Today nearly every guild in the city was packed with people wanting to help The Gang defeat Spark after everything he’s done to the city. Tina, Toby, and Rebecca all seemed to not know how to respond, but one thing was clear. Having more people out there that could potentially muck up our plans might be more trouble than it’s worth. Regardless, can I just tell them they can’t do anything? I feel like if I do that, or the Nova Four try to stop them, they’ll still organize. It’s just another obstacle in our path towards our final battle with the end of the world. We have to focus on the here and now and not what the citizens are doing.
Speaking of which, Elara somehow sent us a transcript: a radio broadcast sent all across Capital City telling of a party celebrating the end of the world happening soon. That event was logged previously, from a week or so ago. The rest of The Gang are interested in using this party as our means to attack -- and end -- Spark once and for all. We’re tentatively calling our plan “Operation - Dim the Light”. Our plans are rather simple, specifically looking for attack, defense, and healing. Attack was the easy part. Any Magical Souls or Shardholder could assist in doing so, which is thankfully most of our group. Healing was solved as well as Defense. We would have two users with healing spells available for spot healing and one mass healer in Tina’s Shard, a spell called “Mass Healing Wish” that comes from her Wand of Wishes. Defense came from Krystal, ALICE, and ERROR. Krystal has her amethyst shields, and ALICE and ERROR created a new spell together to scan Spark and other enemies for HP data called “Libra Scan.” Everyone else was on offense. We decided we would meet up the day off, enter Central District, and fight him off, for once and for all. As for the transcript itself, here.
As for Control Magic, that part was slightly more challenging to solve, but Patrice’s shard, her REVOLVER OF UNTOLD SECRETS, has the counterspells necessary to remove a huge part of Spark’s defenses:
Rebecca - We need to find a way to nullify his control magic. Or at least defend against it.
Bunbun - well how does control magic work specifically? is it like puppet strings or hypnosis?
ERROR - Control magic is a rather vast range of magicks that can slow down, affect, or otherwise 'control' the flow of battle as a whole. Barriers are a pretty big form of it, as is hypnosis, puppet strings, vines, fogs, and psychic power.
Bunbun - so what kind does sparky have?
ERROR - The barrier kind, the hypnosis kind, and the counterspell kind. The latter is the biggest pain in the ass. :(
Patrice - Interesting. I would have thought hypnosis would be harder to work against. Unless it's different?
ERROR - Different? No, it's the same. It's a series of commands fed into someone's inner psyche that can be activated on a whim via certain phrases or triggers. Just when it comes to Hypnosis Magic, that process that could take weeks of induction and work is nearly instant. Hypnosis Magic also has a weakpoint in that triggers exist to also 'nullify' the effects. It's like when my Host gets hypnotized and then Krystal whispers 'pspspspsps' in her ears. :)
Patrice - So it takes long to set up, but short to manifest effect?
ERROR - Correct. Manual hypnosis is a long process. It does not require an expertise in any magical ability. With the right skills, nearly anyone can hypnotise someone else. It just requires knowledge and persistence, plus a willing (or unwilling, in my Host's case) subject. But once the effects are ingrained in the subject's inner psyche, they're basically permanent.
Patrice - I imagine this has to be forbidden, just because of the sheer power this can hold, yes?
ERROR - Correct. Officially, both Manual Hypnosis and Magical Hypnosis are classified as “forbidden actions” by the Agency of Arcane Affairs. That does not typically stop someone from casting it, however. If you require proof, look at Luna, look at Hinata, look at Elara, and lastly look at the IMP modules. The ban is official yet it is ineffective. If someone wishes hard enough to hypnotise a target, they'll find a way. I recognize my status as a Creature of Legend, but that does not mean I cannot have an opinion, ESPECIALLY when it’s concerning a subject that directly affects those I assist daily. Anyway, what we need is someone who is able to effectively *counter* Spark's *spells*. :) If we have that, plus some other defense, we should be okay to fight. Just... who can help with that? : )
Patrice - I can try with the counterspelling, I guess. Though, I don't know if a counterspell can counter another counterspell, 'cause then it'd be two people trying to counter each other's counter, and it's basically a matter of time until one burns out.
ERROR - Fun fact! A counterspell *can* counter another counterspell. Understand that normally counterspell is a VERY HEAVY mana cost. So while yes a counterspell battle will go on for a while, without his extended manabase from the Creatures of Legend, he shouldn't be able to cast more than one. Truly, what we'll need help with is in breaking through his barriers and stopping him from being able to move.
Luna - Wait, so if we force him to use counterspell, he'll get weakened?
ERROR - Theoretically. :)
Rebecca - Hah, my turn then! I was there when Counterspell got nerfed, which happened during my stint as investigative Lead for the AAA’s Peacekeeping Unit. It happened a couple years ago. It used to be basically free to use for Control Magicians, but then they realized that in certain tournament combat situations, fights would just devolve into counter wars. So now it's limited to one per fight because the sheer cost of using it twice would basically end your entire fight. In number terms, it used to be basically 1%. Now it's 66%.
Luna - I think she's talking metaphorical numbers anyway.
Bunbun - do counterspells counter everything or just other spells?
ERROR - Only spells. It's counter spell, not counter punch to the face. To counter physical attacks, you probably need some kind of mirror barrier for that.