Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]

A sphere of darkness nearly two hundred meters in diameter hurtles toward us, slowly at first, then faster and faster as though accelerated by a gravity that shouldn’t affect the massless sphere of demonic energy. Several in the crowd are making the fear known through shrieks and shivered movements. I feel the fear too, in the racing of my heart and the subtle notes of trepidation that Chloe is sending me through our bond. I’m sure I’m sending the same back to her despite the stoic bravery I keep on my face for the gathered crowd. I can hide nothing from my love, for good, or for ill.

“Twenty seconds until impact.” Nicholas’ words are even tempered, not showing any of the fear and apprehension I know he feels as much as any of us.

“We’ll survive,” she says, her mental voice calm and fuller of confidence than I’ve ever felt before. “I know we will. Because I know you won’t permit any other outcome, and because I trust you.”

“I’ll be relying on you as well. Just as I have for such a very long time.”

Chloe smiles. “Let’s do this, love. For everyone.”

Chloe’s golden radiance flares up, a saintess in deed and class alike, a shining beacon in the darkness that offers comfort and warmth to all those lost and needing. My silver aura joins her, bathing the battlefield with the light of our twinned flames, two lights that flare out defiantly even as darkness threatens to envelop our homeland.

Alana is not to be outdone. Her sword glows a blinding blue-white which reflects upon her silvered armor again and again. Other lights join us, blaring out a visual symphony of every color of the rainbow and hundreds more not. Most of these people don’t know one another. After today, they may never interact again. But right now, all of us are united in our humanity and the shared purpose we hold in our hearts, to cast the encroaching darkness back into the fires of hell where they belong and see that they never resurface.

“Ten seconds,” Nicholas says.

Shimmering auroral lights surround us all, reminiscent of the [Sanctuary] spell Chloe has employed to save our lives on many occasions before. But this is altogether different. It is my [Repulsion] glyph, normally invisible, but now vaguely translucent thanks to the imperfect synchronicity of everyone’s unique [Ether] signatures as we together raise our barrier. In some ways, the barrier will be weaker as a result, and in others, it may well grow stronger. Without having tested this sort of thing before, only the goddess can say for sure which effect will predominate.

But I do feel confident. The confidence might be ill-earned and unwarranted, but I feel it nonetheless.

“Three seconds. Two… Brace for impact.”

My mind is assailed by a force unlike any I’ve ever experienced before. And I’m not the only one. Chloe is gnashing her teeth as well, barely able to stand upright as the force of a hundred tons falls upon our collective shoulders. Alana looks a bit better on the surface, but I attribute it to pain tolerance and discipline, not a lack of discomfort. The three of us are serving as effectors for magic well beyond even our high-leveled capabilities, and the mental strain is taxing like no other.

Nicholas is doing what he can, guiding spells and organizing the marshalled soldiers into five groups. One takes hold of the sluices surrounding my glyph formation, channeling [Ether] into our barrier and shouldering a bit of the load until their minds and bodies grow tired. After half a minute, they step back and let the next group take hold, repeating the process.

[Your [Morningstar’s Triumph (Rank IV)] has upgraded to [Morningstar’s Triumph (Rank V)].]

[Your [Valkyrion’s Defense (Rank IV)] has upgraded to [Valkyrion’s Defense (Rank V)].]

The strain on my mental muscles feels just a bit lighter, but it’s still unsustainable. I dare not show a bit of my weakness to the millions depending on me, but as things stand, I won’t be able to keep this up long enough to repel the attack back.

“All of you miserable, decrepit human scum!” Fornieth’s voice echoes throughout the city. “Your champion has already fallen once! It is only a matter of time before she succumbs again! And with her mote of light extinguished, the rest of you will perish as is the lot of all such weak and pathetic creatures.”

I remain firm; I see through the lies. Fornieth is portraying implacability, but he has nothing left after this, either. He wants our will to break, and with it, our magic and lives. I refuse him.

“Hold together,” Nicholas says. “Group two, on! Three on standby, switching in three, two, one, now!”

The added weight makes my shoulders crumple, but only for the briefest of moments before the next surge of [Ether] through my glyphs reinforces our barrier. Still, in a moment that is concerning, to say the least, a couple of small cracks form for the briefest of moments before patching themselves back together. The barrier bends inward the slightest amount. It’s holding, but only just.

“You’re not holding anything back, are you?” Chloe asks.

“I’m at my limit.” I almost want to laugh, except for the gravity of the situation we’re all in. Maybe laughing defiantly is something that my class would do.

“Need a hand, ladies?” a thick, accented voice calls out, one I was explicitly told not to expect.

“Alexey?” I grit out through pained breaths. “What are you doing here?”

“My duty,” he says. In the corner of my [Valkyrion’s Perception], I see him stumbling forward. Idly, I’d wondered earlier what kind of injury would take the grizzled master sergeant out in a world with healing magic. Just from the way he walks, I can see the telltale signs of [Ether Channel Rupture], and a far more serious case than the one I dealt with a couple months ago. He shouldn’t be able to walk, let alone fight; the pain must be absolutely excruciating, beyond anything I’ve experienced to this point. And all that just to stand.

“Commander!” Alexey salutes. “Sergeant Ivankov, reporting for duty, Sir!”

“You have to stop him, Sera!” Chloe shouts through our bond. “He can’t do anything–”

“I know. He knows too.”

“But–”

“Sergeant, you are under strict bed rest orders! Return to base–”

“Major Richardson, Sir!” Alexey stumbles forward, toward the annulus of gathered civilians currently helping me power my glyphs. “Please, Sir. I’ve been in the service for twenty-eight years now. It’s all I’ve ever known.”

Through painful breaths and stumbled steps, he marches forward. “In those long decades, I’ve served under butterbars fresh out of West Point and colonels months from getting their promotions to brigadier general. It has been an honor to know you, and to work under your and Colonel Wilson’s command.”

I can’t help but shed a tear. Chloe is as well. We’re not the only ones weeping for the old veteran. We all understand the significance of his words and what he’s preparing to do.

“The code of the soldier, Sir. When I took my oath of enlistment, I swore that I would defend these United States to the best of my ability, serving with honor both on and off the battlefield. I swore that, if necessary, I would lay down my life in the defense of my country.” His voice echoes outward. “And today, I’ve come to make the ultimate sacrifice.”

Alexey pauses.

“Sir, I know you have appearances and morale to keep up, for everyone’s sake. But I also know as well as you do that this is a battle we can’t win as is. So please. I’m old. I’ve lived a full life, and I don’t have any regrets. Either way, I’m going to die today. But if I can give up my life to save a million more? Then my life was worth it! Please, Commander. Give the command.”

Alexey stumbles forward, standing before the major even as Nicholas is rattling off orders, calling for the next exchange of civilian volunteers to replace those currently at their mental limits. For a moment, silence. The old veteran shakily raises his hand to his head, offering a tear-filled salute to his commander’s executive officer. One which is, after a second’s pause, reciprocated.

“Sergeant Major Ivankov. Cleared for duty. Report to the central glyph structure. Miss Mortensen will inform you from there.”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!”

“Sera, you–”

“No, Chloe. I’m sorry. I can see his face through my Skills. He’s resolved himself completely to this. It would be an insult to his honor, and besides, we need him.”

“But Sera! What happened to trying to save everyone? Are we really just going to let him die?”

“Chloe, I can feel your grief and sorrow. I can feel your compassion and your love. It’s practically oozing off your very being with every tear you shed.” I take her hand and give it a gentle squeeze. “But I–” I stumble briefly from the strain on my entire being. “But I can’t do this without him. I’m… I’m sorry that I’m not strong enough to protect us all.”

“What about last time?”

“That Skill? It only works once every six hours. I try it again, and I really will die.”

Fornieth laughs in triumph, pissing me off. “Give up! It is futile to resist!”

“Shut up!” Alexey’s cry bellows out through the sky, matching Fornieth in intensity, but opposing completely in tone and demeanor. Where the demon above us is menacing, mocking our last stand, Alexey stands and shouts triumphantly, even as his body is already starting to shut down from the strain placed upon him.

The newly-promoted Sergeant Major roars. “I’ve heard just about enough out of you, you godforsaken piece of fuck! I swore an oath to defend my country and my countrymen, and today, it’s time to make good. Time for me to drag you back down to hell where we both belong!”

One hand clasps upon Chloe’s upper back, his other, right at the base of my wings. His [Ether], trapped in his core, tears his arms apart as he forces it through ruptured channels and into his last and final spell. A cascade of crimson flame joins our blue, silver, and gold, and together, for the first time, we’re starting to push the sphere of darkness back.

Chloe grasps my hand, her tear-streaked face a mix of emotions centering on her grief. I stand firm and resolute, gathering my strength for the moment we’ve finished pushing back the attack. For her sake, in memory of Alexey, dying right behind us. For the sake of the hundreds gathered here and the millions more whose lives hang in the balance, I will carry out our collective will.

The weight of the world is lifted from our shoulders all at once. The sky brightens in real time as our barrier finally reflects the attack back, all our hard work finally paying dividends. My vision is still fuzzy, my body hurts like heck, my mind is racing and it’s difficult to maintain my focus. Every part of my body wants to give up, lie down, rest, and just sleep this whole thing off until morning, but I can’t do so.

I take to the skies once more, lifting over campus as hundreds below drop to knees and pass out beneath. Using the dark sphere as cover, I follow back into the sky, toward where the interloping menace is waiting, watching, undoubtedly terrified and flabbergasted that a bunch of low-grade humans managed to defeat his ill-earned, smug sense of superiority.

Filia drawn out one final time, I grip the swordstaff’s shaft with both arms, closing into the defeated demon, barely clinging to life just like half of us are. It hurts to move, but it would be a regret I could never live down if I allowed Fornieth to survive, to regroup, and to come after us once again. I will not let Alexey’s sacrifice go to waste. I will not let my people die! Not now, not again! Not ever again, as long as I have breath in my body.

Filia and I charge through the demon’s chest before it can even utter a word in surprise, tearing through its body. I worry for a moment that I’ll have to chase after the broken corpse, but instead, the corpse glows with violet blacklight, then explodes with such force that I’m sent flying back overhead.

I’m tumbling for a few moments before, with Alana’s help, I’m stabilized and drifting back toward the surface. The battle may be over at last, but that does not mean that the scars of our clash will be so quickly papered over.

Thank you, Alexey. Thank you, for your sacrifice. May you be remembered, for as long as we all shall live.

[You have slain Forneith, the Desecrator (Level 79). You have gained a boosted 999,999 Experience.]

[You have gained enough Experience to reach Level 67 (From 64). [Strength] +3, [Vitality] +3. Please assign free stat points (Remaining: 33).]

I quickly assign my points in a manner I judge reasonable before I drift off to a well-deserved sleep.

[Maximum Health increases by [Vitality] x 2 + Current Level + Rand[1,3] = (332, 349, 352)]

[Maximum Ether increases by [Mind] + Current Level + Rand[0,2] = (257, 256, 258)]

[Level: 67; Experience: 6,220,294; To Next: 172,296]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 12,422 / 12,731; [Ether]: 102 / 9,583]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 540 (Base: 118); [Speed]: 545 (Base: 119); [Vitality]: 710 (Base: 142); [Mind]: 950 (Base: 190)]