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(Vol 5) Chapter 18: Burn Notice
🕑 Added 2024-05-11 15:24:56 +0000 UTCI got stuck with an automatic wound from a projectile. He’s not exactly strategizing or he’d be using that on me like mad. It might be asking for it, but maybe I can take advantage. Automatic wounds will wear these bastards down at least.
Forced to make the choice immediately or lose the initiative, Sammy decided what she’d do — fortunately, she still had the distance, which also meant she could re-summon Ozra for some extra firepower… doing largely — very largely generally — what she did best.
Sammy activated [Mirroring Duplicates: Strange Phantasm 0] once more, and Ozra materialized with a pop! She was in black robes, had a pointy hat, and her nose was long and ugly. A typical witch. “I’ll get them! And their little dog, too! I was thinking more arcane stylings-”
“Scratch that, Ozzy! I need you to cram as many physical projectile attacks as you can into them! If I’m right, all it needs to do is hit them and do superficial wounds.”
In another poof, Ozra suddenly appeared in heavy armor, wielding a giant copper-and-bronze gun over her shoulder braced with a backpack harness. She pulled a cord like a lawnmower and the steampunkian contraption roared to life with billowing smoke. A gatling gun. “Hell yeah! Ain’t gotta tell me twice, sister-me — let’s do this thing!”
It was all show, ultimately — there really wasn’t a spell that fit it, but Ozra was simply taking over a [Create Phantasms: Phantom Constructs] layer and making many bullets to sling. As far as she knew, unless otherwise specified, single-target abilities could only squeeze two fully wounding attacks into five seconds, and even that was special cases without sacrificing defense, such as her laser shots.
I knew I should’ve done a wound-negation eater spell… but that would’ve taken my level 3 spot, and that worked out well today with the Pillar… unless level 2 can make some sacrifices to do a twofer attack of some kind? Hmm, I’d rather a threefer, though…
They were all thoughts at the back of her mind, as she was casting her own spell to sling, just as the super-tough elder specters were rising and coming for her, picking up speed in their frenzied, blind charge for deific blood.
The spell was one she had never expected to bother with, though reasonable for her Followers: a clerical list level 4 called Glass Bullets. It was a Samanthian upgraded version of a common divine and arcane level 1 spell, which normally enchanted three rocks that could be thrown or hurled by sling with greater accuracy and potency.
In her case, the ‘bullets’ were crystalline orbs, up to seven based on caster levels that would float at the ready around her. What was most useful, though — and the reason for the higher level — was that they allowed up to two attacks in a full five-second sequence, though one attack only during a casting ‘action.’
It was similar to what she could pull with [Create Phantasms] on a dime, but a level stronger and also of a slightly different ‘source.’ They didn’t count as phantasmal, and she wanted to hedge her bets.
Crystalline orbs like giant marbles flashed into existence around her, and she immediately flung one at a charging elder. It streaked across the distance at the specter, who barely reacted to it and was hit dead on. The crystalline substance burst on impact with tough flesh and bone, driving shards deep with some bursting out of its back.
The elder snarled and flinched at the hit, seemingly inhibited, missing a ‘step’ compared to its companion specter.
I think it worked! That seems like it did more than it should, and feels like a Minor Wound for them.
“Get gatted, you ugly cuss!” Ozra shouted as she aimed her weapon at the target Sammy hit and let loose a volley with a loud cacophony of gunfire and weird steam exhaust. Nonsensical and not working mechanically at all, the phantom construct bullets nonetheless flew, peppering the specter and blowing tiny holes through its body.
It screeched and stumbled in its advance, the flames flickering as it almost doubled over from the aggregate wounds.
That’s two Minor Wounds upgrading to Major! It’s stunned. Our plan is working!
However, the stunning and delayed charge for one was not the case for the other. It swept up to Sammy at high speeds, fiery hands outstretched, its decayed zombie face snarling in spite.
Before it even reached Sammy, a torrent of that fire with an oily sheen flared out wider than she’d ever seen, fit to engulf her entirely.
Sammy had little time to process the new attack but hoped it was a cone, so tried to dodge diagonally forward — to no avail. She was still entirely caught in the fire, as it was too wide of an arc, out from both hands.
The flames nigh incinerated her shield caught in radius, banishing it, while scouring through her armor and biting deep into her flesh with horrible burning. It would not be mere Superficial to try soaking, and it was bound to stun her. Sammy almost instinctively used [Alter Fate] to force her success in resisting any further damage. Ultimately, it was the only play.
Smoking and singed, Sammy backpedaled away as the burst of terrible fire abated, her left unwounded by apparent miracle and the specter super pissed it didn’t take her down. Sammy’s damaged sheath armor just flashed right back over her skin to protect her, earning its significant upkeep once again.
Fuck! As good as getting wounded, having to use Alter Fate. And I’m not to the next day from my last [Hoping For Daylight] use. I’ve got a forced failure left, that’s it, and this fucking battle doesn’t win me the war!
“Give me an angle, Boss!” Ozra shouted.
“No! Keep hitting the other one! We both have two attacks!”
“Okay, you got it — I hope!”
Largely simultaneously, they both unleashed into their respective targets. Sammy fired her first orb bullet point-blank, to shatter on impact into shards and blow out a portion of its torso like a shotgun blast, some of the mass of burnt ichor even splattering onto her sheath armor to roast and smoke.
Ozra’s gatling gun rotated and fired away phantom matter bullets, blowing out more of her target’s torso and head.
As Sammy’s specter still shuddered from the damage, she fired another bullet, right where a human’s heart would be. Another chunk of its chest flew out the back and it reeled.
Ozra’s fire continued unabated as well, wandering downward as she adjusted and concentrated fire back at the torso near the shoulder. It totally blew it apart, and an arm went entirely limp. The entity writhed in place and snarled.
Sammy expected them both to be stun-locked by overwhelming Major Wound damage…
Both of them howled with a banshee-like, blood-curdling scream, their vengeful eyes flashing red. Hatred that would not — could not — be denied. Ignoring their wounds, they spent perhaps their last charge with the full weight of their fury.
Oh shit, they’re legit berserking! Fuck my life…
On the plus side, Ozra had aggroed her target thoroughly, which caused it to go for her and fling the same, nasty wide arc of burning fire. The gremlin lady went up in flames with a yelp. She was far enough away that the radius was nowhere near Sammy.
However, it was near enough that Sammy could shunt her phantom imagery into that vicinity — she did so, keeping an image of a screaming Ozra trying to dodge and run evasively, while lit on fire, begging for mercy in agony, and so on, hoping it was believable (and desirable) enough to work long enough to distract one of them…
Meanwhile, the one on Sammy glided over and reached hands licking with that terrible fire once more, though the previous nasty wide-arc attack was thankfully limited, on cooldown, or the like. It was ‘just’ a super high-level, difficult-to-avoid, blasting, melting oil flame of an intensity similar to a cutting torch.
No problem at all!
Sammy did not have her shield, and her staff was useless for parrying. She almost just dodged it, because that was her go-too, her training, her instinct, even knowing it would be more mere mitigation with questionable final results.
But with determination, gritted teeth, and trust in the equation of mathematical totals, Sammy defied that tendency. Instead, she swept her arm and hand out to intercept, spent the extra FE (Pneuma), and utilized her brand-spanking-new defense, [Light Absorption: Be Converted].
It has the edge already, and I think this attack penalizes dodging. So we take the chance — let’s eat the fire!
The hand-and-face tanking of the attack commenced, as her light sheath glowed brighter and more fiery in tone. The flames hit her hard and directly, licking over her in a way that made her have to clench her jaw even harder to not flinch. Her armor was also still fried and cut through by necessity of just how close it all was.
But the attack did not melt her skin. It flowed through flesh and bone and marrow and was trapped. Absorbed and radiated at a tremendous intensity, but somehow slowed, somehow made balanced and transmuted from the foreign to the familiar. Not entirely — it was heavily styled by the prior state, it was both Light and Heat, and the former ramped and ramped with discomfort and some pain.
It was quite well-distributed as a whole, but the more localized target of primary absorption still took the worst, something like sunburn through every molecule. A large amount of the converted energy was bled out from her and radiated in a nimbus.
You have suffered a full-body Superficial Wound.
You have suffered a full Minor Wound in the left arm due to slightly failed absorption, adjusted due to unique circumstances. Unlike most Minor Wounds, this penalizes you. -1 to all actions for 5 seconds, and -1 to any actions involving the arm specifically beyond this duration until healed.
You have absorbed energy damage and gained 1 FE (Pneuma).
You have 4 FE (Light) as a temporary virtual access.
Ow! Okay, but I can still act! Now, as long as the other…
She couldn’t spare but a glance, but relief shot through her when she saw the other specter being fooled by the Ozra phantasm, chasing after her and lighting her up with more intense fire, happily burning her to a crisp.
Able to turn her attention back to the foe that was completely point blank and right in her face — near to touching — Sammy managed a grim smile. “Eat shit, would you?” She slammed two orbs right into its face, hoping the short distance both still counted as a projectile and that she had an advantage enough to succeed at headshots.
The specter had not been expecting attacks after immolating her directly, and perhaps had its vision obscured by the glare of converting energies. One glass ball exploded into an eye socket, blowing out half its head. The second smashed into the remains of the nose and was just angled enough that the exploding remnants collapsed the skull inward near the other eye, damaging it and likely blinding the flaming ghostie.
Sammy immediately began moving evasively at that point, out and away, utilizing simple auditory and touch illusions to bait the frenzied, but sensory-inhibited specter away from her vicinity.
It worked. The specter with a nearly ruined skull spun around in confusion and flared fire out far from Sammy’s vicinity, at pretty much nothing but air.
Okay. I think I have one down, one to go… but I had better hurry. That distraction won’t last.
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