Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
2.14 The Antoid Horde

I clench my fist as we fight our way through the oncoming crowd. Hundreds if not thousands of people are cramming into the food court from everywhere else on campus. I doubt the flimsy locks and glass doors and the handful of Rent-A-Cops acting as campus security are going to do much against whatever monsters are about to ravage the town and its inhabitants. But they think it might, forestalling the panic, or at least giving them some vague hope to cling to.

As we finally slip out one of the side doors and toward a group of soldiers and other defenders, my mind wanders errantly.

One of the many things I have learned in the preceding weeks is how much people need hope. Need something to believe in, to rally around, to look to for safety and security. I think that’s what Madison and Dr. Chotono meant when they told the previous me. But the previous me didn’t have the experiences, the time spent living with humanity, as a human, to truly grok this simple truth.

On a related note, I think the fact that I am so easily able to accept that I’m not human is proof that I’m not, deep down. Although that begs the question: Was it not the System which sealed away my memories? Was it the old me who did so, all to play the part of a human that much more convincingly? If so, it would make sense why memories are slowly percolating back now that the System has arrived. Now that I again need those memories, and the context they provide.

“What’s the situation?” Nicholas asks once we find the guards from earlier, now joined by a uniformed, clean-shaven man carrying a sword that carries the characteristic glint of Ethertech. “What kind of monster, approximate number? Any information about levels, Skills, or other tactics, if you can spare them.”

“Ants, human sized,” the man in charge of the patrol says. His nameplate says ‘Kant’ and his rank insignia is slightly less elaborate than Nicholas’s— a first lieutenant or captain, or the equivalent. “Hundreds of them. Probably upwards of a thousand, swarming in from the south. The first wave is going to reach the outskirts within five minutes.”

We all make our way down there as quickly as we can. Chloe starts lagging behind the rest of us until Alana picks her up into a princess carry and begins racing forward. Me and my low [Speed] compared with the others means I’m bringing up the rear, though I power through to spare myself the embarrassment of having Lindsey grab me by the waist and forcing me to leave my dignity behind in her dust.

When we make it to the southern outskirts, I see no sign of the insectoid army, but I can already hear the rumble of stampeding footsteps closing in. Lindsey grabs me— this time, I don’t resist— before parkouring her way up to the rooftop of the best-positioned storefront. She pulls out her bow and strings it a bit tighter than before, before reaching into her pack and pulling out a large [Ether Canister], which she hands to me.

“That guy who said hundreds, maybe a thousand was underestimating the size of the ant army approaching. There’s simply too many footsteps, spreading over too wide of an arc for this army to only be seven hundred and fifty to a thousand strong. I think we’re looking at closer to twenty-five hundred. Maybe close to three thousand.”

“Three thousand…” I trail off.

“Thankfully, we have the advantage of terrain and defense, and there’s a nearly flat plain between the tree line and us. You–” She stares pointedly into my eyes, her tone demanding. “–need to prepare your strongest offensive ability. I want you to put every bit of [Ether] you can into your attack. Don’t bother with efficiency. We need raw damage output, and if you can make it flashy and explosive, that’d be even better.”

Before I can interject, she continues.

“The damage is important, but being visible and showy about it is even more important. Morale, Sera. That canister is supposed to restore about five hundred [Ether], but in your hands, it should get you pretty close to full. When that happens, I want you to conserve your [Ether] until you can fire another blast. My job is to pick off what I can while you recharge, and better yet, try to get the ants to congregate together.”

I nod. “I need Nicholas to cast his best mental buffs on me, and if Chloe can hit me with her [Angelic Blessing], that would be even better. And we have to time it just right— [Doublethink] only has a duration of about four and a half minutes at his current level.”

“Damnit,” she mutters. “I’ll see what I can do.”

The first couple of ants emerge from the treeline. They have the characteristic six legs, beady, compound eyes, chitinous exoskeleton, and large, chomping mandibles as expected of giant insects. However, they walk only on their back four legs, using the front two almost akin to our arms. As a result, they walk in an odd, partially-upright gait, with the tops of their antennae reaching about four feet tall.

High pitched thrumming sounds, faintly audible before, now grow louder as a small contingent of about two dozen winged ants takes to the skies. I watch on as Lindsey fires a [Light Arrow], plucking one of the bugs out of the sky like a chicken. It falls to the ground and splatters, taking one of its sisters with it with a sickening crunch.

Hundreds of them are now swarming, approaching the city in the first wave, while thousands more lurk just behind the tree line, watching us. I pull out my [Modular Blowgun] and aim down toward the ground, trusting my comrade to take care of the winged buggers diving down upon us. With my levels and [Mind] stat much higher than it was during my early days, it’s trivial to maintain a supply of close to four hundred bullets without suffering any mental fatigue.

I let them rip with abandon, raining hell down upon the invading menace. Each bullet, even without glyph reinforcement, hits the ground with a loud pop, followed by a small concussive impact. Limbs are torn apart from the shockwaves, and in the densely-packed assault, the concussive blasts are concentrated and ricochet inwards and back out in an amplifying loop. I briefly consider adding in the inverted [Repulsion] glyph, but I stay my technique. Lindsey wants me to be flashy about my [Glyphcasting], and I do trust her and Nicholas’s insights in matters martial.

Even without my glyphs, the [Modular Blowgun] continues to do good work, both at slowing down the charge and whittling down their numbers. Alexey leaps into the fray once the first ants come within a hundred feet of his position, launching a shockwave at the ground. Unfortunately, the four-legged creatures are more bottom-heavy and stable than humans. His attack isn’t without positive effect, but it is muted, and the bulk of the ant army continues after being momentarily dazed by the impact.

I continue to fire bullets toward the ants until Alana raises my sword in the air and lets it glint in the early afternoon light. It shines with an otherworldly golden glow, and a font of light descends from the heavens, casting its gaze solely upon the armored woman. Her steel armor, before dull and covered in dirt and dust, is now polished and glowing. And most tellingly, a pair of translucent, golden-white wings like those often associated with angels sprouts from her back.

She never confirmed it before, but this is all the proof I need. Alana has a [Valkyrie] styled class, and the [Blessed Sword] I found in the dungeon is better wielded in her hands than it will ever be in mine. And without hesitation, she takes to the skies, slicing a pair of winged ants in twain just as they begin diving toward civilian targets behind our line of defense.

I turn around, but Lindsey stops me. “She can take care of them. We stick to the plan.”

With Alana vacating the front for the time being, her brother steps forward, conjuring a thick braid of tree roots between the two armies. It does little to stop the encroaching insects, but it buys a second or two. And that's worth it. As they slow to stumble over the obstacle, Lindsey and I pelt them with our long-range fire, while the rest of our team, plus Captain Kant and a couple of his men, begin engaging in close-range combat.

While they have overwhelming numbers, none among this first wave is particularly strong, as Lindsey confirms. Levels between thirteen and seventeen, all too low for even Chloe to get more than a trickle of Experience, unless the System decides to display rare generosity and reward us for the numerical disadvantage. Seeing as though it didn’t against the raptors, I’m expecting no such luck this afternoon. Waste of bullets in that regard, but I suppose it’s better than rolling over and dying, and better than wiping our hands clean of the matter and leaving the people of the newly-renamed Ft. Still to their fate.

More hell rains down, courtesy of yours truly, and System notifications begin ticking in, slowly at first, but then in waves. Lindsey’s intelligence is once again proven correct, as is my disgust at the lack of Experience for our work. Alexey falls back, joining Brent in formation. Nicholas’s aura radiates outward surrounding the soldiers, and a warm light fills Chloe’s wand as she casts a healing incantation on the master sergeant, curing him of the minor scrapes and scuffles he suffered in the earlier engagement.

Alexey roars, and his usually pale features take on a slight reddish tint. His muscles, already substantial in size and definition, expand further. His frame of six foot two grows to around seven feet of pure, rippling muscle. He launches another rippling mass of solid air toward the giant bugs. The one nearest the towering titan of a man is punched straight through, and the shockwave topples another two dozen and splits the formation in twain.

I continue to hold back my [Glyphcasting]. The soldiers down below have things under control, and this is a good opportunity for Captain Kant and his soldiers to gain crucial Experience for themselves. The three local soldiers that started the battle are joined by another nine, some with the markings of military, others who wear civilian garb. I don’t know if these are also military, or just concerned people taking up arms in defense of their city, friends, and family.

A pair of buzzing wings just over my head knocks me out of my musing. I instinctively reach for the sword I don’t have at my side, before ducking at the last second. I raise my arm, and through a rare bout of sheer dumb luck for me, the snapping mandible gets caught on my [Simple Buckler], dealing no damage to me. Lindsey impales the creature a moment later, filling the air around us with the acrid, copper-tainted stench of its blood.

“What are you doing, getting distracted like that in the middle of a battle?” she asks.

And she’s right to. I’m letting these errant thoughts break my discipline, just as I know not to. I give myself a good smack across the cheek to reorient my mental focus and give the battlefield a cursory scan, pelting another flying bug with a well-thrown [Ether Bullet] as I prepare myself for what’s to come.

Alana is cutting down the aerial predators and looks no worse for wear, but she can only be in one place at a time, leaving other bugs to slip through her defenses. I want to help her, but I have to relent, trusting that she can handle the battle in the air. Instead, I take a deep breath and ready my glyphs for action. The host of bugs has clearly judged us vulnerable, and is charging en masse. They will not live to regret their mistake; this I swear.