Aralynn watched as her companions were thrown by the blast of Amon's lance. Luckily for them, Grango was at a safe distance, and Hadarai being Hadarai face tanked it and took the blast head on.
The gutsy dwarf wasn't injured in the slightest.
Perona and Amon, however, weren't as lucky.
Aralynn watched helplessly as they were thrown to the ground. Amon rolled before skidding to a stop. Perona landed hard on the cobblestones.
The monster was headed right for them.
Aralynn pulled Objection's trigger. Dread seeped into her heart as she heard an empty click.
Fuck.
[Agility Lv. 8 has been activated!]
[Your movements flow with the wind.]
[Dexterity Lv. 18 has been activated!]
[Your senses have been heightened, and you now have complete control of your body, exceeding humanoid limits.]
[Weak points of your enemies are now visible.]
[Your body responds to your every command.]
With no time to think, Aralynn hurtled down out of the sky, her wings trailing behind her, her talons outstretched.
No matter how fast she could dive, it'd take time for her to build momentum, and instinctively Arlaynn knew that she'd be too late as the monster pounded closer.
She gritted her teeth.
Perona…!
As she dove, Aralynn's heart felt like it was burning with an unstoppable fire, consuming her chest as she felt a searing heat travel through her body, scorching her every muscle and every nerve.
It was a mix of pure dread and adrenaline urging her to push past her limits, to dive faster, as she desperately beat her wings to gain speed.
Then, in the crucial moment, Aralynn's vision winked out into pure, inky blackness save for a single, translucent green screen that appeared before her.
[Firearm God: YOUR BENEFACTOR, PERONA AEREL IS IN DANGER.]
Benefactor? And no shit that she's in danger! Aralynn wanted to scream in frustration.
It was then that a whole backlog of messages clipped into view.
[Your title as Guardian Angel has been invoked!]
[Limit Shatterer Lv. 1 has been activated! Daily uses remaining: 0/1 ]
[Your stats and capacities have temporarily doubled!]
[Your pain and stress tolerance have greatly increased!]
[All protective effects on hostiles within a 60 feet radius have been nullified.]
[Your title, Guardian Angel, grants you resistance from going berserk.]
Guardian angel…?
Given blacking out during their fight with the dwarves, Aralynn didn't remember anything about her ability, Limit Shatterer. In fact, the exact same thing had happened when Perona had been threatened back then, with Aralynn's title as the Guardian Angel being invoked. The only difference now was that she was still conscious.
All of this is crazy, Aralynn thought. What's happening? Let me fuck back out! Perona and Amon are still…!
The inky void peeled back and Aralynn's vision rushed into view. Her talons had fully extended, and she felt better than ever.
Every single movement felt empowered and effortless as power surged through her veins. Her feathers bristled with regal power and her fangs glinted in the sunlight. Her eyes glared with a carmine spark as her pupils had fully morphed into that of an osprey.
[Your only priority is securing your benefactor. All other priorities will be temporarily purged.]
Aralynn felt a jolt inside her head as every single neuron in her body refocused on stopping—no, slaughtering the monster. The green translucent messages were pushed out of her mind as she gave a great battlecry, descending from the heavens.
[Limit Shatterer Duration: 60s]
[Good luck on saving your benefactor, Guardian Angel.]
Aralynn plummeted through the air, her talons outstretched. She collided with the monster like a living bullet. The monster's momentum was abruptly stopped as Aralynn's dive pinned its head to the ground, its body buckling under Aralynn's force.
Prying Amon's rapier-lance from its shoulderblades, Aralynn tore forwards. The giant hadal weapon was excruciatingly frosty to the touch, but strangely Aralynn could tolerate it as she clutched it with her hand-talons.
In a streak of feathers, Aralynn pounced on the bucking monster's head and plunged Amon's lance straight through its eye-sockets.
The monster gave a great cry before shuddering and laying still, its thick viscous blood weaving a dark red lattice among the cobblestones.
Aralynn drove the lance deeper before leaving the creature and sprinting over to Perona and Amon.
Shit, shit, shit… what do I do? I don't have any abilities that can heal—
Aralynn sat down on her heels, kneeling, placing Perona's unmoving head on her lap. Warm blood was seeping out of the half-elf's mouth and painted Aralynn's gloves a dark crimson.
Just then, past memories of losing her squad in the imperial army flashed through Aralynn's mind.
She gulped as her breathing picked up, her heart dropping like lead with every second.
No, there must be a way.
Desperate tears clung to the corners of Aralynn's eyes as she clutched Perona tightly, frozen, unsure of what to do.
Something clinked in Perona's backpack.
Oh, shit. Perona still has the healing potions from the imperial airship that Derrick took, Aralynn remembered.
Gently flipping Perona on to her side to reach her pack, Aralynn unfastened the knots holding it closed.
She tore through the contents of Perona's pack until she found the small, life-saving vials with the light pink liquid sloshing inside.
She took one, bit out the cork, and pried open Perona's mouth. Aralynn spat out the cork and forced the potion down her friend's throat. Nothing happened.
Did it not get through?
Aralynn took a deep breath, inhaling. She placed her lips on Perona's and breathed out, pushing the cool liquid into the half-elf's body.
She repeated this process again and again until Perona's surface wounds closed. Aralynn could hear the wet squishes and pops as Perona's internals weaved themselves back together.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she popped open the other potion and leaned over to Amon, who was just besides them. She poured the potion into his throat and his wounds sealed at once.
The rest of the party ran back over.
"How are they?" Hadarai asked, panting.
"Fine… I hope."
Hadarai grunted and made the motion to place a hand each on Perona and Amon.
As he reached for Perona, Aralynn hissed, clutching Perona tighter, holding her like a protective brooding osprey mother against her breasts.
She bared her fangs.
Hadarai raised his hands placatingly. "Aralynn, I understand how you feel. However, I need to be able to reach Perona if I'm to gauge the extent of her wounds and heal her."
What came over me?
"Sorry."
Aralynn's embrace loosened as Hadarai placed his hands on Perona and Amon's stomachs. A bead of sweat dropped from Hadarai's brow as the same cool azure aura that surrounded him in battle flowed into the two unconscious companions.
With a jolt, they awoke.
Amon clutched his head. "Fuck… did it work?"
He stared at the monster with his lance protruding through its eye sockets. Its back was almost completely torn up.
He sighed and chuckled. "Looks like you all had a lot more success than I had." He made attempts to stand up on his own before Hadarai grasped his forearm and pulled him upright. "Many thanks."
Amon walked forwards to the dead monster, his cloak of shadow dissipating in the sunlight. He reached for his lance and the chilling water that made up its shape dissolved into a fine mist, leaving Amon to claim his rapier.
Perona, on the other hand, had a… more close awakening.
As soon as Hadarai had stabilized her and she opened her eyes, she was immediately engulfed in a soft embrace. She was still laying down, and she felt a warm liquid on her cheek.
Perona moved to brush it off before she realized that it wasn't blood.
Tears?
Then, Perona heard Aralynn's voice close and soft to her ear. "Dummy."
At first, she was flustered as heat rose to her cheeks. "A-Aralynn? What are you—"
"Super-dummy."
Aralynn let her go, the corners of her eyes red from crying. Tears still dripped down her face and her feathers were ruffled. She had a more beastial look to her, like from that time on the airship fighting against the dwarves—only now, Aralynn looked like she had control of herself.
Aralynn made a strange expression that Perona hadn't seen before.
"No almost dying without my permission, you hear?" The young birdfolk woman stared at Perona pointedly.
Perona was taken aback.
"Aralynn, sorry—are you pouting?"
"...no."
Perona laughed. "You so are." She grasped her stomach until tears of laughter came to her own eyes.
"What's so funny?" Aralynn asked, flushing red from embarrassment.
"Nothing." Perona realized that her head was resting on something soft. Did she get me a pillow—oh.
Perona hid her own expression from view when she realized her head was resting in Aralynn's lap, her face almost melting.
"...Can you help me up?"
"Oh—right."
The duo stood up, Aralynn supporting Perona as she did. Perona was still red when she walked over to the monster, moving to inspect it.
"Now, how did this get here—"
She paused mid sentence.
Large, red translucent message windows had popped up for Perona. She wasn't the only one. It had appeared for everyone in the clearing as well.
[Warning: Advent Monster, Farmland Basillisk, has called for aid.]
[Advent, "Ruckus in the Farmlands", has evolved into Main Story Advent 1/3, "Hints of an End".]
[Due to the arrival of Main Story Monsters, Harbinger Basillisks, you have been caught in Status Effect: Pressured.]