Overpowered Wizard

Back when Zarian was in the Marines, he’d taken every opportunity to consume as much anime and fantasy as possible.

Prior to that, the foster care homes he bounced between had been a crap shoot in how lucky he could get. He’d faced different styles of abusive foster parents, from insanely religious fanatics to the downright criminal drug dealers.

He hadn’t gotten comfortable as a kid growing up because he was under a lot of pressure to survive with his only support coming from Ariana. He hadn’t gotten to nerd out as much during his foster care times.

So, despite having gotten kicked out of the Marines because they thought he was being insubordinate for not letting them haze him – he’d been through enough hazing before the Marines, so no thanks – he still appreciated some aspects of the Marines.

He’d appreciated Naomi for being a stellar recruiter. He’d appreciated getting to eat as much as he wanted and viewing his favorite media to where he even knew obscure and niche things from times long past.

“I think Bianca’s becoming a Digimon,” Zarian said on the spider network.

“Do you actually know what a Digimon is?” Hannah asked.

“I may not be an engineer, but my nerd status is top-notch,” Zarian replied.

“What’s a Digimon?” Gilbert asked, for himself and Naomi.

Hannah took the time to explain while casually shooting aberrations and calling down some more artillery strikes. The fight with the aberrations slowed down considerably, enabling everyone to split their attention more.

Zarian felt multiple viewers were looking through his eyes as the paladin leaders faced one mad Latina with a legendary spotlight and a bodily shift into something otherworldly.

On the side of the paladins, Prime Archbishop Orin Ignatius was the fiery and crusading heart of his regime. Zarian had read some reports from the Hemlocks about Orin being an old, zealous, hardcore man. He’d clawed power free from the last regime in a bloody coup ten years ago when the paladins were weaker.

He had the strict belief that the paladins should spread dominion across all the Walled Continent. He wanted all of humanity to serve the will of the Good Gods and the Ascended Heavens under strict, dogmatic doctrines.

Orin’s Battle Bishops were all yes men, but they were well-trained yes men with epic classes in the high Level 80s or low Level 90s. The Prime Archbishop himself was Level 101 and a Master Ranker.

Now, that might not seem like much of an issue.

The Floridians could fight above their weight and beat Master Rankers and overcome numerical disadvantages. So, there wouldn’t have been much concern if it wasn’t for how the Battle Bishops felt like they were good +3 while Orin was most likely good +4.

If their high goodness wasn’t problem enough, all the Battle Bishops had god-given boons woven into their heavy silver armor and the poleaxes they wielded.

Orin’s heavy gold armor and legendary greatsword shone the brightest. It had a combination of boons that felt familiar to Zarian.

Lovewar and Purehome? Zarian realized with some shock.

Lovewar’s boon being involved surprised him. He had to remember the Good Goddess still stood in opposition to the Evil Goddess despite their weird but friendly relationship.

Lovewar and Shadowfell were bound to have followers and pawns from their camps of good and evil come to head and clash with each other.

Zarian also had to recognize he and his friends were the few humans who knew the truth behind the game the gods played. They were the few who knew how the game had come from times long before the Reset Era.

Back when the Star System was called the Alignment System.

Despite Orin being seasoned and powerful for his position, he was just another piece on the board.

Then again, he’s so fanatic he might’ve already seen the truth and threw that aside in favor of being a tool for the gods.

Knowing this, Zarian had to admit he was glad Gilbert was so ridiculously stubborn with his Christianity. The big man’s beliefs looped around to keeping him safe from becoming a zealot in the Infinita Star System.

Zarian was also glad that despite the heavy advantages Orin and his bishops had with their gods and their high goodness on their side, Bianca still found a way to one-up them under a towering spotlight that followed her everywhere.

All fifty feet of her transformed body came swooping down on Orin’s regime. She struck as a spiraling dervish of shining swords, amber feathers, ivory talons, and six long tanned arms blown up to giant proportions like the rest of her.

“No, wait, she’s more like a Digimon inside a Dark Souls game,” Zarian said, seeing how Bianca moved to incorporate her size.

He also enjoyed her trash talk.

“YOUR UGLINESS IS DEEPER THAN SKIN, AND YOU ALREADY NEED A SKIN CARE ROUTINE!”

Bianca’s voice reached every nook and cranny in the basin, drowning out the artillery fire while resounding across the mountain range. Her voice was so voluminous, it snuffed out the roaring and shouting from the bishops as Bianca rampaged.

Her taloned feet trampled and ripped into a few men caught under her. While she crouched down amid the bishops, she swept into a flurry of spiraling strikes, all six of her radiant swords carving and slashing, adding to her giant dance.

It was because of the legendary spotlight shining down on her that Bianca could arm herself with powerful sabers of light. She could also fire powerful laser beams, too. And as the cherry on top, the spotlight buffed her already high Wonder stat even higher.

Her transformation made her a giant and bestial version of herself, which was an angel-like monster with a blinding light beaming from her face, making it impossible for anyone to see her true visage.

Despite the many changes, Bianca’s giant beast of a body still carried itself with the glamor and beauty of the woman it was based on. That made the big female monster aspect kind of scandalous.

She was completely naked while crushing and slashing down crusaders.

Thankfully, more blinding light beamed from the sensitive areas just like her face. Any untoward onlookers who tried to take a direct peek at places where they shouldn’t couldn’t see anything.

I hope Ariana’s not watching this after Bianca helped me scold her, Zarian thought, letting himself become a passive observer.

The fight was sordid, violent, and fairly badass. The paladins didn’t keel over and die easily.

Strangely enough, Zarian could appreciate the paladins showing some high vitality and toughness. Because it made the fight more interesting.

The bishops who’d ended up trampled or slashed by Bianca’s taloned feet didn’t die instantly. The bishops who took a strike from Bianca’s radiant swords blocked with their poleaxes and remained alive.

Many, however, had the misfortune of getting sent flying from one sword slash or kick from giant Bianca. The airborne paladins skipped across the waterlogged and uneven rock field, bouncing like skipping stones.

But even these paladins remained alive when they came to a stop.

Others dodged around her steps and radiant sword swings. Then they lunged to strike at her with their supercharged poleaxe swings.

In Orin’s case, the Prime Archbishop unleashed a white hot and divine flame strike from his greatsword and the boons of two Good Goddesses.

The paladin’s retaliatory attacks came out as divine-enhanced energy crescents. Orin’s attack appeared as a sharpened tower of white-hot wrath that was nearly taller than Bianca’s giant form.

Yet, they all missed their mark.

Bianca became a giant cloud of lights. The shining spotlight broke apart into thousands of mini spotlights that followed every glowing bulb.

After curving swiftly around every strike, Bianca recombined on the side of the bishops.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

They couldn’t reposition and respond fast enough. Bianca retook the momentum, the spotlight back to shining as one great tower on her dominant form.

She stooped down low enough for all of her six radiant swords to hit targets near the ground. She moved in spirals and pirouettes with graceful but killer steps.

Zarian was pretty sure she was still using many of her princess-related traits, especially the Six Step Dancing Princess Sword Style.

As she danced, she killed between three to five bishops within six steps. Then she reset for another round of her epic fighting style.

Each Battle Bishop could survive maybe one hit. Maybe two or three! But that was it.

There was no way they could survive multiple giant attacks. They were up against the power of her legendary trait, Sainted Smite, which pushed Bianca’s Wonder stat even higher as she fought.

Then there was her Super Serene Rampage +2, which made Bianca’s physical attacks so much stronger while scaling with Wonder.

Because of her Wonder being extremely high under the legendary spotlight and her many other buffs, Bianca could hit like a juggernaut despite her having a low investment in Strength.

So many parts of what made Bianca’s profile quirky and unusual synchronized as she put on a massive show.

Zarian could even feel it through his own Wonder stat.

He sensed how Bianca bent the supernatural and faithful powers of the world around her. He sensed how her presence disregarded the powers of the Good Gods and the power-ups they provided their servants.

Better yet, he sensed how her presence was vengeance.

They’d robbed her of her agency.

They’d made her fight a friend against her will.

They’d traumatized her.

Now she was destroying their most faithful servants.

And dancing on their crushed bodies.

The Battle Bishops died steadily. Every time Orin tried to carve the power of his faith and boons into Bianca’s body, she evaded him and killed more Battle Bishops. If that wasn’t bad enough, she added insults as she rampaged, her voice booming like an angry demigoddess:

“I SEE WHY YOU MUST BE CELIBATE. BEING AROUND YOU MAKES ME WANT TO BE CELIBATE, TOO!”

“Jesus Christ,” Gilbert said on the spider network. “This monster version of Bianca is hella mean for no reason.”

“No, that’s Bianca letting out the stuff she doesn’t say around you boys,” Hannah said.

“You don’t have what it takes to handle what we say when it’s just us girls,” Naomi said. “It’s not just cry fests, you know?”

“Wait, Naomi, you can actually cry?” Gilbert asked.

“Shut up, Gilbert.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Zarian ignored the others. He paid attention to the paladins still inside the barrier.

They looked like they were preparing to join the fight. They still had a few thousand in their numbers.

That might’ve seemed significant, but Zarian knew Bianca would crush the weaker paladins like they were mere bugs.

However, they weren’t bugs to the people back in their kingdom. Zarian still wanted to see them leave instead of dying. He didn’t want another broken kingdom making the Dark Era anymore darker.

It was plenty dark already.

Before they had the chance to charge out of the barrier and throw their lives away, Zarian cast Quagmire Pit.

He formed the spell as a long blockade in front of the paladins. Infernal orange flames and noxious fumes rose above the boiling bog.

That stopped the suicidal zealots in their track. The bog also blocked their vision of the fight as Bianca tore the bishops apart until the last dozen remained.

Orin and his remaining bishops regrouped as a tight and battered unit.

The Prime Archbishop looked just fine. Hell, maybe more than fine. He glowed brighter. His movements became crisper. His swings came out faster and stronger.

He swung out a towering flame projection that extended from his greatsword and forced Bianca to block it for the first time. The clash forced her to misstep and break her fighting style.

Only then did a bishop finally land a blow on her calf and leave a cut that bled some.

“If the monster can bleed, then she can die!” roared Orin. “Remove the false idol of the Dark Lord, then we shall seal the Dark Lord himself!”

Orin surged with newfound power and confidence. His body, encased in golden armor and the divine glow of multiple boons, flew like a man-shaped comet. He slashed again and again with his shining greatsword and projections of giant flaming strikes.

His size was like an action figure compared to Bianca’s towering form. But he was a dogged and determined figure who forced Bianca onto the back foot.

Then, when Bianca used her Light Step +2 to dodge away as a flurry of lights, Orin unleashed a new tactic!

He thrust his legendary weapon upward. He released a flaming air burst that caught Bianca’s flurry of lights and forced her to recombine when she wasn’t ready.

The remaining Battle Bishops pounced.

They hacked and cut at Bianca’s feet and calves. Some jumped high into the air daringly. The ones who went airborne struck at Bianca’s upper legs. A few went even higher. The highest risers dared to strike at her chest and face.

And they succeeded.

They landed hits that would’ve knocked down castle walls or cut giant monsters in half. Bianca soaked loads of damage that would’ve killed most adventurers many times over.

A plethora of cuts covered her. Some light. Some heavy. From these wounds, blood poured in thick red streams down her fifty-foot body.

Zarian watched this and thought to himself, I guess that’s that.

Bianca had won.

The paladins didn’t know it yet.

Even though Bianca couldn’t muster all the power from her free good +6, she didn’t need to. She still had more impressive advantages.

Using two legendary scrolls to transform and enhance gave her a big edge, but none of that would work without a powerful profile.

Bianca had aspects that only came to light when something or someone pushed her hard. Then her epic Overcomer trait kicked in, enhancing Bianca when she faced a difficult challenge.

An overconfident bishop soared through the air at Bianca’s eye level. He held his poleaxe high for a hard downward strike aimed for the middle of her face.

Bianca turned to the flying bishop. With no warning, she released a beam of pure and utter eradication from her entire face and erased the man.

Then Bianca flapped her wings and launched into the air. She entered a hover as the legendary spotlight seemed to shine on her even brighter.

She dismissed her radiant swords and pointed all six hands down at her enemies. After a quick charge time, she shot down a volley of eradication beams and wiped out three bishops while the others dodged.

Bianca charged up six more beams from her hands, and six more beams that hovered around her body, and shot down another volley of pure and utter eradication. She killed all but the Prime Archbishop and one of his followers.

“How can this be?!” shouted the last Battle Bishop. “We have the power of the Good Gods and the Ascended Heavens on our side! But we are dying, brother!”

“Then let our deaths serve the will of the Good Gods and Ascended Heavens!” Orin roared. “Let our sacrifice be known all across the universe, so one day the faithful servants of good will triumph over evil and seal the Dark Lord forever!”

Bianca paused her next attack volley. She remained hovering over the air as she examined Orin and his last major follower.

Then, in a voice that was lower in volume but still powerful, she said, “I can’t let you do that to Zarian. He sacrificed himself to save me. I’m here because he continues to care for me. I can’t let you have your way with someone who’s like familia to me.”

Bianca’s free good +6 peeked out.

Zarian turned away at the last second. Para formed a leathery shield over him and used Dark Affinity to coat him in darkness.

He could still feel the blinding light of Bianca going supernova outside. While she directed it elsewhere, her light and alignment were still unnerving.

Once it was over, Para peeled away the leather shield from over him. Zarian opened his own eyes and saw where Bianca had last struck.

A melted cut in the basin floor extended from beneath Bianca and all the way past the paladin camp and further beyond. Her attack had slashed through the slope and continued further into the mountains.

The cut was deep enough to be a ravine, its bottom filled with pooling slag. And laying a few feet to the side of the cut, beneath Bianca’s hovering form, Orin barely remained alive with his golden armor melted and fused with his flesh.

His last bishop had fallen to eradication.

“I don’t feel like killing you anymore,” Bianca said. “I think I want to talk to my family myself instead of having Shadowfell pass messages between us. I know this may look bad in the eyes of an Evil Goddess, but the assassination is being done for the wrong reasons. So I’m not going to do it anymore. You may live now.”

With that, Bianca flapped her wings and turned away from Orin.

Zarian didn’t know what to make of this, at least at first. After some thought, he could almost see some logic to Bianca’s madness.

This actually might throw a wrench into whatever nefarious plans his wife had concocted in the event of Orin’s death.

Thinking even further, Zarian’s free evil +4 and Unraveled Mind concluded that the Stalwart Paladin Kingdom would end up crippled without the experience of the one hundred epic and old bishops. But the kingdom wouldn’t fall apart completely and become easy prey, since Orin remained alive.

This … actually works out. The kingdom will be too weak to be a threat to Ride-or-Die Village. But it won’t be so weak that evil forces can sweep in, corrupt, and make it a bigger problem in the future.

Zarian ended his spell, removing the quagmire blockade and letting the paladins run out to collect their defeated leader.

Once it looked like the paladins were retreating, Zarian turned more of his attention toward the aberration wave and saw that it was mostly over.

Thousands of corrupted corpses and roaring magic napalm flames covered the way between the Floridians and Castle Grimrock. The artillery bombardment was a resounding success.

Though, that might come with some sacrifice in experience. The ease and impersonal nature of earning the victory via artillery would deduct from their leveling gains.

Zarian didn’t mind that.

Hannah’s potential would grow even scarier going forward. It would be too unfair to the Star System to reward major experience to battles won by artillery or advanced magitek.

Still, as long as the experience earned wasn’t zero, the gains would be significant enough.

Turning back to Bianca, Zarian saw her legendary spotlight dimming away. Her bestial transformation would last for a while until she rested, then she would return to human again.

For now, she remained as a fifty-foot tall, celestial-like creature with shining lights covering her face and sensitive parts.

She came to a hovering stop next to him. Her shining face was on level with his body.

As quietly as she could, which still came out booming, she said, “I didn’t finish the job.”

“Not all jobs are worth finishing,” Zarian said. “Now, come on, Angewomon. We’re going to raid the castle of an evil warlock and bust our friend free.”

Bianca roared. “BUENO!”