[396] 5.20 The Call of the Sentinel

We appear in the middle of a large room.  Weapons immediately point toward the two of us and spells are readied but not launched.  Others look away from the two of us, as though we plan to lash out against them at the first provocation.

Neither of us makes a move, but the entire chamber is on edge.  There are strong mages sitting or lying down on makeshift chairs and cots against the sides of the table.  Healers are rushing around to tend to the exhausted, although none of them look to be seriously injured.

Looking at the walls and the ground and ceiling of this spatially-expanded nexus, I gather the gist of the situation.  This seems to be the power station for the entire complex, but the barrier formation is draining a colossal amount of Ether to sustain itself.  These people are cycling on and off as best as they are able to supplement the power draw with their own [Ether].  For now, they are holding on, but only just.  Can they buy another hour?  Half an hour?  I truly do not know, and I don’t think they do either.

Hope is scarce.  My role in this is clear.  These people have protected me, if only in a fashion.  And I hold the responsibility to protect them in return.

I channel more of my [Ether] than I have in a long time, close to thirteen thousand points, and will it into my recently upgraded Skill, [Sentinel’s Standard].  Then, in an invisible bubble that expands outward at hundreds of feet per second, I trigger it out to its maximum.

The effect is immediate.  Eyes turn from wariness to wonder.  New light enters people’s eyes.  And not more than seconds later, the general himself appears, a mix of astonishment and confusion on his face.  He brandishes a longsword at me, though he has at least the decency not to attack just yet.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” he asks.  “Answer me!”

I remove my visor and expose my face in the dim light of the chamber.  “It’s good to see you again, General.  Your soldiers looked to be about three seconds away from collapse.  I merely… shared a portion of my strength with them.  They are not harmed in any way, nor should there be any side effects to this Skill.”

“You’re saying all of that is one Skill?  And how on God’s damned Earth did you get in here in the first place?  You better start talking, Seraphina; I don’t any fucking time or patience to deal with any bullshit right now.”

“It’s all one Skill, and I’m not trying to bullshit with you.  There’s some sort of attack on this base, the barrier you have around the complex is only barely holding up, and I need information about what exactly is going on so I can deal with this situation before it gets even further out of hand.”

“You are going to–”

“Believe me or not; I couldn’t give less of a fuck about your ego or your authority if I tried.  Right now, you can either do right by the people under your command and we can work together to overcome this threat.  Or, you can do something monumentally stupid.  Their lives will be on your conscience, and I’m sure your retort about how you ‘adhered to protocols’ or ‘followed proper chains of command and security measures’ will be such wonderful comfort to their next of kin.”

For several seconds, the two of us stare at each other.  “And why should I trust you after you just barged right in here?”

“The fact is, you have no reason to trust us.  But you also are in no position to refuse.”

More silence follows.  Chloe steps toward the center of the formation and begins channeling a massive surge of her own [Ether] into its core.  The entire facility whirs and for a brief moment, the lights brighten enough that I can see the scared, shaken faces of General Souire’s men and women with my own eyes rather than my Skills alone.

I just hope I don’t have to rescue them from their leader’s own ego.

“Very well.  We shall observe a truce until the immediate conflict is resolved and postpone further deliberations until that time.”

His gaze sharpens.  He opens his mouth as though he means to say something which I’m sure will serve to the benefit of his ego at the detriment of his continued breathing.  He wisely thinks better of it, then begins after a short sigh.

“We are currently under siege by a force of automatons under the command of…”  He deliberately does not say the name ‘Apeiron’, but the implication is clear enough.  “Unfortunately, we only just barely have the manpower to both maintain the barrier and assist in the evacuation efforts of the civilian population.  We simply cannot spare more than a token effort to the front lines.”

“Would it not make sense to focus on reducing the pressure on the barrier corps?” Chloe asked.  “That would–”

“It could, yes.  Unfortunately, the number of automatons is too high and the barrier is bidirectional.”

I’m not surprised by this revelation.  There aren’t many inscribers who are competent enough to construct a functional directional-sensitive barrier.  Even if they had one, the precision needed to ensure a barrier of the requisite size wouldn’t falter at a stiff breeze would be…  I am one of the preeminent inscribers on Earth right now, and I still wouldn’t stake my professional reputation on it, let alone my own life.

“So we need someone to maintain the barrier while someone else goes out to thin the hordes.”  “Chloe, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Seraphina, if you do something stupid that gets you killed, I swear to every goddess you have ever prayed to, I will find your fucking soul and I will–”

“I won’t die.  I got yet more anti-death bullshit.  I just don’t want to tip my entire hand in front of the general.  Also don’t be afraid to be a little risky if things get dicey; the Skill I just used on you will restore your [Health] and [Ether] once your [Health] falls to under 10%.”

“Wait…  How the hell did you get a [Healing] spell?  I thought you–”

“I didn’t get a [Healing] spell.  I promise, you’ll get a full explanation once this is over.”

“You better, Sera.  And I–”  She lunges forward and the two of us kiss once more.

With [Veilsight], calculating a trajectory through subspace from the core of the compound to the outer walls is a trivial task.  The boundary distends at my command, and an instant later, I’m gazing upon the battlefield from above.

Another mental impulse summons my wings, now longer and thicker, akin to raptors’, with feathers of gleaming chrome that shimmer in the midmorning sun.  With the green barrier serving as the last line of defense between huddled civilians and the few soldiers attempting to corral them, the desperation is even more apparent out here than it was back in the core chamber.

There are planes and copters departing, but not many.  Those that do head toward the west.  Presumably toward Britain, assuming world geography hadn’t become even more fucked by the System than I realized.  The attempts to strike down the vessels containing the fleeing civilians are more of a token effort, meant to distract and force a response rather than actually force them to ground.  The mechanical soldiers, all faceless, devoid of any individuality or identity, continue to blast away at the flickering barrier.  One shot even gets through, though it only chips away at the metal shell before vaporizing into smoke.

The barrier fades.  I’m forced to reassess my initial statement about these automatons; they seem to have at least a rudimentary awareness and enough intelligence to realize that I am a threat as I pass through the barrier.  Thirty attacks aim directly toward me.  I allow them to strike my wings, unprotected by [Saintess’s Cloister], all to test my limits.

[Current Stats: [Health]: 29,581 / 30,568]

And that number is rebounding quickly.  I hadn’t paid too much to my rate of [Health] regeneration up until now, but between the upgrade to [Cyber-Sentinel’s Form] and the increase in innate resistance I have against second-Ascension attacks, I’m not sure I’d fall short of actively trying to do so.

The part of me that loves operating with a certain panache wants to just fire off one wide area-of-effect spell and be done with it.  But my rational mind is calculating as I fly low, directly into no-man’s land as ray blasts bounce off my exoskeleton and Chloe’s [Saintess’s Cloister].  Someone is watching.  Someone will be reporting the results of this clash to their superiors.  The less I reveal what I’m truly capable of, the better.

I summon Filia once more.  The bond between us remains strong as I stab their blade clean through the first sentry.  Then the second, and the third to follow.  The battlefield fills with the stench of burning oil as I stab clean through another two like a shish kebab, using a simple application of my always-useful [Repulsion] to clean both the scrap and the sludge from my weapon.

“Congratulations on having taken another step forward in your journey, Seraphina,” Filia says as they decapitate another drone.  “It seems you have largely followed the same paths that you have been on until this point?”

“I took a class called [The Sentinel of Humanity].  I am still coming to terms with the exact mindset and purpose of the class.  I still do not like the idea of being the single protector of the world, nor do I feel it is my right or responsibility to wield power that could one day be used to dominate or control the world.  I also did not believe I could turn down the strength it offered.”

“I have some records from my own world regarding this.  It is a choice that is a choice that many individuals are forced to choose as they reach the third and fourth ascensions.  Do they wish to take a path that they themselves want, or do they choose to walk the path of greater power, knowing the moral consequences that come with that path?  From what I have overheard of your previous conversations and thoughts over these past years, your heart has chosen the latter, even as your brain wavers after the fact.”

I fire a [Lightning] type [Elemental Ether Strike] that cuts through about thirty more robots before ultimately dissipating into sparks that ground without further damage.

“I suppose you’re right.  It’s just a little hard to internalize it after spending so much time being weak and at the mercy of others in the years before the System arrived.”

“If it is any assistance, Seraphina, it is my understanding that people are rarely the best versions of themselves.  But that does not mean that just because one does not always live up to one’s ideals, that striving toward being one’s ideal self is without value.  And I would say, in the years we have known each other, that you have acted with a remarkable degree of grace and deference for one who wields such power.”

I cut down another quartet, then a sextet, pushing my body’s newfound [Speed] to its limit.  But even as I allow myself to slake my long-dormant lust for battle, I continue to watch for signs of interference.  Something is wrong here.  These sentries, even as numerous as they are, are simply too weak to pose the sort of threat that would mandate such wide-scale evacuation.

But then, where is the–

The answer pierces through the air at incredible velocity, and only by the grace of [Veilsight] do I notice it approaching from what would otherwise have been my blind spot.  I am unable to fully dodge, instead having the attack pierce straight through my exoskeleton and even drawing a single droplet of blood before my skin heals over the next second.

“Impressive,” a man’s voice says from above.  “That attack was supposed to pierce through your brainstem, and yet you dodged so well that you hardly have a scratch on you.  Bravo, indeed.”

I look up.  A man with a massive crossbow-shaped gun at his side offers me a condescending slow clap.  The automatons all around cease, parting in formation as he slowly descends to ground level.

We stare at each other for a good two seconds.  He’s the first to speak.

“I was wondering who was enough of a fool to come charging through the frontlines all on her own.  But I must admit that I do not recognize you.  You may call me Claudius.  Might I have the honor of your name before we get started.”

I hesitate, but oblige.  “Seraphina.”

“Seraphina?  How very interesting.  I had heard from one of my associates that someone calling herself that had been operating in the Atlantean Trials.  But none of us expected that you would follow all the way here.  Now then, Seraphina.”  He bows.  “Shall we begin?”