[IC] Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

[Raineh Daze]

Miina Malina

See! This was why you just struck first, before the other person had more time to prepare and get everything in place – like, for instance, deleting your backup straight away so that it was just your tired group. Yes, they had been winded, and she hadn't been in any position to run, but that wasn't the point. Being on the receiving end tended to disrupt your plans and buy that time anyway.

And now they had all been layered up with magical boosts and protections. That was just… unfair? Well, no, her weakness in comparison wasn't unfair, that was Miina's own flaw. Plus, there was still an age gap to consider, she just wasn't measuring up to even the youngest Grovemaster in any regard, magically. Eugh, and there was no way she could just copy the dispelling, that was too much but…

Hm. Yeah, her ribs were healed enough, she could stop that for now, if they survived it could be tomorrow's problem. Esben and Rudolf were still trying to talk over a solution, Robin was too optimistic and idealistic… the Mystral couldn't say she had a great read on how Arton and Ciradyl were taking this, and Ciradyl wasn't useful anyway. Eliane, too, was ranged. But Galahad and Izayoi…

Right, Galahad first, quietly so it wouldn't carry all the way. Assuming none of those spells secretly gave amazing hearing… it was probably a safe assumption that hadn't been improved before arrival, they'd been very loud. "If w-we can get in close, I c-can maybe remove her protections."

Right, Izayoi next. If she had time. And they didn't shoot her for moving around behind all the buff warrior types. Just a little cat in a fancy outfit, don't mind her while she looks like she's checking on everyone's health, right?

[Click This]

---

After everyone else had said their piece—after Grovemaster Isolde’s horrifying dispel, and treacherous words, even Éliane was left with her mouth wide agape. That creature’s actions were so far beyond the pale that Éliane was well and truly incensed, her features formed into a scowl at the audacity of this bitch to meddle in affairs like this with such self-satisfied, sanctimonious rambling, as if she knew better.

“Denied. You do understand,” Éliane replied softly, but with her voice raised loud enough for the grovemaster to hear. “That this is a literal act of war, correct? You are declaring war against Skael and Edren?”

The pink-haired woman tilted her head, her cannon now pointed directly at the grovemaster. She had thought Isolde had been the sole voice of reason among the twisted and misguided leadership of this country, but she had been gravely mistaken. This woman was the worst of them all.

“I was not joking when I said that Skael would invade your country to protect ourselves. Isn’t it nice of you to provide an extra cassus belli by declaring on us all on your own?”

Éliane decided to break the standoff. There was no way her party was going to agree to her demands, and she was so literally done with this country and this woman that she would just about do all in her power to have Skael actually come with her dreadnoughts and roll this country over and turn it into a parking lot for her country to take the fight to Valheim.

“Right then…” She clicked off the safety of her cannon, and pressing the trigger, began firing right at the bitch, protective warding be damned.

[VitaVitaAR]

"..."

Ah---

Her insides had twisted up inside of her like a knot.

All this work, all this effort, and it was just because of a trap for someone else? Did the Grovemasters not care a single bit what was going on beyond their borders?

Did they not care what was happening to people?

Did they not care the threat to their own people?

Clearly they didn't.

Clearly, if they wanted to take down one of the people who was actually putting an effort to try and stop this evil. Clearly, if they were willing to divert their attention from their purpose just for the sake of setting a trap.

It was all quite obvious that this was the acts of people who had no care for anything but themselves.

Robin's hands shook.

Her heart had twisted itself up into a knot.

Her fingers wrapped firmly around the hilt of her spada as she raised it, red flames licking at the corners of her vision.

How dare they?

How dare they shrug off the threat to millions of innocent people just to pursue one person who was actually trying to help? How dare they use this guise of a test to deceive them for that purpose?

What kind monsters, what kind of villains, did such things?

---Ah.

That was it, wasn't it?

No matter what the Grovemaster said, they were the villains. They were the ones standing in the path of the safety of so many innocent people. The ones actively trying to damage the effort to protect millions.

"... You're unforgivable."

The words left her lips as the pointed her sword towards the Grovemaster.

How many wards had she just cast?

Did it matter at this point?

No. Truly, it did not.

Lights danced along the edge of her spada, then flared brighter. This wasn't merely to bind a target. It was extremely unlikely, at best, to do any significant damage to the wards, too.

But at the moment, that didn't really matter.

The light erupted forward, hurtling towards the Grovemaster with a brilliant flash---

[Psyker Landshark]

Ranbu no Izayoi

"So be it." Isolde sighed in response to the Kirins' various retorts, seemingly uncaring of any counterargument or furious screed presented to her at this point. "Templars, take them. Alive." Esben's words had at least two or three of the two dozen knights hesitate, looking warily around at their comrades for any confirmation or reinforcement. When they saw that the remainder buckled down in either stoic devotion or furious zeal, they fell in line, remaining with their fellows.

The paladins advanced slowly and in formation as both Eliane and Robin made attempts on Isolde, both of which were rebuffed by barriers conjured with a wave of her staff. Izayoi bared her fangs at the oncoming wall of shields, swords, halberds, and maces as a few archers in the back moved to stand with the Grovemaster. The samurai ran the odds in her head: A platoon of church templars strengthened to high heaven by a master white mage would have been a more than arduous foe even if they had been fresh. Exhausted as they all were after taking Leviathan to the brink?

Izayoi took a step closer to Galahad, incidentally coming within earshot of Miina's murmurings to him. She joined in.

"If we give it our all in this condition, defeat is nearly assured. I suggest we gather our strength and push through their line in one fell swoop. Dispel and slay the Grovemaster if we can. Flee if we cannot." The knights were nearly upon them, and there was no room left for words. Only steel.

___

Enhanced as they were, Isolde's templars were a virtually-unbreakable force against the drained and fatigued Kirins. Even ostensibly lethal wounds were healed within moments by Isolde's combination of Regen and Reraise, as evidenced by the slashed throat that Izayoi had just ripped open with her sword mending itself. She barely had time to react before the knight's Hasted form slammed a shield into her midsection, sending her tumbling back along the ruin's floor.

"Haah...haah..." She struggled for breath, one hand maintaining her grip on her sword as the other clutched where she had been slammed. What few glimpses she had of the other Kirins at the moment suggested they were faring little better, though the details were growing fuzzy as her vision blurred.

"Just...one opening!" Izayoi grit her teeth, sheathing her sword once more. Even as tired as she was, her draw was still near-blindingly fast, a shockwave of wind surging from her sword as she slashed the air. Four shieldbearers stepped forward, taking the attack on their bulwarks, but that left them out of position with the rest of the formation for but a moment. Long enough for any of the Kirins to capitalize and push forward.