The Simulacrum

"It's a Grand Rampart."

The Matron's indifferent tone raised a few brows among our group, currently clustered around the end of the passenger car.

"A Rampart? Of that size?"

The Ninhursag patriarch sounded a fair bit more incredulous in turn as he stared at the steadily nearing, shimmering dome in the distance.

The elderly woman let out a soft huff, then asked, "Is it truly so surprising?" When the big man didn't answer, she made a vague gesture towards the window and added, "We also have one of our own. Don't you, Lord Ninhursag?"

Before he could get a word in, Snowy blurted out a bewildered, "We do?"

The Matron directed an incredulous glance at her, but then her demeanour quickly thawed, and she put a hand on my sister's shoulder.

"Once this is over, we'll have to sit down with some sweets and refreshments and have a long talk about the various matters Noir may have kept from you."

It was at this point that Josh ran out of patience, and he loudly tapped his foot.

"That's nice and all, but can someone explain what this 'rampart' thing is?"

The old woman only glared at him, so it fell on the other Abyssal aristocrat present to provide an answer.

"A Rampart is a type of sustained Ward," he explained with yet another sweeping motion towards the dome in the distance. "One of this size is most likely fueled by the Mana Well of House Shamash."

Snowy chimed in at this point to further explain, "It's… um… It's like the Repelling Wards I set up back home, but much, much stronger."

Hearing the comparison, Judy immediately asked, "Does that mean only certain people can pass through it?"

"I… I don't know," Snowy admitted and turned to the Matron, punting the ball of the discussion into her court.

She uttered a flat, "Unlikely," followed by a slightly more contemplative, "Our Grand Rampart denies both entrance and exit while it's active."

"So the center of town is fully isolated from the outside…" Josh mused. "Where is Lili's brother?"

Angie gave his boyfriend a sideways look and pointed at the dome.

"There. Duh?"

"No, I mean, inside or outside?"

Judy let out a soft hum and whispered, "That's actually a good question," before turning to me. "Chief?"

"Inside," I answered without much thinking. "The class rep, too."

Now it was the Matron's turn to send a sideways look, this time at me, followed by an incredulous, "How would you…?" Her words trailed off into silence, and she apparently thought better of it, because she shook her head and uttered a flat, "Never mind."

"Okay, so that might be a problem," Josh pondered, his eyes glued to the scene outside. "There's a lot of fighting going on."

The patriarch on his left twisted the tip of his waxed beard, maybe as some kind of nervous tic.

"Most likely the men of the Herald battling the forces of the Noble Alliance caught on the outside of the Rampart."

"What are the chances of us getting attacked on the way there?" Judy asked the next pivotal question, prompting my knightly sister to let out an ambivalent noise.

"Erm… This is a train. It's not very sneaky."

She said, after they just tried to sneak into Eanna using the same train. But never mind.

"Meaning we should expect resistance," my dear assistant concluded and took out her little notepad. "Any ideas?"

A few eyes turned my way, but I tried my best to stay out of this unless it was absolutely necessary. This was Josh's show now, and I wanted to give him the chance to shine. I went as far as to meaningfully gaze at him, and he soon got the message, because he cleared his throat and proposed.

"It's safe to assume we're gonna have to pass through the big glowy cupola thing to rescue Ammy and take down Lili's brother. What are our options?"

"Can we ram it with the train?" Angie proposed off the cuff, much to the Ninhursag patriarch's chagrin.

"No. Absolutely not."

"But isn't the train engine warded?" Penny chimed in, her eyes practically shining. "It's practically screaming 'use me as a battering ram'!"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," my princess interjected, acting as the voice of reason. "What if it doesn't work and the train gets damaged, or derails? People could get hurt."

"But…" Seeing that the others were agreeing with Elly, my sister turned to me for support, but when I also shook my head, her shoulders drooped and she muttered something along the lines of, "Dad would approve."

I still found it hard to believe, but Sir Arnwald was probably a bad influence on her, at least in this regard. Once this was over, I should probably sit down with him and discuss his penchant for 'dynamic entrances', but that was neither here nor there.

Meanwhile, Angie gave control to Deus, and she pointed at Elly.

"I have come up with an idea. Lover of Polemos!"

My princess blinked, then blurted out a dopey, "Ah, yeah! That's me!"

Deus ignored that and changed the way she was pointing at her.

"You are capable of using the True Fire of dragonkind, right?"

Elly hesitated for a second, but ultimately nodded.

"Yes, but—"

"Then the solution is clear!" Deus declared while folding her arms and flashing a smug grin. "This is what we'll do: we disembark from this vehicle, fly to the perimeter of the great barrier, use your Dragon Fire to pierce a hole in it, and then we'll send a team of elites through to disable the barrier from the inside. Then, as soon as it's done, we'll bring the brunt of our forces to bear and hit them while they're still confounded!"

"For that, we would need to split the party at least two ways," Josh mused with a hand on his chin. "No, three. We would also need some kind of distraction. Elly's breath attack is really bright, so it's bound to draw attention."

"Good thinking, Boy!" Deus flashed a toothy grin and gave him a thumbs-up.

It was at this point that my Abyssal sister poured cold water on their enthusiasm by asking, "Um… but, how do we turn it off from the inside? Isn't it… using the Mana Well for its power source?"

"An accurate assessment," came the next interjection from the Matron. "While a surgical strike is indeed a very… Celestial solution, unless you have a clear idea of how to approach the source of the Grand Rampart, it's not a viable strategy?"

"Oh, really?" Deus scoffed back and glared at the old woman. "Then do you have a better idea?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," the Matron stated blandly, looking none too amused by the (from her perspective) young Celestial's tone. "As bottomless a source of energy as a Mana Well can be, only so much power may be drawn from it at once. Strategic defensive constructs typically rely on a distributed reservoir of power meant to activate and maintain them for a set duration." She pointed at the steadily approaching dome in the distance. "A Grand Rampant of this size would necessarily consume a tremendous amount of Mana and resources and couldn't be maintained for long. I propose that we simply wait until it runs dry of its reserves, and in the meantime, focus on suppressing the fighting in the city and securing the outer perimeter."

The Ninhursag patriarch backed her up at once with a laconic, "Sounds sensible," and even the nondescript yet stubbornly present military liaison placeholder officer nodded along in approval.

In contrast, Josh furrowed his brows and stood his ground with a defiant, "No way!"

"Do you have an objection to my plan, young man?" the Matron inquired in a polite yet somehow still intimidating tone, but he didn't back down.

"Yes, I do. If Lili's brother…"

"Noir," she corrected him, but Josh didn't seem to care.

"Whatever! My point is, we can't let him take over the castle! Who knows what he's gonna do once he gets his hands on the Mana Well in there!"

"I sincerely doubt that it's going to be the end of the world."

Hearing her say that, my girlfriends shuddered and unison and shared a glance that said 'That was a jinx, right?', followed by another saying, 'See, I told you so.'

Putting their non-verbal communication aside, I was getting a bit impatient. I didn't expect that the discussion would turn into an outright argument, let alone a stalemate like this, so while I waited for them to come to an agreement, I leaned against the cabin wall and closed my eyes.

A moment later, my point of view was inside the red dome of the Grand Rampart, as the two Abyssals here called it. On the outside, I could see streaks of light and small explosions, both on the ground and in the air, a testament to the intensity of the battle raging in town, but much more importantly…

"Ugh…"

There were two winged combatants floating over the courtyard of Castle Shamash, high up in the air. One of them was unmistakably Crowy, with his distinct purple light-show surrounding him, while on the side, Fidèle Shamash was… holding the stump of her right arm. Wait, what?

"Hah!"

No, wait. False alarm. She let out a pained grunt, and then red mist exploded from her wound, rapidly forming into a limb, and when it dissipated, there was a brand-new arm there, with only the bloodied and torn sleeve showing that she suffered an injury.

"You will need more than that to defeat me, Herald of the False Emperor!" she bellowed, her voice carrying over the battlefield below, but it only made Crowy chuckle sinisterly, like a Saturday morning cartoon villain.

"You say that, Lady Shamash, but I can feel your power waning," he told her, and… Oh. Was he…? "Soon, the sun will rise, and your doom will be sealed."

Holy crap. The bastard was literally holding her severed arm and waving it around like a teacher brandishing one of those pointing sticks in the classroom. He jerked the limp appendage towards the dawning horizon, practically basking in the Shamash matriarch's hateful glare, before casually tossing it aside and conjuring a series of familiar, inky-black spears out of thin air.

"Let's see how much longer you can hold your ground!"

He pointed a palm at her, which caused the projectiles to shift in the air and take aim at her. Fidèle didn't falter and summoned her oversized scythe, then flew directly at Crowy with a high-pitched but by no means undaunting battle cry.

It was at this point that I cut my Far Glance short and stood straight again.

I whispered a soft, "Dammit," under my breath, and despite it being quiet as the sigh of a mouse, everyone overheard it anyway.

"Is there a problem, Lord Polemos-Dunning?" the portly patriarch asked, his voice audibly apprehensive and his eyes just a tad fretful, as if he was afraid to make me displeased. That was… sensible, actually, but misguided.

"As a matter of fact, there is," I confirmed and took a deep breath.

Fidèle was barely holding her own, and I had no idea for how much longer. That was a problem, because I actually liked her. Not in the way Judy would declare an anti-harem countermeasure emergency, of course. She was simply one of the very, very few genuinely reasonable people I knew, and so I didn't want to see her get beaten up like this. Or worse, which was unfortunately in the cards.

Of course, if I could just Phase over, I could've solved this whole conundrum in one go, or at least stall for time until the others caught up while preventing any casualties in the meantime, but future-me's restriction was still tying me down, so I had no choice but to work with what I had at my disposal.

"Dormouse? Go to the driver's cab and tell the guy at the wheel to speed up."

Penny hopped over with an excited, "Oh? Are we ramming?" so I gave her a light flick on the forehead and turned to Elly next.

"Princess? I need you to give me a boost to the roof."

She responded with an automatic, "Sure!" not even bothering to ask what I was planning.

The same couldn't be said about the rest, especially the Matron.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Time is of the essence." My curt response didn't seem to please her much, so I paused just long enough to add, "I'll open the way. All of you, prepare for…" I was tempted to say 'impact', but that might've been jinxing it, so I changed it to, "… to engage as soon as we're through."

"Through the—?"

"You heard him!" Josh cut her short before she could object and started instructing the others. "Leo knows what he's doing. Lili, Deus?" The two of them perked up at once, and he told them, "We'll take to the air and keep watch for enemies until we reach the dome thingie."

The girls responded at the same time with, "O-Okay…"/"A sensible suggestion."

Meanwhile, Judy sidled up to me and whispered, "You should've done this from the beginning."

"I just didn't want to steal Josh's spotlight."

She gave me an upwards glance and said, in her deadpannest voice, "And he's been holding back because he was waiting for you to make a move."

"… Maybe?"

She shook her head and then inclined it towards the front of the train.

"I'll go talk to the driver."

"Aren't you going to ask what I'm planning?"

"You're going to use your phantom limbs to break the Grand Rampart."

Blinking, I whispered, "Am I that predictable?"

She subtly rolled her eyes and gestured towards the other end of the passenger car.

"Be careful, and don't keep Elly waiting."

"Right. On it."

She let out a soft hum and turned on her heel, so I did the same and approached the princess. She was already standing outside, in the small alcove at the rear of the car, and she waved for me to get closer.

"I think I can either give you a boost or throw you. Which one would you prefer?"

There was a hint of mischievousness in her voice, so I hastily told her, "A boost with be enough, thank you."

She didn't argue, just descended onto one knee and linked her fingers near the ground to serve as a foothold. I put my right foot in it, and on the count of three, she raised me with a single heave. It didn't even sound like she had a hard time.

Anyhow, I grabbed the rim of the roof over the alcove and pulled myself up. Elly further helped by pushing me from below, and before long, I was on top of the speeding train car, and…

"Bloody hell, everyone else made this look so easy…" I grumbled as I lowered my center of gravity, lest I would be pushed off by the wind.

"You should've just flown!" a voice berated me from the side, as Deus was making a circle around me. "You have wings, doofus!"

I didn't, and once again, that was a very Angie thing to say.

"Don't lag behind!" Josh yelled from higher up in the sky, and she exclaimed a loud, "I'm coming!" before beelining over to his side, soon followed by my Abyssal sister as well.

Meanwhile, I was still being annoyed by the headwind, so I activated my Leoformer and put on my Lion Knight armour. It not only protected me from the wind to a degree, but the boots had a nifty enchantment that let me cling to surfaces. It wasn't exactly to a degree I could walk on walls like some friendly neighbourhood arachnid person, but it was just enough extra friction to allow me to walk on the top of the train cars without fear of being blown off. And let us be honest: when else was I going to ever use that enchantment?

Anyhow, I walked across the passenger car and then gathered some momentum to hop over to the top of the driver's cab. Getting to the front of the engine was a bit trickier, because its top wasn't designed for people to walk on (though again, neither were the roofs of the passenger cars, but I digress), so that boot enchantment came extra handy.

By the time I reached the front of the machine, careful not to damage any of the tubes, components, or wards underfoot, we had already reached the outskirts of the settlement. From this vantage point, I could see that the Grand Rampart, as they called it, covered the entire castle and about a quarter of the town. It was a perfect half-sphere, its surface rippling and flashes of bright crimson rushing down from its top like countless falling stars. Most importantly, it was bloody humongous.

Also, Penny was entirely correct about one thing: a speeding train was hard to miss, so by the time we were nearing the edge of the giant barrier, there were quite a few flying Abyssals circling overhead. It was hard to tell friend from foe in this situation, especially in the air, so Josh and the girls were keeping everyone away on principle.

In the meantime, I had to make a choice. More and more buildings were whizzing by us as the train maintained its speed, and after one last shallow bend in the rails, I could finally see the spot where the Grand Rampart met the ground. By ear, I figured we would reach it under a minute, so… how should I do this?

Should I just cross my arms, stand all stoic and poised, and let my Phantom Limbs do their thing? Sure, it would've looked very imposing and whatever, but it's not like I was here to impress anyone watching. In fact, maybe it was better to exert some effort? Or at least appear so, for the sake of theatrics?

…

Ack, right! I almost forgot about it, because all my worries about the meta-implications of this whole situation, but this is the finale! Everything had to be dramatic, so I might as well go all out and make it as bombastic as possible!

I made up my mind just in time, as the edge of the Grand Rampart was right in front of us. Inhaling hard, I shifted my posture and pulled my fist back. I still had a couple of the 'pyrotechnics' enchantment on this outfit, left over from our rehearsed battles with future-me as Bel, and I quickly activated a few to create a bright, hazy clump of light around my right fist.

At the same time, I extended my phantom limbs forward and waited. Then, as soon as the train carried me close enough to touch the barrier, I began to indiscriminately tear at it, like a dozen whips lashing at a wall made of tofu, while simultaneously throwing a punch forward. It was an over-exaggerated haymaker, one I would never do in a serious situation, but the thespian arts demanded visibility over practicality, and oh boy, was this visible…

As soon as I was sure the Rampant in front of us was toast, I let the light around my fist explode forward in a cone. If I had some extra time, I might've given it some flair, like the shape of a lion-head, or some Celestial motifs, or just some extra concentric shock-waves, but hey, I had to work with what I had. I also internally debated if I should shout 'Lion Punch!' or something, but it would've been too embarrassing.

The cone of light had practically no destructive power, but since I already shredded the barrier, it still caused the whole Rampart to tremble. Then the front of the train hit it, and there was an ear-piercing noise that nearly made my knees buckle.

The wards on the locomotive flared to life, and while there was a small bump, we broke through all the same, and an explosion of scarlet shards followed in our wake like a comet's tail, illuminated by the first rays of the morning sun behind us. The fragments of the Grand Rampart were like pieces of jagged, broken plate glass, yet my danger sense didn't react to them, and true to form, they harmlessly bounced off my armour and turned into streams of red dust, like sand in the wind.

Was that theatrical enough? I sure hoped so, because there weren't any second takes from here on out. More importantly, though, we were at the finish line. Quite literally, as I could already see the train station, and just beyond it, the four majestic towers of Castle Sha—

"Aaaaa!"

Correction: the three towers of Castle Shamash. Because something bright and purple just catapulted a pale red-and-black speck through the last one. That… probably wasn't good.

"Snowy!" I yelled up, but my sister was a step ahead of me, and she drew a bright blue streak across the sky, making a circle around the remaining three towers, and then beelining towards the train station just as our ride's brakes cried out in an effort to bring it to a halt.

I didn't wait for a full stop and jumped off, hitting the pavement with enough force to crack it under me. I looked up again, trying to follow Snowy's descent with my eyes, but instead my attention was grabbed by a burning purple spot in the sky. I knew we were too far away, and that it was probably just my imagination, but I could swear our gazes met, and if this were a comic or a manga, this would've been the point where we got a two-page spread to show our faces for contrast and drama and whatnot.

I had better things to do than pose for that, and so did Crowy, because he suddenly dived down, turning into a purple streak of light and disappearing into the castle. In any case, we've completed the first step and made our way to the scene of the final showdown. As for how things would develop here… I had a feeling it wasn't going to be pretty, but I could only put my dwindling faith in future-me for now and play my role, whatever it was…