Lith had long searched for something that could hurt huge Emperor Beasts or even Divine Beasts without the need to waste time to cast a powerful spell or a simple air sealing array to screw his plans.
The railgun solved both problems and had only one downside. The cooldown of the rails and the build-up of the magnetic field required time so each shot had to count. Friya with her dimensional magic was the best candidate to put it to the test.
If she couldn't use it successfully, then it was likely that no one could.
Meanwhile, after seeing the part of the first floor collapsing, Phloria had become tired of waiting and joined the fray.
Until that moment, the fight had reached a stalemate. The mages of the Association and the soldiers of the army had managed to keep the Doppelgangers from escaping. Their spells made the giants explode and their enchanted blades cut deep into their flesh, yet no injury lasted for long.
Doppelgangers were a new life form and regular tactics didn't work on them due to their lack of vitals. On top of that, Protheus' children only needed to grab a soldier that had come too close or a nearby noble to devour them and recover their strength in full.
Even though their cores were bright orange, they were still Awakened. A few deep breaths were enough to heal any injury and the humans worked as an excellent source of nutrients.
"Don't stop attacking until they are completely destroyed!" Phloria said while unleashing a tier four water magic spell that turned the nearest Doppelganger into an ice statue.
"Don't get fooled by their appearance, their real body is made of a liquid substance. If you let the pieces merge again, you'll be back to square one. Use water magic to slow them down and darkness to kill them!"
Phloria lunged at the sluggish giant while activating her personal tier five spell, Master Sword, to unleash the darkness spells that she had stored inside Reaver directly inside the Doppelganger's body.
Master Sword was a tier five Mage Knight spell that allowed Phloria to channel her magic inside her estoc and release it at will upon contact.
Mage Knights had to often fight in close combat while defending their mark, so Phloria had devised Master Sword to be able to use all kinds of spells without having to worry about their area of effect or speed.
The ice cracked on the point of impact and spread throughout the Chimeric Body as the darkness magic ate at the Doppelganger from the inside. The statue shattered, revealing to the soldiers that the blue liquid inside was quickly evaporating.
"That's what happens when the creature is really dead. Now fight!" Not only had Phloria led the soldiers and the mages by example but she had also killed her enemy in a single strike.
None of their attacks had worked until that moment and after failing to kill a single monster despite their superior numbers, the morale of the troops was low. Her victory gave the soldiers the second wind they needed and forced the Doppelgangers to step back for the first time since the beginning of the fight.
Then, Friya's second shot turned one of the other giants into a puddle of liquid that the soldiers drowned in darkness magic. The lower body of the Doppelganger that was still intact writhed with pain as the sudden loss of so much body mass forced them to assume a smaller form.
The Doppelganger fought as hard as it could, but it died nonetheless. The forces of the Kingdom were well trained and well equipped. Now that they knew what to do, they had an easy time taking down a less experienced human-sized opponent.
Friya shot a third time, but after losing two comrades, the Doppelgangers had activated Life Vision to study the human leader and to understand the nature of the invisible threat that had made their companion explode.
They saw a small dimensional rift open and moved away from it. The soldiers looked at the monster sidestepping in unison and didn't waste time looking the gifted horse in the mouth, assaulting them from every side.
Only once Doppelgangers shared with a mind link the position of the rift did they realize that each one of them had spotted a different dimensional opening. To make matters worse, three of them were now aligned.
The bullet, however, didn't resist the impact with the Dragon scales, shattering along with the upper half of the Doppelganger's body and leaving the others scared but unscathed.
'Dammit. If only the bullet was more durable, I might be able to take down multiple enemies with a single shot.' Friya dropped the railgun that needed to recharge again and used Dreadnought to keep sniping at her enemies, but now with darkness magic.
Orion had enchanted the rapier so that it could emit all of the six elements, even light, so as to give his daughter the greatest versatility in battle. Dreadnought had an output comparable to a tier four spell without the need to weave it.
Dreadnought's enchantments turned Friya's mana directly into the element of her choice and then amplified it. By combining Dreadnought with Scope, Friya helped the soldiers to kill the third Doppelganger without losing her vantage point.
"What are you doing, you idiots? We need them alive!" Manohar reached the battlefield atop of a hard-light construct shaped like a horse that allowed him to fly despite the air sealing arrays.
While traveling from the City Hall to the Marquis' home, the god of healing had the time to weave several spells and now the golden light of the magic runes covered the white of his robe again.
A wave of his hand trapped the remaining Doppelgangers into cube-shaped hard-light constructs created by his tier five Light Mastery spell, Double Standards. It was a nasty spell that kept anything from getting out while letting everything get in.
The creatures started to hammer at the walls, cracking them, but this time the god of healing was ready.
He unleashed a second volley of golden runes that turned black at a flick of his wrist. Light became darkness, sucking the life force of the captive Doppelgangers until they were within an inch of their life.
The damage they sustained was so extensive that their bodies were reduced to half the size they had as newborns. Without the strength to keep any appearance but their own, Manohar needed but a glance to recognize a slime.
"I don't know how those guys evolved, but I'll be glad to find out." He said to the soldiers that were waiting for new orders.
"Ignore him and go help the others inside!" Phloria said after making sure with Life Vision that no one would attack them from the back.
The battle outside had gone smoothly because of the backup's superior numbers and because despite their incredible physical prowess, the Doppelgangers' lack of magic was a huge handicap against a powerful mage.
Orion and Jirni, however, were not only fighting one-on-one without any intel about their enemy, but Jirni wasn't even a mage.. She could have easily escaped, but that meant leaving the Countess to die.
