Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]

Renault’s fury is aimed squarely at me. With all the meager strength I can muster, I raise Filia up to defend against the greataxe assault, gritting my teeth and preparing for the worst. Incoherent noises of violent rage echo from Seraphina’s mouth, to the point I can’t tell if it is Renault’s screaming, Seraphina’s defiant attempts to regain control of her own body, or some mixture of both.

My guard is shattered, sending me flying into the air. Try as I like to use my own flight to maneuver, my Skill does not avail me, and I fall to the ground with a thud that knocks the wind out of me. Hank and Clara raise shadows and veils to blunt his assault, but they find themselves quickly outmatched before the madman’s overwhelming strength and ferocity. Only Chloe, winded though she is, can give more than a token resistance before she too, succumbs.

“Do we have any more manpower we can spare, Major Richardson?”

“I’ll send what I can to assist, but don’t expect much; the battle still hangs in the balance outside as well.”

As Chloe fights on, struggling even with Clara’s and Hank’s assistance at hobbling the brute, I reach into my [Inventory] and pull out a [Greater Health Potion] and a [Superior Ether Canister]. My magic is going to be a shadow of its former self, but as long as I can cast at least a little, I can help. Be a distraction, something, anything as long as it mitigates Chloe’s pain and hardship in this most desperate hour.

No, wait, there is something I can do, even when I can’t fight. I take out another [Superior Ether Canister], which Clara will be compensating me for when this battle is over and won. Taking a few breaths to oxygenate my weary blood and lungs and mentally prepare myself, I channel my magic into my voice one more time.

“The time for our triumph is now!” I shout into the sky. “No longer will we be ruled by a tyrant who declares himself king! Let us win this fight, and free ourselves! Let us create a world of freedom and autonomy for all!”

With the magic of [Valkyrion’s Rally] in my voice, I divert my attention away from the battle and toward maintaining the thin strands of magic that now connect me to all of my comrades spread throughout the half-mile or so radius that my spell encompasses. I hadn’t even realized that such a thing actually existed; normally, the process is more or less autonomous, regulated by my subconscious mind. But weakened as I am, it requires the majority of my conscious effort to both cast while keeping my own consciousness intact.

Thankfully, from what little I can see, it is helping. Neither Hank nor Clara is yet able to restrain Renault, but both of their efforts to hinder him are having more effect, buying Chloe those extra crucial tenths of seconds to keep the fight going. Her swords are fading slowly and steadily; I’ve bought her time, but I’ve only slowed all our demise at this point.

Think, Seraphina! There’s got to be something else! Only one idea comes to mind and I don’t place a lot of faith in it, but it’s better than nothing!

“Major Richardson. Can you try to use me as a way to get in contact with the other Seraphina? I was able to briefly get through to her once; maybe I can do so again.”

“I’ll try. Your little stunt bought us a few slight advantages on our end as well. I may be able to send some extra help shortly.”

“Thank you.” I force a smile through muscles that fight my will with every fiber of my being.

It’s hard to tell with how fast they’re moving, but it feels like Chloe is starting to turn the tide in the battle. She’s adjusted to the speed of Renault’s strikes, and thanks to the two harrying his movements, she’s managed to get a few glancing blows as well. Even still, she’s unable to turn the momentary advantages into something more lasting. And worse, her swords are noticeably duller than they were just a half minute ago. At this rate, she won’t last another half minute.

“So, what’s going on?” Lindsey asks. I guess she’s the help in question, considering Kristil, Alana, and all the others are still fighting elsewhere. “And what happened to Renault?”

“He’s possessing that Seraphina’s body; we need to restrain him. I’m going to try to contact her from within; we need you to restrain him long enough for me to touch him. Weak after [Overlimit].”

“Got it.” And then, she’s off, leaping in the air and raining more arrows down upon the two of them. Her attacks are precise, and she’s gained a new Skill that allows her to bend and twist the trajectory of her attacks along their flight path. The problem is that they aren’t strong; though she’s managed to hit Seraphina a few times, none of them have done enough to so much as stun her.

“Seraphina,” I try to say as I feel the connection between us forming through the [Mental Link]. “Can you hear me?”

I wait for a second. No response other than silence and growling; Renault must be suppressing the connection, although his grip is tenuous owing to his lack of sanity. Undeterred, I try again.

“Seraphina. It’s me, the other Seraphina. Can you hear me? I wanted to talk to you.”

Another second. Then another. Just as I’m about to speak again, I hear a faint, whimpering sound.

“It hurts, Seraphina. It’s dark and cold. I can’t see anything. I can’t hear anything but you.”

“It’s okay. I’m here for you. I’m here, and I’m going to stay here and talk to you for as long as I can.”

“Where did everything go? Everything went black? I can’t see or feel or touch anything. The sky and the clouds and the people, they’re all gone.”

“Renault, he…” It must be hard for her to hear, but I don’t want to sugarcoat it either. “He used one of his Skills to take control of your body and is now using it as his own after his was destroyed.”

“He did what?” Seraphina’s tone is so sad, resigned rather than indignant.

I can only imagine how painful that must be as well, being told that he was more or less her father, only to have him betray all of her love and use her as nothing more than a meat puppet for his own sinister ambitions. All the rage and anger I felt at my own father’s turn to nihilism bursts forth with a furious vengeance thinking about the absolute violation of life and autonomy and dignity that all living beings ought to enjoy.

That fury feeds through me, triggering my magic subconsciously and spreading through the temporary link between me and my… sister. I think after everything, I can call her that. I allow my warmth and my attempts at empathy to permeate this bond and fill her with the same compassion and calm that Chloe shows me.

Love, of a familial sort rather than a romantic one, but love nonetheless. Sights and sounds of the outside world fade away, and I find myself in some sort of psychic space connecting the two of us. I look down at myself and then I look over to see the other Seraphina, our faces identical though our bodies each showing our own unique flairs.

“It’s so calm now,” she says. “So peaceful. No more pain.”

“I’m glad to hear that. So, what do you want to do now?” I ask.

“Thanks to you, I got a great fight. And I had a lot of fun getting to know you as well. It was really nice. I just… I wish I had met you sooner. If I had, then maybe things might’ve turned out a little different, you know?”

“Are you leaving?” I ask.

“You’re very kind, Seraphina,” she says. “I appreciate your trying to help me even now. But you know as well as I do that this is only temporary. Even now, Renault’s spirit is suppressing and destroying my own. It won’t be very long before I completely disappear.”

“I can–”

“No, Seraphina. Even if you could defeat Renault, I don’t think–”

I cut my sister off. “No, that’s nonsense. We’ll find a way. With you and me working together, I’m sure we can–”

“No, Seraphina. I appreciate everything, but we both know that you all are not strong enough to defeat Renault. I can feel how much our battle drained from you. Even still, I want to thank you for giving me the best match of my life, short though it may have been. I just have one question before I go.”

“What’s that?”

“What is the snow like?”

“It’s cold and it can hurt a little bit when you touch it for too long, and it’s not fun to drive a car through it, not that we have to worry about that anymore now that we can fly. But it’s white and puffy and flaky and it’s fun to go out and make snowmen and snow angels and have snowball fights.”

“Snowball fights?”

“You pick up clumps of snow and you form them into a ball and then you throw them at each other and try not to get hit. It’s a play fight; no one gets hurt too much at the end.”

“I see. I’m going to go now. I will only be able to buy you a couple of seconds. I have analyzed his Skill. If you stab Renault's real heart in my chest, it will kill him for real.”

“But what about you?”

“I– I’m going to go either way. So I might as well go with a smile, thanking you for everything.”

“Is there really no other way?”

“I’m sorry, Seraphina. If we had more time together, I’m sure we could have found another way. But as it is, I’m really glad to have met you, even if for such a short time. If we ever do meet again, in the next life, let’s have a snowball fight. The biggest and best snowball fight the Earth has ever seen!”

“Yes, Seraphina. Yes we should. And when that happens, this time, I’m going to win!”

“Absolutely not!” She grins.

“We’ll see.”

The two of us hug, her warmth melting into mine. Then, everything goes white, and I’m back on the battlefield. Back in hell.

Chloe is on her last legs; she’s being pushed back more and more, not even able to dodge or block anymore, all of her effort focused on healing her own wounds. And though Lindsey, Hank, and Clara are all working as best as they can, none of them is strong enough to do anything meaningful. Renault, in his crazed state, is ignoring all three of them to focus on my girlfriend.

Terror wells in Chloe’s eyes; I can feel through our bond that she’s completely drained. Renault swings his axe backward, preparing to deal the final blow and end my love’s life. But this time, I’m ready, and I’m going to finish this fight now, once and for all.

Running only at the speed of a baseline, uninitialized human, I grab Filia, uncaring for my own fatigue, and charge slowly toward Renault and Chloe. I think I hear Clara trying to stop me, and Hank is saying something that I can’t process in my current state. All the strands of magic holding [Valkyrion’s Rally] disperse one by one as I focus on nothing but finishing this fight and saving the life of the woman I love more than anything.

“Seraphina!” I shout. And she— being herself again for however brief a time— responds.

Reasserting control over her body, Seraphina turns to face me with a somber smile on her face. Tears of oil and corruption drain down her cheeks as her watery eyes meet my own. She extends out her chest.

Activating Filia’s ability, [Breaker of Chains], I release the binding magic imprisoning her. Though Renault’s spirit makes one last attempt to jerk away her bodily sovereignty, I can tell that in the moment Filia breaches her armored chest and pierces the heart of darkness within her, that Seraphina is whole and truly herself, granted a chance to die as her. It’s the least solace I could offer her, and unfortunately, the most.

“Goodbye, sister,” she whispers before she, like Renault’s actual body, collapses to the ground, lifeless.

[You have slain a ([Mechanical Lich] / [Heartless Knight of Sorrow], Level 88). You have gained a boosted 1,200,000 Experience.]

[You have gained enough Experience to reach Level 85 (From 82). [Strength] +3, [Vitality] +3. Please assign free stat points. (Remaining: 33)]

[Maximum Health increases by [Vitality] x 2 + Current Level + Rand[1,3] = (494, 515, 519)]

[Maximum Ether increases by [Mind] + Current Level + Rand[0,2] = (330, 334, 333)]

[Level: 85; Experience: 13,262,204; To Next: 514,981]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 7,227 / 20,909; [Ether]: 1,114 / 15,123]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 42 (Base: 176); [Speed]: 42 (Base: 176); [Vitality]: 54 (Base: 216); [Mind]: 62 (Base: 248)]

[Your [Reconfiguration (Rank XV)] has upgraded to [Reconfiguration (Rank XVI)].]

[Your [Morningstar’s Triumph (Rank VI)] has upgraded to [Morningstar’s Triumph (Rank VII)].]

[Your [Multidimensional Glyphcasting (Rank VI)] has upgraded to [Multidimensional Glyphcasting (Rank VII)].]

[Your [Intermediate Ether Manipulation (Rank XXII)] has upgraded to [Intermediate Ether Manipulation (Rank XXIII)].]

[Your [Valkyrion’s Perception (Rank XIV)] has upgraded to [Valkyrion’s Perception (Rank XVI)].]