Peril's Origin - A Magical Girl Quest [Complete]

With your side project done, you decide to do something more ambitious in-between practice of Voyage. There is a corrosive property to Arcane Slash which stays inactive most of the time, but which you hope can be used in battle.

That aside however, things are looking a little grim; you are running low on food, which means that you have to hunt this week or the next one. It does not bother you too much, considering that the monotony is still getting to you.

As much as you like Lu, she rarely makes for a good conversation partner.

Then again, there was something you wanted to ask her anyway. It has been on your mind from time to time ever since meeting Lu, though her recent actions against Heaven's Host brought it back to the forefront.

"Lu? Mind telling me something?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you fight against Heaven?"

She stops her own sequence and lowers her cross, eyes on you immediately. The suppressed aura around her sparks dangerously, but you pay that no mind. It is fine if she does not answer, but she will not intimidate you into backing off.

The staredown continues for a few seconds, then Lu sighs and dismisses her weapon. "That's not a nice tale." She pauses in thought and you wait for her, though you do not have to wait long: "I do not mind telling you, if you wish?"

Considering her vanished weapon, she knows exactly how you feel on the matter. You simply nod and make to sit on a fallen tree nearby.

Curiously, Lu does not join you. She stands right before you instead, soon beginning to pace back and forth as her black wings sway in the breeze. Tattered cloth swishes around her body as she does, almost hypnotically.

"The first thing you need to know is that the fall changes an Angel," she starts calmly. "We call it Stigmata, the breaking of a promise important enough to swell the ranks of our ancestral enemies. Angels and Demons are diametrically opposed existences."

You nod and supply what you remember hearing from your friends back at the Keep: "I heard that a Demon who prays can get sick and even die."

"So it may be, but this is different." Lu turns back and fixes you with her gaze. "An Angel's fall is not a matter of getting sick. Sickness implies there is a cure, but there is no cure for this. The karmic weight of the promise broken does not birth a Demon for us, instead it digs inward and sets our souls ablaze."

You blink, unsure what to make of that. Then her magical aura throws out sparks again and your eyes widen. Lu has her back turned, face hidden but voice forcedly calm: "It burns and warps our souls until what is left is but an abomination, or so they say. I do not disagree, as I am all three."

This, however, can not stand. Your eyes narrow at the back of Lu's head. "You're not a monster."

She actually chuckles and turns to look at you. "I was not at the time I fell, no. But here is the answer to your question: False Heaven abhors us fallen Angels. We are blight to them, swept up and locked away so as to preserve their pristine appearance. It does not matter who we were or who we turned into, whether we lose our sanity to the pain or hold on to it. There are no extenuating circumstances once you fall."

Oh.

"Oh."

Lu just grins mirthlessly and flexes her third wing. "An Angel's body resembles their ideal self, so look at what this did to me. In fact, I got off lightly by only losing an arm and was lucky to get another wing to maneuver with."

You are starting to get the bigger picture, though it takes long moments to sink in that Heaven is apparently not as holy as they try to appear. "I think I get it. They locked you away without trial or anything and-" "Stop. I am not done." You click your mouth shut, still too busy digesting what you were just told to push back. With that tone she takes, you are not sure you want to argue either way.

A moment passes quietly before she turns back around, her good hand carding through ash-coloured hair before bunching up some of it. "I can not say if it is the same for all of us, Adelheid, but know this: scars of the soul are far worse than scars of the body. Mine still burn as I did on that day. I will not even bother trying to describe how it feels, as you would never have a frame of reference to understand. Or at least I do not wish that on you."

Meanwhile, you just feel numb trying to imagine the kind of pain a burning soul could create. You are failing, and badly; even with the injuries you took over the past few months, nothing feels like it could compare. Lu remains standing where she is, but you can see the sparks in her aura growing brighter in sync with her breathing. There is a question on your mind still, though she did not take well to the last interruption. So you stay quiet.

It does not take long for her to continue, quiet and with an undercurrent of wrath that frankly scares you: "Just try to imagine, then, the feelings I harboured in my heart of hearts when the only people I could look to for aid, for stability, looked upon me in disgust and cast me in chains."

You can imagine it. You do not like the thought of what you would feel in such a situation.

"So it is revenge?" Your voice is weak as you try not to provoke the agitated Angel.

Lu does not object to your interruption this time. She just offers you a shake of the head, face devoid of emotion. "It was revenge, but is no longer. I have long since left the moral high ground, if I ever had it. It is more simple and more complicated than that. You remember how fallen Angels can go insane from the pain of their fall?"

"I do. You didn't, though."

Your friend huffs in amusement, though that expression is at odds with the single tear sliding down her cheek. The sight weighs heavy on your chest, but she does not give you time to get over it: "That is true. Yet the pain never subsided, which left me with the choice to either slowly succumb to it as time goes by, or to find something to center myself. Something to occupy my mind and distract from it all, at least a little bit. But there were precious little options in my little cell, far removed from all civilisation. Little more to be found on the outside, too."

Lu takes a deep breath and makes a cutting motion with her hand, eyes narrowing at nothing in particular. "So I chose wrath, a feeling I will never be able to forget, with the flames to remind me. I had other choices than Heaven, such as the ones responsible for the break of my promise, but they were already dead by my friend's hand. No other compared to that feeling of betrayal, so I used it to center myself.

"Battle is a good substitution, training helps put my mind at ease. But in the end, the content about having taken revenge does not hold. It is an ever so fleeting sensation, one which can not hold back insanity." She chuckles mirthlessly and points her winged arm at herself. "At this point, I am aware I long since went insane. But for as long as I hate, I can function. For as long as I fight, the rest of me stays me. And I don't want to die."

A shudder goes through Lu, her last words suddenly so quiet and fragile that your heart breaks. Yet she stands there unbroken, waging a one-woman crusade against False Heaven that will only end with her death.

In this moment, you do not care for the implications or the magnitude of it all. To hell with all of that, your friend is on the verge of crying.

So instead, you dart forward and hug her around the waist, as hard as you can. Lu stills and looks down at you for a long moment, but you just stare back heatedly. "What-" "Just shut up and let me hug you."

She does. Thankfully, she does not say anything about the tears in your eyes, just picks you up so you can stroke her back and head instead.

That afternoon is not the most productive one, but who cares?


"There is something I am curious about, though."
"Hm?"
"How did you get out of wherever they held you?"

Lu gives you a blank look. Now that you had some time to work through your conflicting emotions and calm down your friend, the situation she described does make you wonder. Perhaps asking this kind of thing while in mid-air is not the best idea, but you have time while looking for your next opponent.

And going by the faint smile on Lu's face, there is a story there. "My friend Leliel snuck in and got me out. I doubt she took kindly to what I decided to make of that freedom."

"Makes sense." Your answer is mostly noncommittal; you are aware the woman carrying you is effectively working toward the genocide of all Angels for the sake of her own sanity. What she does is not okay. And yet... "It's weird, I feel I should stop you from killing Angels, but at the same time I don't care enough about them to fight you." You can not help but air your worries, which draws a chuckle.

"Believe me, the woman I used to be would be right there with you. If any of the alternatives to occupy me had worked for long, I would have stopped. But I can't and I am selfish, so I keep on hating. I do not need your forgiveness or your judgement."

"Mhm." Your sound fades into a moment of silence, broken only by the air rushing around you and your respective magic singing quietly. In the end, it's easy. "I don't think I could forgive or judge what you did. I don't want to, either."

You think back to your other friends. Orux, Elisabeth and Argus, Maya and Paoras, Dragul, Neverwas. Every single one of them is, at the least, a murderer by the laws you grew up with; likely worse because you do not know all they did in their lives excepting Paoras, and because all of them are Demons who lived completely different lives. They are also your friends, dear friends in most cases. Orux is even more than that.

You are kind of confused about why you feel this way, but absolutely sure that you do.

A squeeze from Lu draws you out of your thoughts, the smile she gives you being surprisingly gentle. "I think that is what makes you special. You don't judge, but accept people as they are. Even someone like me."

The gale weakens as you mull that over, Lu having found something of interest; you can see it from a distance too, appearing like a blue-scaled dragon. It will still take a little while until you are close to this one, especially if you do not want to be spotted ahead of time.

Still... "I don't think it's good that I see people doing evil without at least trying to stop them."

And this time, Lu laughs at you. Loud and hard she laughs, hugging you to her chest with an ease and mirth that makes you wonder if this is how she used to be. It's a pretty laugh too, not the usual barks of laughter you hear from her.

"Oh, you are a treat! Isn't it obvious? You don't pick these fights because you care and because you know that there is no stopping once you start."

That makes no sense. You just tilt your head at Lu as best as you can, prompting another snicker. "Perhaps you did not notice it before, but the people you surround yourself with hold quite the temper on certain subjects, as well as a surprising amount of stubborness. If you picked a fight with any of us on a matter they feel so strongly about, there would be bad blood sooner or later. You couldn't stop me from fighting Heaven without killing me, but once you start? You would never stop trying until we grow apart."

Oh.

She is right.

You never thought about it that way, but your friends are quite headstrong. It is scary to imagine the kinds of fights you could end up having with them; even that squabble with Paoras you had on Valhalla already bothered you a lot. On the other hand, considering the rest... no, that does not matter.

The silence stretches for a little while as you close in; Lu gives you a sideway glance soon enough, though. "No follow-up about whether you even should seek the company of people you find morally questionable."

She gets an unamused look back. "Don't make it sound so easy. I'm not the best person myself, so I don't really have any room to judge... and I don't want to hate my friends, even if I don't agree with them."

Lu huffs again and slows her approach. "You really fail to understand just how much an open mind like yours means. Nary a soul is purely malevolent, so giving them a chance and holding onto them can let you find many friends and change many a life." She then drops the matter: "Anyway, we have arrived; it took a while to find this one, though I never...."

Your friend trails off and you find her eyes slightly widened when you look up. A good bit ahead and below sits a dragon, or something that looks like one. Except that it has no wings and navy blue scales all over. Mana swirls all around it to seep into the surrounding area, a magical field of some kind sits on its tail, and you do not like those claws or horns particularly much.

With Lu not saying anything, you just ask: "Is that a dragon?"

Her responding squeeze is a little too tight for comfort and she hisses at you with even wider eyes: "Of course not, do you really think I would get us both killed for training?"

That gives you pause and faintly reminds you of something you were told about Dragons before. They are much more powerful and Archangels were originally made to fight them, or something like that.

"I give you that it appears like one, minus the wings." Your friend takes a deep breath before shaking her head. "But this is not one. This is a Naga, a species native to Milidia. Or, well, a species that was native; they went extinct long ago."

"Oh."

"This is actually just the second one I have ever seen, the first one having attacked my battlegroup's outpost right after I was stationed on this world. I can not really remember any specifics aside from them being fiercely territorial and prone to expanding their territory without warning."

No information, great. "So that is why they went extinct?" You just get a nod while the two of you sink lower, toward a good hiding spot distant from the Naga. It has not spotted you yet. "What happened to the first one you saw?"

The answer is short and concise: "Gabriel happened to it."

She lets the statement stand and you have no response to give. Lu sets you down on the ground soon after and both of you crouch behind a hill to watch your mark. It seems to be resting and is honestly boring to watch right now.

On the other hand, Lu knows basically nothing about it, so you might have to go in blind. Except... "Are we going to shadow that thing and find out more about it?"

The response you get is a playfully surprised gawk. "Since when are you aware of stealth and intel gathering?"

You bat her shoulder, though both of you are giggling soon after.


That is basically the last time you get to laugh for the next day, though. Staking out that Naga is boring, seeing that it usually patrols its territory or lies around; it does not even eat during that time, though at least you get to see it charge a singular boar-like creature that wandered into its territory. Not to kill it, just to chase it off.

It is big and surprisingly nimble for its size. You doubt you can outspeed it without making some commitments.

Right now, just after noon, you are back at a reasonable distance and watching the napping creature. You went back for food and sleep before, but this seems to be its nest. There is hardly even shade around your hideout, being located on the same hill you were on yesterday; stakeouts suck.

"Stakeouts suck."
"You said that five times already, and this was just today."

Lu is vaguely annoyed, but she can deal. You know for a fact she does not like the inaction either. Still, you both want to at least see the Naga fight something for real before engaging it.

"Let's give it a few more hours, then-"

You cut yourself off as your sense pings, moving to flip from your belly to your back. Then the sensation grows as more of it enters your reach, just deflecting it is not possible. It is too big.

You bend your legs and stab your heels into the ground, then push off; but it is too fast. You only get a glimpse of a giant thing with a scaly beard... that explodes the moment it hits you.

(Explosive Melee: 1, explosion triggers
Bazel Divebomb: +4000 Heavyweight Dive, +74 dice, +1200 Explosive Melee, +2400 Point Blank Explosion, +8000 SURPRISE! = 15,674 Total Damage
Defiance: +100 Base Resilience, +492 dice, -50 What?!, +100 Dodge Attempt = 642 Total Damage Reduction
Lucfier: +50 Base Resilience, +2308 dice, -50 Completely Unexpected = 2308 Total Damage Reduction

15,030 Final End Damage for Defiance, 13,366 Final End Damage for Lucifer
Lucifer Health: 39,600 - 13,366 = 26,234
Defiance Health: 900 - 15,030 = -14,130

Defiance is dead, Rage Against Fate triggers)


Your skin was burned off by the explosion, your flesh is charred and what clothes you still wore have been torn to shreds. It hardly even registers while you focus the thrust of your wings to push yourself out of the dust; your body broke the soft earth, allowing you to get out from below the creature's foot.

Your eyes, arms, and wings are all whole, which is enough.

You are fallen Lucifer, and you messed up. Even after almost two months, you failed to remember the most dangerous predator on Milidia, holding its title through the combination of invisibility, flight, and a highly lethal first strike. You never even saw one alive, yet you know it better than any other creature from the warnings your elders gave you long ago.


Your guilt is replaced by worry about Heidi, who was thrown dozens of metres away after her attempt to dodge the attack. She is in even worse condition than you, her attire torn by the explosion and the flesh on her entire body ruptured. Blood runs down her body from various wounds, creating a shallow pool around her feet.

The sight hurts to just look at, but you can physically see mana surging through her body, keeping it together. She is already getting to her feet, slowly but surely.

Bazelgeuse barrels out of the dust to charge your first friend in over a thousand years. Its body is coloured in a mix of grey and beige with some ivory, the reddish scales arrayed on its tail and throat forming something resembling a flaming mane and bushy tail. Red veins run over its entire form.

But you do not let it reach your friend. With only two legs, it is easy to trip with a bit of manipulation to your own mana; a thin sling around its ankle and a tug.

(Explosive Melee: 1, explosion triggers
Bazel Headbutt: +1200 Base Damage, +383 dice, +1200 Explosive Melee, +1200 Charge = 3,983 Total Damage

Attack Negated
Riposte
Cost of the Crown: Lucifer heals 3,983 damage (now at 30,217)

Bloodsoaked Cross: +5000 Total Damage, +7064 dice = 12,064 Total Damage
Bazelgeuse: +500 Base Resilience, +386 dice, -250 Tripped = 536 Total Damage Reduction

11,528 Total End Damage
Large Enemy (50%): 5,764 Final End Damage

Bazelgeuse Health: 100,000 - 5,764 = 94,236
Explosive Melee: 1, explosion triggers
Nothing in reach)

Just as it trips, you receive a short burst of speed as always; it suffices to flip your cross so you hold it upward, then throw the weapon like a harpoon that slams into the monster and makes its scales explode again; nothing is hit and your weapon sticks in its hide now, but that at least got its attention from Heidi. Your own magic surges and mends some of the wounds, though you could not care less.

The thing turns around and roars up at you, now ensuring that the Naga noticed this entire commotion.

It is answered from behind, however. Heidi roars in a primal rage you have never heard from her before, which you watch unhappily. Her aura lashes out to challenge the large monster, which turns to her again.

At least the other one will need a little while to reach. You quickly dash around Bazelgeuse and tear your weapon out of it, with a little push to dodge the creature's scaly wing on the way. This brings both of you in front of it, but at least it distracts the monster for a moment.

That is when your power reaches out. You let it.

(Blood Soaked Cross: Defiance's Health reset to 900.

Rage Against Fate cancelled, Defiance is alive.)

It thankfully knits her back together, mends flesh and tendons and bones. You did not like the sight of her being so mangled, even though you instinctually knew she would be fine.

Heidi's breathing is heavy when you float up next to her, the girl's expression warped into anger. She stares at Bazelgeuse, who is carefully watching the both of you right now. Only a moment until it comes at you again.

Not that there is any choice in the matter. You can tell with a glance at your friend, though her figure is oddly distracting for a moment, until you shake off the thought.

-------------
PoV will return to Heidi at the start of the next chapter. This plan is hers and not Lucifer's.
Also, Heidi is pissed. Any plan that includes retreating or fleeing is vetoed by default.

[] What do? (Write-in)


[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it


+15xp Stigmata
+20xp Encountered a Naga
+100xp Counter-Ambushed by Bazelgeuse!

EXP gained: 135
Total EXP: 1,056


Notes
-Clothes Destroyed: Defiance and Lucifer take -90% to their Base Resilience
-ETA for Naga to join the battle: 2 turns
-Bazelgeuse Health: 94,236 / 100,000
-Lucifer Health: 30,217 / 39,600
-Battlefield: mostly plains with a few hills and a little creek running between

Bazelgeuse

​

Stats

Health: 100,000
Base Damage: 1,200
Base Resilience: 500
Magic Modifier: 475

Affinity: Nature

Weapon

Maw
Level 10
Attacks Per Turn: 3
Affinities: Nature
Ability: Lethal Surprise | ???


Head
Level 3
Attacks per Turn: 1
Affinities: Nature
Ability: Knockback


Tail
Level 5
Attacks per Turn: 2
Affinities: Nature
Ability: ???


Scales
Level N/A
Attacks per Turn: N/A
Affinities: Nature
Ability: Limitless | Detonate

Spells

Fire Blast
Level 2
Base Damage: 800
Magic Modifier: 400
Affinity: Nature
Ability: Burn

Abilities

Flight
Level 7
-May take to the air and fly at up to 60mph.

High-Speed Combat (Lvl 1)
-Bazelgeuse can track and react to objects moving at up to 90mph.

Large Enemy
-Bazelgeuse takes 50% less damage from smaller enemies.

???
-???

Explosive Melee
-Melee attacks against or by Bazelgeuse have a 50% chance to trigger the scales. Bazelgeuse is immune to their own Detonate-effects. Each strike of a multi-hit attack may trigger this Ability.

Natural Camouflage
-While outside of combat, Bazelgeuse can turn invisible at will.

Naga

The Last of its Kind
​

Stats

Health: 80,000
Base Damage: 1,675
Base Resilience: 900
Magic Modifier: 1,100

Affinity: Ocean | Dragon

Weapon

Maw
Level 10
Attacks Per Turn: 3
Affinities: Dragon
Ability: ???


Horns
Level 5
Attacks Per Turn: 2
Affinities: Dragon
Ability: ???


Claws
Level 5
Attacks Per Turn: 2
Affinities: Dragon
Ability: Juggernaut | ???


Tail
Level 20
Attacks Per Turn: 3
Affinities: Dragon
Ability: ??? | ???

Spells

???
Level 20
Base Damage: ???
Magic Modifier: ???
Affinity: Ocean
Ability: ???

Abilities

Large Enemy
-Nagas take 50% less damage from smaller enemies.

Arcane Overflow
-If a Naga does not cast a spell in a turn, ???

Mana Nexus
-???

???
-???