In the scuffle of the night sky flyers over the fortress of Prie Moraan, the next to act was the young wizard, infuriated by his injuries and slinging an almost immediate spell out with a flick of a wand. Cackling energy in a large radius was all the warning anyone had — however, this was enough for Sammy, because she ‘read’ the spell clearly with Detect Magic.
Lighting Storm, or something like that.
With her and her staff in radius, she utilized Spell Absorption to attempt absorbing it — somewhat risky, but intuitively she felt it was a decent gamble. And…
The cackling energy around them sparked and then fizzled, as her staff sucked in the force of enough radial lightning mana to abort the spell. The staff shined brightly and hummed with the power briefly before it went out with a flash, fully absorbed.
Spell of level 10, caster level of 12 (adjusted) partially absorbed and aborted. 9/9 reached as raw magical energy.
The look of dismay on the wizard’s face was quite priceless.
The other, wizened wizard was unmoved by all he saw. His eyes briefly flickered over his casualties, and he flew over to grab his compatriot by the robe. He used his teeth to bite into some sort of cloth wrap on the wrist of his other, staff-holding hand and pull it violently, which caused it to unravel. As soon as it did, it disintegrated, and he and the other wizard disappeared in a flash of white light.
Bitch! Eh. Figures. He determined this wasn’t worth it. Can’t blame him, really. Might be tough nearly soloing this many whatever his capability, and he doesn’t likely see the value of the risk.
Porthos’s grappled wizard managed to cast a spell, conjuring some sort of pole that pushed himself right out of the Dragon’s grip and flung him away at the same time.
It was an exceptionally temporary solution, however, as Sammy’s Angels blasted him with multiple energy bolts, and then a slew of automated blade snakes descended on him. They dealt several cuts before one decapitated him from behind with a snapping tail, as a coup de grace. His corpse and head dropped from the sky.
Dart turned to her questioningly with the pained wizard he was chomping down on. She quickly flew over and bonked the guy on the head, knocking him unconscious with the special ability of her staff. “We’ll give him as a gift to the Naugites, I suppose.”
The quest “The Sky of Limits” is complete. 60 FE gained. 6 exp gained in [Goddess], 9 exp gained in [Magineer] for intelligent planning, execution, and supernatural ability use. 10 MP gained.
There was a pause as everyone looked around, and it fully dawned that they’d defeated their enemies completely. Sammy lifted her staff up in victory. “Can I get a hell yeah?!”
Angels, Faerie Dragons, Resemblants, (and even one Cat Sith) resounded with an irregularly delivered “Hell yeah!” Then the Angels spread more cheers around, finally ending in a ‘Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!’ thing going between them and the dragons. And a smiling Azure. (And a Sammy.)
Everyone trailed off a bit when they noticed someone else also doing the ‘Hoo Hooing’ among them — A jet-black, ugly, warp-faced, bat-winged demon-thing. With everyone staring, he suddenly cleared his throat and waved at Sammy with a face-splitting smile of white, sharp teeth. “Oh, hey there! Sorry, I got caught up in the energy. I’m Criggle. Such an honor to meet you, Terrible and Magnificent Goddess-Mistress!”
“I’d be charmed to say the same,” Sammy said with flippant irony, beginning to get into the Puck character. “In lieu, why don’t you escort me to the leader down there, hmmm? The big, big woman.”
“Oh, that won’t be trouble at all, Your Majesty Goddess Mistress Most Divine. Everyone was watching from the walls, just about. Ba Ra La La made sure of that, eh?” He winked in a super exaggerated, obvious way.
“Nonetheless, small fry…” She gestured insistently with a hand for him to lead.
He nodded and bowed. “Right away, your Supreme Horror Most Cruelly Beautifulness!” He turned and flew off for the fortress.
Rolling her eyes briefly, Sammy followed.
Remembering a minor thing that was nagging her, she internally spoke to the System. “Hey, Sys, can you include base exp from rewards in parenthesis after the net total? Prefer to know at a glance immediately, ya know? Lots of modifiers changing all the time.”
Acknowledged, User Sammy. It will be done for all future rewards. The most recent quest was 6(5) in [Goddess] and 9(6) in Magineer, at modifiers 1.2 and 1.6, respectively.
“Uh-huh. Thanks.”
As they flew over to the fortress, Sammy sent commands for all her Servitors to array themselves impressively to either side and outward, as if presenting a giant divine spearhead with her as the tip. Meanwhile, she patted Metatron’s neck and sent to him, “Thanks for humoring me, bud. You did a fantastic job. So what do you think of this fortress, anyway?” Fortifications were his specialty.
“It’s a fantastic facility for defense, Madam. As good as anywhere to hunker down, and worth more reinforcement no doubt. A shame it is so isolated. Food and water might be issues if an enemy force can get on the other side somehow and surround it for a prolonged siege. Still, I wouldn’t want to have to retake this.”
“I think it's some other special preparation Zadkiel and Glae have, but it's less dramatic than the other thing planned, so we’re not bothering yet. A worry for another time.”
To make sure they were on the same page, Sammy pinged Ba Ra. “What I’m doing makes sense to you? Any last second advice?”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Ba Ra sent something like a supportive mental nod. “Dreixia is permanently in a foul mood, and seems to have already taken a dislike for this ‘interruption.’ Meanwhile, all the other soldiers are celebratory and in awe. You’re poised to win hearts.”
“Without a fight?”
“Naugite heroes do not try to avoid battle, silly. But you were just joking, right?” Her tone was teasing.
“Eh heh. Right. Yeah.”
“Be cocky, be witty, go for a laugh or two with wicked steel waiting behind your soft satin. Then they will love you. I’d be ecstatic to have that sort of deity-backed influence, too, as a contrast to Zadkiel. There are a couple of major clans we might be able to draw for this alone. Especially with Dreixia dead.”
Sammy frowned internally. It was a little late to doubt the direction she’d let herself get steered, but she was not doing this to profit off of someone’s death. It was to save the greater majority from one, tragic soul’s last selfishness. She let it go, though. She didn’t have to kill her anyway, right? “By the way, Ba Ra… my rout of the wizards… that didn’t fuck with the Twin Wells plan, did it?”
“While I didn’t expect you to kick their asses that badly, their losses were more on the expendable side. They’ll have scary tales to tell, but it will be exaggerated I bet — to hide their incompetence. The sages are excellent at reading between each other’s lines. They might be cautious about ambushes for the future, but when they see the whole thing was only to stage a retreat, the leaders will probably regard the tales as overblown and a minor gaffe.”
“You are… insightful, Ba Ra. If that pans out to be true, especially.”
“We’ve been doing this nearly every day for many, many years, Samantha. And I’m designed for it.”
“Among other things.”
“You fancy that you think I’m an inferior slave, but the truth is that I make you confront my similarity to your own Servitors. You should breathe easy, though. If you design a tool to enjoy-”
“That’s quite enough, Ba Ra! I don’t have time for your bullshit, anyway.” She disconnected, as the horde of cheering Naugites atop the walls were imminent. Right then, it was kind of a welcome distraction, too.
The cheers were pretty much all about kicking the asses of the ‘Dusties’ or the ‘Saggies,’ the most common cry being, ‘Dust the Dusties!’ Names called out to them ran the gamut, but ‘Dragon Ladies’ seemed to be picking up speed, as was ‘Sage Slayers.’ Half of them quieted in awe staring up at the spectacle before them, but the other half made up for it in continuous, giddy rowdiness. There were still people crowding into the mix from below the walls, having missed the rather brief events that had transpired.
Dreixia could be seen quite blatantly, flanked by several of her closest aides but otherwise off to herself on a central parapet. Her people were silent and solemn, while she was glaring balefully through her helmet with one good eye and one squinty, damaged one. From what Sammy could see, she looked terrible, a black rot over half her face, and she seemed to be very sweaty. Even her armor looked half-decayed, and she had not bothered to replace any of it.
Before anyone else could say anything, Dreixia slammed her bell-topped polearm down butt-first. It made the bell ring with a loud, piercing gong that immediately made everyone cover their ears and grow silent. “Quiet, you morons!” Her voice was as frantic and feverish as she appeared. She sneered and pointed up at the armored figure above her. “Who the fuck are you and why did you interfere?! What trickery conjured you?” Dark suspicion tainted every syllable.
She’s sick. Body and mind. Poor woman…
Sammy had to bury the compassion of an Earth-born medical student right then. She invoked all that she could, namely the Goddess of Illusion, [Ascendant: Abyssal Dive], and [Big Boss].
Funny. She’s technically right. Trickery is, in fact, afoot. Aclaw? Ha.
Criggle was waiting for her, and she nodded to him as if granting him a boon. With that, Criggle turned and smiled wide at the army below him on the walls. He gestured grandly at Puck and declared in a booming voice, “Behold, little terrors of the Other World origin! Your Darkest Mistress, your Cruelest of Cruel and Terrible Beauties, the Most Devilish Demoness with a Faery Flair — Puck The Magnificent, Faeborn Goddess of Illusion, Luck, Pandemonium… and more! Feast your eyes and weep for joy! For unquenchable desire!”
Puck leapt upward and did a somersault, as fireworks far behind her went off in a great cascade — extra pretty and extravagant thanks to the expertise of Ozra. She landed on her feet still atop her mount, extended her hands out, and bowed with the fireworks still bursting, as oohs and ahhs resounded through the crowd, and even Dreixia lay stunned.
With a final crack of her tail like a bullwhip, the fireworks ceased to pop, and she pulled off her helmet to reveal a smiling, Cheshire face, one eye briefly showing a bright, starburst gleam. Thousands of Naugite eyes near and far were upon her, and she bent the light so all would see with perfect clarity their first vision of a new goddess.
“Say it with me,” Puck teased and cajoled the gathered with a wink, her voice like a soothing hum that settled into the bones. “Say my name, you ne'er-do-wells, you devils of fortune! Acknowledge and receive she who brings you victory and dominance, snatched from the very jaws of defeat! Hail Puck the Magnificent, hail the Pandemonial Goddess before you!”
The response was immediate. A few began with a cry, “Hail, Puck the Magnificent!” A pack yelled with emphasis, “Hail, Puck the Magnificent, hail the goddess!”
A rough chorus beginning to spread. “Hail the goddess, hail Puck the Magnificent!”
879 FE gained due to user beliefs/acknowledgments. Note: not yet Followers (71 are Followers of another deity).
As Sammy/Puck basked smugly in the glow of their induced cries, there was a nearly screamed, guttural yell from the mouth of Dreixia, shortly followed by her slamming her bell flail into the parapet, sending a sonic cascade at Puck through the air.
This was something, however, Sammy was completely prepared for. She’d even observed the range of the effect on a certain battlefield.
She didn’t move at all, as she’d been warping the space with light and illusion to appear closer to begin with. She was just out of range.
Warning! Goddesses in mirrors are further than they appear, ahahahaha!
Puck grinned the whole while as the air around her merely blew her hair like a breeze, and the Naugites gasped in wonder. Glances were cast at Dreixia, some fearful, some hateful, some derisive for her incompetent attack.
She was winning hearts already.