Overpowered Wizard-Chapter B4 Ch28: One Shot

“How strong have you gotten, Naomi?” Hannah asked, looking up at the heavy dungeon ceiling above her head.

For months now, she’d been crawling deep into the Forgotten Kingdom Dungeon. She had nobody but Magi and her golems for company, and Magi had a propensity for treating Hannah with the utmost of respect, as if she was a goddess in the flesh. Of course, Hannah enjoyed that, but the lack of … madness and jokes … from her fellow Floridians had bothered her after a while. She’d also missed Rhea.

But the journey had been a worthwhile one. The dungeon had more than just mythical challenges and rewards. Hannah had gone as far as unlocking higher quality portions of the dungeon that required a Runic Artificer like her to discover. Now Hannah was at the bottommost layer after defeating the last boss, the hulking runecraft machine lying in pieces behind her as she steadily consumed its materials to recycle for later use. It was then, with blocks holding the secrets of the Infinita System, that she’d heard Naomi’s telekinetic voice reach out to her.

That was both freaky and fantastic to experience. Hannah could clearly tell Naomi was above the surface. She had Bianca with her, and Gilbert wasn’t far away. There was a great fight happening above, and the details were murky at best, but Hannah deduced they were up against Ruvaria for some reason.

“Whatever is happening above, I suppose I should lend a hand,” Hannah said.

“How shall I help you proceed further, mistress?” Magi asked. His well-dressed outline fuzzed a little before solidifying to appear as a tall, slender man in a nice suit.

Hannah turned her attention back to the biggest secret in the world. Perhaps the biggest secret of this entire realm. She walked around between rows of blocks that were each twelve by twelve by twelve. When she inspected them with her spectacles on, she found herself nearly blinded by their divine power. Then there was the mental heat she felt from trying to decode just a glimpse of what she could capture.

Once again, Hannah wished she’d gone with free evil sub-alignment instead of free for real sub-alignment. It wasn’t too late to switch, was it? There was always a real chance that she’d lose herself to free evil. And despite the strange name behind free for real, the point behind the sub-alignment was to remove the chance of being manipulated by other powers, and there were cases during the dungeon crawl that such a thing had happened.

“Wait.” Hannah stopped between more rune-carved blocks. “Is the free for real sub-alignment only limited to hostile influences?” She turned onto the nearest block. The god runes shone painfully, like needles piercing through her eyes and striking her brain. Yet, she held her ground and kept examining. Then she felt it. Her freedom alignment rose a tick, and the piercing pain invading her mind was lessened.

“Magi, I don’t think I’ll complain about my sub-alignment ever again,” Hannah said, as her slender assistant bent down and used a napkin to wipe the tears from her face. “I’ve never considered the implications of being able to push past the obscuring tricks of the gods.”

“I believe it’s only proper that my mistress gains access to all forms of knowledge, mortal or divine. What right do they have to stop you?” Magi asked.

Hannah laughed. Her freedom alignment went up a tick. The pain lessened, but it didn’t go away. The pulsating god-light from the System runes kept pushing and poking, thrusting further pain to punish her for her unruliness. Hannah winced and took one step back. Her spectacles sparked from the magic tension. She nearly looked away.

“I want to know it all,” Hannah muttered.

She’d been cast into this universe with a child-god who could consume them all. She’d compared herself to him and everything above at every turn.

“I have to know more. If I’m not aware of the grand scheme, I won’t matter.”

“Would you let a fate like that befall you?” Magi asked.

“Hell no.” Hannah leaned forward and applied all of her skills and traits. Her mind moved faster. Her freedom alignment rose once more. She kept powering through the divine defenses and peeling away secrets that weren’t hers to know.

She got more than a glimpse, making headway to an even bigger secret. The Infinita Star System was far more connected than she’d realized. With sudden knowledge, Hannah’s Runic Artificer class leveled up far sharper than when she’d overcome battles and puzzles to get down here.

Achievements rained in, and Hannah was quick to open them and reap the rewards. Her traits for aura recovery wasn’t enough anymore. The sheer scope of what she was trying to ultimately overcome needed more power. As she collected more stats, she constructed magitek generators from the boss wreckage she’d consumed.

The cubic magic machineries pulsed quietly with an efficient resolve, tapping into the dungeon’s energy and pouring it toward their creator as excess aura. With more aura, Hannah expanded her observations and reached the conclusion of her first study. Her body was shaking, and her head was hot, by the time she finished analyzing one side of a system cube among many. Ȓἁ𐌽𝙤𝐁Ɛs

“I have to learn faster,” Hannah muttered.

“Tea first.” Magi presented her with a porcelain cup on a high-quality plate with golden filigree. The drink was already poured and would enhance her mental abilities. After she gulped it down hastily, Magi chuckled. “Knowing you, my words of concern for your well-being would be a waste. Instead, I’ll encourage you to go as fast as you can, mistress. I do believe your friends will need your aid soon.”

“Yeah, if they’re fighting Ruvaria for whatever reason, then I’ll bring in the big guns. I need to analyze more, but I think I’m seeing the tip of something awesome.” Hannah smiled, all teeth. “And it’s going to be mine.”

She kept at it for hours. Every now and then, she sensed Naomi’s psionic power rippling out to her, keeping her informed of what was happening above. From what Hannah could tell, the winning condition required them to land a solid hit on Absolute Ruvaria. Bianca, Naomi, and Gilbert were giving it as best as they got, but they still couldn’t break past the old elf’s immense power.

“Absolute Darkness,” Hannah muttered after examining half of the runic blocks in the room.

She was covered in sweat and breathing hard. Her face was red, and there was blood all over, leaking from her eyes, nostrils, and ears. Her brain had overcooked multiple times, but the damage wasn’t enough to kill her. It only slowed her down, never stopping her.

“Do you find it unfair, mistress?” Magi prompted, standing dutifully next to her. He didn’t offer help during these moments, or she would’ve refused him. He was great at predicting her moods. “It’s a wonder that Zarian’s most destructive power can be copied.”

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“It pales in comparison to his.” Hannah wiped at her sticky face with her gloved hands. “But it’s a good practice run.”

“Oh? What could it be that we’re practicing for?”

“Has everyone ever thought that maybe it’ll be up to us to beat them?” Hannah asked. “Maybe there’ll come a time that Zarian loses himself again. Or maybe he can only hold his sister in a gridlock where neither can win. I want to think we can make a difference. Or I can.”

“Then let’s make your belief into a reality, mistress.” Magi bowed deeply. “I believe you’ve absorbed enough of the system runes to share them with me. I can help you process the rest faster. I do believe your dear friends can use the aid we can provide sooner than later.”

Hannah looked hard at her magical intelligence. “Damn … I was being stubborn, wasn’t I?”

Magi didn’t reply, but his silence was enough. Hannah sighed. She’d wanted to solve all the system runes by herself. But they were under crunch time, and Naomi’s last psionic update revealed her, Bianca, and Gilbert getting badly beaten. If it weren’t for how tough Gilbert had become after conquering the Harrowing Mist Isles by himself, they would’ve fallen far faster.

Hannah shared pieces of what she’d learned with Magi. She watched her magical intelligence freeze up as he absorbed only a few fragments of the godly runes. Then his form erupted in a flash of misty light. Rolling her eyes, Hannah activated the skill again and re-summoned him.

“So?” she drawled. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“Hm. I might need your assistance in parsing these runes. But if all I can do is provide the smallest raise in your efficiency, I shall do my best.”

Hannah nodded. They got to work. Magi only received tiny fragments of the system runes that he could handle. It was like Hannah was a giant avian with the tiniest baby bird to feed. It was almost scary that Hannah had pushed her growth so hard her mind was faster than a magical intelligence.

At this point, Hannah was leaps and bounds above the theoretical reach of quantum computing from her old home. Granted, Magi’s ability to assist her grew larger and more helpful with time as Hannah provided him more divine data. Her pace picked up, and the pressure on her eased slightly, but only slightly. Hours passed, and the fight above the surface entered a lull.

Bianca, Naomi, and even Gilbert had fallen. Ruvaria wasn’t waiting for them to recover anymore and had them captured in absolute cages. Hannah was the last one who could make a difference, but she was deep under the surface, far from the conflict, almost at the center of the world. That was perfectly fine. She was where she was needed, and she finally had it all decoded.

“So, that’s the secret,” Hannah said. “Each world is modeled after the concept of a dungeon in itself. They’re just planetary dungeons. Every star serves as the outer power core of the planetary dungeon. And the secret that had the dwarves erased and buried is their research into controlling these worlds from the heart.”

A blue message popped up.

<Before I became the Star System, I was a bit more drastic in my approach while I was the Alignment System. I feared what would happen if the secret the Cormian Dwarves discovered was to spread.>

“What led to the change?” Hannah asked.

<It was a hidden mechanic that I didn’t know about. A design left by my previous creator. But it’s incomplete. The alignments still carried over. Perhaps that’s yet another test. For someone to fix me completely.>

Hannah thought it over before putting the mysteries of the Infinita Universe aside. She had an Absolute Elf to defeat. And she only had one shot at this.

***

“Why am I naked, too?” Gilbert groaned, glowering through the dark bars of his cage while held up in the atmosphere. Across from him were the two darndest ladies he’d ever had the pleasure and displeasure of knowing. “Seriously, this just ain’t right. I came with proper armor, too. Now I’m all skyclad, and it’s a little nippy up here.”

He was just making some fuss for no reason to waste time. He’d felt it through the psychic airwaves from Naomi that their best hope was whatever Hannah could bring to the table. They just had to give Hannah enough time, but they were out of time, and Zarian’s gilf-elf girlfriend was still set on wrecking an entire continent of people.

“Shut it, cowboy. Think of it like this. We’re all so awesome, our stuff can’t endure the hits like we can,” Naomi said, flashing all teeth.

Gilbert shared a certain kinship with the woman despite how rough things had turned out when they first met. They were both of the dutiful kind. He was glad to see her back and able, but the extra motivation she exuded was a little grating.

“Everything’s going to be fine. We’re finally going to win. Hannah’s going to save the day. And y’know what, maybe I can make the nudist trend work with some modifications. Maybe the answer is bikini-ware. It’ll be like we’re back in Miami!” Bianca was as bright and cheery as ever. Or maybe more-so. Gilbert could catch a hint of something sharper under that sunny tone.

She’d been through a lot.

They all have.

Gilbert huffed. “Well, she better pull through sooner than later, because the old girl over there is about to snap.”

Gilbert looked out from his cage where Ruvaria stood in the air. Tendrils of darkness surrounded her. Misty darkness. Flaming darkness. Other than the flash of pale skin, she was like one of Zarian’s eldritch horrors, and her attention on the continent far below was growing more concerning.

“I think the game is concluding now. None of you are capable without Zarian. It’s a little disappointing, but perhaps this will serve as a lesson for why you must become stronger.” Ruvaria straightened one arm out and gathered immense currents of darkness into a tight ball beneath her palm. Gilbert did the only thing he could.

“God Almighty, come on now, give us a miracle here. We’re in the fourth quarter, a minute on the clock, down by a touchdown, and we need a few real plays here. Deliver us from evil, please, and see us through.” When nothing happened, and Ruvaria’s power became even heavier and more certain of destroying all the elves, Gilbert reached for a little more. “God, send your angels, one and all, light and dark. We need a real rescue from any source.”

The sun went dark.

Gilbert nearly choked on air as Bianca flashed with light and giggled. Naomi chuckled as well, somehow knowing something that Gilbert didn’t. At first, he figured Ruvaria had eaten the sun. Then he realized there was more at work when the world underneath glowed blue and gold with massive, country-sized runes appearing in the dark. The world rumbled, and a snappy, nearly electric energy entered the air.

The glow alighted Ruvaria, who was smiling wide. “Ah, yes, there you are dear Hannah. You’ve bested the dungeon and gained unfathomable knowledge. But are you certain this one mere world is enough against me?”

“Seriously?!” Gilbert shouted. “Not even an entire world?!”

“Wait for it,” Naomi said. “The next twist is a fun one.”

Gilbert only had to wait a few seconds when the worldly energy concentrated into one spot beneath them. Then, a blue-gold torrent of power blasted forth. Ruvaria laughed and spread her arms wide. Her darkness became sharp, hungry teeth, positioned to devour the attack.

The torrent shifted slightly and narrowed. Gilbert’s eyes widened as the power of an entire planet struck Bianca. Naomi laughed like a witch as the worldly beam eradicated the cage that held Bianca and focused entirely on her. The Radiant Queen screamed as all of that light and magic drained into her, and for a second, Gilbert worried Bianca would explode.

When that didn’t come to pass, the light shot dimmed down, and the world remained somewhat dark. The Corma Star was lighting up gradually, but it would take days for it to regain its full power. Instead, Bianca’s light covered the continent and further across the world.

Gilbert looked around him and realized the dark cage was gone and he was standing on a platform of light. Naomi was standing confidently with him. At the very least, Bianca had fashioned shining lights to cover the important bits on their bodies. He wasn’t sure how she managed that, but Bianca was holding the power of an entire world right now, and now everything was up to her.

“So, uh, one final clash?” Gilbert asked.

“What do you mean?” Naomi blinked at him. “Bianca has already finished it.” She pointed down.

Gilbert looked where she pointed and spotted a pale speck plummeting to the world. That was Ruvaria, and she was missing an arm. The limb was spiraling in a different direction after being swiftly cut off. She was still alive, but that was as solid a blow as anyone could request. Normally, such a hit would leave permanent damage. Thankfully, Gilbert could reverse that, so Ruvaria would end up all whole and perfect before her boyfriend’s arrival.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Gilbert scratched under his hat. “I’d never thought Hannah would pass up taking the big hero position and give it up to Bianca.”

Naomi shrugged. “We’re a team, man. When one of us wins, we all win.”

“Who the hell are you, and what happened to Naomi?”

She laughed, and it sounded just right. Gilbert laughed as well. And when Bianca laughed, her voice was filled with so much power and light, she blasted both Gilbert and Naomi halfway across the world.