The stranger, who looked way too much like Cloud from Final Fantasy, met my threat with a wink in return.
No way the real Cloud would do that.
"Please call me Cirrus," he said, with a little grin and a tilt of his chin. "You must be Sophia, darling."
"Eew!" I shouted. He was literally named after a cloud! This clown must be the biggest knockoff I had ever seen in my li–
He swung his massive sword at Saber.
I pulled the trigger on my gun. The Cold Grenade launched.
An instant too late.
Saber leaped back, almost simultaneously. A trickle of blood crept down the side of her neck - thankfully the wound had been only a scratch, from what I could tell. A matching trickle dripped from Cirrus' outstretched, frozen weapon. Ice had also engulfed the rest of his body.
He was fast with his sword. That thing must've weighed over a hundred pounds, yet he swung it with the speed of a fly swatter.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
No time to waste, then.
"All in!" I shouted to Saber as I backed away to a position more favorable for ranged combat.
She understood, and quickly leaped in with a thrust at the frozen man's chest.
As I circulated my magical charge through my railgun, I felt a single shard of solidified arcane force materialize in its barrel. With a hard squeeze of the trigger, the shard fired out and plunged into Cirrus' chest.
This was the second time I used the gun's basic attack. The projectile proved nothing fancy, but nonetheless more potent than any crossbow bolt I've dished out.
But basic attacks alone wouldn't be enough. As Saber continued to assail the frozen stranger with slashes and Smites, I weaved in my spells, firing a Frost Missile from the gun, then launching a Vortex Shield with my free hand. I managed to get a second railgun shot in before Cirrus broke free of the ice encasing him. He charged straight at me. I was the squishy mage, after all, and I had just used my one defensive spell.
But often, defense is not the job of the mage.
He closed the gap between us almost instantly, but it was time enough. Saber slammed her foot down, causing a golden, crystalline wall to erupt between me and him, right as his blade neared my face. I heard it clank hard against the crystals on the other side. The wall fractured, and shards of crystal broke off, but for now I was safe. And I had just enough time.
"Final spell," I breathed. "Maw of Leviathan."