208: The Healer's Light, Part Fifteen

The Healer's Light, Part Fifteen

Erin pushed the doors open. 

Aphria waited beside it, her back pressed against the wall and her head lowered. Her eyes tracked Neve from the side though as she followed the lamia, walking in. 

The Hall of Miracles looked about as grandiose as the rest of the city did, with golden walls, a carpeted floor, and many different statues in parallel rows, forming a makeshift path leading deeper inside. 

It was cold in here. So much so that Neve hugged herself for a little while before her eyes fell on the enemies up ahead. 

Two opponents. One was a woman carrying a spear and a shield, the other was a man holding nothing at all. 

Level 74

MP: 450/450

Level 74

MP: 750/750

[I'm guessing the guy's a mage?] Neve thought, putting her weapons in front of her. 

In the distance, she could faintly see the silhouettes of more angels, which confirmed her suspicions. 

[Yeah, like I thought, this is going to be another gauntlet of fights. Doing the Floor Quest allowed me to skip that one corridor that was just one fight after another, but we're still gonna get to feel that bullshit here, in the end, aren't we?] 

It was annoying but, after getting some rest and inadvertently buffing Erin, Neve felt she was as ready for this as she could ever be. 

She and Erin exchanged glances and, as the enemies noticed their arrival, the first battle began. 

Selene took to the air immediately, firing at the mage. Those homing missile-like arrows that had been so annoying earlier were now being used against this Floor's enemies, which did feel rather satisfying to see. 

Neve went through her usual setup, casting {Field of Brilliance} along with {Encourage} and {Bolstering Presence}. 

MP: 1175/1300

With those spells cast, Erin's stats looked like this: 

Level 67

MP: 370/370

EXP: N/A

Activity Points: N/A

WS Tokens: N/A

Mood: 100% (Lover)

---

Endurance: 77

Speed: 92

Precision: 100

Strength: 67

Arcane: 37

---

Effects:

Mood: 100% (Lover): Damage and duration of Spells and Techniques increased by 25%

Encourage: All damage increased by 12.5%

Neve stared at those stats in awe. 

The sudden injection of power must have been particularly noticeable for Erin this time. After Neve cast those spells, the lamia turned toward her with a grin. 

Neve, somewhat breathless from just looking at all of that, said: 

"Go get them." 

The lamia did not need to be told twice. 

Erin activated {The Lamia's Hunt}, bringing her Speed to 100 like her Precision was. 

Then, she disappeared. 

Neve flinched. 

[Where...!?] 

She looked from one side of the room to another before hearing a clang up ahead. 

The shield-carrying angel was defending herself from an opponent Neve couldn't quite see, until Erin appeared behind the angel and slashed at her back with {Dragon's Divine Swipe} before disappearing in the blink of an eye once more. 

Neve shook her head. 

As impressive a sight as it was, she had to focus. 

So, she turned her attention to the right side of the battle, which was far less decisive. 

Selene fired a few arrows in quick succession. The mage erected a barrier in front of himself and the arrows exploded the instant they reached it. Neve took aim with her staff and strafed to the right. 

Moving to the opposite side of the mage, she cast {Fireball} three times. 

MP: 1165/1300

MP: 1155/1300

MP: 1145/1300

The mage noticed her and reacted in two ways. 

First, he cast {Barrier} between them, just like he had before. 

Then, he cast something at the floor, under Neve's feet. 

[Huh?] Neve looked down. [Crap!] 

Spotting a {Silence} rune appearing beneath her, the healer jumped to the right. She rolled to a stop, ending up in a crouched position looking back at the mage. 

[Did I avoid it?] 

A quick look at the spear-wielding angel let her know she hadn't as, this time, Erin was nowhere to be seen. Not because she was too fast to be seen, but because the {Silence} caused her to disappear. 

[Fuck!]  0

Neve checked her status. 

Silenced

{Unable to use Spells for 15 seconds} 

In most contexts, 15 seconds was not much time at all. In a battle like this, however, between four high-level individuals, 15 seconds may as well have been an eternity. 

Neve focused up, however, as she saw both enemies plant their eyes on her. 

[Fine.] 

She started running. 

As the mage blocked more arrows from Selene, the spear-user charged at Neve. 

It was a desperate situation. But, thankfully, Selene, an enemy Neve {Charmed} through a piece of gear and not a Spell, was still there. 

Up above, Selene switched tactics, shooting her arrows into the air. The ceiling was so high the arrows didn't even come close to it before they fell back down again. 

As they did, the mage aimed his staff up to cast a {Barrier} to block the incoming rain of projectiles. 

Selene flew down, however, and fired a single, powerful shot that cut through the air like a bullet, aimed right at the man's chest. 

Unable to block both attacks, the angel allowed the individual arrow Selene had just fired to hit him, assuming that the massive volley from above was the more lethal threat. 

He'd guessed wrong, however, as the arrow Selene had just fired was so powerful it went straight through him, blowing a massive hole out from the back of his body. 

EXP Gained: 300

EXP: 710/730

WST Gained: 1000

WST: 84050

Neve only caught a few glimpses of that skirmish's ending, unfortunately, as she had her own battle to win. 

So, she started running again.

There was no chance that she'd survive a head-on encounter, so that was all she could do. 

As Neve did so, Selene quickly joined her side of the fight, flying over and firing arrows at the spear-user from above. 

The woman turned in Selene's direction and blocked the arrows with her shield. Neve caught a glimpse of her back, then. 

Many, many, fresh claw marks decorated her skin. In the short amount of time that Erin was out in the field, she'd inflicted that much damage on her. 

Neve ran in to get a quick sword stab, but mostly only did so to force the angel back, giving her enough space to re-summon Erin as the 15 seconds finally ran out. 

The instant that Erin appeared, she reactivated {The Lamia's Hunt} and ran straight at the spear-user. 

Closing the gap before the angel could even notice that she'd returned, Erin's hand was coated in flames as she ran her claws through the angel's neck from behind. 

As the angel's head fell to the ground, an EXP message appeared. 

EXP Gained: 300

EXP: 1010/730

Level Up!

WST Gained: 1000

WST: 89300

Neve breathed a sigh of relief. 

Selene descended slowly, landing right next to Neve without a hint of emotion on her face. 

"What happened back there?" Erin asked after Neve re-summoned her just to get rid of the timer. "I was fighting and then-" 

"The mage {Silenced} me," Neve replied. 

"Ah... Lovely," Erin muttered, glancing over at his body. "I suppose it was just a matter of time before we ran into that sort of ability again." 

"I guessed so too, but that was crazy! I was literally on the rune for less than a second and it still affected me!" Neve yelled in disbelief. 

She could still recall the {Silence} spells the skeletons had used in those catacombs leading up to the Hall of the Luminous. Neve vaguely recalled standing in those for at least a second and being fine. Apparently, these spells activated almost instantly, though. 

"Hm... I guess I'll be targeting the mages first from now on," Erin said. "On your end, I suggest you keep moving." 

"Yeah, I was thinking I'd have to do that too." 

[With that {Relentless} trait I got, it shouldn't be too hard to keep running, but damn. That spell was so unforgiving.] 

She couldn't act too surprised, however. It was, after all, the last part of the last Floor. 

Things would only get worse from here. 

"Alright, shall we continue?" Erin asked. 

"Let's wait for my mana to regenerate first," Neve answered. 

"Understood." 

Taking a quick breather, Neve remembered that she had been streaming this entire time. 

Curious, she went and checked what people were saying. 

Her stream was currently being watched by over a million people. 

That alone already may have broken some records pre-apocalypse, but was even more impressive when taking into account that the world had almost ended and this million amounted to a pretty significant portion of those who were still left. 

[... Holy shit.] 

Neve didn't allow herself to get too wrapped up in all of that. 

But, she was glad to have such a massive audience. 

She had a plan, after all. One she couldn't even think about too much just yet, otherwise Tamira would learn of it, but she had one. 

And, having all of these viewers could go a long way in making it happen. 

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