Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
2.51 Battle at the Capitol

We sprint through the streets leading into the heart of Red Clay City. With dawn now past and the morning in full swing, the streets start to bustle with the sights and sounds of people commuting into work, completely unaware of the menace which lurks just beneath the surface.

Another rumble shakes the world around me. It seems so obvious that there’s an attack. Do they not realize that their city has been under siege for the past several weeks? Or are they merely burying their heads in the sand, pretending that it’s just an ordinary earthquake, oblivious to the battles raging just beyond their front porches?

My mind slips to my mother, to the horrid state she was left in. Part of me still rages at the fact that there were people out there willing to do such depraved, horrid things to a woman who worked so hard for so little, just to give me a chance at a decent life. And that’s the mindset I need to have if I’m to do what I’ve committed to. To not see the politicians as bloodsucking leeches wearing human skin, but to pretend— for one day— that they are actual humans with human families who might be sad if they get savaged by whatever is approaching them.

We race through the streets, not bothering to stay on the sidewalks. Most streets don’t even have sidewalks, a consequence of shitty urban planning designed entirely around the automobile, with god-awful public transportation and no concern for pedestrians. The looks on people’s faces has yet to stop amusing me as we dash through the streets, fully keeping up with automobile commuters under our own power and Skills. And we’re not alone, a few particularly enterprising folks having invested enough stat points into Speed to join us on the streets. Even one kid who can’t be more than fourteen. Can’t imagine what he had to do to get enough levels to match our stats.

The bustle builds as we reach the city center. Lights of businesses— retailers and offices alike— are turning on, signaling the beginning of the workday. Plenty of people are getting out of their cars in work uniforms or fancy blazers and sport jackets. And I must look like the goofiest thing straight out of a cosplay convention, wearing wings straight off an ornithopter, but which definitely couldn’t work except for the fact that the System allows them to.

My amusement is cut short by a massive eruption of dirt and debris about three miles ahead. Cars stop. Heads turn. The city freezes as the skyscraper-sized earthworm smashes through the capitol grounds, spewing dirt and crude oil and debris all around like a fetid geyser erupting. But I remain unfazed. Chloe, Kristil, and I turn to each other and share a solemn nod before we redouble our chase, fighting the crowd now trying desperately to turn around and flee the complex.

It takes five more brutal minutes for us to arrive at the complex. It’s already in tatters. The classical-styled façade of the legislative building is sundered, columns of white limestone already fallen, crumbled to pieces before the worm’s tremendous might. And sure enough, on the creature’s obverse, about twenty feet from its head, there’s a young woman with flaming red hair standing on its head barking orders.

With my eyes greatly improved, I still see the woman atop the worm, perhaps Lindsey’s age, smirking. Reveling, even, at the destruction she and her companion are causing. And it pisses me off. Even if she’s doing so to people who deserve it, there’s way, way too much collateral damage, from the methods she employs. Not just the bureaucrats and civil servants who aren’t in charge of setting or enforcing the uglier side of state policy. But all the support staff, contract workers, and others on site who have no involvement with the machinery of government whatsoever. Even young children are getting caught in this preventable tragedy.

I clench my fist in anger, tapping into the penumbra of my rage as I watch the creature continue its ceaseless ravages unabated. Not completely unabated, thank the goddesses above, as Lindsey pelts it with a barrage of [Light Arrows]. But her attacks are doing little against the creature’s seeming regeneration. Every wound Lindsey delivers is smoothed over by some sort of lymph-like fluid leaking out of the worm’s skin. The wounds then scab over in the span of mere seconds, the consequence of some sort of autonomous, persistent healing Skill.

So the options are to overwhelm or disable its Skill, overcome its [Ether] regeneration rate, or hit it with such a strong blow that we slay it in a single blow. I am very much not equipped for, nor my build centered around, a protracted engagement. That leaves only the option of overwhelming its defenses. Light doesn’t seem to be overwhelmingly effective, and based on how easily it healed from what looks like a burn wound, I’m guessing [Heat] is going to be similarly ineffective.

[Lightning] is rapidly becoming my go-to element, Kristil’s choice of evocations obviously rubbing off on me. And with how effective it has been in the last several battles, I can’t exactly blame her. Though it’s still wise to do a cursory mental scroll through of any other ideas I have that might be effective.

I could try to flood and drown it— I understand that worms exchange gases through their skin, eschewing lungs. And with the mammoth size of the creature and the biological realities of the square-cube law, it could work. If I could maintain that much water for a long enough period of time. And there’s no System shenanigans at play, which of course there are because no worm can naturally grow to three hundred feet long otherwise.

And I don’t currently have some sort of [Sleep] inducing glyph. Damned Oneiros not giving up that particular ability when he vaporized into the dungeon. That or paralysis or any other status condition would be useful, if I knew the right glyphs and combinations.

The one remaining promising line of attack is to go after the rider herself. A powerful surprise attack could potentially knock her out in a single hit. But if I miss or underestimate her strength, I’m wasting a ton of [Ether] for minimal gain.

Up ahead, Lindsey barely manages to avoid the worm’s acidic spray and the rain of spines flying toward her. A few Capitol guards are shooting ordinary bullets and weak evocations of fire and ice toward the creature, but their attacks are proving as effective as a feather. If this creature is over level 35— it must be, considering how difficult it is for Lindsey to keep pace— I can’t guarantee I can overcome its defenses in a single strike, even with my [Glyphcasting]. Even forming a pure [Ether Strike] like my old self, infusing it with every drop of [Ether] in my body, is unlikely to be effective. And I don’t have that Skill of hers in the first place.

As such I judge the potential risks and rewards to be in favor of attacking the rider and trying to deal with a savage beast acting on instinct afterwards, rather than face a beast guided by human intelligence to cause optimized devastation. I take a defensive position behind a nearby slab of concrete as I prepare my glyphs, hoping that neither adversary has some sort of [Ethersight] or [Identify] variant that can suss me out.

Rather than [Lightning] as I originally planned, I decide to use [Earth] as my base glyph. My goal is to impale her with a single physical strike, rather than bombarding her with magic attacks that might not be as effective. [Earth] combines with [Attraction] to provide a bit of a homing property to the spell. The piercing variant of [Sharpness], together with [Stability], provide heft and penetrating power to the spell. Finally, I attach [Impulse] to the overall array to improve the velocity of the attack yet further, narrowing the range to dodge or counterstrike.

My head is pounding, my limit of five glyphs now reached. But it’s not quite as oppressively painful as it was before. I think my higher [Mind] stat helps govern how many glyphs I can Manifest at any one time. I still have enough mental fortitude to analyze the worm’s movements, as well as those of its rider.

A bolt of lightning flies from the south, a herald of Kristil’s and Chloe’s arrival. And they’re not alone. About a dozen other people have joined in the fight, whether out of patriotism or some attempt to siphon Experience for their participation in the battle. And I don’t even mind; none of them can do much damage, but they will collectively serve as a useful distraction. And improve the chances that Chloe escapes serious injury.

Lindsey notices as well, using the brief distraction as a chance to take the offensive, firing another trio of her [Light Arrows] into the maw of the beast. And they seem effective, stunning the creature. Noticing the shade of the building behind me and my orientation relative to the battlefield, I formulate an idea.

I leap onto a nearby tree and then, with the assistance of my [Wings of Icarus], ascend onto the nearby rooftop. This too has risks— if I take too much damage and lose control of my glyph array as I move into position, I won’t appreciate the side-effects. It might not be just my arm that I lose this time around.

But right now, the bigger risk is not taking this risk. I only have enough [Ether] for this one shot, and I intend to make it count. I soar high into the air, using the glare of the rising sun as cover for my approach. My mental strain gets compounded by [Ether] strain setting in, and it’s only getting worse with each passing second as I hold myself aloft, watching the battle under [Mechanist’s Eye] and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

“Why the hell are you fighting so hard to protect these loathsome, sickening lizards in human skin?” the woman asks. “Don’t you understand how much better the world will be once we rid ourselves of these pathetic, worthless leeches once and for all?”

Lindsey doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t give any indication of my presence at all, high above the battlefield. But she does shift herself just a bit, ensuring that she’s directly opposite of me relative to the worm and its handler. I’ll have to thank her later, if this all works out. And I’m glad we’re working together this morning; she’s a consummate professional soldier, aware of exactly what I’m doing and playing her part perfectly.

I release the [Ether] flow to the [Wings of Icarus], descending from a hover into a freefall. The wind whips at my body, but with my [Vitality] reinforcing my physical form, I hardly notice the raging gales assaulting my eyes. Yet another boon of the visual Skills I’ve developed.

Faster and faster I descend, my heart rate picking up as adrenaline again floods my body. I have to keep waiting until the last possible second. Releasing my spell even an instant too soon could mean the death of everyone here. And I only get one chance. Failure means everyone dies. No pressure, Seraphina.

But then, as I fall the last few dozen feet, a sense of calm and contentment comes over me. This is who I am. Seraphina, the protector, the cyborg reborn as a human, Dr. Chotono’s Mechanical Angel, falling from the heavens to bring salvation to all those plagued by the System and smite those who would use it for ill.

And I remember: I have no plans of dying here this morning. I have my beautiful, wonderful, kind and comforting and generous and loving Chloe, and a life I want to live alongside my best friend and now girlfriend.

I release my spell when I’m a quarter second from impact. A spear of earthen crystals, hardened and sharpened to the fullest extent of my capabilities, forms before me and launches directly at the attacker’s head. In the blink of an eye, I collapse onto the worm’s oozy flesh as the spear punctures clean through the back of her skull and splatters blood and gore everywhere. She lets out one last scream, one that etches itself into my psyche for all eternity.

I don’t know if she died instantly, or if she has enough [Vitality] and [Health] to tank such a critical blow to the most vital part of her body and somehow maintain some vestiges of life. But I doubt she has enough gray matter left to form a coherent thought before Lindsey rushes in and severs her throat, a System notification within the second confirming her death.

And sure enough, between the bouncy flesh of the worm to cushion my fall and my [Vitality] reinforcing my body, launching myself out of the sky at terminal velocity doesn’t even do a quarter of my maximum [Health] in damage. Just some bruises in the morning.

[Ether] strain threatens to steal my wakefulness, only the rampaging worm before me keeping me from succumbing. But now, with no direction, its healing flow starts to break down and its movements become erratic, primal, and unfocused. My body may be battered, but my confidence is soaring. We can win, and we will survive.

[Level: 30; Experience: 259,745; To Next: 14,550]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 2,327 / 3,082; [Ether]: 174 / 2,028]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 35 (27); [Speed]: 32 (25); [Vitality]: 84 (66); [Mind]: 128 (100)]

[Your [Basic Glyph Manifestation (Rank VI)] has upgraded to [Basic Glyph Manifestation (Rank VII)].]

[Your [Glyphcasting (Rank XII)] has upgraded to [Glyphcasting (Rank XIII)].]