"Ugh…"
"Aric! Can you hear me?"
A strange energy surged through his veins. His muscles tensed as his consciousness slowly returned.
"Aric!"
"ARIC!"
His eyes snapped open.
Evelyn was crouched over him, her hands glowing as she funneled mana into his chest. Her face was pale, but her eyes were filled with relief.
"You're awake." she breathed. "Thank goodness. You were out for a long time."
Aric looked disoriented. "Huh? What…?"
Then it all came rushing back—the FOAB, the detonation, and Lilith.
He winced and rubbed his head. "Did… the FOAB work?"
Evelyn stepped aside to give him room. "Yes. I still don't know what the hell a 'FOAB' is, but… yes, it worked."
"Her Grace is fighting the demon alone now."
Before Aric could respond, a deep rumble rolled through the ground. A deafening shockwave hit them, though thankfully, Seraphina's cocoon shielded them from the brunt of it.
"UGH—!"
Aric clenched his jaw as the blast reverberated around them.
Borin slammed his hands to the ground. The soil responded instantly, forming a protective wall and anchoring everyone in place with thick roots.
"Hold yer arses!" Borin barked.
"That's no mere skirmish goin' on up there. Seraphina's clashin' with a damn demon who could level the whole fuckin' country!"
"Whole fields've been turned to ash. I'd bet me beard Ashwick's nothin' but rubble by now, even with her shadow shield and me bloody wall!"
Aric used healing magic to recover faster and looked at Evelyn,
"How long has she been fighting?"
"About ten minutes now."
Aric put a finger to his chin, In just ten minutes… Ashwick is supposedly nothing but dust
Ahhh, my construction! I'll need to rebuild all that once this is over…
I'm so confused, though. My vision never showed me this demon at all… Is this fate fucking with me?
Is that why Ivy went away?
He composed himself, Wait. That doesn't make sense. She left because she interfered for me, so maybe she broke some sort of rule and has to defend herself right now…
This demon is stupid strong, and the fact that even with Seraphina protecting everyone, the shockwaves and impacts can still be felt…
Aric sighed, It's also really dark here, which means we're inside her cocoon. If this keeps up, rebuilding Ashwick is the least of my worries.
Aric crossed his arms, drawing confused looks from Evelyn, Penelope, and Borin but they said nothing.
I don't have Ivy to tell me my mana percentage at the moment, so if I triple the foresight stupidly, I might drain myself. How can I help Seraphina end this?
Biological weapons are out of the question unless I can stab that bitch with one. Bombs are certainly not an option, especially in the open like that. \
Nukes are obviously a no-go—I'd rather not commit any more war crimes…
Logically, sniping is my best shot at providing support here. I can use foresight on them and get a clean shot at the demon. I guess I can bring out the big boy here—the PTRD-41.
The question is, what bullet do I even use?
Then, Aric had an idea. "Evelyn! Borin! Can you get me out of this cocoon? I know how to help Seraphina!"
Evelyn immediately objected. "Are you crazy!? The moment you go out there, the shockwaves will knock you away!"
"I have an idea! I can use my creation magic to shoot a winning bullet!"
Penelope, who had nearly had a heart attack from Aric's last plan, disagreed wholeheartedly,
"ABSOLUTELY NOT, LORD VAYNE! Pardon my language, but your last idea knocked us unconscious! And now, you want to risk your life again!?"
Aric stood his ground. "Yes, because I won't be going close to them."
He manifested the PTRD-41, causing everyone in the cocoon to gape in awe and terror.
"I'll be far away."
*********************************************************************
Meanwhile, Seraphina was matching Lilith blow for blow.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Sparks danced in the air as Seraphina's blade clashed with Lilith's blackened fists—every strike sent shockwaves rippling outward.
Lilith grinned as she parried another blow, "Huh. You're quite skilled with the sword, missy."
"But don't tell me this is all you've got? You haven't injured me like that Vayne did."
CLANG!
Seraphina intercepted a flaming jab mid-air, "I have injured you plenty."
Lilith clicked her tongue, "Tsk. You're not going all out, are you? Still holding back, even now."
"That's annoying, you know."
She vanished from Seraphina's line of sight and reappeared behind her, driving a fist into her back in a burst of black fire.
BOOM!
The impact sent Seraphina crashing into the ground.
"UGH!"
Lilith grabbed Seraphina by the throat and dragged her through the dirt.
"COME ON! SHOW ME WHAT YOU REALLY GOT!"
Seraphina took another gut-wrenching punch accompanied by another explosion of black flames.
BOOM!
Her cocoon over the people faltered as she struggled to heal herself under the relentless assault.
"Ugh…" Seraphina grunted, forcing herself to stand despite Lilith looming before her.
"Why the fuck do you care so much about protecting everyone? It's holding you back."
"I can see your magic, your talent. You're overflowing with power… and yet all you do is defend, shield, and sacrifice."
"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Seraphina took a defensive stance with her sword gleaming,
"Being praised by a demon like you… is quite a feat, don't you think?"
Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Pfft. That wasn't praise. I'm just annoyed you haven't shown me anything but that fancy barrier."
"It's not that I don't want to go all out. It's just that no one has ever pushed me far enough to test my limits."
The instant the words left her lips, Seraphina swung her greatsword with ferocious speed.
Lilith raised her hand to parry, but something felt off. The moment their weapons connected, Seraphina's dark magic flared to life, transforming the sword into a spear.
SHHK!
Got you!
Blood spilled from Lilith's hand, and in that brief moment, Seraphina manipulated it, forcing the corrupted blood back into Lilith's body with decay.
Lilith leapt back, throwing up a towering wall of black flames to isolate herself.
FWOOSH
"What the—"
The corrupted blood coursed through her. Sebastian's body would die within seconds if she didn't purify it.
"Fucking bitch. She's more talented than Meredith."
She began purifying herself with black flames.
"Corruption, healing, and dark magic… My goodness. This era is—"
BOOM!
A bullet tore through Lilith's head. But she didn't die nor did Sebastian.
But still, the body collapsed and Lilith couldn't heal herself at the moment.
Aric's crazy plan was to use an anti-magic bullet—one that restricted the enemy's mana flow and blocked their ability to cast magic.
This all happened in minutes when Aric slipped out of the cocoon the moment Seraphina faltered. Its defenses had weakened just enough where Borin broke a part of the cocoon to elevate him out while Evelyn steadied his stance.
His mana reserves were still high thanks to Evelyn putting her own mana to Aric but this shot had cost him dearly.
Thirty percent of his total mana went into forging the bullet with creation magic, and another thirty for overdriving foresight.
But thanks to his foresight, he knew Seraphina would turn the tide. He also knew Lilith would come into view at the exact second.
The foresight was true and he took the shot.
Aric was now lightheaded and pale. He knelt behind his rifle as he was drained from mana but the plan worked.
He had bought Seraphina the opening she needed.
Seraphina heard the gunshot and recognized who it was from,
That must've been Aric… Wait. How the hell did he get out?!
I'm going to scold him later.
But she smiled as she passed through the black flame wall. But still…Thank you.
Seraphina raised her hand, wielding her sword of darkness and plunged it into Lilith's chest. She enchanted the sword with decay and corruption.
But something was wrong. Sebastian's body began to glow unnaturally.
"Wow. Hahaha. Just wow." Lilith muttered.
BOOM!
Seraphina backed off from the explosion. Smoke and dust filled the air, obscuring everything. When it cleared, she saw Lilith emerging, transformed.
CLANG CLANG
The sword slid out of Sebastian's body, and his form was no longer human. Black wings expanded, his skin turned crimson, his eyes burned red and black and his hair shifted to shades of purple and red.
"Whatever hit me… I had to burn through a good chunk of my mana just to survive it. And now I can't even regenerate it—for some fucking reason!" Lilith growled.
She had sacrificed not only a significant portion of her mana but also a fragment of her soul to force the body into its final form.
Seraphina wasted no time and swung her sword at Lilith. Lilith parried with a blade of her own, siphoning mana from Seraphina in the process.
Seraphina kicked Lilith away and leapt back.
The sword Lilith held pulsed with a bright orange glow with a hint of black.
"This right here is Eclipse—one of my favourite babies from the Cataclysm War."
Seraphina didn't recognize the name, but she could feel the sheer aura emanating from the weapon.
"I'll reclaim my mana with this." Lilith declared, pointing the sword at Seraphina.
CLANG!
Seraphina clashed blades with Lilith again but this time, she wrapped her dark tendrils around Lilith's body and enchanted them with decay.
"UGH!" Lilith grunted, struggling against the rotting grip.
In a burst of frustration, she detonated her passive barrier, blowing the tendrils away.
BOOM!
She was freed and was scrambling to heal herself when suddenly, a wind-forged bullet tore through her palm.
Her fingers spasmed violently and the sword slipped from her grasp.
"Man, fuck your stupid sword!" Aric shouted.
But before he could line up another shot—Lilith appeared behind him in a flash, grabbing him tightly.
"Hello there, Vayne."