and use their bodies as a source of [Ether] for his control apparatus?

As one shard flies directly toward Kristil, bending away from her at the last moment, I realize that's not what's going on at all. The reason the attacks aren't hitting the immobile Chloe and Kristil isn't that Peter is avoiding them. It's that some other force is steering them away from my friend and my lover, ensuring that they aren't harmed while they fight their mental battle against the Lord Mayor's will.

"Things are going well," Cara says, grabbing a backup crystal ball focus from her [Inventory] to replace the one which shattered earlier in the fight. "At least, as well as can be expected, given the circumstances."

I glance over at Chloe. She's still fighting, her whimpering a little eased from when the battle first started. But still far from pleasant. Her chest is glowing, and though I can't see the chains, I know that somehow, she's contorted her [Binding Soul Chain] Skill to affect the mental realm, doing her part to ensure we all win this fight.

"Not well," I say. "It won't be well until this madman is cut down and Chloe and Kristil are both restored. Ideally, we'll save the others trapped in here as well. If not, we'll at least let their souls rest."

Cara nods in affirmation of my words. "Then I will continue with my phase of the plan. The rest, I leave in your capable hands."

I nod, turning briefly to her. The [Transmuter] lowers her head, closes her eyes, and begins chanting a new spell now that she's been freed from the chains which bound her body and magic alike. Another shift in the flow of [Ether] follows, a return to normalcy. With all three of them pressing their wills directly into the Crystal, challenging Peter's control directly, the suppression spell he's infused this massive monolith is starting to break down.

With any luck, that, in turn, means people will start to recover their own powers and take their lives back in their own hands. I'm not sure what form that will take, and I'm not sure it would be our place to interfere with that part of the process even if we weren't likely to be whisked away by the Tower once we're done here. For now, though, we need to do what we were sent here to do— dethrone this tyrant and return freedom and self-determination back to the hands of the masses.

For this, I turn my attention back to the core, checking my [Ether] reserves as I prepare for what will be the final assault. About 1,400 left. I'm not confident that that'll be enough, but it'll need to be.

I leap into the air for the final time, casting [Brilliance] alongside my swordstaff to refresh the effect that's nearly fully worn out. Its effect upon the Crystal and the distortions is noticeable. Now even stronger than before, it seems, given that Peter is having to strain his mind so many different ways to keep his will in control of his own artifact.

"Can this ever happen between us?" I ask. "Having our connection overpowered like we're trying to do to the lord. I'm not sure how that works with bonded items."

"We can discuss that later, Seraphina. For now, focus."

Once more, the attacks come. This time, I feel the lord attempting to open holes in space and time within my own body, attempting to rend my flesh from within. I'm able to dodge most of them, but the one that got through and tore a hole through the flesh on my stomach hurts. It hurts bad, and even with my superhuman vitality providing me resistance against internal attacks and [Indomitable Will] keeping my spells and Etheric flow optimized, the caustic spillover of stomach acid eating away at my internal flesh and blood is a most dissatisfying experience. Negative ten out of ten, would not recommend again!

All of the remaining crystal that hasn't been vaporized or is necessary to maintain the Monolith's internal and external structure is gathering in a solid wall around the core. One last-ditch effort, the mad lord putting every ounce of his fraying will and sanity into a defense of the Core. If he loses, I shatter his Crystal and free everyone, probably dealing enough backlash damage in the process to kill him outright. But if he wins and his defenses hold, I'll have no more [Ether] left with which to oppose me. I'll be whittled down, my comrades will expire, and we will all end up either dead or wishing we were as we live out the remainder of our lives in a living hell.

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I will never let that happen. Not now, not ever. Never!

I roar a roar of defiance that reverberates through the crystal, loud enough that a few tiny slivers are crushed into dust from air pressure alone. I let the pain building through my core fuel my fury, channeling it, letting it cool and temper into righteous indignation. All three of them are doing what they can, suffering through their own trials to give me this opportunity. I cannot let them down.

"I will not let them down!" I scream.

The wall in front of me hardens and solidifies further, leaving no obvious weak spot at which to attack. Seeing no better option, however, I charge forward, Filia's blade-tip leading the way as we collide in one final confrontation that will decide the fate of tens of thousands of lives today and millions more in the coming years and decades as ripple effects play out and generations pass, their fates inexorably altered by the battle of fates taking place today.

My swordstaff collides with the sturdiest wall I've ever fought against. It isn't diamond-tough, thank the goddesses. Even if it were, the combination of System-related stat bullshit, the sturdiness of the philosopher's ore interwoven into my weapon's construction, and my own [Strength] focused into a single point would probably be enough to at least chip the substance, the hardest mineral known to mankind or not.

But it is regenerating, and quickly too. All the other attacks have fully ceased. Just me and this wall. Fight through it, prevail, and live to see another day, or fail and lose everyone and everything I've ever come across.

I just have to win.

But that's easier said than done, thanks to the extreme regeneration. I push an inch, and the wall pushes back against me. I grit my teeth and power forward with my wings, and the wall tries to grow around and subsume my swordstaff, wresting it free from its grasp. I flap my wings, trying to get up a bit higher, aiming for a spot near the upper wall where I can make gravity work for me, rather than against my final thrust. But the difference in forces is so minimal that I can't perceive a difference at all.

"We have to keep fighting!" I say, mostly for my own sake rather than Filia's.

I dip into the penumbra of my anger, thinking about all the people that have been kidnapped. I focus on that feeling of pain and suffering that I briefly felt when that trapped prisoner reached out to me. That feeling of desperation, of despair, of powerlessness. I think about Chloe being trapped in this Crystal, being tortured here every single day until the sweet merciful release of death comes to claim her. Knowing that every day she'll beg and plead for a savior who will never come.

That thought causes my tiny bit of [Ether] to flare out, strengthening my worn muscles already pushing themselves right up to their limits. The stress of pushing so hard that my muscles feel they're on the verge of tearing themselves apart, all as I attempt to gather that little bit of extra strength to try to push through the defenses before me. I take hold of it, concentrating it, focusing it, channeling all of it right into the tip of Filia's blade, preparing for one last [Ether Strike].

I don't even bother adjusting its elemental properties. With such little remaining [Ether], the potential efficacy gains I'd have from hitting an elemental weakness— even a 50% or 100% weakness— would be more than counteracted by the efficiency losses from making the conversion. Right now, in this moment, I need every bit of force I can accumulate, and every bit of efficiency I can scrape together.

But even so, I'm not confident that this is going to work. I dare not admit as much to myself. [Indomitable Will] ensures that I'm immune to all mind-altering and suppression effects, but I can still lose if I allow my confidence to break.

And so, I adjust my thinking to accommodate. I know I will succeed. I've done so in every fight up until now, whether through some divine protection, superior tactics, or just sheer dumb luck. And here, where so many people are again relying on me and the power I've been given, where death will be the very best fate that awaits, I cannot fail.

I push forward once more, channeling every bit of energy I can. My chest cries out in pain. My arms grow weak, feeling gradually fading away from them. My head begins to spin, my vision goes blurry and my [Archangel's Gaze] flickers in and out of existence as I concentrate on my final, desperate stand.

Perhaps… I really have overestimated my abilities. I thought myself so capable, so prepared to take on the challenges that laid before me. And yet, here I am, being pushed back, so effortlessly despite it all.

I shake my head. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this. It'll make the path ahead that much more difficult, which is why I've been holding this close to the chest, not mentioning it to Cara. It was best this way. Far better to formulate a plan that didn't rely on this double-edged power and have it in the back pocket, than to rely on it from the get-go.

And so, as my vision goes from fuzzy to dark, I turn my focus inward, easily finding that small sparkle of light shining, waiting to be tapped into. I concentrate, grasping onto it, nearly stepping into the golden glow of [Seraphina Overlimit], only to be stopped at the last second.

"No, Sera." It's Chloe's voice. I'd recognize those gentle, firm, loving tones anywhere.

"But, I–"

"Can do this. We can do this, together. I know what you told me about your Overlimit, and why you hate to use it. About why it's so dangerous to rely on it."

"But… Not if the alternative is you being hurt, or our friends coming to harm. I've already failed to protect people far, far too many times by now."

"I know, Seraphina. I'm sure you're feeling guilty, even now, knowing that we're down here, fighting, being put through this ordeal in our mind, while you've been out here, fighting here in physical reality. But we've just about won. The three of us, together, with you providing support every step of the way."

"But what–"

"Have you done? You and I share a bond. Your fierce, unwavering determination, your efforts to give everything you can have shone through. And to Cara and Kristil, you broke the chains that bound them and gave them hope. And–"

Just as Chloe says this, the crystal wall surrounding the core cracks. In the otherwise silent chamber within the Crystal Monolith, the tiny crack might well sound with all the force of an earthquake. Another crack forms, then a third, then a fourth, then dozens and finally hundreds. All before, at once, the core begins to fade, and then the entire defense system shatters.