The blare of tornado sirens reverberates across the city down below as hundreds of grotesque harpies descend upon us. The sky is clear save for a few scattered clouds, but with any hope, the sirens will spur the people to action, either to take shelter in basements or other secure locations, or perhaps to take up arms in defense of the city for those few able to meaningfully contribute.

Another ear-piercing shriek rings out over the city, and within the span of a second, hundreds of thousands of tiny black feathers fly down upon the city like needles piercing through the heavens. I raise my hands with my trusty [Repulsion] barrier, forming a translucent shield around Chloe and me which shields us from the worst of the assault. A few errant feathers manage to slip through and around the hemispherical barrier, grazing the back of my calves in a few places. By and large, however, we emerge unscathed from the initial attack.

More crucially, the barrier bought Chloe the crucial few seconds she needed to envelop us both within her [Saintess’s Cloister].

Meanwhile, Jasmine and Alana charge forward directly into the fray. The beating wings and raucous screams are joined by the clangorous reverberations of hundreds of pointed tips colliding with the glyph-reinforced plates of their steel armor. Alana takes the lead, illuminating her sword in a blinding flash that stuns the harpy nearest her. In a single, swift motion, she cleaves right through the belly of the beast, causing both halves to tumble to the ground.

In what can only be described as a minor miracle; the two halves disintegrate after a second or two, preventing the lifeless bodies from falling down and destroying the homes below. I harbor a brief moment of regret that we were not able to do the same with the wyvern two days ago; had we been a bit stronger, we could have prevented a great deal of destruction of homes and peace of mind. I shove the thought aside— lamentation can wait. For now, it’s time for action.

I activate the gun mode on my [Mechanical Arm Cannon] and get to work, blasting [Ether Bullet Barrages] at every harpy that comes within fifty yards of me. The bullets each hit home, the concussive bursts adding to the cacophony as they tear sinuous flesh and feather from bone. Individually, each of these tens of thousands of harpies is weak; none needs more than a shot or two to go down. The issue is that there are so many of them. This is going to turn into a battle of attrition. And here in the air, where nearly all of my [Ether] regeneration is being siphoned off to maintain my flight, winning a battle of attrition is easier said than done.

More bullets fly out of my arm, as quickly as my body and Skills can produce them. One two, switch directions, rinse, repeat. The cloud of harpies grows yet thicker as more of them converge upon Chloe and me. It’s a trial by fire for [Archangel’s Gaze], which now lets me see my entire surroundings in perfect detail. Blindspot attacks are as good as useless against me, and when I’m unable to completely dodge the swarming attacks, I’m still able to twist my body around to make sure the vast majority bounce harmlessly off my armor. But with hundreds of attacks whirring by each second, a few land glancing blows against my arms and the backs of my legs.

[[Saintess’s Cloister] effect activates. (17, 9, 21, 34, 18, 17, 12) damage absorbed. (Remaining: 6,472 / 6,600; Effect duration: 01:04:47)]

Chloe is about to be struck right in the back. I consider sending her a telepathic message to dodge, but I’m not sure if I’ll break her concentration by doing so. It hurts like few things can, but I choose to let the attack go through. Better she loses a bit of her [Cloister] than that I throw her off her flow and get blindsided by an even more painful attack.

I see a flicker of golden light briefly appear behind Chloe. The errant feather harmlessly bounces off it, falling toward the ground before flickering away into the Ether. Relief washes over me for a fraction of a second before I force that and every other emotion down. There’s still far too much work to do for me to give in to a flight of mental fancy.

And far too many of these goddess-damned harpies over my goddess-damned city! We continue to attack with everything we have. Chloe launches the single [Fireball] her [Ruby-Studded Wand] allows each hour, burning through a swath of about twenty more harpies. But that’s not even a dent in the endless swarm.

I stop using my [Mechanical Arm Cannon], choosing to conserve what [Ether] I have remaining. Instead, I go directly for close-quarters combat. A single punch from my left arm is enough to knock the wind out of the creature before me, and a second chop to the back of the neck causes it to crumple and lose consciousness. It feels amazing, but this too won’t be an effective strategy in the long run. I sustained another 141 damage to my [Cloister], and there’s no way I’ll last for nearly long enough.

I check my parameters.

[Current Stats: [Ether]: 1,896 / 3,011]

No way we’ve come anywhere close to wiping a third of the horde out.

There’s but one strategy I can think of, and I don’t like it. If I drop to the ground, I’ll be able to restore my [Ether] considerably more, letting me get that many more shots off before I hit zero [Ether] and collapse. But that will only exacerbate the danger that the townsfolk below are already facing. After a moment’s hesitation and splattering another harpy’s gray matter with an [Ether Bullet], I decide this is the best course of action. Best case scenario, the soldiers throughout the city can contribute. And there might be a few civilians like Zackary who’re able to meaningfully contribute to the defense efforts as well.

“Chloe, I’m heading to ground. We’re not going to last nearly long enough down here; I’m already down a third of my [Ether] reserves and I barely have any regeneration while I’m flying.”

“Okay, I’ll follow and we’ll regroup on the surface.”

I dive down, and Chloe follows. In the corner of my spherical perception, right on the edge of my range, I catch a glimpse of Jasmine and Alana, who are still cleaving through the harpies like reapers claiming their harvest. The cries of the fell beasts grow angrier, but also more fearful. And I intend to show them that they’re right to be afraid, once I have a moment to properly set up a [Glyphcasting] array.

I set up on the top of the largest tower on the southside of the city, a single massive spire that rivals the tallest human-made structures downtown. By now, the creatures have fully infested the city, and many of them are launching feathers and picking up stones and ripping up branches off trees and using them to tear apart whatever structures they can find. A few of them are even trying to break through the fiberglass window panes to do goddesses only know what to the people still inside. Hopefully they’ve all sought shelter.

With my [Ether] starting to trickle up at an all-too-slow pace, I’m ready to continue my assault. A few of the harpies have gotten wise to the limitations of my fighting style, staying just out of the maximum effective range of my [Ether Bullet Barrage]. Those more intelligent creatures are content to try to pelt me with projectiles from a longer distance, none of which stand a chance of breaking through the perception sphere of [Archangel’s Gaze].

And throughout the fight, I’m getting better at utilizing the perception now afforded me. My brain is adjusting little by little to the influx of sensory data, and how best to respond. I effortlessly tilt my neck to the side to dodge a trio of feathers blasted from behind me, all the while my sights are constantly picking up and eliminating any of the winged beasts that screw up and get too close. With inhuman precision, I’m able to twist and contort my left arm’s joints in ways that these creatures probably can’t anticipate. And they certainly aren’t able to break their instincts of trying to rely on blindside attacks that don’t work on me anymore.

A swoosh as one of the harpies attempts to grab me from behind. Just as its talons are about to find purchase on my shoulders, I reach behind my back and grab it by its lower leg. One motion yanks it out of its flight, another punches it in the gut. A shriek as the monster cries out in pain, one deftly silenced as I blast it to ribbons.

And all the while, I’m… enjoying this. Enjoying this far too much. Not the death, not the fact that so many lives are being ruined, and that some will undoubtedly be cut too short despite our best efforts. But the rush of battle, the surge of blood pumping through me, the adrenaline spikes, all the while my mind stays perfectly calm, teetering on the edge as I dispatch monster after monster with the efficiency of a machine? I… I am too acclimated to this already, and not in a way I can fully attribute to the experiences of my past life.

My flow is interrupted by a surge of fear and discomfort assailing me through my [Angelic Bond] with Chloe. She’s been fighting off monsters with her [Piercing Beams] to the best of her abilities, but she’s starting to get overwhelmed. And with her [Saintess’s Cloister] only half as effective when cast upon herself as compared to me, it’s about to expire.

I reach into my pouch and pull out the onyx of [Darkness], activating it with a brief impulse of [Ether] as Zackary had described. An inky black haze surrounds us, gradually forming into a bubble of night that spreads out to a range of about a hundred feet. As expected, my [Archangel’s Gaze] can peer past this darkness, but not without encountering a bit of resistance. I suspect there are even more potent forms of the spell that can block even Skill-enhanced sight, and will need to devise countermeasures for when we have such an effect used against us.

For now, however, Chloe uses the brief respite to catch her breath. She has only a few scrapes, her [Health] hovering around ninety percent, but her [Vitality] and [Speed] stats are a bit lower than my own, as is her body’s pre-System baseline. I think she’s starting to sense it as well— there are simply too many of these creatures for us to hope to overcome them through raw power. We’ll have to chip away at the forces bit by bit, and hope that not too many lives are lost in the process.

“Shouldn’t we go back out there?” she silently asks.

“I want to use this opportunity to ready a new [Glyphcasting] array, and you need a chance to recover your stamina. You’re already nearing exhaustion.” I pause for a moment, knowing her mood was made dour by my remark. “But you’re doing great out there. You’ve told me before that you don’t want me to take too many risks and end up getting hurt. And I don’t want you to follow me down that path.”

“You are such a hypocrite!” There’s no hostility in her tone, though. If anything, she seems to be… laughing as she catches her breath? “Thank you, Sera.”

“As you like to tell me, you’re just one girl, and there’s only so much each of us can do on our own.”

Chloe nods.

“We’ll try to wipe out this whole horde, but if we can’t do that, we’ll just thin their ranks out as much as we can before we fall back and regroup like this. And if we can’t do that safely, we’ll just try to ride out the storm from back home, and if we can’t do that, we’ll fall back out of the city and retake it when we’re stronger.”

Chloe nods. “I’m with you all the way, Sera.”

I give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “And I’m with you, Chloe. All the way.”