Chapter 7 - Tacit End Guardian
Mary tensed at the emergence of what appeared to be a hulking giant metal figure. Whatever security measures she triggered must have called forth this being to attack her. Forgetting about the terminal for now, she decided to concentrate on her newest opponent.
The first thing she noticed was that it was in the vague shape of a man, even if its design was only a passing resemblance of a humanlike figure. Instead of hands, one arm had a sharp blade attached at the wrist while the other arm was connected to what appeared to be an energy cannon of some kind. As its full body came into view, a synthetic screech echoed throughout the chamber.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!!"
Upon its emergence, the entrance leading to this chamber suddenly closed with a bang as thick metal gates appeared to seal them all inside. There was no escaping this fight for Mary, and all she could do was prepare herself for combat.
“Echo — The War Song!”
Right as she finished her chant, Mary was already leaping in the air to avoid the first attack. A beam of energy flew past her where she was previously positioned, hitting the chamber wall behind her and causing a bright flash of light to illuminate the room. Tumbling to the ground a second later, she quickly positioned her sword to activate a sword spell.
“Echo — Lunar Bright Dust!”
There was only so much she could do with a low-quality weapon, and Mary decided that the best course of action was to use her magic to attach the guardian’s joints and legs. If she could disable the guardian, even temporarily, then maybe she could come up with a better plan to permanently destroy it.
Unfortunately, the energy blades merely broke apart the moment they made contact with the guardian. Rather than doing nothing, it was the sheer scale of the guardian’s durability that allowed it to weather through the attack without being hindered. And as her attack failed, the guardian decided to retaliate with one of its own.
"▂▂▃▄▄▄▄▅!!!"
The blade attached to its other arm began to glow ominous, and Text decided to pitch in at that moment.
“It’s using the same move against you, watch out!”
Not needing to be told twice, Mary was forced to run all across the room as her opponent swung its blade down and unleashed multiple energy blades in her direction. Her agility carried her so that she dodged most of them, but one of the projectiles managed to graze a part of her leg, causing her to let out a cry of pain in response.
It wouldn’t stop her from moving around, but the injury would definitely slow her down.
“You’re still too new at combat,” Text continued. “The only spells you know are basic ones that even an automaton can replicate. If you have any hopes of beating that robot, the only way to defeat it is to use a more powerful spell.”
“Kinda difficult to pull something new out without any prep time!”
“Then let me take over,” Text suddenly said. “If you think that this fight is beyond you, I might be able to use your body as a medium to fight on your behalf.”
“You mean you’re going to possess me?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that, but essentially yes. While I cannot use magic on my own, temporarily taking control of your body will allow me to use your internal energy reserves to cast spells. Because I will be forcing your energy to bend to my will, it will no doubt be an unpleasant experience. Think of it as if you suddenly switch from an unconscious action to a conscious one, such as being forced to manually breathe. Except in our case, I will be the one directing your actions.”
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“I don’t care, just do it!”
“Then prepare yourself.”
That was the only warning she got before Mary lost control of her body.
She instantly understood what he meant by the experience being unpleasant. Rather than being an observer to her own actions, Mary felt as if she was being jerked around by an outside force as she suddenly felt every part of her body being forced to follow Text’s will. Her mind was being fed with information as she switched to a state of hypersensitivity, making her aware of every action and muscle movement being caused by Text.
“Watch closely,” Text said using her mouth. It felt strange hearing her own voice being used to talk to her. “Learn from how I control your limbs and etch these movements into your mind.”
The guardian did not remain idle as he spoke, and began preparing another attack with its cannon.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!!"
Text merely replied with a chant of his own.
“Echo / Once Again — I hear the song of battle!”
It was the same spell as her War Song, only the results far exceeded anything she could ever output. Magical energy did not merely fill her limbs, her entire body began exuding absurd amounts of excess energy as a torrent of power exploded from the core of her existence. If she were to quantify the contrast between herself and Text, her War Song would bump her power level from one to ten while Text’s spell increased her strength a thousandfold.
“Flash Step!”
Calling out his actions, Text poured energy into the soles of her feet to instantly move across the room. Rather than using a spell, it was merely an application of her internal energy that she never considered before.
Enveloping their blade with the same energy filling their body, Text swung her arm upward and separated the guardian’s arm along with its cannon, instantly taking out one of its weapons.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!!"
Its screech rang out, almost as if the guardian was in pain. But Text did not relent and continued his assault, throwing out a hand and striking it directly in the guardian’s chest.
“Explosive Palm!”
Mary felt a wave of internal energy pass through her palm and into the guardian, rippling with such chaotic force that it struck in all directions and began destroying the guardian’s body from the inside. The results were immediate, as its chest collapsed inward and caused the guardian to stagger backward in confusion.
As the guardian struggled to regain its bearings, Text continued to speak aloud.
“It appears that the material used to make this automaton is more durable than I expected,” Text said. “If even that is not enough to take it out, looks like I’ll have to take things up a notch.”
Even though he was talking to himself, Mary felt as if he was also telling her to be prepared for his next move.
The sword in her hand began to glow ominously, as if the metal was being superheated from all the energy poured into it by Text.
“Echo / Once Again — The current splits into many streams!”
At first, Mary didn’t even realize what happened. One moment, Text was taking a stance while wielding her sword. The next instant, it was as if there were multiple copies of herself all moving about at the same time. Every instance of herself struck at the same time with her blade, hitting different parts of the guardian’s body and dealing immense damage to its construction.
“Yet the confluence of those streams gives birth to the same river—”
The other copies of herself suddenly merged into one, and the last copy moved to Text’s will. Her body moved into another stance, the sword in her grasp being raised upward in preparation to strike.
“—And the raging torrent continues onward with no end in sight—”
A crack rang out as the surface of her sword began to splinter.
“—For the river mouth is not a final destination, but a new body of water!!”
The guardian was on its last legs, but it still attempted to retaliate. Bringing its own blade up, a bright glow began to surround its weapon even as its arm was already in motion. If Text did not react in time, Mary’s body was going to be bisected in half.
“Through this, we emege in the sea of all creation—”
Directing her body, Text finally took the first step.
“—Only to live out our days until the end of all time—”
A single motion. The shattering of her sword was followed up by the ruination of the guardian’s body. Falling apart into pieces, both the guardian and Mary’s blade met the same fate of end and destruction.
“—In this eternal birdcage named Wren.”
The battle was over, with Text emerging victorious against the guardian.