Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
2.66 Against the Cultists IV

“F– Father? Is that really you?” I say.

I can’t believe my eyes, even though I know they are far beyond what humans could ever aspire to in the pre-System world. I know that Chloe and I have both changed somewhat over the past couple of months. In appearance, as well as in terms of our personalities. But the man standing before me, that tired, slightly wizened face, those piercing blue eyes I inherited, that sandy blond hair, now a bit long and a bit silly looking. That’s definitely my father, or the best damn doppelganger I’ve ever seen.

“Hmm? Sera?” he says. “What are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you the same,” I say. “What are you doing out here with a bunch of System-damned cultists trying to destroy the city?”

The man— my father, I’m sure of it now— stops and shakes his head. “I’m doing what I must to protect myself.”

“To protect yourself?” Kristil says. “I don’t give half a damn what you think you’re protecting by being a part of this madness.”

She fires a burst of lightning, and to my shock and horror in equal measure, my father manages to block the attack, repelling it with… No, there’s no way. That’s the characteristic [Ether] signature of the [Repulsion] glyph. He’s a [Glyphcaster] too.

He traces out a simple [Fire] glyph toward me, which I dispel with the inverted version of the same glyph, Manifesting it with but a thought.

He tries again with [Lightning], which I again repel just as he had a moment ago.

“So, you’re the one the Leader spoke about. The one who invokes the power of glyphs,” my father says. “I’d heard that there was someone else among the adventurers opposing us who could use them. I never expected it would be my own daughter.”

“Why are you doing this? Why won’t you answer me?”

“You should already know, Sera.” His voice is distant, forlorn, grief-stricken.

“Is this because of Mom?” I ask.

“You two were my everything, my sun and my star, my reason to go on when everything seemed hopeless. When she died, and then you never came home, I thought I’d lost everything.”

“I tried to call you, Dad. Several times. Why didn’t you try to call? Or message me back or, I don’t know, something! I thought you were dead, and here you are–”

“I should’ve. I guess in my grief at seeing my wife dead, and then you never came home and–” He sighs. “I hadn’t been able to think straight. By the time I thought better of it, I was already involved with the Order, trying to move past it all. I shut my own life out of my mind. A fool I was and am to the end.”

“But why?” Chloe asks.

“Is that you, Chloe? I’m glad to see that you’re doing well.”

“I am. Thanks to Sera and everyone else.” She grabs my right hand with her left, interlacing her fingers with mine as she offers her right hand to my father. “So please, stop this already! I’m tired of people fighting and killing and dying and throwing their lives away!”

“Your hands, Sera. Are you two?”

“Yeah,” I say. “And I’m scared, too. Scared that I’m going to screw it up. Scared I’m going to hurt her. That I’ll say or do or not do something that’ll make her hurt, because I know I’ll hurt just as much. Probably more. But being together is what we both want, and we give each other the strength to go on every day.”

“I see.” He chuckles, the first bit of levity I’ve seen out of the old man. “Are you two happy together?”

Chloe and I turn to each other and nod. “Yeah,” we say in unison. “We are.”

“That makes me happy to hear. A little disappointed that Sera won’t have a little girl of her own someday, but still happy to hear that she has someone who’ll make her as happy as her mother made me for twenty-two years.”

“Mr. Mortensen, please! Help us,” Chloe says. “You–”

“It’s too late for me, Chloe. I’m a wanted man. Just the same as all these other folks here. If we fail today, then we die, whether you do it or we’re turned in to be executed.”

“Stop this, Father!” I say. “If you really care about Mom and me, then let’s work together and find a different path! I know that we can. Just like how Chloe and I have found a path together.”

“So young. So carefree.”

“Will you not stop this already?” I ask. “We’ve already lost Mom. Do you really want us to lose each other as well?”

“It’s too late for me.”

“No, it’s not!” Chloe says. “Stop with the defeatism, Mr. Mortensen! As long as you’re alive, the three of us can figure something out. It’s not too late to change! It’s not too late to start setting things right!”

“We’re wasting too much time,” Kristil says. “If you two want to have a family reunion, do it on your own damn time. I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” Chloe says.

“Chloe, you two should go together.” I say.

“But–”

“I’ll be fine,” I say. I tap her forehead, enveloping her in the light of [Angel’s Grace]. “I’ll be right there after you. Don’t be rash, and do what you can to keep everyone alive.”

She nods. “I’ll hold you to that promise, Sera.”

“I know. And, since I know I haven’t said it enough. I love you, Chloe.”

“I love you too, Sera.”

She rushes off after Kristil, though not quite as quickly as the [Lightning Evoker]’s surging steps. Once she’s a few hundred feet off, which takes only a few seconds, I turn back to my father.

“You really want to do this?” I ask. “You could help us out, earn some clemency, maybe get remanded to community service under the direction of–”

“I appreciate it, Sera. But the fact is, even if you convince me of that, you won’t convince me that you have the power to protect Chloe. Just like how I was unable to protect your mother.”

I draw my arm cannon once more. But I hesitate again. Dammit all. I hate this. Hate it so much. I thought I had resolved myself to do what needed to be done. For Chloe’s sake, for Kristil’s for everyone’s. But I never thought that would mean that I’d have to gun down my own father to do so.

“I feel your kindness, Sera.” my father says. “But it will take more than kindness and words if you are to protect Chloe and create the new future you have envisioned! Now show me your strength. Show me that your convictions and hopes are backed up by more than cheap talk and bravado. That is the only way I will relent on this.”

Damned fool of an old man, just as stubborn and… reckless as he always has been. I guess that’s one trait I took after him. I spread my wings and point my [Mechanical Arm Cannon] at my father, who, against all reason, is actually smiling at me. I shove the tears away for later, readying myself for a fight I hope I’ll never have to relive.

I fire an [Ether Bullet Barrage] at him, aiming toward his shoulders, legs, and other less vital areas. He deflects them with a flourish of his hand once more, sending explosions flying all around as I release the compression that keeps my bullets bonded to a physical form.

And now his smile is a sinister smirk. Damn, he’s pissing me off! Stubborn bastard of an old man! I Manifest [Impulse] into my next barrage, hoping to break through his [Repulsion] barrier that way. I fail, his barrier now reinforced with a second layer. And in a way I hadn’t expected possible. He’s merged [Repulsion] with what I assume is [Elasticity], giving the barrier the flexibility it needs to bend and absorb impacts, rather than shatter from a sufficiently powerful impact.

“You’re too soft, Sera!” my father– no, Theo– says. I can’t think of the man before me as my father anymore.

This is what he wants, right? He wants me to prove that I won’t be soft? That I won’t hesitate to protect Chloe? That, when the time is right, I’ll do what I have to, even if it’s ugly and repulsive to everything I strive to be, as a person and as a [Mechanical Angel] alike? I’ll match his stubborn will, blow for blow!

I apply [Impulse] to my feet, accelerating my movements with each step as I attempt to close the gap. I land a [Repulsion]-filled punch on his barrier, sending sparks flying as our shields collide with one another. He raises a single hand to catch the kick which follows. I spin in midair, using my wings to keep myself aloft as I do, and aim my other foot at his head.

He catches that one too. I don’t relent. I bend my waist, forcing my upper body toward the ground. With the help of my [Impulse] glyph again manifested from my feet, I’m able to handstand, redirecting that force into my legs, which break free of Theo’s grip. Too easily, as though he let me go.

Dammit again! He wants me to go all out, and yet, here he is, toying with me! And how is he this strong? Just how many things did he have to kill to get to this level? And how many of those ‘things’ were other people? Innocent people who wanted no part of this brutal life, but were killed by it nonetheless! I hate it! Just thinking about the lives this man cut short sickens and angers me.

My rage builds, thinking about everyone who died and who didn’t need to, sacrifices to an altar all so that a few madmen— murderers— could gain more power for themselves. On this, Chloe and I are in complete agreement; this callous disregard for life needs to end!

No more holding back. This man isn’t my father. Just a beast who wears his face, a sick mockery of the stubborn, stern, yet ultimately steadfast and loyal man my father once was. Maybe this is his way of seeking penance through death. If so, I don’t like the idea of giving him the quick death he doesn’t deserve. I doubt his victims got off so cleanly. But right now, finishing this fight and saving the others is more important than balancing some sort of scales of karmic justice.

I invert [Repulsion] in my mind, placing my hand on his barrier and attempting to cancel it with equal force. Our eyes meet one last time as sparks fly. Theo pushes against me, holding his barrier firm, but he realizes the truth. His barrier is starting to crack under the combination of my barrier nullity effect and the barrage of [Ether Bullets] I continue to blast at him. I suffer minor blowback damage, but I’ll survive. My equipment is far superior to his, and that is more than sufficient to counteract his slightly higher level and stats.

His [Repulsion] shield bends. It cracks. And then it shatters, dissolving into Ether that fades into the ambience. I follow up with a punch to the gut that sends him keeling over. But before I can try to stop myself in the heat of battle, I’ve already followed up with a pair of bullets to the gut that send his blood spraying everywhere.

I hesitate once more, unable even now to deliver the final blow and put Theo Mortensen out of his suffering. But despite it all, he’s… smiling. Through his grimaces as his life’s blood leaves his eyes, he has the gall to smile and gloat as though he won. And this pisses me off most of all.

As I prepare to leave him to his fate— because a clean death really is too good for this man after what he put Chloe and me through just now— he coughs and whispers to me.

“Sera,” he says. “Chloe’s father… is alive. Find him. He can… tell you more. About… who and… what you… are…”

Chloe’s father knows something about me? I guess the man who does highly-classified government research might have some idea about me. So many questions this raises, and as Theo’s life expires and the System notification appears, I throw it on the pile of things to do once I have more time. But for now, it’ll have to wait until the current problem is addressed.

[You have slain a [Glyphcasting Bulwark] (Level 34). You have gained a boosted 37,500 Experience.]

Dammit, Theo. Forcing me into this, forcing me to fight you like this. Forcing me to… Listen to some goddess-damned cryptic message with your dying words. And then just screwing off to hell with a smile on your face and a song in your heart. May your soul never know peace.

[You have gained enough Experience to reach Level 33. [Strength] +1, [Speed] +1, [Vitality] +1, [Mind] +1. Please assign free stat points. (Remaining: 4)]

I place all four points into my [Mind] stat, hoping that the bit of extra [Ether] I can regenerate between now and then will be enough to turn the tide.

[Maximum Health increases by [Vitality] x2 + Current Level + Rand[1, 3] = 181]

[Maximum Ether increases by [Mind] + Current Level + Rand[0, 2] = 147]

[Level: 33; Experience: 363,745; To Next: 51,305]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 3,181 / 3,709; [Ether]: 1,591 / 2,553]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 31; [Speed]: 29; [Vitality]: 73; [Mind]: 113]