The storm broke in much the same way as the previous one. Wisps exploded from the ground, spinning in a deadly whirlwind before evolving to a full typhoon. A thick mist of loose wisps radiated from within, and the bright day turned into a gloomy war-field.

Vivi's wavy hair fluttered, the hem of her dress flapping slightly. The sheer force of the storm could be felt from a mile in the distance, and that was notwithstanding its presence in Vivi's sixth sense—even more oppressive than the previous, so disgustingly powerful that even Lucius merely stared at it from Vivi's core, anticipating the worst.

Monsters rose from within the ditch. Screwed-up monsters, formed from the broken ether sticks. A gigantic ghoul-like creature with its body snapped in half tossed itself forward with its hands, a spine poking out from its severed torso. Even the normal ether sticks were terrifying; far larger than usual, some of them even wielding swords.

The typhoon-like storm continued whirling in place, struggling to move, as if trying to escape a strong magnet. The ether sticks and host bones within the ditch pulled it in, keeping the storm from moving off unpredictably.

The host bones weren't enough. Each one reanimated, but the storm still had energy. It cut off from its hold, whirling to its surroundings. Its deadly wisps grabbed onto the sandstone below and around it, reanimating the ground itself, ripping off chunks.

Something large rose from within the ditch, deep ethereal eyes glowing within the eye of the typhoon.

Another golem was building within. Demons froze first, then a wave of panic pushed people to action. The ballistas hastily took aim, and the team pushed ether through the strength and crush runes of the missiles. Archers readied themselves.

Mostly, however, the job was left to Coshi and the elites again.

The Luminary charged into the fray, followed by Tsarvan, the Lights, and Anthony's team. Coshi threw shockwaves, then slashed wide with Blossom, snapping in half the blade of an ether stick.

Thousands of lesser monsters attacked. Mostly ether sticks, but reanimated skeletons and animals were mixed in—deer, rabbits, surge hounds, snakes—and golems, of course. There didn't seem to be any flyers this time.

The mage skeletons were arguably worse.

They wielded staves, standing like scarecrows with crooked backs. Vivi watched as ether flowed from a mage's arm, into the orb of the staff. The skeleton pointed the staff at Coshi, and a deadly ball of burning ether shot forth.

The projectile couldn't be fought with swords. Coshi was forced to jump to the side, dodging. She was more than fast enough to do so, but time spent dodging was time spent not throwing in more shockwaves with Darkness Slasher.

Vivi glanced at Tsarvan, only for his figure to suddenly disappear. A trail of ice-cold ether from his horns led Vivi's gaze to one of the mage skeletons, who died, receiving a slash from Tsarvan's ethereal blade. He then disappeared to the next monster.

Behind the fray of monsters, a large stone foot stomped up from the ditch. A cloud of sand covered its leg from the stomp. Its head reached two thirds up to the facets, deep red eyes glowing in its dark stone head.

The golem was larger than the previous two. Far larger, its head very nearly touching the sky. There was only one, but this one wielded at least thirty million ether.

Lucius? Vivi thought, watching as another one of its steps caused a small quake. Is that a colossus?

"No," Lucius said. "Not even close. That's just a big golem."

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The ballistics team scrambled to aim, though they were hesitant to shoot. Their commander eyed the golem with a frown, thinking. The ballistas shook lightly with each step of the golem. Vivi gritted her teeth and ran to them.

"Aim for its legs!" she called, summoning Moonlight and pointing at the monsters. "If it topples over, we can finish it off!"

Finally some movement. The three ballistas loaded with Vivi's missiles took aim, pointing over the warfield of wisps and dead monsters, toward the stomping golem almost a mile off in the distance. That was still well within the ballistas' operating range, and with a target so large, hitting shouldn't have been a problem.

"One at a time!" Vivi called. "Patryn!"

"Yes!" he responded.

Vivi raised her sword, still uncertain on how exactly she was supposed to order the launch. She slashed down at the monster and called, "Fire!"

The lone missile released. Its tip glowed bright as it passed over Coshi and the fighters, like a glowstick entering a thick morning fog. Its light quickly disappeared, shrouded by the endless cloud of wisps. The air was foggy like deadly smoke seeping from a witch's cauldron.

Vivi added ether to her eyes and squinted at the golem's leg. For a few seconds, she saw nothing.

Then an explosion came near the target.

The golem's leg buckled inward, as if hit by a large boulder. Cracks formed, and wisps rapidly escaped from the wound. It didn't quite look like a gaping hole, but the missile had pierced deep.

"Aim for the same spot!" Vivi said, lifting her sword. She gave time for the remaining two operators to take aim. Then she slashed forth and called, "Fire!"

The two missiles shot forth into the mist, colliding with the golem. Another explosion went off, further cracking the golem's thick house-sized leg. Thousands upon thousands of wisps flowed from within.

"It's not enough…" Vivi said under her breath.

The ballistics team squinted at the damages, ether filling everyone's eyes. "It's dying!" one of them shouted. "We landed! The shell has been pierced!"

"It's not over!" Patryn shouted. "Explosive missiles, let's go!"

The large golem left everyone's minds as they aimed at the fray of lesser monsters. Coshi and her Lights were fighting the giant ghoul monster. It spat acid, slashing wildly with its hands.

It couldn't withstand Blossom's blade. Coshi slashed open its hand, then jumped for its head, cutting it cleanly in half. Blossom had no crush runes, making the death less destructive, but the clean cut across its head was enough to kill it in one blow.

The remaining battle lasted for five minutes. Slowly, with Tsarvan assassinating the mages, with Coshi throwing shockwaves at hordes of monsters, the lesser monsters beginning to fall. The lights, too, with the help of Vivi's swords and Grandpa's four-runed sword, could still roll through the evolved ether sticks without problems.

Without flyers, the battle was far less violent than last time. Lone monsters ran past, attacking the front lines, but those were easily dealt with. And without flyers attacking from above, the Lights, Coshi, and Anthony could all deal with monsters far more smoothly.

Vivi couldn't imagine what the fight would have looked like had real surge hazards been reanimated instead of ether sticks. A thousand clumsy skeletons were no problem. Ten boss monsters, however, would cause major trouble.

Once again, the golem was left for last. The wound in its legs was large. Thousands of little wisps flew out every second. Each step further cracked the leg, opening the wound more. The golem would eventually collapse.

But it was still walking. Clumsily and painfully, but it did step toward the ballistas. At this pace, its giant feet would probably make it to the camp.

Vivi scanned the grounds for the Luminary's Lights—the man who wielded Grandpa's four-runed sword. She ran to him, not quite at full speed, but with ether fueling her legs, she made it there in under thirty seconds.

"Throw your sword at the golem," Vivi said. "It should pierce through."

"Throw?" the Light asked. "You want me to throw the sword?"

"You haven't practiced?" Vivi asked.

The Light stayed still for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't."

"Give it to me, then," Vivi said.

Hesitantly, he handed over the sword. Coshi and her allies, including Tsarvan, watched her instead of making a move of their own. "Vivi?" Coshi asked. "Your plan?"

The golem stomped down its foot a few hundred feet away, casting a shadow over them. The Light looked like he was ready to start running, but he stayed by Vivi's side.

"I'll kill it," Vivi said. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and thought, Five thousand ether. Let's try to control this. Or survive.

"I don't think we can," Lucius said. "But let's go."

She pushed five thousand ether for her spirit. The ascension happened instantly, her dress flaring in scarlet light. It wasn't violent yet. Vivi still felt like herself, even if a surge-like flow of ether ran through her. The golem's terrifying aura loomed over her. Within fifteen seconds, it would stomp her.

Calmly, Vivi went into stance, held back Grandpa's sword, pushing ether through its four runes, and threw.

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