Aralynn parried strikes from the automaton while desperately trying to find a way to disengage from the fight as two other machines screamed towards Perona.
Instead of running, Perona stood still.
Did she freeze up? Aralynn thought. "Run!" she screamed.
Nevertheless, Perona still stood, rooted in place, as the automatons reached her. Then, Perona calmly extended her arms and bellowed with the force of thunder, her ponytail and bangs thrashing wildly.
An unseen force swept through the half-elf as an ear-splitting crack sounded throughout the dome. Severe dents and fissures appeared in the automatons' bodies, cleaving parts of their metallic housings apart. At the same moment, the two were sent flying backwards, where they landed heavily on the ground.
Amon quickly disengaged from his fight with the automaton, kicking it backwards himself as he dropped a dagger to fire two quick shots at the downed constructs, capitalizing on their immobility on the ground. One didn't stand up as its eye slowly closed and its appendages retracted back into a ball.
That's one, I assume, thought Aralynn. She continued parrying blows while trying to get another opening.
Soon, Hadarai cleaved his automaton in two before hurtling towards the one remaining of the two that Perona had damaged, bringing his longsword down in a mighty arc.
Amon was fending off a construct with a single dagger now, and Grango was leaping backwards, avoiding attacks from a safe distance while peppering the same automaton with so many arrows that it almost looked like a hedgehog.
Aralynn was then quickly reminded that she was still fighting as a claw tore across her left thigh, and the sickly red of blood burst forth. The automaton tried to attack her exposed flesh, but Aralynn managed to kick it back with a powerful kick.
This isn't going to work, Aralynn thought. I might need to use my revolver again, but I don't want to waste any bullets… Fuck it, Aralynn decided. If I pass, then I might have time to find a blacksmith or tinkerer who can make me some.
She took to the sky once more, flying up 40 feet to the highest extent of the dome as she sheathed her rapier and drew her revolver.
To Aralynn's surprise, a pair of mechanical wings sprouted from the back of the automaton she had been fighting as it took to the air as well, flapping lazily towards her.
"Oh, come on." Luckily for Aralynn, it flew in a straight line without zigzagging, and apparently it had no sense of danger flying towards a person holding a gun. To be fair, though, it probably had never seen one before.
Aralynn lined up her sights and squeezed the trigger. Another thunderous crack rang throughout the dome as the revolver recoiled backwards in Aralynn's hand, and the bullet slammed into the automaton. It seemed to halt mid air before it shut down, plummeting towards the earth like a snipe with an arrow through its neck.
It fell to the ground with its appendages half-retracted. One wing was bent on its back at an abnormal angle.
Aralynn glanced around, expecting a system window, but there was none. Did Firearm God's Blessing not activate? Does it not activate every single time I fire, or did I unintentionally activate it yesterday somehow? The ability was still the most enigmatic among her repertoire; while it did activate against the half-orc bandit, Aralynn still had no idea what it did or how it worked, especially when she hadn't activated it herself yesterday. It had simply just… activated.
She sighed, and looked down. We're still fighting. I'll figure it out later.
Aralynn then shook her wings to change direction mid air and streaked towards the automaton that had been harassing Amon. However, by the time she had gotten there, Amon had drawn a rapier of his own that he'd been hiding somewhere and had impaled it. Amon drew his rapier back as the automaton fell to the ground and landed several more thrusts, spearing the automaton through the eye with his final attack. Amon pulled out his rapier with a colourful flourish.
Grango, meanwhile, had brought down his automaton as well, launching a flurry of arrows that thumped, one after the other, in quick succession into the construct's single eye.
Aralynn landed and caught her breath, her leg twinging from the cut earlier.
Hadarai looked around. "Is everyone alright?" He sheathed his longsword and shield.
Amon held out his hand. "I got a nick on my hand, but other than that 's alright."
Aralynn piped up as well. "I have a cut on my leg, but otherwise I'm fine." Aralynn looked over her status window. While she could use Resurgence now to heal her leg, it seemed like a waste. Reaching inside her cloak instead, she pulled out a tourniquet and a roll of bandages. She was about to bandage herself when magical pink music notes floated towards the wound and sealed it.
Aralynn turned around, and Perona walked towards her, smirking. "What happened to conserving bullets?"
Aralynn could tell that Perona was still shaking. "I-"
Before Aralynn could get a word in, Cyren cut her off, laughing from atop the podium. "Well! Isn't this… camaraderie wholesome. Sorry to interrupt," he drawled, "But you all passed."
"That rafek[1] interrupted on purpose," Amon muttered under his breath.
"Let's calm down," Grango said, stowing his bow before turning to Cyren. "What's next, then? What's the mission?"
Cyren smiled and leapt down from the observing platform. "First, a little something for your troubles," he said, flicking a singular gold coin to each of the party members.
Amon looked like he was positively going to set the building on fire and punch Cyren's face in as Perona tried to calm him down.
"Ignoring your little… squabbles," Cyren continued, "your mission won't be that simple."
"Well, get on with it," Amon spat. "What's our mission?"
Cyren's piercing eyes glinted in the artificial sunlight as he paused, then smiled. "Have you ever stolen from a devil before?"
[1] Meant to be a curse word in devilspeak, the ethnical language of devilkin.
Roughly translates to son of a btch.