Bang. Bang. Bang. Boom.

The fiery hand came down as the suited gunmen shot at the massive creature. Brunhild gripped her spear as she waved more civilians through the archway leading into the city. They couldn't evacuate everyone in time, and the guns weren't slowing Halogi down.

The Path of Breath flooded her body with power. Considered one of the weaker paths, it gave the user the strength to fight indefinitely. It was considered a secondary path to the more active ones of Grit, Might, or Step. It suppressed her heartbeat and kept her from panicking. It gave her a cold understanding of what was happening, untainted by adrenaline.

She made her choice.

"Keep them moving." She turned to Cade, who had stretched his hand wide to help push more people through the arch. "I'm going to help them."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Before Cade could object, she raced off. Her boots slammed against the stone as she pierced through the crowd. People parted around her, but that was understandable. The long spear in her hand would turn anyone who cared for their lives aside.

Halogi raised its hand again, leaving five-fingered burn marks on the stone. Two of the suited gunmen had been crushed into the stone, their bodies crumbled and burned from the hand. However, they didn't stay long. Black smoke rose from their bodies as they disappeared, dissolving like they had never been there. Brunhild narrowed her eyes but didn't have time to think about it. She held her spear in both hands and lunged forward, throwing herself at the retreating hand as she thrust with her spear.

"Pierce!"

Her spear responded to her will. It was unnamed, but it was a cursed object. At the command 'Pierce,' it would shoot out toward her target. The spear would bend in any way it could to reach the target. There was an absolute limit, but Brunhild didn't reach it often. Her mind focused on an easy target, sending the spear sailing off for Halogi's retreating palm.

Tick. Roar.

The air around the massive fire monster shook as the spear stuck into its strange, burning flesh. She had seen it climb up from the water and the black ashen flesh before it ignited. She didn't know what it was made out of, but the Ikon was not just flame. It was a giant surrounded by flame.

"Retract!"

Whip.

The spear came rushing back along its shaft, and Brunhild threshed her leg back to brace herself to catch it. The force of the extension was still there, like she had caught the spear being thrown. She grunted, and her boot slid against the stone, but she held on strong.

Roar. Hiss.

Halogi lunged forward with its massive hand, bringing it crashing down on the shore again. Brunhild jumped back, holding her spear to her side as the fingers crashed around where she had been. The air instantly superheated, creating a mist out of humid air around her.

Sccrt.

The butt of her spear ran across the ground as she stopped.

Roar.

A second hand came for her. Brunhild jumped to the side, hitting the ground, rolling, and coming up on one foot. She had accomplished what she had wanted. Halogi was focusing on her. Now, she just needed to survive the giant's onslaught.

Slam. Hiss.

The second hand landed, and Brunhild shifted her footing. Her coat practically fell behind her as the heat rushed over her skin. She jumped forward with her spear.

"Pierce!"

It shot out from her hand, the pole extending into the side of Halogi's palm. Flames sparked off the blade, and Brunhild was thankful it was cursed. A normal weapon would melt against those flames. The aether that amplified her spear through the curse was the only reason it could survive the heat.

"Retract!"

Roar. Rumble.

Faster than she thought was possible, the hand swiped across the ground. It followed her spear into her hands as she braced to catch it. Brunhild didn't have time to dodge or jump. The flames came right onto her as the side of Halogi's hand slammed against her.

Heat, an instant scorch, burned across her body before the pressure disappeared. She knew she was airborne. Wind rushed past her ears even as the heat rushed across her body through her uniform.

The only thing that saved her was the short contact.

Thud.

Her back scraped across stone as she landed, before the same treatment met her front. She rolled across the ground, each hit feeling like being slammed across her entire body by a hammer. Her hands trembled as she came to a stop, and her spear fell from her hands.

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Clatter.

"Get up." She groaned, ignoring the puffy skin across her face as she tried to get her hands beneath her.

She fell face-first against the stone. That was it, then. She hadn't been fast enough to avoid the massive creature. It would either kill her or leave her for dead. Either way, it would go back to attacking the shore soon. She hadn't bought nearly enough time to help the crowd escape.

Groan.

She looked up with one eye, and a fiery hand hovered above her. She grimaced. She wasn't going to take the final hit lying down. She grunted as she slammed her hand into the ground and forced her torso up. Her legs were like jelly beneath her, but she could get up on her knees. She used her spear like a cane, pointing it at the descending palm as she knelt.

The Path of Breath gave her all the strength she could have, but her body simply was too injured. If given time, she could recover enough to stand. It could heal some wounds faster than normal, and overall, a user recovered from serious injuries much more easily than a normal person.

She needed another path, like the Path of Might, if she wanted to do real damage to Halogi.

"I hope you get a splinter," she whispered as the hand came crashing down.

"Dough Ball!"

Fwoom. Thump. Hiss.

A massive ball jumped between Brunhild and the hand, coming between her spear and the massive hand before crashing down to the ground beside her. Brunhild squinted against the light, but already knew who it was.

Lieutenant Cade was a massive bald man who seemed to enjoy food of all kinds all the time. He had his own curse, which allowed him to manipulate his body like dough. He was also a master of the Path of Grit, which allowed him to harden his body against all attacks. It was a perfect combination, if not for his personality.

But he had come to help her, which had to count for something.

His body squished under Halogi's hand; however, he held it up like a massive boulder, keeping the hand from crushing down on Brunhild.

"Pierce!"

Roar.

Her spear shot up into the hand, piercing through the flesh again and sending the hand flying back. The air shook again as Halogi roared. It grabbed its hand with the free one, stepping back and crashing into the barrier on the water. The barrier shimmered, but did not break as the Ikon rested against it.

There would be no retreat for Halogi.

"It burns!"

Cade screamed as he deflated, his hand reaching up and touching black burn marks across his chest through the burned holes in his uniform.. Brunhild had no illusions that she looked worse than that. However, she would have died if he hadn't come in to block the attack.

"You're supposed to be helping evacuate."

"Handed that over to the old woman," Cade said, a smile crossing his round face as he looked down at her. "Looked like you could use some help."

Brunhild smiled, though it cracked her burning skin.

"I did," she said as more strength filled her body. "Thank you."

Muscles stitched tears beneath her skin, and bones healed through cracks across her back. She pushed herself up to her feet. A wave of dizziness washed through her mind, but she could stand if she kept her spear on the ground.

Boom.

Against the barrier, Halogi stood again. It towered over them, its feet still on the water against the barrier. In Bruhild's eyes, it was as tall as a destroyer was long. No matter how she saw it, they couldn't stand against such a creature.

Yet, it wasn't going away if they did nothing. If left unchecked, it would rampage through Grim Aegis. If they didn't stop it or slow it down, many people who were there to help them would die.

"Are you ready to fight that thing?" Brunhild asked, limping over to Cade. "I don't know if we can win."

"I don't want to." Cade scratched at his ear as he looked up at the towering Ikon. "But I got to, right?"

"That's the job we signed up for." Brunhild smiled as Halogi's burning visage refocused on them. "Until the captains get back anyway."

"Then we fight." Cade grunted, his fists changing shape into two round balls. "Then we eat."

Brunhild shook her head. She had journeyed across several islands for months now with Cade, and there was no doubt he was a slob. However, that didn't mean he was useless. He could fight through troublemakers, and if his appetites were under control, he could think clearly for a time. Even though he was a slob, she could respect him sometimes.

"Ah!" A child cried out from the evacuating crowd. "Mommy!"

Across from them, at the back end of the crowd, a child in a short green dress had fallen. Her hand was centimeters away from a dropped ragdoll, reaching for it as the crowd milled before her. Brunhild grimaced. She hadn't noticed many children running around in the crowd, but the idea of bringing them to somewhere so risky was folly.

However, she wasn't the only one to notice.

Halogi's burning visage turned away from Cade and Brunhild, fixing on the child. It pushed itself up from the barrier, leaning forward and reaching for the crowd and the child. People screamed as they noticed the Ikon reaching for them. Some pushed, knocking more people down. Others fell back, landing on strangers' legs and pushing them off balance.

It was a fiasco, and she was too far away to do anything but poke at Halogi's hand.

"Cade!" She slapped the man on the back. "Go!"

"Dough Ball!"

Cade only hesitated for a moment. Then he bounded forward, rolling into a ball and rocketing across the stones toward the descending hand. Brunhild followed him for a moment before turning her attention to Halogi. Because it was leaning forward, its face was also getting closer. That gave her an opportunity.

Sccrt.

The spear's shaft dragged across the ground as she limped forward. She didn't need to be that much closer, but she did need to move. Because Halogi had knocked her so far, she was at the limits of the spear's reach. Even with the curse, it could only go so far. While her body was repairing itself, it wasn't enough to run either. She focused on moving as Halogi's hand crashed into the crowd.

Boom.

The hand didn't quite reach the stone. That was thanks to Cade. He had made it in time. Brunhild grimaced as the hand pressed harder into the crowd. More people screamed. Gunshots rang out from the suited men.

Bang. Bang. Ban.

They did nothing. It was obvious now. What they needed were attacks imbued with aether. Whatever an Ikon was made of, it could only be harmed by stronger attacks. The steel balls would mostly melt when they reached the Ikon's skin.

Brunhild paused as she reached her spot. She spread her legs into a wide stance, releasing the spear's role as a walking stick and raising it above her head. She wavered, shuddered, as her vision blurred. She blinked once to bring the target into focus. Her target was Halogi's burning visage. She would put her spear directly into its face.

"Let it try to ignore this attack." She smiled, her head dropping before she regained control.

Her vision narrowed to Halogi's face, and she took in a deep breath. Renewing aether filled her limbs. She lunged, her legs screaming with a burning fire and muscles tensing.

"Pierce!"

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