"N̵̢͔̣͇̱͉͇͇̓̆͆̋͒͋̐͂̀̽̽̎͘ë̶̢̧̢̛̺̥͚̜̰̰͈́̌́̇͌͐̌́͜ǧ̵̤͊̃͊̈́ḁ̶̛̝̔͋̓̆͝͝-̶̺̯̰̹̈́͂̇̈̿̋͊̔Ĥ̴̡̨̡̰̙̞̱̻̥̘̥̑̀̀̾́̍̂̉̀̎̽̏̚ỏ̵̧̡͓̝̜̼̣̆̔̋̌͑̈́̐͂̍́̚͝p̷̼̯̪̉e̵̘̯̪̫͓̭̮͍̽̃͐̏"
In an instant, it feels as though your lungs are on fire. You fall to your knees, gasping for breath, as Tomoe-san, Kyouko, Mikuni Oriko, Kirika, and Nagatsuki Miyuki do the same.
What is this? Your brain is screaming to your lungs for oxygen, but your lungs fail to respond. The air is thick, hot, and hazy; the black pools of corruption are bubbling and burning; your left hand is so hot it feels like it might melt through the concrete at any moment. Your eyes dart to your Soul Gem;
it's almost completely pitch-black.
You try to cleanse your Soul Gem, but the corruption forces itself upon you faster than you can clean yourself.
What's going on? What's happening? Is this Walpurgisnacht's new power? You don't know what to do. You don't know what you
can do.
"Book of Earth!"
You gasp sharply as breath returns to your lungs. Around all of you, Saber has erected her barrier Noble Phantasm, and for the moment the horror beyond the aged walls has subsided. You still have no idea what that attack was, but for now you'll take the solace that has been given to you, and do what you can to cleanse your Soul Gem.
It's a miracle you even survived that attack at all. You lean your back against the hard wall, savouring the freshness of breath in a way you never thought you would have to. Beside you, Archer crouches down and offers what comforts he can. "What... Was that?" you ask.
"I don't know," Kyouko responds. "I though you were s'pposed ta know everything about that little shit, so why don't you know?"
"I don't know." How could you?
Walpurgisnacht has never displayed any ability like that before.
But then, has it displayed any abilities before like anything you've seen in this fight? "All of a sudden, it was like my whole body was on fire..."
"That was most likely a Bounded Field of some sort," Archer says. "If I had to guess, it's one specially-tailored towards dealing lethal spiritual damage to
puella magi. That would be fitting with every other trick we've seen
Walpurgisnacht employ so far." You and Tomoe-san both nod at Archer's explanation; you remember how you felt, wandering into Mikuni Oriko's amateur first attempt at a Bounded Field back when you and she were enemies.
Walpurgisnacht's attack felt like nothing but an overclocked reprisal of that experience.
"And it'd also explain why my
Book of Earth was able to protect us," Saber adds. "I didn't really know if it would work, actually. Was kind of working off a hunch, more than anything else."
"I think we're all glad it did work," Nagatsuki Miyuki says. Your eyes wander the wide room of Saber's barrier Noble Phantasm-slash-feudal mansion, checking on the condition of your teammates. For the most part, everyone looks to be in acceptable condition, though Nagatsuki Miyuki is looking a little strained by her servant's Noble Phantasm, and everyone's Soul Gems are slow to cleanse.
"We should do what we can to shore up our defenses before we try taking another crack at things," you say once your assessment of your team turns up positive. "Right now, this barrier is the only thing standing between us and instant death."
"Agreed." Mikuni Oriko beckons for her servant, saying to Lancer "Do what you can to set up additional layers of defense around us." Outside, you can hear the terrible sound of concrete and steel being ripped from their foundations, followed moments later by the sound of something large crashing against you. The room shakes, its boundary flickering transparent, giving you a glimpse outside as
Walpurgisnacht attempts to bring down your fortifications by throwing buildings at you. "When you've finished, we'll do what we can to resume the attack."
"Of course."
"You two should be fine out there," you say to McRemitz-san and her Lancer servant. "You might experience some unpleasant side effects, but unlike the rest of us you won't die if you leave the defensive line while that Bounded Field is still up. We need someone on building defense until Lancer is finished reinforcing us; can we trust you to keep us safe?"
McRemitz-san pumps her silver arm, saying "We'll do what we can to buy you girls the time you need." She looks to her Lancer servant, saying "Let's pack it in, Lancer; we've got work to do."
The blue Lancer smirks, saying "You got it," as he and his master depart from the fortifications.
You too, Caster," Tomoe-san says, motioning for her servant to join the pair. Caster looks down at his master, but Tomoe-san says "Don't worry about me. I've still got enough Grief Seeds to keep going in spite of this little setback. I'll be fine." Caster nods, and without a word departs from his master's sight to join McRemitz-san and her Lancer.
Several moments pass, and you can feel the thunderous battle outside shaking you to your core. Every so often a piece of debris will strike the barrier, causing it to flicker transparent and give you a look at what is going on outside. So far, the trio of McRemitz-san, her Lancer, and Caster appear to be holding their ground;
for now. You don't want to take too long recovering and give
Walpurgisnacht the chance to come back with something even worse.
"So, what now?" Kirika asks. "We can't just go outside while we're like this, so what are we supposed to do? Just sit tight and hope we don't die? How are we supposed to beat that thing like this?"
"Our chance will come, dearest," Mikuni Oriko says. "Once Lancer is finished erecting another layer of defense, we'll resume the attack." She looks to you, asking "That is the plan, correct?"
"Correct," you respond. You look to your Soul Gem; it's holding stable after your most recent cleansing. You don't know when you'll be safe to leave the confines of
Book of Earth, but for now your Soul Gem is holding stable, and should remain that way for as long as you stay put. "Once Lancer gives the signal, we'll send her and Archer out to keep the pressure on."
"Are you sure?" Archer asks. "I can stay here if you think you need more time to recover."
Even though your Soul Gem is stable, you're certain more time to recover in the face of
that would be welcome. But, as you look around the room to each of your teammates, you can't selfishly take that luxury when there's still a battle being fought outside. "I can manage," you say to Archer. "I appreciate the concern, but it's more important that we defeat
Walpurgisnacht, and you can't be out there defeating it if you're in here rubbing my back. I've got plenty of Grief Seeds to spare if I need them."
"I guess I'll have to keep Saber in position until it's safe for us to leave," Nagatsuki Miyuki says. She glances down at her Soul Gem, then to her servant, before cleansing her Soul Gem a second time. "It's taking a bit more out of me than I thought to keep this thing up, so I hope it's safe to leave soon."
"Master, I have done as you requested," Lancer says, returning with good news. "The barrier around Saber's
Book of Earth is stable and holding strong against
Walpurgisnacht's attacks."
"That's wonderful to hear, Lancer," Mikuni Oriko replies. She looks to you, and you nod. "Take Archer with you and resume the attack on
Walpurgisnacht." Lancer nods, motioning with her head for Archer to join her. Archer's eyes meet yours for a moment, and you nod, sending him off with Lancer.
You hate to leave Homura and her friends in that condition, but she has a point. Defeating
Walpurgisnacht is the reason you're here, and you can't do your job if you're sitting around giving Homura special treatment. You'll make it up to her later, somehow.
After this is over, you're thinking a nice, relaxing family dinner will do her and Kirika some good. Hell, invite the others along while you're at all, and give everyone who needs it the reward.
But you're not going to get there without first defeating the monster floating above your heads.
Walpurgisnact laughs; it's a repulsive sound that makes you want to gouge your eardrums out. "Alright," you say to Lancer. "You take the high road, I'll take the low road."
Lancer acknowledges you with an "Understood," igniting
Sowilo runes under her feet and catapulting herself up into the fray, while you prepare something special for
Walpurgisnacht down here on the ground. In between the flashes of light, gold, silver, and red, as they destroy the ever-present rain of falling buildings, you see Lancer enveloping, then exploding,
Walpurgisnacht with a giant-size elemental bomb.
"Alright then, it looks like it's my turn." You draw back until your bowstring is taut. Ready?
"Caladbolg!"
[ ] Wat do?
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