[Vermachtnis]

DISCLAIMER: There is some light swearing and graphic stuff that may be unsuitable for little kids.

“Random Nexus reminds you to hold reset when powering off,” Noelle said in her serious voice.

Chapter 6
Storming the Seraphim

“Whew! We’re here!” Nicky shouted coming up to Seraphim building where Kenny, Noelle, Judith, Kari, and Saya were already waiting.

“Sorry, were you waiting long?” Penny asked.

“Nah, we just got here ourselves.” Noelle said and shrugged.

“No, you just got here. Judith, Kenneth, and I have been waiting since a quarter past nine. It’s going on ten o’clock now,” Kari sounded irritated.

“But look at this!” Nicky shouted and reached into her backpack and pulled out a cylindrical item. “We were making some final preparations to this. We call it the ‘Eye of Heaven!’ When combined with Saya’s ability it’ll pick up enemy signatures,” she explained as she passed the item to Kari.

“Well only alchemic and necromancy signatures, it’ll take a lot more fine tuning before we can pick up Elemental readings. It’s range varies depending on how strong the monster is. For the weaker monsters the range is only about fifty feet and stronger monsters can have a range of about four hundred. It’s all speculation however. This will be the first time we are testing it,” Penny explained further.

“So turn the sucker on already and summon Umbra,” Nicky shouted.

“Alright. If this works then you can scout without getting in any danger,” Kari said and flipped the switch at the bottom of the device.

“Umbra, lend me your eyes!” Saya shouted. Her level one was different from the others. Besides her arm mounted cannon she also acquires a visor. Before it only picked up heat signatures in front of her and could pull up information on the enemy by using her hand like a curser and “clicking” on the enemy.

“Now that Umbra has been summoned, here take this,” Penny reached into her back pack and pulled out rod on a tripod. “Put this in front of the building and push the red button on top.”

Kari took the rod and placed it front of the building. “Are you ready?” she looked over at Saya and she nodded. Kari pushed the button.

“Whoa!” Saya said almost instantly. “Two buttons just showed.” Inside Saya’s visor there were the heat signatures of her friends and a red circle and blue circle showed up on the left side. “I’m going to click the red one,” she moved her left hand up and clicked the red circle. It showed up as a black and white vision on infront of the building. Saya moved around and a grinding sound was heard from the rod and the vision rotated. “Okay so that lets me see through the rod,” Saya explained to everyone. “Now for the next one,” she said and pushed the blue circle. “Wow. This one gave me a 3D map around us. Wait there are black dots in the building.”

“Black dots represent alchemic enemies,” Penny explained. “Since everything seems to be working fine. Take these with you,” Penny reached into her bag and pulled out a couple more rods. “Place these inside the building.”

“Be careful. There’s something higher up. I can’t get a clear reading on it though,” Saya said.

“Can’t we just bypass all of this and ride the elevator to the top floor?” Noelle asked.

“Were you paying any attention during the meeting? We cut the power to the building to block them on the fortieth floor,” Kari explained.

“How are we supposed to get to them? If they’re blocked from leaving won’t we be blocked from entering?” Noelle asked.

“Why did we even have the meeting? Anyway, that’s what those two are doing here. When we give the signal they cut the power back on,” Kari said shaking her head.

“Anyway it seems like they were expecting us and set up alchemic traps,” Judith added.

“Yes, are those we set there in case of power outage in any form,” Kari assumed. “Everyone call your weapons. We’ll start with level one and if it calls for it we’ll go to level two. Try to save your energy. Those two will not go down easily.”

“Undine let me drink from the everlasting spring!” Kenneth shouted and called one handed sword to his side.

“Aquilla, carry me on your wings of life!” Noelle shouted and called her two handed sword to her back.

“Kyubbi, protect me with your flames!” Judith shouted and called her whip to her side.

“Ophani, guide us with your light!” Kari shouted and called two tonfas to her side. “Alright, let’s go!”

“Wait! I forgot about another feature of the ‘Eye of Heaven.’ Has long you are carrying the main component Saya can talk to you through it and alert you of upcoming enemies and if the signal is getting you should put down rod,” Nicky explained.

“Alright! Now let’s rush in!” Noelle shouted and ran for the door.

“When they enter you should notice your visor zooms in,” Penny was explaining to Saya. “The green dot shows the location of the main component and if you touch the enemies dots it’ll show you the same information as previously but it’ll be saved in the main piece and I’ll upload it to the compendium at 2012. Enemies you’ve already scanned will show up as hollowed dots. Catch is, you can only scan enemies on the same floor and in a fifty foot radius as the main piece,” Penny explained.

“Alright everybody, the enemies on the first floor are all Golems, Grunt class,” Saya spoke threw to Kari’s group.

“Grunt class? That should be simple enough,” Noelle said cockily.

“They will be, but don’t get a blown head,” Kari shot back at.

“Holy Bullet!” Kari shouted and pulled out one of her Tonfa and a white orb appeared at the end and fired off into a Golem. It disintegrated. Three more appeared behind it and rushed at the group.

“I’m kinda rusty. We should do a combination arte and take all three of them out in one go,” Kenneth suggested.

“Right, Judith get behind them,” Kari said.

“What? Us two?” Noelle asked.

“Yes, you remember how to do a combination arte don’t you?” Kari asked.

“Umm, maybe” Noelle shrugged.

“The both of you start casting a spell close together and your glyphs and overlap. After that you give the vocal command,” Kari sighed.

“Right, let’s to that,” Noelle said and started casting and Kenneth followed.

“Water and Wind Combination Arte: Typhoon!” They yelled simultaneously. From their two glyphs erupted a wave taking out the three golems.

“Good job. There is only one more golem on that floor,” Saya reported.

“I’ll get it. No since letting you three have all the fun,” Judith said. “Where is it?”

“It’s in front of the stairs,” Saya said.

“I see it! Fireball!” Judith yelled and threw fire from her palm.

“Let’s continue up,” Kari said heading for the stairs.

The staircase took them to the fifth floor. They met new enemies: Wind Golems and Ghouls.

“Everyone be careful. Ghouls are necromancy and physical attacks are ineffective and Wind Golems won’t be hurt by your skills Noelle,” Saya reported.

“Holy Bullet!” Kari shouted and fired three shots that took out the Ghoul standing down the hall. A wind Golem showed up.

“So my wind skill won’t work, huh? Well I do have the big sword on my back!” Noelle shouted and took her sword off her back and ran at the golem. “Check this out you immune bastard! Upper slice!” she shouted and jumped up swinging the sword upward and sliced the golem in the middle.

“Was the swearing necessary?” Kari asked.

“There’s another golem type!” Saya yelled.

“Got that one too! Mid slice!” she yelled and cut the new golem horizontally.

“That was an Earth Golem. Your wind skill would have been super effective,” Saya reported.

“Meh, my sword was effective enough,” Noelle shrugged.

“Three ghouls coming from four o’clock!” Saya yelled.

“I’ll get them. Fox Flame Wave!” Judith yelled and took out her whip and swung it horizontally releasing wave of white fire.

“There’s a Black Golem guarding the stairs,” Saya reported.

“Hey! You remember X-Slice?” Noelle asked Kenneth.

“Yea, why?” He asked back.

“Let’s use it against this Black Golem,” Noelle stated.

“It’s a Black Golem. Kari’s Holy Bullet would be best,” Judith said.

“Yea, but I’m bored and my entertainment should take priority,” Noelle said.

“I say go for it,” Kari laughed.

“That laugh was evil, but whatever. Let’s do it!” Noelle said and took her sword in both hands. Kenneth unsheathed his weapon.

“X-Slice!” The two shouted and jumped at the Black Golem from opposite ends and met in the middle forming an X shape. The Golem double back, but quickly collected itself. It reared back and punched Noelle with a fist half the size of her whole body. She flew into the nearest wall.

“Hey! Kari, that golem punched me and it hurt. Cure me and kill it!” she demanded.

“Sigh,” Kari shook her head. “Healing Light!” she yelled and a healing glyph appeared under Noelle and enveloped her in a white light. “Feel better now? Want me to kiss your boo boos away,” she teased. “Alright now let’s get serious. It’s defense is stronger than I though. I’m going to have to do the Holy Cremation Combination Arte.”

“I’m ready,” Judith nodded.

“Holy and Fire Combination Arte: Holy Cremation!” They shouted together. A new glyph appeared under the Black Golem and a blue flame cross came out of it.

“That wasn’t enough?” Kari sounded shocked.

“Water Arte: Spout!” Kenneth shouted and formed a glyph under Black Golem and high pressured water sprayed from it finally taking the golem down.

“I’m all better now, but I think I’ll take a kiss anyway,” Noelle said batting an eye at Judith.

“Ugh, come on!” Kari said and headed for the stairs.

They came to another barrier at the fifth floor. The door heading up was locked. There where no new enemies. A ghoul was holding the key. It took them seven kills until they found the right one. The next barricade was at floor fifteen.

“Lay down another rod, I can’t since anything,” Saya reported. Kari reached on her back grabbed a rod and pushed the button.

“See anything?” Kari asked.

“There’s only one enemy, but be careful. It’s a Necromancy class Poltergeist,” Saya sounded worried.

“I can see it!” Judith shouted. “Hey Kenneth, you thinking what I am?”

“Yea, let’s use Void magic,” Kenneth nodded.

“Void magic is when a combination arte is formed by contradicting glyphs,” Kari explained to Noelle.

“I knew that!” Noelle said defensively.

“The confused look said otherwise,” Kari said.

“Fire and Water Void Magic!” Judith and Kenneth yelled together. A glyph appeared under the Poltergeist and he was swallowed by a grey light. A few seconds later he came out unscathed. Standing a few feet away he slashed with one of his claws and hit everyone.

“Noelle, Healing Wind now!” Kari commanded.

“Yea, yea,” she said standing up.

“Holy and Wind Combination Arte: Healing Wind!” Kari and Noelle shouted and covered the group in a healing tempest.

“Kenneth distract it with water spout. The three of us are going to use Holy Flare,” Kari commanded.

“Aye aye, little sis!” he said and used Spout, stunning the Poltergeist.

“Wind and Fire Combination Arte: Flare!” Judith and Noelle shouted at the same time and a Flare Glyph appeared under the stunned Poltergeist.

“Triple Technique: Holy Flare!” Kari yelled adding the Holy Glyph to the Flare Glyph. A white explosion enveloped the Poltergeist and smaller explosions kept erupting inside of it, taking it down.

“Good job! He was tough!” Saya congratulated everyone on the battle. I do not since anymore enemies in the building except for the big one.

“Great. Let’s go fight the big one. Where and what is it?” Noelle asked.

“I can’t scan it until you get to the floor it’s on,” Saya explained.

“Let’s go then,” Noelle said and went to the stairs.

The group’s trip up the building was fairly uneventful. There were a few triggered traps that unleashed Golems that were quickly taken care of. They finally reached the thirty-seventh floor.

“Quickly lay down a rod!” Saya commanded and Kari reached for another rod.

“What is it?” Noelle asked.

“Be careful! It’s a Demon Wall. It’s a mixture of Alchemy and Necromancy. By use of a catalyst they confined a Legion class Necromancy monster to an inanimate object, in this case the wall!” Saya explained.

A claw came out of the wall and slashed at Judith.

“Warggh!” she screamed.

“Healing Light!” Kari cast the Healing Glyph on Judith.

“I’ve got a plan. Demon Wall meet Demon Wind Wall!” Noelle yelled and formed a Wind Glyph underneath her and took her sword and swung it horizontally forming a wall of wind that took out the wall.

“Whoa! What was that? A bunch of debris came falling out of the sky! It almost hit us,” Saya yelled.

“That was Noelle’s master plan to take out the Demon Wall,” Kari explained.

But another claw came and swiped at Noelle.

“Damn!” Noelle yelled. Kari cast healing light on her.

“It didn’t work,” Kari explained to Saya.

“You have to find the catalyst and destroy it releasing the Legion. Then you must destroy the Legion,” Saya explained.

“Come on, let’s find that Catalyst,” Saya commanded. They took off running down the hall. A face came out of the wall and bit Kari. She cast healing light on her self. They turned a corner and met a crossroads.

“There it is! I see the Catalyst,” Judith yelled pointed at a red orb setting on a pedestal.

They ran for but was stopped by wall of ghastly hands.

“Holy and Wind Combination Arte: Healing Wind!” Noelle and Kari cast the spell on their group.

“That wall is in the way and I can’t form my Spout Glyph under the Catalyst,” Kenneth explained.

“I think I have level two spell that can reach,” Judith suggested.

“Alright, go for it,” Kari gave the okay.

“Kyubbi, guide this spirit farther!” Judith yelled. Nine tiny flames surrounded her and a red vest appeared on her. A red skirt formed to her knees and split. “Alright, Fox Fire!” she yelled and grabbed her whip and the leather was replaced with white fire and it went through the wall and hit the catalyst destroying it and releasing the Legion.

“Aquilla, I need you to carry me farther!” she yelled. Green Breast mail covered her and green metallic greaves appeared as well as chain mail pants and a skirt.

The legion descended upon them. A humanoid looking beat with two heads, three arms, and five legs and mouth, fingers, and toes everywhere. Noelle and Judith looked at each other and nodded.

“Level Two Wind and Fire Combination Arte: Ultimate Flare!” they shouted and a Flare Glyph appeared under the Legion. Many tiny explosion covered it’s body until finally one huge one covered it wholly.

“Yea we did it!” Noelle shouted. A bit prematurely has the Legion came limping out still covered in fire. “Whoa! Take this, Tempest Strike!” she yelled and swung her sword releasing a green disk that exploded into a full blown tornado when it came into contact with the Legion.

“Fox Flame Inferno!” Judith yelled out and shot two fire balls from her hand that exploded on contact. The Legion limped forward.

“Alright. This is our most powerful Combination Arte: Infernal Tempest!” They shouted together and shot a large orange disk on the Legion that erupted into a large fire tornado. When the smoke cleared the Legion has fallen.

“Here take some restoration,” Kari said and cast Healing Light on the two of them.

“There are no more enemies. You still need to be careful, you are almost at the top,” Saya reported.

They climbed the last flight of stairs and on the last floor they came across two huge doors.

“Turn the power on,” Kari told Saya and Nicky. The hallway was flooded with lights and the two doors opened.

“Oh god! What’s the smell?” Noelle asked covering her nose.

“It smells like blood. Hurry!” Kari said running over to the desk in the middle of the room. “Oh no. Jordan has been murdered.”

“What? Murdered? Can’t we put him back together?” Noelle asked in shock.

“Look at him,” she said pointing. His chest was tore open. “Has you know, you need to things for resurrection. A body and soul, and takes about two hours for the soul to leave this plane. It looks like someone quite literally ripped the soul out of this one.”

“This is sick. Who did this?” Judith said between gagging.

“I have an idea. I’ll contact the police. The rest of you go home. We’ll regroup and come up with a new plan tomorrow,” Kari said in solemn voice.

“How can you be so stoic about this?” Noelle yelled at Kari!

“You forget what we came here to do?” Kari shot back at her.

“We weren’t going to do this! This is horrible!” Noelle yelled back.

“Come on. It’s almost midnight. Let’s leave her,” Kenneth said and grabbed Noelle’s shoulder.

TO BE CONTINUED

“Whoa. That was rough. But, I make my triumphant return next chapter!” Ally said.

“Yea you so called main characters can finally return to the limelight,” Noelle said and laughed.

“But that was rough though,” Tyler said.

“Yea seriously. That was a lot to read. I got a little bored,” Ally said and yawned.

“Wait I though you were talking about—ah never mind,” Tyler said and slumped down.