Enough Power to Annihilate

Roko woke up to the distant night sky that wasn't quite so distant anymore. The blackness of night was starting to tinge blue with the coming of dawn and Roko was so high up that he could see the light of some stars that would soon disappear with the dawn as well. There was no doubt that Roko was in the highest floor of the castle, crashing through the walls as he was flung higher than the top of any skyscraper and then fell into some room. As for how he survived, the soft green light surrounding him was answer enough. Momo somehow managed to cast protect on him before he could fall to his death. Roko didn't know just how strong of a protect spell was needed for him to survive a fall from that height but he imagined it was substantial.

Roko pushed himself up and immediately a sharp pain alerted him to a wound in his stomach. Looking down, Roko could see his body armor had been dented inwards from the impact, into a sharp point that was now stuck deep in his body. Roko sat up with some difficulty and undid his armor, removing it carefully as his wound began to bleed freely now. It might have been a better idea to keep it stuck in his wound to prevent this bleeding but Roko needed to move. Covering his wound with his hand. Roko stood up and looked around. From the shelves and racks of weaponry around him, there was no doubt this was an armory. The final armory that Roko had not been to, at the very top of the 12th floor. Roko seemed to have fallen through the roof, destroying one of the walls in the process. Walking to the edge of the broken wall, Roko could peer down to the very bottom of the central garden. The earth was in complete chaos, stone and dirt everywhere and in the middle of this was the distant figures of Murasaki and Rokusho, still fending off roots and attacks from all directions. Momo was-

"Roko!" Momo cried as she suddenly jumped up from below Roko's floor, "Are you okay?"

"For the most part." Roko nodded and Momo landed in the armory, "Soreness everywhere, brain feels rather rattled and I have this wound but nothing else seems to be broken at least."

"I got potions!" Momo said as she held up the bag that Rokusho had been wearing, "I'm sure there's a health or stamina potion left!"

"There's no potion that can heal this wound." Roko said looking down at his stomach, "And I can't move properly with this injury. It's too deep. Sorry, but I think I'm useless now."

"Don't say that! Here, have a stamina potion, it'll at least relieve you of your fatigue." Momo said, shoving a potion with a green liquid into Roko's hands.

"...This would be better saved for one of yo-"

"Just drink it, Roko! We're still going to need you."

…

Roko scoffed softly before he uncorked the potion and drank it, his body lightening as the fluid took its effect.

"What's the situation?" Roko asked as he finished drinking.

"The earth is utterly destroyed, making the terrain difficult for us to move. The wire has been snapped so our only plan is ruined. We're just trying to survive right now. At this rate, we might have no choice but to call in the army but even with the army, I don't know if we'll succeed."

"..."

"What do we do?"

"What we can do." Roko sighed, "Which for me is Scan and Analyze."

Roko had scanned and analyzed the tree at the start of the night which didn't really give a lot of useful information. But this time was different. This time, Roko could see some sort of sphere hidden deep underneath the tree, obscured by the roots but it couldn't hide from his scan. And if what analyze was telling him was correct…

"...Momo?"

"Yes?"

"What do you say to learning a new spell?"

"A...A new spell?" Momo repeated, "What do you mean? Like do you want me to learn how to use fire or something? That kind of spell usually takes a few months of practice at least."

"Momo, can your lightning spell dig through the earth?"

"Dig through...you mean pierce the earth?"

"Yeah."

"No, electric usually dissipates upon contact with the earth. I can blast apart the surface a bit but not pierce too deeply in it. Maybe if my spell was more powerful, I've heard of electric spells creating craters."

"In that case, we need to increase your stats enough to do so."

"My stats? I mean my reinforcement spells target physical aspects of the human body but normal spells don't really relate to any of those. Boost, shell and quicken wouldn't really improve electric."

"You really need to learn intentional casting."

"L-Later okay?!"

"Well as I have observed, your enhancement spells work to increase the value of certain stats. Strength for rally, constitution for protect and dexterity for haste. If we want to increase the potency of your lightning spell, we just need to improve a different stat."

"And which stat would that be?"

"If my video games are anything to go by, that'd be intelligence."

"What's a video game?" Momo tilted her head, "Never mind. We've never really had stats before you came around so I don't know how well that hypothesis works. But even assuming that it will work how will we magically increase my intelligence? We don't have time to read any books."

"It's a bit of a reach but haste can speed up your body right? But your mind has to speed up as well to properly utilize it right?"

"Umm...I never thought about it, but I guess that's how it works. I've noticed that there is a limit to how fast you can accelerate yourself without losing control of your own body. I overcame that by gradually increasing the potency of my haste until I can operate at those speeds without problem."

"Then that's what we have to do." Roko nodded, "Accelerate not your body but your mind."

"Accelerate?" Momo looked confused, "How will that help?"

"There is only so much information we can take in at a time. By accelerating our thinking we can make more complete observations in shorter time. This gives us more information on how to act and tamper with our actions to benefit the scenario especially in minute ways."

"Hmm...I think I get where you're coming from." Momo nodded, "I can give it a shot."

"It might be self defeating to mention this but try not to think about our current situation. Namely how there are people fighting, how people are injured and how little time we have."

"Ugh, that IS self defeating." Momo grimaced, "But I'll do my best."

Roko took a few steps away as Momo closed her eyes and stood there. For a long time nothing seemed to happen. No light emitted from Momo's body like her other spells and Momo didn't move a single muscle. She stood there, completely silent but as the seconds drew onward, her face began to grow more contorted, as she struggled with her thoughts. Finally, she spoke up,

"Umm...just as I thought, I'm running out of things to think about. Do you have any ideas on what to focus on?"

"The first step should be your senses." Roko explained, "Of the relevant ones, your sense of touch, smell and hearing should be your priority. Sight is a big one but we need to get an idea of how it should work before we move onto sight. It might overload your mind. Once you've got a good idea of what kind of sensitivity you can handle, you can try opening your eyes."

"R-Right..."

Momo's voice betrayed the hint of doubt that she was starting to have about this plan and Roko didn't blame her. It was a ridiculous plan that Roko wasn't even sure would work himself. If he could use magic other than his two spells, he would have done it himself. But all his lessons in magic has only taught him that he had no talent in casting any actual spells. The only one with any talent in spell casting was Momo. The only one who could cast any spells was Momo. As much as Roko hated putting so much burden on Momo, he could think of no other way to succeed.

"I think I'm ready to open my eyes now." Momo said, startling Roko out of his thoughts.

"If you think you're ready, then go ahead. Don't be afraid to end the spell if it gets overwhelming."

Momo nodded and slowly began to open her eyes. No visible change could be seen from Momo, even as she fully opened her eyes and gazed out into the world below them. Roko kept quiet, letting Momo process her own thoughts. Momo continued to gaze out into the horizon as she took deep, calming breaths. As Roko watched, he thought he could see the beginnings of an aura of some sort forming around Momo.

"Wind's coming in from the east. In less than an hour, the sun will rise. There is no cloud in the sky." Slowly, Momo turned her head downwards, at the battle that was left to Murasaki and Rokusho, "Murasaki is wounded. Sensei is dodging five roots at once. The total amount of active roots are around fifteen. The earth has been turned over so the soil on top should be rather soft. If I-"

A bolt of lightning suddenly hit Momo, scaring Roko enough for him to take a step back. But Momo remained standing, unfazed though her face began to grow conflicted.

"If I want to get down, I'll need-"

Momo closed her eyes again as different colors began flickering around her. Blue, gold, green, all three of her reinforcement spells began to turn on and off rapidly and sparks of electricity began to come off her body until Momo took a deep breath and the aura around her disappeared completely.

"We have a problem." Momo grimaced.

"What is it?" Roko asked anxiously.

"I think, I have the basics of this new spell down." Momo cradled her head with one of her hands, "It...it might actually work but there's a problem. I lose control of my other spells."

"Lose control..." Roko mused, "I see. You lose intentional casting. Or maybe...rather, you come closer to silent casting. So every time you even think of your spell, they activate. That' explains why so many different spells seemed to go off one after another."

"I lost a lot of mana." Momo said as she pulled out a mana potion from the bag, "If I can't control my spells, I'll run out of mana before I can do anything."

"I see." Roko sighed, "That's certainly an unexpected side effect. Maybe someone more versed in magic could explain this or come up with a work around but we don't have the time or people for that. Then it's no good. I'll have to come up with another way."

"No you don't." Momo smiled as she finished her potion, "There's a simple solution to this."

"There is? What is it?" Roko asked, surprised.

"Just tell me what to think!"

…

"I'm sorry, what?" Roko said dumbfounded.

"I think I can keep the spell going without overloading my brain with thoughts. From the display earlier, I think my lightn-electricity spell also became more powerful. So this plan can work. If I can increase the potency of the spell, I might be able to blast away the earth like you wanted. So if the problem is that my spells go off when I try to strategize, I can leave the strategizing to you!"

"That's an utterly ridiculous idea!" Roko cried, "You can't just stop thinking, that's just...ridiculous!"

"It's fine! What's even the problem?"

"What if you use the spell and I'm not around to tell you what to do?"

"Simple. I won't use the spell."

"Are you serious?!"

"Yep." Momo gave a genuine smile, "I won't use the spell while you're not around. I won't even use the spell unless you tell me to."

"No, I cannot accept this."

"When I use this spell..." Momo said, her tone shifting to a gentle seriousness, "My spells' power is amplified. That doesn't just go for electricity, it goes for my reinforcement spells. Without someone to help control me, I could move too fast, use too much power and hurt myself severely. Even standing there, thinking about how to get you down to the garden, I was worried that I might have used too much of my ra-strengthening spell. That if I gripped you a bit too hard, I might break a bone. That's why, I need someone to regulate how I think from the outside. And the only person I can trust to do that is you."

Roko stood there, taking in what Momo had to say. There was not a single part of him that was okay with her suggestion but there was no better idea that Roko could think of with the current situation. Roko gripped his wound tightly as he answered, "Alright. At least for tonight only, I'll give you orders."

"The night's already about to end soon." Momo giggled, "And you've been giving us orders all night so this really shouldn't be much different."

"There is a difference."

"Is there? Well, there's a more important detail we need to wrap up."

"And that is?"

"The name." Momo smiled, "We need to give this spell a name. As far as I know, this is a first in the world. A completely new, unique spell that we need to name. We need to tie it to a phrase so I can call upon more readily. Since this spell is your idea, what do you think you should name it?"

"No, this is your spell." Roko shook his head, "You're the one who'll be saying its name and you're the one giving up your autonomy to use it. You should name it."

"You sure? Well..." Momo thought about it, "I might have a name for it."

"Let's hear it."

"Amp." Momo answered, "I'll call it Amp."

"Sounds fine to me." Roko replied, "If everything's settled, I need to prepare for what comes next. I'll tell you the plan in the meanwhile."

"Right! I'm going to listen to whatever you say when I'm in amp mode so don't worry about me!"

"I'm going to hold you to that. Because you're not going to like my part in it."

"So that's the plan." Roko said as he tightened the new weapons he had chosen out of the armory around his body, "Are you ready?"

"You're right, I don't like it." Momo pouted.

"Are you ready?"

"...Yeah. I think I can activate it on command now." Momo sighed as she walked over to the edge of the room.

"Then Murasaki and the old man's waiting for us. Let's not keep them waiting any longer."

"...Amp."

A discolored aura surged around Momo, not flickering through color but transitioning between various dull shades.

"Aim for the ground." Roko said, "Near the base of the tree. Angle it inward and blast away five meters of earth. Ready? Go."

"Lightning."

Electricity surged around Momo as she reached out her hand and a giant bolt of lightning burst out with a biblical sound of thunder. The lightning blasted into the loamy earth and exploded, sending dirt flying outwards and as high as the seventh floor. The tree screeched and its branches and roots writhed in pain as the dust settled and Roko could see the orb that the tree had been hiding between its roots.

"Now we need to get down. Use haste to get there as fast as possible. Cloak yourself in lightning to destroy any branches that might try to stop us. Protect to cushion the impact and the effects of the lightning. Go."

"Haste."

Momo gripped Roko by the waist and together they jumped down from the top of the castle. The tree reacted and its branches began to reach up towards them.

"Protect. Lightning."

Green and blue light mixed together as they became surrounded in light and burst through the myriad of branches that tried to get in their way. They dove through the 12 layers of the castle in an instant and impacted the ground with a thundering quake. Momo tumbled out of the smoke, resting somewhere along the side of the garden. Roko pushed himself down the hole, tumbling down until he landed right in front of the orb.

"This wasn't here before when I scanned you." Roko gritted his teeth as he pushed himself up, "This must be all the mana you stole from Murasaki and Momo. You took it but all it did was make you more sensitive to attacks. It did allow you to mimic Momo's spells but you can't even use those properly unless you're seeing it in action."

Roko drew his sword, "I wonder. If this mana made you so much more sensitive, what will happen if we destroy it?"

Roko stabbed his sword into the orb.

"Momo, are you okay?!" Rokusho and Murasaki rushed to her side, helping her sit up a little.

"Bones in my legs feel broken. Hard to breathe." Momo gasped, "Roko..."

"Roko went down the hole." Murasaki said, "What happened? What's going on? What was that bolt of lightning?"

"Plan's...not over."

All of a sudden a horrifying scream burst out of the tree. Louder than any it had made before, trembling the earth and shaking the air. A scream so loud that it overpowered any thoughts they could make and drown out anything they could say. Sharp enough to cut through to every bone in their body and instilling a sense of dread and terror that none of them could understand. And in the center of all this, Roko pushed his sword as deep as he could into the orb. He couldn't hear anything and couldn't think anything but he already knew what to do. He pulled out the metal staff from his back and threw it up, as straight as he could make it, out of the hole and through to the surface. He withdrew a dagger and held it up. He shouted though he knew she wouldn't hear, "Momo!"

Momo saw the staff fly out of the hole and reached out once more with her hand, "Lightning."

Electricity burst forth and blasted the staff, traveling down its length before bursting downward down the hole, attracted by the steel dagger that Roko was holding up. The lightning entered the dagger and traveled down into his hand and through to every inch of Roko's body. He could not hear himself scream so he screamed in pain as loud as he liked. But even as loud as he could scream the tree seemed to scream even louder as lightning came through Roko's body and through the sword into it's core. Roko could feel every inch of his skin burning, his hair standing stiff and his stomach wound threatening to overwhelm him with indomitable pain. But Roko kept his hands on his weapons and pushed his sword further and further until he could no longer bear everything and his mind went unconscious.

Roko's mind didn't wake up so much as something seemed to enter his mind, meeting him in a white space in between consciousness and unconsciousness. Roko could barely keep any memory of this place, his mind continuously trying to pull away from this unnatural mental space and fall into sleep but something kept pulling him out. In this confusing state, a voice spoke out to him, soft and strict like a mother but without any hint of love. From its tone, Roko could feel only coldness and disgust and yet despite recognizing all this, Roko couldn't understand it. Nothing about it made sense, like a puzzle piece that would not fit. The voice spoke,

"Why? Why would you sacrifice so much to save people you don't know?"

The voice spoke but in words that barely mimicked human speech. More than its garbled words, the emotion or sentiment of its question flowed directly into Roko's mind as a strange almost wordless conversation. Roko thought to reply, to try to ask who or what this voice was but his answer came first and was conveyed without any restraint,

"I don't need a reason to do the right thing."

Roko tried thinking of another question, to try and get more information from this...entity but whoever or whatever it was replied,

"This...is why I hate humans..."

And without another word, Roko felt his mind being flung away into the darkness, spiraling into the unconscious void as the white space and the foreign being disappeared.