Miina Malina
… damn it. They'd pierced the barrier with
everyone, just about, but the attacks hadn't brought it down. And it didn't seem likely that anyone that had been involved in breaking the barrier would be able to pull off the same feat immediately after. That left… well, quite a lot of them, really, but it was still more ways to stab or explosives. And while there'd been so much testament to the effectiveness of
stabbing, at heart Miina couldn't really say that the Skaelan focus on technological warfare seemed… optimal.
At least, not when your enemies stopped being conveniently limited to rather familiar limits. Unless they had some secret way to make bullets
more than what they were? That—
This wasn't the time to get distracted.
Think, Miina… her best attack against a single opponent
normally would just be to stab them and then work on the ice. It was, in a lot of respects, ideal given her mediocre talent: she couldn't pump out a stronger spell, so just make the way the ice
worked far more effective than normal. Tossing it at people was basically just elemental stabbing, which was a blunt instrument. Freezing someone solid was undoubtedly deadly… yet even
more blunt, hard to pull off, and just overall intensive. Plus, it was very upsetting when whoever you were trying to freeze just shrugged it off. No, she'd just concluded that if you took the
same amount of ice but guided how it crystallised in someone's blood, in their chest cavity… all those things that helped with
healing and working out why there was an injury? It could do so much more damage as it specifically shredded everything important.
But that was useless against Leviathan. Even if there wasn't the central conceit of trying to weaponise the Eidolon's own element
against it, it was simply too big. Where even on a giant magical serpent would constitute a vulnerable point, anyway? No, she couldn't just pull off that trick. Fire… eugh, Leviathan was the opposite of combustible, she couldn't think of any way to apply the same principle. No, she needed to maximise damage by lightning.
Except lightning
wasn't nice. It could sort of be controlled, the Mystral guessed, but it was all so eager and fast to leap that it was barely worth it, guiding it from one target to the next was one thing but trying to contain it and keep pouring on more… it was an interesting thought, but not practical here. Not by raw control. Could she exploit it? It always wanted to escape, taking the easy path… play with it too much in a jungle and you really started to know that.
She had an idea.
"C-Cover me!" Well, maybe someone could? It was unlikely, even by the standards they'd displayed so far this was… stupid. But she needed to not be killed
before attempting her idea.
Jumping
onto the swiping tail was definitely the stupidest thing she'd done. Sure, it got her close. Sure, she was armoured. Sure, it wasn't a direct hit. But it was still
momentum, and an impact, and breathing was now a
lot harder. But that wasn't important, she had one hand on Leviathan, and the other was braced to pierce the beast's scales
just a little.
In one hand, she held a protection
against lightning. And in the other, her sword crackled. And now—
thrust.As was its wont, the thunder spell surged forwards, seeking to scorch as it went and just
ground itself. But Miina couldn't be allowing that, could she? If she could just direct the defence to
that part of the great beast, the magic would have to rampage elsewhere, and if she could steadily block that off too, and keep both going, it could only intensify as it jumped around and around, the magical lightning looking for its escape—
How long could she keep this up? Moments, if she was dislodged. Or pancaked, but being so focused on
magic at least meant forgetting her own mortality. Maybe seconds, if she was lucky, and her request was heard. But it would have to be enough to help, wouldn't it?