Cerys POV
You glance at Sabina; that Daiyu was coming is a given, but you are still a little worried about how vulnerable the other Magical Girl is.
Hmm. "Sabina, transform." She looks up from her muttering, blush mostly gone as she takes in your words.
Hopping to her feet, her clothes transition to the familiar school uniform, her sword settling in her hands from nowhere. She looks at you curiously as you step closer, not having the chance to react before your sucker-punch nails her in the stomach. She flinches back from the hit, but you barely even feel her clothing bend, hand bouncing back with a dull thud. She hops backwards slightly, smoothly avoiding kicking Daiyu's legs as she tries to find space to work with. You don't bother pursuing her, just flexing your fingers idly.
Much tougher, I doubt she even felt that.
When she sees that you aren't following through, she scowls at you a little, not really that angry without a throbbing pain in her stomach. "What was that for?" You notice her bite her tongue for a second before she swears, glancing at your sister. You decide to at least do something nice for her for at least trying, despite the fact that you know your sister is probably past Sabina in knowledge of foul language.
"I was making sure you are tough enough not to get killed the first time someone throws a bolt of lightning your way." Alright, it wasn't an amazing test, but it was good enough. Your explanation is enough to mollify her and you turn back, finding Daiyu already transformed and ready. "Alright." You transform yourself, looking at your sister as the other two move next to you. "Don't make any trouble while I'm gone, be good for Cuifen." Your little sister nods a little solemnly, but fails to keep her excited bouncing under control.
Looking at Cuifen gives you nothing, other than a slightly amused exasperation.
I'm not sure I really want to know, I'll deal with it when I get back. You nod at Gaia and grab your sword out of it's customary burst of fire. "Go."
You blink and suddenly you are standing in the middle of a bustling courtyard, uniformed people moving back and forth with a purpose. No-one even looks at you, not really giving you any attention beyond an idle glance. Massive concrete buildings, looking like the love child of a bunker and a house, surround you.
Have they really not noticed? The three of you aren't exactly conspicuous, but then you notice a group of people wearing fantasy-esque robes with glowing lines run down their forms, so you guess that you don't really stand out all that much.
You decide to take advantage of the brief anonymity you'll have, moving a little faster when you see people slowly starting to take notice of you, murmurs slowly spreading through the crowd. "Spread out, wait for me to start, then go." Daiyu nods at you, not moving an inch while Sabina smirks, disappearing instantly and reappearing atop one of the buildings. The fact that she promptly leans against a wall about two feet from a rather nervous looking soldier makes you repress the urge to sigh.
You look around once more before crouching down and taking a reinforced leap, soldiers scattering from the burst of dust with a few swears but moving on after glaring at you for a moment.
Totally oblivious, it's only been a few hours, guess they haven't had enough time to put up warning posters? You smother your smile at the thought you your face on a poster, a big 'Keep away from' plastered across the top. It's so ludicrous that you giggle a little as you look around.
More concrete buildings surround you, three or four layers thick and you can see the framework of more in the distance, rapidly being filled in by...
nothing? The materials are kind of just floating into place on their own, concrete setting in seconds before your eyes.
Huh, that explains the entire base then. More people are staring to look at you now, floating ten metres of the ground in plain sight.
Won't be long now. You try to find some sort of command building and best you can tell, the big, even more heavily armoured building is it.
A massive array of antenna poke from the top, the walls glowing brightly with magic, runes big enough to see from here coating the thing.
Well then, that's probably my main target. You look around, noticing a similarly defended building.
Probably weapon storage or something. A similarly armoured building rests on the opposite side of the base.
Secondary target acquired I guess. You look down when you feel a burst of magic, seeing a one of the glowing mages begin a rapid ascent towards you. Daiyu hums at your back and you nod.
You wait for the man to reach you, his flight spell halting him a short distance from you. When he gets within a few metres and a gust of wind blows his hood off, you get a good look at his face.
Old, so very old. His face is heavily weathered, a long grey beard falling from his chin as scars criss-cross his face. A heavy frown sits on his face as he radiates magic, the weight settling around you and making your hairs stand on end.
"What is your purpose here, you are not welcome." His voice doesn't boom, but some magical effect makes it cross the distance without loosing any volume. Apparently is reaches the men below as well, seeing as you see them look up to you with wide eyes.
Crap. You stretch out your sense and feel them begin moving towards what you guessed were weapon stockpiles.
Ugh. You look back towards the Mage, whose frown had only grown deeper by your lack of response. "Leave now and we need not come to blows, your presence here speaks ill of your intentions."
Your lips raise a little as Daiyu floats forwards very slightly. "Just following orders." His eyes turn cold when you speak and his magic spikes hard enough to send out a shockwave. He doesn't attack you, but you feel magic layering upon him over and over, runes appearing and disappearing as his magic grows stronger around him.
Really shouldn't let him do what he wants. You glance back to Sabina, who was taking advantage of your distraction to ready her sword and nod.
A ball of plasma forms in your hands, the old mage not reacting beyond speeding up his casting slightly. You feel Daiyu begin to cast a shield over you as the ball crosses the distance between you and him, your opponent not even making an attempt to dodge.
(Plasma Sphere: +12,000 Base Damage, +847 Dice, +6000 Stationary Target = 18,847 Total Damage
War Mage: +100 Base Resilience, +1348 Dice, +22,696 Ward of Ashkelon = 24,144 Total Reduction
War Mage Health: 220 - 0 = 220)
The ball collides with him and explodes across his face, plasma being sprayed across the few who are still below you. The incredibly hot matter outright incinerates some it washes over and the shockwave of the explosion buffets you, knocking over anyone who isn't steadied.
When the smoke clears, you see a barrier shining brightly, the severe look on his face not having faded in the slightest.
Uhh. Apparently completely unharmed, he lifts a hand towards you, runes lighting up along his body as a massive spear of magic forms in front of him. Daiyu pulls you behind her as it shoots forwards, slamming the spear with her shield.
(Spear of Alerious: +800 Base Damage, +320 Ordnance, +782 Dice, +1788 Spell Boost = 3690 Total Damage
Primordia Intercept!
Ebon Heart: +890 Base Damage, +112 Dice = 1002 Total Damage
2678 Difference, Spear of Alerious Wins
Spear of Alerious: +2678 Intercept Damage, +734 dice = 3412 Total Damage
Ebony Knight: +1120 Base Resilience, +148 dice, -424 Juggernaut = 843 Total Damage Reduction
2569 Total End Damage
Heart of Steel: 65% Reduction
1700 Final End Damage Heart of Steel)
The spear slams against her shield, rocking the two of you back several metres and pushing Daiyu's arm to the side; the spear shatters harmlessly on her shoulder. You can hear the explosion, but its shockwave is blocked by her body; another three spears come before you can move to do anything, one after the other in rapid succession. Every single spear is met with a shield, battered aside and breaking harmlessly over Daiyu's body.
You frown as you take the brief pause in his casting to check on Sabina, who looks to be happily cutting her way through the unarmed soldiers, stopping most of them from reaching one of the armouries. You kick your Barrier to life, the magic hungry bubble passing over Daiyu harmlessly, though it does consume the shield she cast over you.
That should help at least. You peek over Daiyu's shoulder, bringing your barrier back for a moment as you build up your spell.
Take no chances. The magic hungry spell accepts everything you pour into it, happily drinking every drop as you let it go.
Juggernaut Wave rushes towards the man and with a frown he drops his barriers, darting to the side instantly, the spell just barely passing him by as it flattens a building behind him. He starts layering his barriers again as you grunt, you and your partner closing the distance.
No dodging. You reach towards him, your magic closing around him like a vice.
Halt. You immediately feel him flexing his magic, your binding buckling rapidly as you crash into him, letting your Barrier engulf him.
His wards hold strong for a moment before wavering, your own spell crumbling as you take one arm, Daiyu clamping her own gauntlet around the other. You fly backwards and she does the same, pulling at the man with as much force as you can muster. The runes across his body light up as he tries to cast something, but you feel something give way, the skin splitting across several of the runes as his shoulder finally breaks out of it's socket. He lets out a scream of pain, but you just take the chance to pull harder, your flight finally moving to it's maximum acceleration.
You feel something else snap, the runes desperately holding his arm to his body as they glow blindingly bright. Your barrier feeds on the magic he is desperately throwing into them hungrily and something important finally breaks, sending you rocketing away from him with a tearing noise, an arm clutched in your hands.
You quickly turn around, joining back up with Daiyu as you drop the arm. The mage falls from the sky slowly, evidently alive enough to still be using magic. A single spear forms behind you, glowing brightly and roiling with bright white fire. You end his life with a loud explosion and a wave of heat, his body still somehow managing to keep in one piece despite a hole large enough to fit your had through splitting his chest.
Damn, those are some good runes. You look at Daiyu and notice that she hasn't dropped her arm yet. She looks at it idly, lifting it and then using it to wave goodbye to the plummeting body.
Pff. You turn your head away to try and hide your laughter, but the self-satisfied smile on her face lets you know she saw it. Your barrier quickly scours the blood that had been splashed across your chest, the annoying stickiness fading as you watch it disappear.
Sabina is going to be so jealous, getting blood out of your hair is a pain in the ass.
You float a little higher, the blood quickly fading from Daiyu before you pull the barrier back.
Alright, resistance mostly crushed. You see a couple of mages trying to cluster together around a magic circle of some kind and throw a Plasma Sphere their way, setting off whatever spell they were casting earlier. A massive bolt of lightning slams into the ground and their bodies follow a moment after; limp, smoking, and half melted.
That would have been really bad. You drop altitude and land on the ground, making sure that you are out of sight.
Note to self, do not stand in the open like an idiot.
You search your sense again and feel the soldiers exiting the armouries, surrounding you in a rough pentagram are mages in more circles and off to your right you see what you think is the HQ.
[] Kill the soldiers and destroy the armouries first
[] Kill the mages before they can try something
[] Demolish the HQ
+300xp Ended The Impregnable Fortress
+25xp 'Disarmed' The Fortress
+126xp Killed 126 NATO Soldiers
+9xp Killed 3 Enforcers
