Raineh Daze

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina

Miina stared. She'd done the best she could and... well, still it was nothing. The request for help had gone out all the same, and what it brought with it was... complete destruction. What could she do? Well, nothing, really. Maybe fire something at the soldiers that hadn't gotten out of the line of fire in time. As always, she'd been so stupid in trying to practice a bit of everything, if she'd only focused on black magic—

No, probably not even then, she just wouldn't have the experience needed. And that left her with no way to contribute here. Healing? Well, none of them were more than bruised; anyone the shells might have hit in their errant barrage was well beyond her meagre ability. Obviously, just a sword wouldn't cut it.

She was useless, and having to trust in the strange black mage with the fascinating tail and—she didn't. Not really, as nice as she was and as much as she could be trusted, Eve was mostly a stranger. Maybe she had unnatural advantages but... really? Miina wished her brother was here. He'd always been smart, and confident, and so much better than her and even if nothing she'd seen him do could match this... it had been years. And Zeke would've gotten better, she knew it.

But he wasn't here, and maybe if he was it would just be an illusion of comfort and not enough, and she'd have to trust in the strange pale girl...

Because she didn't have the skills of her own to manage it, and no barrier she might attempt could possibly help against one of those if it fired again.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina

Why did the birds have guns. There were more important things to think about in a situation like this—such as how, exactly, you could avoid being turned into a pincushion—but the basic fact of the matter remained that they were under attack by something that Miina had never remotely thought she might have to deal with. What person would? Was this magic? Some bizarre experiment? Were there just naturally firearms over in Valheimr, so all they had to do was somehow stuff the murder birds into a cage and tame them?

Right, Miina, priorities.

At least she didn't have to worry about learning to dodge lots of bullets? Being tackled hurt, but if it was someone armoured doing the 'get shot at thing', that was at least better than her squishy flesh taking the brunt of it. Or her coat, fixing it with too many bullet holes would be a big pain.

Anyway, Arton wanted her to go for something bigger, and Galahad wanted her to target the leaders, so... she could do that. Ice, naturally, was her go to. Not so much an explosion like their actual black mage had focused on, but it was a bit harder to dodge if you were in a maelstrom—

Although, as always, Miina didn't think she made for the most impressive figure, pointing with her free hand. Blizzara was cool and all, especially when you just pointed at the fanciest-looking enemy and let him and anyone nearby suffer the consequences, but her inability to really say anything without ruining it undercut the moment a little.

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Fujiwara no Mokou

So, it seemed that everyone had won their duels... well, effectively won their duel? The shrine maiden's had obviously gone unexpectedly sideways with accidentally summoning one of her patron goddesses in from Gensokyo and into what seemed like a fight to the death, which was unexpected. On the plus side, as the little vampire had realised, this meant that they'd be able to get some sort of communication back?

Not that she really needed any, it wasn't like Kaguya would be terribly bothered if she stopped coming around to fight for however long it took to get back. Keine might worry a little? Well, the news would spread to the human village easily enough.

With the girl introducing herself to the captain, Mokou finally took note of her name. That and the goddesses'... well, it wasn't exactly the same, but that was probably because they'd changed how their names were written a little down the centuries. And kami tended to have far too many names anyway...

"The Moriya Shrine is in Gensokyo now? How did that happen? The biggest shrine in Shinano doesn't seem like something that could just come from the outside world," she asked. Well, it had been the main one in her time? It might have started falling out of favour even before she wound up in Gensokyo, it was a little hard to tell.

... it didn't come with Lake Suwa, right? That would raise even more questions.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Investigation of the hill would reveal that the slope was gentlest in their direction. At the same time, this approach offered the most in the way of boulders or foliage, with the exception of the channel burned out by the siege spell. Circling around to the sides showed two faces that were rather more open, although the steeper of the two did have enough unevenness to suggest that there were blind spots to take advantage of. As for the rear, it certainly had the biggest blind spot of all: the hill's peak became a sharp bluff almost immediately, making it by far the most physically difficult approach.

The hundi mage that awaited them was definitely keeping to her word as the knights scouted the hill, an increased buzzing the only sign that she was paying attention to their inspection. Of course... if anybody were to actually start climbing beyond the point the buzzing came audible, the ensuing lightning bolt was a good first warning.

Needless to say, a solo attempt at climbing would find that the barrage rapidly became very insurmountable.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina

Okay, so they were... doing this then. Prison breaking. Nothing important, just the biggest facility she'd ever been witness to, and they had to break in and rescue someone and not get caught or die in the process. If she'd been given some role in the infiltration, Miina would have no doubt started panicking and given the game away immediately. Or maybe that would be seen as more authentic in a prisoner?

That didn't mean she wasn't still nervous when the signal was given, the alarms were already going off and there was an airship coming and damn it that was loud and now they were fighting and—

Breathe. This was something that she at least had some practice and skills for, and as Arton had siad, she just needed to cover them. Arton was leading the way, and that meant that she could focus on casting. Nothing big—single target spells, just cycling elements for variety; she could definitely do more if she stuck to ice, but that would be much easier to adapt to, especially armoured—and focusing on anyone who might be in a position to get around the other two. And keep an ear open; she didn't want to be crept up on from behind as a rearguard...

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

At last, it seemed that the Iron Roses had broken through the resistance just enough: the Talderians' numbers were growing too thinned to continue maintaining a numerical advantage against everyone, and those who were still upright were forced to address the attempt Renar was leading to flank them by shifting what forces they had--something made all the harder when having to try and spare attention to avoid being shot in the head. Or, as the case may be, Vier's surprising decision to leap over them and attack from the back.

It made them rather less available to react in time to plug the gap Gertrude opened and seize Fanilly before she could sprint past.

Turning to chase her was even less of an option--if they left their backs open, that would only grant the Roses more opportunities to cut them down, and in this the famous retinue seemed to have a measure of indecision, caught between fulfilling their mission and not getting themselves killed to fail it even more.

Something resolved upon their captain's reaching Erion: both the bodies and the still-standing soldiers were immediately moved to the sidelines with their fellows, the defeated carefully climbing to their feet. As for the knights? Dragged over to Fanilly, the prince congratulating them on their success.

"—Unfortunately, I cannot say what your next challenge is, or when it will arrive," he continued, frowning, "Perhaps Thrinax would know, to look for a signal, but if he watches, he must be beyond human vision."

They would have to wait, then, for the second challenge the witch was setting to reveal itself. Yet even as the prince clarified this, there was the slightest glimmer of blue, an azure gleam—

---

When the magical torrent stopped, those that were caught were fortunately once again alive, the introductory shot apparently not counting as part of their next challenge. But where they had once been stood, a wide trench was gouged into the earth, continuing onwards and downwards to some deep pit, lined on all sides by some thick layer of glass. The angle and way the trench eventually tapered off could only mean that the caster was aiming down at them rather than straight towards the walls, and surely enough, that way lay a hill, two figures just about discernible from this distance—one much taller than the other.

At least whatever mage was behind it didn't seem interested in following up the shot with another of the same kind—although there was certainly some magic at play.

A few seconds later, a missive appeared, the sheet gently drifting down: "Reach the top of the hill. You will be safe until you start climbing."

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Fujiwara no Mokou

The visual comparison was striking: on one side, a girl that looked like a gust of wind could blow her over; on the other, a burly man. One had her hands shoved into her pockets and didn't look at all capable of fighting, while the other had his fists on full display. If any outcome was going to be decided by appearances alone, anyone with eyes would say that Mokou was bound to lose.

Until the Japanese girl started flying. Not flying much--obviously, "I have full aerial manoeuvrability and you don't" would let her win by attrition if nothing else, but they were talking about travelling together, so just hanging out of range proved nothing. Still, it was an early indication that there was magic in play. The second, naturally, was the thematic but ultimately pointless flames shaped into a phoenix around her.

To his credit, the burly man shrugged off the visual effects and started closing the distance, as fast as he could without being totally unable to avoid attacks.

Not that he had much luck avoiding what was coming.

When picking which spellcard to use--because, after all, danmaku being non-lethal didn't mean that taking enough bullets wouldn't still leave you unable to fight, just from bruising alone--she'd settled on one that was definitely visually striking, but had a relatively straightforward enough pattern that even a newcomer might be able to work it out, as long as he stood in front of her. Maybe.

Well, and she just thought the walls of manji-patterned amulets just looked neat. Plus they were a good test of your opponent's spatial awareness.

The man, predictably, froze up. Magical amulets ahead, magical amulets if you moved behind, from the side--and bullets fired right at your opponent, with so little space to move if you were stuck moving on the ground--

And then he blinked, realising that although they hurt, it wasn't like they were a knockout move. Visually overwhelming and alarming, but once you saw through it as just a trick, there was no reason to not just rush through and through an actual knockout blow against the girl who wasn't even making an effort to dodge--

Much to his confusion, and concern, the punch didn't make the white-haired girl fold. Instead, there was an ominous crack--and no more girl. Or bullets, just the flaming silhouette of a phoenix, now mantled on... his... shoulders.

That's when the magical attacks started again. This time, while there were far fewer, they were coming from right there, and there was no opponent to punch to try and make it stop, and then there were actual fiery explosions mixed in how would anyone be expected to avoid this and what sort of sadist had magic that just built up until it hurt too much to fight--

"Yield?" Mokou asked, looking rather... disappointed? Rather than continuing with danmaku, she was now stood with a fireball shrouding her hand, the heat wafting off it making it clear this one was actually dangerous, and the smell...

"Y-Yield," the guard agreed. His everything hurt, and to keep fighting with the stakes higher against this nonsensical witchcraft...

Mokou's flaming hand winked out, returning to her pocket as she went over to join the spectators. Hm, was anyone else even still fighting?

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Fujiwara no Mokou

With no preparations needed on her part, Mokou shuffled out slightly ahead of the others. If the guards were as strong as they thought, then it was best that the most expendable of the misplaced take any damage, obviously. Plus, she was itching to get started, so this way...

Hm, to treat this like danmaku, or just tone down more obvious attacks to safe levels? It wasn't like danmaku was much more on a per-hit basis than a weak punch... but it would definitely assess her opponent's reactions far better, as well as their endurance if those weren't up to snuff.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina

"Umm... m-my magic's not... big..." Miina mumbled, really not aware enough of the intricacies of this sort of planning to offer an opinion on what would be best. Attacking an execution specifically seemed really difficult, but it wasn't like she had much expertise in night-time planning anyway. At least she could climb onto rooftops with some skill if they went for the second option? Harder than trees, but she liked climbing.

Her magic definitely wasn't anything big big, though. Or flashy. Particularly not next to everything Eve was proposing, all she had was parlour tricks. But...

"I'm... o-okay with ice, though? N-No fire." At least she could use magic without much of a fear of, well... burning a city down. And ice could be slippery, if that was useful.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

With their individual strength now being focused more effectively, it was clear that this downsized portion of the retinue was increasingly on the back foot--although, admirably, they were still stubborn about not allowing being physically and magically knocked to the ground to disrupt their co-ordination, still covering enough that they could just about start rising again.

But, if things continued this way, it was inevitable that they would lose. And this lead to some sort of discrete signal being passed amongst the group.

The next time one of them was going to fail to block a blow, nobody stepped in to protect. Oh, no; instead the wounded, likely dying, soldier clung on to the weapon impaling them, using their own life as a trade to let one of their companions attack instead. Why focus on avoiding the rain of spellfire if you could lure someone else into its path?

After all, as the Iron Roses had surmised: they had greater individual strength, and could win just by slowly picking off the Talderians. But that went the other way; the retinue would still be victorious even if they suffered more losses, as long as there was someone left standing at the end.

Probably two someones, if they were considering both the maid mages to be a threat.