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<01/28/1972 – 00:22 | The Outback {Alpha Zero}, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>
The sound of a crash drove Jane's body off the ground, her nerves jumping all at once while her ears stung in pain. Jane quickly panned her head around, searching for the nearby intruder. The noise was distinctly familiar to the sound of a solid metal object, crashing into a hard surface. It was evidence that something somewhere nearby moved. Jane remained stone still, putting her previous thoughts on hold for now.
Something was out there. A monster? Another one of those vile creatures? Maybe even a person? Jane never thought to consider until now that if professor Brightworth really is innocent, then somebody else had to be responsible for this mess, and that person would likely be immune to their own destructive dark magic, walking around here, scouting for intruders such as herself that could pose a potential threat to their newest creation. Jane's heart rate began pounding again, her fear rising just from the anticipation. She immediately pulled out her daggers from the pockets in her outfit, ready to strike anything nearby.
The fog around her has been clearing up from her earlier walk, but it was not completely clear. Jane was able to see maybe 770 meters ahead in all directions, maybe a little more. It certainly was not an improvement from where she first started. Maybe the fog gets worse the further she goes in. Of all things, the dark zone could have some sort of centralized source, and if that is the case, then this border area is just child's play for the demons that really exist further northwest. Jane however had no sense of which direction the noise came from, which put her more on edge. There was no indication that anything was moving. Jane was now checking all directions, ears wide open and her thoughts alert of anything else. It was this moment where Jane wanted to run, run all the way back to Lennith City just to survive, but then she would have failed to remove the crest at all, still uncertain whether it was the correct choice to make.
Unfortunately for Jane, the choice had already been made for her after waiting too long. This time, the noise and shockwaves of the rumbling earth could be felt from here, Jane positive that the movement was so much closer than she thought it was. The dirt, dust, and ash flew up in puffs in the position she was supposed to be heading, until a large opening formed in the floor before her very eyes. The sounds shifted once again, changing from ground quakes to some sort of unknown movement of material. And out rising form that hole...
It's a pillar! A solid pillar made entirely of steel with some sort of metallic bubble on the top of it, rising with the pillar and gaining altitude. The bubble of steel was moving at the same time, unraveling itself like a gift unwrapping on its own. The metal bubble shell collapsed itself back into the rising pillar by design, allowing Jane to make out the structure even from this distance, the transformation happening like an automatic shape shifting robot. Another sentry turret! This time it is one already loaded with side rocket launchers, a rail gun, and two barrels able to fire machine gun bullets. It was a similar design just like the ones Jane encountered before, a massive metal weapon trained to blow away all nearby intruders without even using human guided assistance. It's just another dangerous enemy.
Jane didn't need another moment to study the device, or to see how high that pillar was taking the turret. She already knew of the dangers of just one sentry gun from a previous battle that almost ended in failure. With all the real time damage Jane has already taken, it wasn't even worth a second thought to risk her life for another stupid battle such as this one. Turning around to sprint in the other direction, Jane didn't dare look back behind her shoulder. Instead she ran as fast as she could, hoping to outrun the turret's parameter timer. In the last battle she had against these things, Jane wasn't even allowed to run or escape, even though the battle was not official. The machines here are specifically designed to trap intruders, then destroy them. Last time, she didn't see the shield dome coming, but right now there wasn't one, not yet anyway. Just keep sprinting! Jane couldn't even contemplate the thought of getting forced into a battle right now. It was just easier to run this way, maybe find another way around the path later on. Her legs were beyond tired and burdened, but this beat the likely alternative.
Just then, Jane heard another noise, a metallic clank. It sounded as if the pillar had stopped moving upward, holding the turret's altitude in lock while the unknown security system somehow continued to scan its surrounding area. Perhaps it was motion sensors that set the thing off, but Jane continued running, further than her heart could hold out for. That's when a sudden surge of bright red light shot up into the sky, easy enough for her to spot before looking upwards. That light then exploded and expanded into massive energy hexagons that quickly began the formation of another red energy dome. It's the same as before! But it hasn't finished forming yet. The rate of descent for that dome was so quick though, and the radius being so wide didn't help Jane either. An ordinary Siriean dome has the radius of 100 meters at best, but this one must be closer to 500 meters from the center area. At this rate, Jane wasn't going to make it in time, despite being so close to the exit range!
"Noooooo!" The shield finally touched down with the ground, just as she was able to leap out and touch the field. Running in disbelief, Jane slammed first thing into the energy field, the hexagons repelling and forcing her back with enough kick to send her flying away. Jane landed on her back in a most uncomfortable position, forcing her to accept what she deemed impossible a moment ago. So close to the edge of the field, and now she was apparently trapped inside of the kill zone.
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Chapter Theme Shift: Unidentified Track SBD ~ {Unknown}
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Jane wasn't knocked out, but the pain from running into something solid and sturdy held in her face more than anywhere else. She desperately tried opening her eyes and squinting her environment back into focus. The translucent wall she hit turned out to be the edge of another massive dome shield. It had the same red color as the last one that trapped her, the same translucent design, same hexagonal patterns, and the same desire to force her to battle without escaping. The dome in front of her was mainly vertical because of the angle shift. Jane turned around while standing back up to notice that the shield really did take the form of a dome, trapping any and every possible escape, running all the way to a high place in the sky. As for the turret's defense system, it was already coming online to force Jane into a fight she would rather not be a part of.
It couldn't be! Jane refused to believe that there was no possible way to escape from this battle. She knew she would be too weak and banged up to fight against another sentry turret, even so much as another monstrous creature, but everywhere she looked was blocked off by the massive red dome of dark magic, a force somehow strong enough to negate all Leray magical rules that prevent this kind of entrapment. Just like before, Jane was witnessing another one of the mysteries of the dark zone. The rules of Leray magic from the veil prevent people from being forced into a battle by a Siriean dome. At the same time, it prevents instantaneous death from forces such as molten lava to the skin. Jane was automatically being protected from immediate deaths, but not from other things such as this Siriean dome. Maybe it was not an official battle after all, not even an energy field made entirely of magic. Perhaps it was some sort of electrically generated energy shield blocking her escape. If that's true, then the turret would be irrelevant! But then where would the generator be?
Jane's nerves shot another zap of adrenaline into her blood, the sound of the turret's shifts and movements indicated immediate actions against her. Whether she wanted this or not, it was happening without her consent. It was either destroy the turret or be destroyed. She wouldn't need a second hint to realize this, and immediately responded by instinct with the official rules of engagement. Jane activated her energy scope above her in order to keep track of her own stats, and then activated the artificial energy scope above the turret. The enemy machine was elevated about 400 feet in the air by the top of the pillar, its turning shaft capable of very flexible aiming and stationary steering. The elevation must have been there to protect itself from aerial attacks? Or perhaps just to protect itself from physical attacks close range. Not that it would make a difference with all of that armor plating attached to the firing arcs of the sentry gun.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/C1zMBJG6/S2-Jane-AV-033.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/hPrGYJts/S2-Super-Turret-001.png]
It was a miracle that Jane would even be able to monitor the stats on the machinery at all, using physical integrity as a reference to health instead of doing things the normal way. Even the same action display center was capable of holographically projecting just under the machine's energy scope that Jane created, allowing her to monitor what the next incoming attack pattern or digital process would be. The turret was alone this time instead of having its own back up. Just one instead of three, but then why? Strategically it wouldn't make much sense to put all of this effort into one large gun. Something about this particular sentry gun might be different, and Jane carefully watched the ADC to figure out what attack and defending opportunities she might have at the moment.
Targeting... That was the message currently reading in the action display center from which Jane could make out from the ground. Targeting... It wasn't really an indication of an assault. Maybe the sentry gun was still taking time to identify Jane as an enemy. The guns were not precisely aimed at her, so Jane took that opportunity to decide on an immediate first strike. There wasn't a question in her mind about whether or not to play things safe and scout for better opportunities; it was fight right now or die later.
"Magical Blitz!" Jane immediately expended some of her MP energy supply of Leray magic, forming energy spheres in her hands in less than a second of time. Jane then threw the Magical Blitz balls high into the air, expending a slight amount of additional magic just to control the energy spheres. The spheres of magic were not at all large in size, but Jane threw three of them, one after the other. The first sphere struck the metal pillar just under the turret, reflecting off the object as if it were made from a magic mirror. The energy sphere didn't come close to wrecking the pillar used to support the turret, making the option of destroying the pillar completely useless, but Jane had been aiming for the turret in the first place, waiting for the last two to strike the target head on. Just before each energy sphere smashed through the metal armor making up the sentry gun, a large spherical energy field suddenly surrounded the entire turret, absorbing the blitz balls into the field instead of allowing the turret to take damage. The spherical field didn't last very long, and it had a similar aura of light with hexagons at the damage sight that Jane recognized from one of her own abilities. After reading the unchanged energy scope above the enemy turret, her heart sank at the realization that this gun was in fact different from the others.
The Magical Blitz spell Jane intended to use was completely worthless, blocked by the similar spell of a power shield used by the turret's defense class system itself. Somebody had built a shield generator into this gun, and reinforced the processor's reactions to identify any incoming projectiles before it was too late to shield itself. A defeating recognition of equal powers, Jane backed away two steps in disbelief. Her only methods of attacking the enemy were made effectively useless, ironically by use of the same ability she could use to do the same the other way around. Was this ability used against her something new, something that was initially her own idea? Or is this some sort of amazing bad luck Jane had the misfortune to wander into?
Bullet Barrage! Jane recognized both the text and the action association that belonged with that text showing up in the action display box. She reacted quickly though, crossing both of her arms over each other and ejecting some MP energy around herself to create another protective aura. It would be about the same ability that was just used against her. Hundreds of bullets suddenly riddled and reflected off of Jane's power shield aura, an energy shield only surrounding her body with a bright blue translucent design allowing her to see what was happening on the outside. Though the sound of the turret's shooting was muffled by the sound proof design in her own aura, Jane had to keep the shield alive and together until the bullets were done firing.
It took about five more seconds, hexagons forming in all of the impacted locations, but the drain and stress it put on Jane was hardly enough to stop her compared to the attacks her shield had taken in the past. With only one turret and the need to reload eventually, Jane's shield was flawless against a bullet barrage attack. Now, assuming that processor wasn't too fast to switch into another attack immediately after, Jane took it upon herself to drop the shield and try another counterattack against the machine.
Jane charged and released the MP energy she had available, her invocation of the next magical spell immediate. "Median-Flare!" Jane clapped her arms together aimed at the turret, firing a magical arc of radiant light that managed to reach the height of that turret from here in just half a second of time. Oddly enough, the turret's energy scope did report a change, even though Jane's attack was not nearly enough to blow off any hinges, screws, or armor plates from the device.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/t44gGX1j/S2-Super-Turret-002.png]
The turret is capable of shielding itself from specific attacks, so what was so different about this one? Jane only had seconds or less to think about it. Something specific about her own magical attacks were registering somewhere in that sensor located inside of the turret to determine when to shield against attacks. Was it the type of magic used? The type of damage inflicted? Is it the form of magic used against the machine? Magical Blitz uses projectiles, while Median-Flare is just a slight area-based light screen attack.
Rocketry! Thinking time was over already. Jane took no time at all to cross her arms and shield herself from another incoming attack by the mechanical enemy. The aura surrounded her immediately, thus following the sounds of explosions muffled through the aura and flashes of light from up top. The attack was like it sounded, rockets or missiles were being fired from the side attachments already made to the sentry turret. The machine fired about twelve rockets in total, six form each side all flying upwards. Only a moment after did their ordinance of direction change to target where Jane was standing, now flying straight down from above. Jane closed her eyes before the missile impacts. She knew that her shield would protect her from most of the damage, but watching the blinding flashes of each blast right in front or behind her form the multiple explosions was too nerve wrecking to watch. She could feel the ground shaking below her even through the aura, and she didn't open her eyes until it stopped.
Jane was already feeling weak from all of the damage her aura had taken just after the rockets cleared away, and she was impressed in herself for the shield lasting that long with so much damage inflicted at once. It was over at last. Jane could uncross her arms and put her mind to the test of another spell. With her MP stats already dwindling, it was a matter of using it all up recklessly or conserving it as much as possible for the use of additional shielding, and Jane had but a second to decide.
"Photon Burst!" Jane's MP energy drained significantly while her ability was charging. This skill was not able to be invoked immediately after being chanted, but Jane did have the time still available to make it happen, not even stopping to regret how much energy she was throwing away with her most offensive attacks ready. Her MP was already low to the start of the battle, much lower now that she went with this next skill. "Haw!" She held her arm out in front of her, a blue rotating glyphring around her wrist. Jane released all of her charged magic at once aiming at the sky, then threw down her arm to control the direction and force of the entire photon burst spell afterwards. With or without a glyphring, this specific modified version can still work in various ways, with the concentration aura being the independent variable. It wasn't much of a moment later when the rain of magical photons began pouring down from the sky in a scattered shower, slamming into the turret and piercing through its tough metal armor. A couple of sounds told Jane that the turret just suddenly took much more damage than the last attack she landed, a couple of micro-explosions nearly blew pieces of the sentry gun clean off before the magical rain stopped.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/W1Y12QrJ/S2-Super-Turret-003.png]
She stopped to smile at her own victorious spell. The gun failed to shield against that attack as well; perhaps the shielding only applies to specific projectile based attacks. Another piece of text grouped into the action display center: Blast!
With an explosion and a flash of light from the turret's third firing arc, Jane had absolutely no time to react to the blast. Firing a 150 mm cannon shell into the ground below where Jane was standing, her body was suddenly blasted backward, high into the air long before she could possibly understand what just happened. Some of the uplifted dirt and ash seeped into her eyes, burning them while the right side of her right leg began to burn with a cold sensation simultaneously. Jane then landed back on the ground, her sides taking the hard hit of falling damage. Jane still didn't know what was going on, but figured it had to be some kind of powerful explosion that happened right on top of her. This wasn't the Leray kind of explosion that one could get over so easily. The pains here were very much real, with irreversible damage being inflicted somewhere on her body.
Jane managed to sit up without using her right leg, only to discover that she was bleeding from below her knee, quite intensely. Another hole was in the side of her hip, also drawing blood. Somehow the blood loss was not as immediate as it should have been following a huge explosion, but Jane was obviously hurt beyond the capacity for rational thought. The actual pain itself was less than what it appeared to look like, and Jane did not take that to be a good sign. While the bleeding rate was worrisome, Jane knew she still had a lot of time, assuming that rate would go up soon. Finally getting over the shock that she had nearly been killed in just one move, Jane chanced a glimpse at her energy scope, and then another at the turret's action display center.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/RFyScfGC/S2-Jane-AV-034.png]
Nothing was set inside of the ADC yet. Jane surprisingly had some time to get back up and counterattack, but she had to balance most of her weight on her left leg, not daring to try her cut up right side. The outfit was beginning to tear apart in various locations of which she was previously hit, just more evidence that dark magic forces all damage to be inflicted as real time damage. Jane needed a better plan than this, better than the idea of outlasting the physical machine on stamina alone. "Armor Breaker!" Even without much of a plan, Jane did not want to miss her next window to attack the turret back again, throwing her daggers infused with magical energy in a form designed to destroy tough armor off of anything.
Just as the flying daggers got close to hit the machine, another bubble energy shield appeared to surround the sentry gun, deflecting the daggers away from it in an effortless defense while hexagons formed at the impact sight instantly. Jane's hopes were once again crushed, her attack made completely useless by a hidden shield generator. Laser Strife!
More holographic text appeared in the ADC, but the machine's turning shaft reacted incredibly too fast for Jane to read the material from where she was standing. A sharp red laser shot out of a tiny barrel aimed at Jane's far left side, then swept across the field with the turret's aim change from the turning gears to swipe the laser through Jane's body. She recognized the attack, the pains associated with it, the damage, and even the speed. The actions happened so quickly, Jane could not react to get her arms into position for another desperately needed power shield. The strife was so quick that Jane's eyes could not even follow the color of the laser before it drilled another burning hole through her body. Keeping the new wound closed by the same sealing heat, Jane's stomach had immediately been burned with powerful bruising sensations that were combined with burns and cut flesh.
Another short lived scream echoed into the air, Jane sent herself on her knees again, forcing more pain through her right knee that had been cut open again. The pain form that laser is as always totally unbearable, disrupting her focus entirely. She did her best to try and get over the damages being done to her, but it wasn't easy in the slightest. Since it hit her stomach, the laser went as far to affect some of her internal body processes too, making her nauseated until Jane threw up a small amount of her stomach acid just seconds after letting out a painful holler. If that happens again, it will be blood instead of vomit. Her energy scope stats already troubled her completely, as she has been losing the fight from the beginning of the battle.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/mk9bVD6Y/S2-Jane-AV-035.png]
There wasn't time or opportunity to complain either. Jane was dying from her wounds and damages; she knew as much. It still wasn't worth giving it all up. There has to be some way in which she could hopefully win this fight, some method to turn the tables in battle. She has always been capable of doing that before. After charging up a little more MP energy, Jane fired her next spell without standing back up. She will just remain on the ground, the magical ability being adaptive as such. "Quantum Beam!" Using the shape of her body and the position as the aura, Jane launched a bright and powerful magic beam of energy into the turret, hoping it would not have the time to shield itself form the hit. The beam was almost so dense and wide that it would be impossible to tell what is happening to the target until the attack wave is over. After it ended, the energy scope above the machine reported that damage was taken. Still, it was another reminder to Jane that her Quantum beam still needed more work.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/6Q75TYLb/S2-Super-Turret-004.png]
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The scope above the turret changed its color again to red, meaning something if anything belonging to the turret's base functions was about to be disrupted or destroyed. Jane almost forgot to realize that this thing is just a machine, meaning it can malfunction with enough damage in the correct areas. Well-placed attacks might be the key to victory here.
Counter Corner! There is a skill name Jane has not heard of before. She forced herself back to stance mode, putting harmful weight resistance on her right leg while she desperately tried to carry over her MP energy into another power shield. It didn't matter if her stomach felt like it was being twisted inside out, or that her leg was about to come off from the last explosion. She'll die if she can't win, because running away is not an option right now! Crossing her arms and dispensing that energy made the process happen in time. The turret seemed stationary for the moment, but the attack was already in effect.
Two large red colored glyphrings formed on the left and right side of the turret, hovering high in the sky with their centers aimed at Jane herself. It wasn't long after when a well energized lightning bolt fired from each arc, making two red electrical lines attempting to zap Jane and bypass her shield. It was another Voltage spell, only disguised as something a little different. The damage potential had to be high, because the hexagons forming at each impact spot were getting smaller. Jane could feel the stress the energy output and reflection placed on her. Every second that passed brought her shield closer to failure, until it finally collapsed the next moment. There was no grace period for what was happening next; the Lightning Strikes traveled too quickly for anything to possibly react and get out of their way. Jane was suddenly being electrocuted again by dark magic electrical attacks, her nerves jumping and her skin burning from the sensations. The remaining voltage only affected Jane for two more seconds, but after it ended, she didn't have it in her to stay standing any longer. Combining how quickly her shield had failed to stay up on her just from damage, with the additional hit of an electrical attack and their effects on the human body, Jane's entire life force was drained out of her. By now there was more MP magic left in her than there was HP. There was also a small pool of blood staining the ground, running down her right ankle. Jane felt on the boarder of passing out completely, barely able to refuse the temptation to do it for herself.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/L4g6mC6J/S2-Jane-AV-036.png]
She sat on her knees, refusing to stand up for the remainder of the battle. In the back of her mind, Jane really questioned her ability to come near a victory in this match. Jane shook the thought away once more. She couldn't focus on doubts for now, because failure in this scenario would lead to her immediate death, the end of everything. So she instead decided to fight in this stance, since not all magical spells require a person to stand straight up for invocation. Jane had one idea in particular. "Photon Blast!" Her MP reserves drained quickly, making her lightheaded and dizzier than she expected, but Jane kept her consciousness long enough to create the powerful effects of the attack spell in her body, starting out as an aura attack.
The faint blue glow of MP energy being stored and released reminded Jane how cool Leray magic can be, but it wasn't something she could get excited about right now. The split second thoughts and reminders of her entire life before coming to the dark zone were flashing frame by frame in her head while trying to invoke the spell. It wasn't wise to get sidetracked during invocation, but Jane wasn't distracted by those thoughts. They were merely automatic, her life flashing multiple times before her eyes, hoping and praying she can make it through this. Jane finally released her energy after aiming her arms at the machine gun turret, blasting a barrage of photon beams so loud, her ears were already ringing. Jane couldn't even visually make out the turret anymore, for the bright clumps of photon attacks were making it hard to see the impact areas.
Photon Blast is one of the most powerful and popular Leray area attack spells, with an average power level of eight, and a tendency to be impossible to master. Jane not only mastered the spell, but created a derivative spell from this one, known as Photon Burst. It was only this time though that she wanted to go with an original plan of attack this time, beat up that metal as much as physically possible. Once the attack wave was over, and the light began to fade away, Jane had two new problems to account for. As expected, the use of that magic severely drained much of her remaining MP reserves. Sitting where the turret was stationed, another sphere of energy had completely enveloped the metal structure on the top of the pillar. The sphere made up a translucent aura of shielding, much to the same design as Jane's power shield utilizing MP magic. After a massive Photon Blast, the enemy shield managed to completely hold up; not a single unit on the energy scope above the turret had been altered.
Rocketry! "Damn you!" Jane cursed under her breath. Fighting a machine with its own power shield is defiantly not an easy matter. No wonder Cadastro lost to only two weeks of training. This power shield really does a lot more than it seems. Blasts jumped Jane's nerves as the rockets began firing from each side of the primary turret attachment modules. Jane could already see a dozen missiles firing high into the air, almost high enough to slam into the very top edge of the red Siriean dome. Jane pushed herself back onto her legs. She was certain that a power shield would be harder to control sitting down, and she was defiantly going to need one with this attack.
On her damaged legs, Jane crossed her arms just as the missiles began to descend downwards towards her. She gave up more MP energy to create the shield, but kept in mind that the shield gets weaker every time she has less MP energy to work with. It should hold even this time, but Jane closed her eyes in fear just to be sure, letting the dying sound of muffled explosions indicate when it would be over. Jane could completely feel her connection and concentration with the aura slipping fast. The same attack didn't drain this much of her the first time, but Jane was much weaker already, she could feel the power shield aura failing below her own control. Just as she opened her eyes to see another blast of ash and dirt flying up from the damage done to the ground beneath her, Jane's aura collapsed on itself, giving Jane another powerful sensation of fatigue. Jane's legs trembled like jelly, until they totally gave out on her. Jane fell to the ground face first, and she had to use her hands to break her fall. Luckily, the explosion which knocked out her shield aura was the last missile used.
Though she was barely undamaged by the last attack, Jane was breathing quickly, struggling just to stand straight up with a stabbing pain in her lower leg and her knees and a similar amount in her stomach. With her very life on the line, she didn't struggle for long. The desire to stay alive is one of the best kinds of wills anybody can have, pushing them to fight harder. Jane was too familiar with that sense after spending time here, and she used it to push herself back up to her wobbly legs. In truth, everything hurt everywhere, but not nearly as much as her right knee and forehead, which was pounding with pressure right now. With another fighting breath, Jane used more MP energy, the last nine percent she had left invoking another spell, "Flying Guillotine!"
Jane threw her daggers, already infused with magical energy required to create a spinning red arc in the air following the daggers as they flew together in synchronization. Jane aimed her daggers straight for the turret on top of the pillar, but before the red arc of damage even got close to the device, another spherical power shield surrounded the turret, protecting the system long before any danger neared it again. Jane couldn't believe it, watching in horror while her flying daggers helplessly bounced right back from impacting the impenetrable shield created by the turret, falling to the ground with no other option left. The shield then deactivated itself, just as the metal daggers clanged on the soft ground below it.
Jane had no more MP energy remaining to attack or defend herself, and her low HP levels were making her too withered to fight any longer. Jane would escape right now if it were possible, but another shield system was forcing her not to escape, one that could never be penetrated. Long after feeling tired and woozy, Jane's mind jumped wide awake. It wasn't any specific change that she wanted to invoke. Jane was grinding her teeth, staring down her enemy without so much as a blink, trying to contemplate how a monstrosity could even exist anywhere.
This feeling was worse than anger. This was a full set rage, distinguishing no difference between the red in Jane's eyes and the red light from the sky. It was a little more than a few failed attacks on her part. The turret was just hell bent on destroying any intruder in range, not even allowing that intruder to escape, but Jane knew the difference. She is not the intruder of anything. She only came here to fix something specific to one of her problems, something specific enough to help her reach this far into the forbidden zone.
Trying to stop her was this machine's first mistake. Jane soon went beyond the normal capacity for getting angry, all of her muscles were tightly tensed with fuel and adrenaline. Suddenly, standing up was not even a bother, and the pains were something Jane ignored entirely. What only took about one second to process it all, the light from Jane's right hand flashed below her face, activating the secret crest bound to her energy signature. In the immediate moment the crest began to light up, so did the stats on Jane's energy scope change dramatically. She only glanced at the changed stats, confirming that she now had another opportunity to take this thing out once and for all.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/c4q1CRrX/S2-Jane-AV-037.png]
There was little time to think about anything. Jane's cut below her knee sealed itself somehow, blame going to her hand crest, but it was barely enough to heal her. Being able to freely move and run around on her legs again meant a lot to her strategy however. Jane considered all possible options before the turret had another chance to try and attack her. The symbol on her hand was still lighting up, supplying her with previously lost stamina and focus, and within an instant, Jane immediately had her answer. Using a large amount of energy impulse outright, Jane made her next move.
"Zero Zone!" A massive pulse of blue light burst outwards from where she stood, eventually turning everything to the color of black and white before her. Despite its difficulty to invoke in the first place, Jane immediately forced the entire world's time to cease ticking for an unknown period of reference time to her. She managed to invoke this ability only once before now, though she wasn't this angry or desperate before either. Zero Zone's effects were already fluent everywhere, all sound stopping except for sounds Jane was making with her footsteps and her breathing. With no time to lose, Jane charged up towards the pillar, throwing her daggers at the armored machine.
Jane knew that a few simple physical attacks were useless, so she immediately followed up that toss with a Magical Blitz sequence. "Magical Blitz!" Jane created colorless spheres of Leray energy in her hand, and tossed them high in the air towards the turrets. Last time she used Zero Zone, her own magic retained substance and color, but this time, the energy spheres were colorless too. The energy spheres impacted the turret without fail. Though she needed to do more damage, Jane had already realized a new strategy in effect with her Zero Zone ability. The turret would not be able to process incoming projectiles with time frozen against it. That machine won't even be able to comprehend what happened from what damaged it so harshly as soon as this time distortion field ends. Moreover, the entire dome around her was mostly faded, almost totally transparent while Jane noticed flickers in the hexagons every now and then. The turret wouldn't be able to shield itself even if it could process, likely because the distortion field negatively affects shielding auras too somehow. Once the distortion ends, all of that will change, but Jane made plans before it could happen, running to the right side of the turret for a better attack angle.
Once there, Jane swallowed more of her MP reserves, invoking another powerful ability. "Photon Burst!" With a small glyphring hugging her wrist, Jane used arm motions like before, bringing the photon blast down from above instead of the other way around this time. The photons blasted their way into the turret structure with ease, blowing off pieces of armor plating from the side Jane was aiming for. Of course, the moment those armor chunks tried to come off, they became frozen in the air again, while Jane noticed the slight disaggregation of each section. The impact was so powerful, it knocked off one side of the rocket launcher attachments. Jane backed up a little, far from being finished.
"Return Fire!" With disregard for her own remaining energy reserves, Jane continuously used anything and everything to deal as much damage to the machine before it was even possible for the device to retaliate or defend itself. As soon as Zero Zone ends, the tides will no longer be in her favor. Jane's Return Fire spell activated, creating five colorless glyphrings in the sky, all surrounding the turret from separate angles. Then colorless bolts of lightning shot out from each glyphring, one at a time in a cycle. It was a sophisticated Voltage attack, but it was strange seeing everything happening in black and white. Jane counted the amount of times the turret was hit by momentary voltages of electricity, powerful enough to penetrate the steel armor on the machine with each and every hit. Larger plates of armor and protection modules were being blasted off left and right, giving Jane something to finally smile about. The metal pieces frozen in time would eventually fly everywhere in all directions, revealing the damage in total.
The glyphrings then faded quickly, the distortion field still running. Jane took yet another opportunity to try something more daring, yet necessary for victory. "Dark Strike!" she chanted. After teleporting from the ground to another location, Jane materialized on the rear edge of the top of the pillar, almost falling off with what little room was available between herself and the massive machine. Jane purposely teleported just inches behind the large turret structure, built almost as large as a small home. Jane was on the rear section, viewing exactly what was behind the turret structure itself, keeping her balance - as the edge was only two inches behind her. The rear panel of the machine was supposed to be protected by a layer of armor, but the last attack must have blown that part off as well, now exposing all sorts of interesting material. Jane was specific to locate a small round thick disk connected to something resembling transistors and micro-generators. It was the unit responsible for shielding the turret from incoming damage, the very reason Jane would have been killed if not for the symbol on her hand, which she now noticed had faded away.
She didn't use Dark Strike as an actual attack this time, only as a means of close range teleportation, and she was exactly where she needed to be, face to face with the turret's generator system. All she had to do here was take that component out, and get back down somehow. Thinking of the best way to save on MP energy with the entire process, Jane created a summon glyphring in her arms, casting Crystal Arrow only in her mind. Jane wound up the crystal arrow into the bow, suddenly realizing that everything had regained color again. The Zero Zone distortion field was wearing off already, and it was now or never. Jane pulled back the bow and took an aim at the small component before the machine retained the ability to realize that Jane's position had been moved. She let go, blasting the crystal arrow straight into the shielding unit. The arrow was also explosive and timed, meaning Jane had to get the hell back down quickly.
The turret structure was already beginning to move, and Jane had to jump it from the pillar's edge. Already in free-fall, the jump was about one hundred feet high. Jane threw some magic in front of her towards the ground, hoping to create some sort of gravitational distortion field to lighten her fall similar to Push Wave, but it didn't work as well as she wanted it to. Hitting the ground with a powerful knock to her chest, Jane was back in the mode before using the Zero Zone skill, beat up and hurt. The symbol marking going away like that allowed all of the pain from before to flood back, while taking additional falling damage added to the stress. She quickly tried to reorient herself, checking both energy scopes for damage changes. Against the turret structure, things were looking up.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/yYF1ZDRB/S2-Jane-AV-038.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/0NL5SDVk/S2-Super-Turret-005.png]
Grenade Launch! The ADC was still commanding the turret to attack without any issues. Jane knew it was an easy possibility. The fight isn't over yet, but at least now her own attacks would no longer be deflected away. However, with the small amount of energy she had left, the same debilitations may apply to her now. The bright symbol on her right hand wasn't there anymore. Why did it go away now, just when Jane could use it again to win for sure? She had time though. Being on a different side of the gun meant the machine had to turn itself all the way around and relocate Jane as it prepared to fire its cannon. It was time Jane could use to either prepare another shield by passive regeneration, or to brace herself should the turn rate be too quick.
By the time the barrel aimed close enough towards Jane's side of the field, she had her answer. A blast shot from a hidden barrel in the front of the turret system was obviously left undamaged so far. Jane wasn't taking any chances with unknown attacks, crossing her arms to shield herself in the aura she still had available. The small projectile fell to the ground rather close to where Jane was standing, then detonated. The fire power was something Jane did not expect to see; the small grenade didn't have a very large blast radius or power level. In fact, it was laughable to compare that to an ordinary hand grenade. Her shield still created large hexagons near the front side from the shockwave of the blast, but that was it. Jane had to cut the power to her shield to not waste more of her energy, sad to understand that she could have evaded the attack simply by backing up a few more paces.
"Oh well," she shrugged. "Lightning Strike!" Using a jade glyphring around her arm, Jane invoked a simpler and effective spell, aiming directly for the turret structure. While zapping the metal with electrical energy, Jane noticed that she was taking on damage as well, of a different nature. The low MP gap created even by a simple magic attack like that one was enough to give her more disorientation than she had before. Jane felt dizzy, enough to make the room spin around her. By the time the magic spell ended, Jane only did little damage to the turret based on its energy scope. Worse than that, she spent so much energy that another power shield would not even be feasible to attempt this time around.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/k4KJvGHx/S2-Super-Turret-006.png]
Fire Blast! This was an unusual name for the turret's actions according to Jane. All she could do is stand there, hoping it would not hurt too badly. The machine fired an ordinance of two Fire Balls, too fast to even track. The first one slammed into Jane's neck, providing the force needed to knock her down on her back. The kick backwards did more than the fiery force of the magic did to her, but then the second Fire Ball struck. Hitting Jane while knocked onto the ground, she was left vulnerable to the next attack. The sphere of magical damage exploded into fire based flames spreading all over Jane. Normally, fiery attacks don't cause people to ignite in Leray battles, but here in the dark zone, that rule is often overlooked. Jane didn't dare allow this to burn her skin any more than it needed to. She patted at her arms and legs, rolling on the hot floor to try and put herself out before the stinging and burning feeling went away. It wasn't a big fire considering, hardly as much as a flame at all, but the burning pain to her flesh was very much real, forcing her to act fast. By mere chance, Jane's quick movements to stop the fiery mess from the second Fire Ball accidently allowed her to dodge the third Fire Ball meant to slam into her. Instead, the sphere exploded on the ground away from Jane, minimizing the damage in total that was done to her.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/52bxqf5z/S2-Jane-AV-039.png]
Just as soon as Jane took care of herself, she stood up again to retaliate before the machine was given another chance. Either its design is very complex, or the energy scope above the device was misreporting the real threat. Jane however knew that shielding was not even possible for the turret anymore, which meant no more holding back on offensive capabilities. With just enough energy recovered, Jane invoked her next spell, certain it would have been enough. "Meteor Strike!" The invocation was nearly instant, forcing meteors to fall from a large red summoning glyphring that spawned high over the turret structure. Meteor Strike also costs an average of 22% MP energy in relation to her skill level, but Jane has refined it so many times, and with her natural MP conservation process, that cost was cut in half. It still emptied her entire energy supply using the area attack spell. Meteor fragments began pounding everywhere. Some hit the ground below, others hit the pillar itself, while the remaining few struck the turret's armor where it sat. Jane could hardly believe the amount of damage done to the turret, specifically because of how functional it remained afterward.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/Fzv9Wmtw/S2-Super-Turret-007.png]
The shockwaves from the meteor crashes alone were enough to simulate the sound of explosions. Yet the machine was still working and ready to deliver its counterattack. Jane wasn't as ready anymore. With her MP mostly spent and her disorientation much higher, she let her legs slouch outward in exhaustion, barely managing to breathe her way back into consciousness. With little delay, the next skill in the turret's ADC read back to Jane, Rocketry! Jane sucked in more air, as much as she could breathe. She had hardly any MP remaining right now just from passive regeneration, but needed to use it once again for a power shield.
After crossing her arms to generate another aura of energy, the turret fired six rockets from the left side attachment that was left undamaged so far. The missiles still had their tracking systems engaged, flying into the air and changing course back down to the ground where Jane was standing. Again, she closed her eyes, unable to personally watch each and every blast since just one of them could kill her right here. Jane put up the aura despite having only 2% MP to work with, the minimum requirement just to trigger the shield. The stress on the shield increased dramatically in very short of time, nearly collapsing in milliseconds upon the missile impacts. Jane let it go on her own, lucky enough to time it just after the missiles were destroyed into the ground, but Jane could barely stand up at all, severely drained by all of her fatigue and low energy ratings. Another tide changer might be of some use, and there was only one that needed little amount of energy to activate; as much as controlling an energy scope.
Jane kept her focus on the battle, as hard as that was. "Gyrobreak!" she hissed with the wear in her voice. Jane activated her spell with ease, forcing the entire ground to shake violently. Jane fell to the ground from the loss in her balance, but did so with little to mind. This wasn't even a strategy to fight back anymore. Jane's Gyrobreak was only a quick means to try and catch her breath, to recover even just slightly.
With the area tilting and turning in place, even the turret's actions became sporadic and confused. The barrels were spinning and firing bullets everywhere, but the turning shaft to aim at Jane failed to get anywhere precise. Instead, the gyroscope in the system failed to help the machine aim even in the slightest. Jane was still capable of getting hit by a few stray bullets, but took her chances instead, just lying there, breathing as fast as her heart was pounding. She never felt so dizzy before in her life, fighting with every ounce of strength just to stay awake.
For another good fifteen seconds of time, the Gyrobreak prevented anything bad from happening to Jane, but once it wore off, she had only recovered about 3% of her MP reserves, prompting her to stand back up for one final move. The turret was thinking as well, no longer firing bullets aimlessly. Redemption would outright kill her, so Jane needed something a bit softer. She took out just one single dagger from her pocket this time, infusing the last of her MP energy into that blade with the spell of Armor Breaker. Infusing two blades with that much energy would be impossible right now, so she'll just have to throw one blade at a time. After waving her hand over the blade, making it glow with a raging red aura of magical build up, Jane threw the daggers at the turret, aiming at the left side of its rocket attachment. At the same time the blade left her hand, the ADC came up with one more attack. Rocketry!
The blade hit the armor first, using its enhanced magical damage abilities to cut and pierce right through the metal material like it was paper. The dagger cut a giant slice between the middle side of the left rocket attachment, disrupting the attack of its next trick, but not completely. Just after the left rocket attachment had been sliced in half down the horizontal line, the barrels on the top attached to the trigger mechanism still allowed for three missiles to be shot out of the remaining launchers. The turret itself took much more damage, but now Jane had to face another dangerous attack with no ability to shield herself.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/VvFz2Tmv/S2-Super-Turret-008.png]
Jane hopped backwards a few times, desperate out of her mind to get away from the blast radius before it was too late. Even just three missiles could do much harm without any sort of shielding function. The missiles were too fast, blasting the ground in front of where Jane was standing. The shrapnel combined with the shockwave pushed Jane back off her own feet, ringing her ears and shoving her violently into the ground. The pain was much like what she had felt before, but this still felt different. Jane didn't want to move anymore, her entire visual field was clouding with dark tunnels. It was similar to the experience Jane had after nearly losing the battle with Patrissa the other night, just fifty times worse! It's the process of slipping into unconsciousness due to high damages and low energy - the very thing that would kill Jane right now because of her physical location. She could barely make out the energy scope hovering right above her in phase.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/wBBgZFGT/S2-Jane-AV-040.png]
Never before did everything hurt so much. Her headache became too immense for Jane to want to stay awake any longer. Jane knew that the turret was still running out there, probably malfunctioning too much now to take further action, but it wouldn't stay that way forever. She was going to die a terrible death now, unless there was some way, any way to flatten that machine from here. Instead of thinking for attacks, Jane focused more on thoughts of her past, her friends and family.
Every single event that led her to this point wasn't very consistent either. Jane is the one person who made the decision to run all the way into danger, but before that ever happened, there were so many better days, days that she could smile looking back to. Days where she expressed her love and passion for Leray magic, days where her family struggled in debt just to enlist Jane into school at her age, and days where Jane had fun times trying to train with the new arrivals of Danny and Taylor. Teaching them the skill of Radial Stars was quite difficult, though it would be humorous for those two to think back on it now.
Jane exhaled roughly, nearly forgetting to breathe, but the thought of one thing led to another, an ability of exchange Claudia was speaking of, though she was never clear on what any of it meant. Some of the most advanced students have the ability to change the location of glyphrings to appear in other places, even with the most simple of attacks. The most simple of attacks could work. Radial Stars, Jane projected. I could project an attack anywhere else, if I just try... Radial Stars...
Jane held her tongue, her throat scrapped too poorly to say anything at a room voice level. Destroying that turret was paramount, and Jane had but moments before it strikes back. With as much health as she had now, it was a miracle she was still somehow conscious, but that would end with a single hit of anything from anywhere. Jane tried to imagine the interior of the turret structure, right down to the circuitry and internal component boards she got a glimpse of earlier. Somewhere in that turret is the CPU chip powering the entire operation, and Jane just needed to hit the inside of the turret from here.
"Radial Stars," she croaked. Jane wished to fire a small barrage of Radial Stars from the inside of the structure, in hopes than even the weakest Leray attack in the book would be enough to harm the central works of the manmade machine. Jane felt as if her skill was being invoked, but it was hard to tell at this point. Suddenly there was a sound of an explosion echoing through the air, but Jane couldn't even turn her head far enough to check on what it was about. She was exhausted, too drained to keep her eyes open forever. Everything went cold while it felt like the world was spinning around her. She could feel less of everything. It wasn't long afterwards when everything went completely dark.