Will

Surveying the busy library, he tried to think of anyone else who might be able to stand up against Brimstone, and couldn't come up with any good candidates. Fletcher was scurrying in and out of the undercroft entryway to usher groups of survivors inside, keeping his gaze firmly on his toes at all times to avoid the terrible fate of laying eyes on one of the fairer sex.

The librarian was probably the highest level lifer in Sheerhome aside from the lord himself, but Will dismissed him almost instantly. He wasn't anything close to a fighter, and his knowledge of the undercroft tunnels would be needed to get all the survivors through it as quickly and safely as possible. Best leave him to it.

Will didn't realize that someone was saying his name until the demon pointed it out to him. He turned and found the blacksmith Bogleg standing there, thumbs hooked through the straps of his thick overalls and nervously fingering the brass buttons. He stole a glance at the sword on Will's hip and shivered to himself.

"Master One-Eye?" he said uncertainly.

"Yes?" Will replied, and added jokingly: "Come to sign up for the draft?"

"Um… yes, actually, as it were. I heard that Brimstone is coming this way, and that someone'll have to slow him down. If there's anything I can do, I want to do it. This bastard's taken my city, my livelihood, and two of my boys. Now, I'm not really a soldier or anything, but…"

"But you are Level 15. That counts for something. And I think your semblance might just prove useful. Come—tell me the details while we walk. I think we're about to run up on our deadline."

Bogleg nodded soberly. "Yes, sir."

"You sure you wanna do this, master?" the apprentice asked. "No one's ever fought Brimstone and lived."

The blacksmith rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. "I—"

"I have," Will said with a smile, making the young man flinch. "We both walked away last time. This time, he won't get that lucky."

"But—" the apprentice stammered.

"Come on, Master Bogleg. It's now or never."

Nyx broke away while Bogleg followed him out through the library doors and onto the campus grounds. The impenetrable smoke-polluted clouds gave the impression that they were under the cover of night even though it was supposedly the middle of the day. The city sprawl that extended out to their west past the Academy's edge was just a black tangle of skeletal ruins shot through with flickering orange.

The two of them walked along a path that turned west to meet up with the road that marked the edge of campus, separating from other survivors leaving through the doors who invariably kept on north to cut through the complex of Academy buildings in hopes of reaching the city gates at the other end of the district.

The blacksmith trailed somewhat behind Will, clearly reluctant.

"The sword you made has served me very well," Will said, keeping his gaze ahead.

"O-Oh," Bogleg replied numbly.

"You looked curious, so I thought I'd let you know."

"To be completely honest, I thought it would have killed you by now."

Will had to laugh at that. "Never say never, I suppose."

When prompted, Bogleg proceeded to give a basic rundown on his build, and Will concluded that he might indeed prove useful. As they walked, Will spotted a pair of figures coming the opposite way, just stepping off the north-south road and onto the grassy parkland that led up to the library. He bristled, unsure who he was looking at—he had forgone casting Detect [Life] to conserve AP since it didn't affect Brimstone anyway—but thanks to his points in Senses, he'd only just put a hand on his sword before he realized who it was. Captain and Serene.

"Assassin!" called the firefighter, waving high over his head. "I'm glad you could join us." They all met in the middle of the open field, and Captain looked over at Bogleg, hands on hips. "Who's this?"

Will made the introductions. "And what were you two doing down that way? Scouting?"

"Using Serene's Illusions to lure Brimstone away, get him wandering off someplace else. Didn't work."

"A shame—that would have made this a whole lot easier. No rest for the wicked, I guess."

Serene snorted. "There's just no keeping you down is there, killer?"

"I wouldn't miss this party for the death of me." Ha.

"You won't have to wait long. Thorpe's people have already fallen back, but Brimstone wouldn't take any of the bait we laid for him. We think he's already spotted this place, because he's headed right for it."

"How much time do we have?"

"Four or five minutes, if we're lucky," Captain said.

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"Let's say three, then. You get your semblance back?"

Captain nodded. "You?"

Will gave a nod of his own.

"I'm not stupid enough to jump into the brawl," Serene said, "but I could still help out. Stand a ways off, make some Illusions to cover for you."

"I won't say no to that. Head back into the library and pick a vantage point on one of the upper floors." He noted the rifle she had slung over her shoulder, presumably looted from one of the soldiers who had attacked the Academy. "Unless you've got more firearms experience than I'm giving you credit for, it's probably best if you don't go shooting that thing. Last thing I need is to worry about catching a stray bullet in the back while fighting someone like Brimstone."

"Whatever. You're the boss, I guess."

He also tasked her with keeping an eye on the evacuation and signaling to them once it was complete. She trotted off, keeping a quick pace to have any hope of getting into position before the enemy showed up.

After getting some basics on Captain's semblance, Will set to outlining a strategy for the three that were left.

"Do you need anything to activate your semblance?" Will asked Bogleg. "Last time, you were using an anvil."

"Just my hammer," Bogleg said, patting the heavy tool hanging from a loop at the front of his overalls. "Although, I was wondering if either of you might be able to quickly harvest some scrap metal for me. I think I would be able to make use of it to help you from a distance."

There wasn't really any time for an explanation, so Will set about it at once. He sourced the materials from old leaning lamp posts, long disused, that were dotted about the grounds. He felled three of the cast iron poles and had Captain drag them over to Bogleg, where Will then cut them into smaller sections and they stacked them around the blacksmith like cordwood.

Aside from giving a rundown on Brimstone's build, figuring out in which order to use their semblances, and arranging themselves in proper formation—Will and Captain in front, Bogleg further back—there was not much else to be done. Once Serene had reached a vantage point on the third floor of the library, visible as a small silhouette in one of the windows, she sent out a ball of light that drifted through the air toward them. It set down next to Will and began to shift and grow, morphing into an Illusory copy of Sunny. Not completely perfect, but in the dark it would be very difficult to tell apart from the original.

Will offered a thumbs up to the window, immediately understanding the idea behind it. She really was proving to be more reliable all the time.

Then there was just the waiting. Three minutes came and went. Captain was grumbling to himself and stroking his bearded chin. Bogleg spun his drawn smith's hammer around and around in his hand.

Will directed all his focus toward keeping his feet under him. His paradoxical burst of energy was already beginning to fade, leaving him with a cold sweat and a tremor in his hand that intensified when he put his hand on Anathema's hilt.

In a thought Will had never expected he'd have, he found himself wishing that Brimstone would just show up already.

There was nothing. Silence, aside from the muted bustle inside the library at their backs and a very distant rumble of the inferno still raging throughout Topside—in more localized pockets now as the fire was slowly running out of fuel to burn.

Nothing.

Then, a shadow crept around the side of a building, outlined by some guttering flames licking at wooden debris. In utter silence, the shadow drifted toward them, seeming almost to float.

There was no mistaking that bulky, jagged frame, and those deeply burning eyes directed at the earth. Will felt a tingle up his spine. Brimstone hadn't been this quiet before; this restrained. He didn't like it.

Will held the Illusory Sunny before him. "Good morning, William," he said as Brimstone began to cross the north-south road to get onto the campus grounds. "Nice day for a walk, huh?"

Brimstone did not reply; did not break stride.

Will drew his sword, grimacing at the unnatural rattle it sent up his arm, and tipped the point down so the flat rested just above the Illusion's shoulder. "I suggest you stop there. As you can see I have something you want. If you don't play nice, you might not get it back in one piece."

Brimstone halted abruptly in the middle of the road some fifty feet off, a dark specter with hateful red eyes.

"That's better. Now, why don't you turn around and walk away? If you do, your daughter stays safe. I'll even let her go in twenty-four hours."

There was a long silence. Will swayed slightly, struggling to keep his eye open. A fat bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.

Brimstone let out a whispering rattle of a laugh. "Youuu… promise?" he growled in a thick, plodding voice, as though he had half-forgotten how to speak.

"Don't see the point. You won't believe any promise I could make you anyway. But this is the only choice I'm giving you, so tough. If you don't fuck off like a good little maniac, you get to watch your daughter die. Now that you can consider a promise. Guaranteed."

Brimstone laughed again. His head slowly rose, and he seemed to be taking in the towering library behind them while simultaneously looking at nothing in particular. "Liarsss…" he hissed. "Traitorsss… Thievesss… You think I don't see you… ssscheming. But I see it all. I see you hiding… like rats… waiting to be exterminated. I see you…" His red eyes dipped back down, and were glaring holes through Will's skull. "...my enemy."

Will gave a shallow bow. "And what an honor it is to be perceived, my lord."

He'd more or less known where this was headed from the start, so when Brimstone raised his gauntleted hand and a ball of fire the size of an apple sprang up to hover just over his palm, he was not very surprised. The sphere bulged, growing brighter, then burst at the front like an overripe fruit.

It vomited a huge gout of flame up the parkland, cutting the distance between them and the enemy in an instant. Will stepped aside to let the fiery pillar rush past him, swallowing the Illusion in a roar of power and shattering it instantly.

Brimstone was already moving before the light of his first attack had faded, his armor letting out a huge hiss of steam as he shot into the air, soaring in a high arc. Will Dashed up to meet him, Anathema held out before him, and the lord twisted, the sword just scraping past his pauldron. Will went on past him, and Brimstone threw an arm back to toss another fireball over his shoulder without looking. Will sliced it clean in half, sent both luminous semi-spheres wheeling by him.

Captain was on Brimstone as soon as he landed with a quick quarterstaff combination, the weapon spinning in his hands as he used both ends for attack. Brimstone evaded it all, backing one step, then two, and ducked under a wide sweep from Will as he rejoined the fray.

Brimstone's armor let out another wave of dazzling steam, and blistering heat immediately engulfed the immediate area.

"Now!" Will barked, letting Anathema Absorb some of the heat but already feeling it keenly.

"Got it!" Bogleg replied a short distance off, standing amid his piles of metal cordwood. He raised his hammer high in the air, and a spark flashed off its dull iron head.

"Semblance Art: Crucible of the Sun."

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