Chapter 322: Sixth Calamity (Part 2)

All six swords glowed brighter than anything before them.

"EVERYONE—MOVE!"

They descended.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The six impacts landed almost together, and this time something different happened. Instead of six separate craters, the strikes connected, a massive wave of spectral energy rippling outward in every direction at once.

Kai was thrown backward, catching himself mid-air with Air Step.

WHOOSH!

Sera flew across the battlefield. Raze drove his weapon into the ground to anchor himself. Mira raised her shield against the shockwave. Gabriel’s barrier flared to life just in time.

BOOM!

Cracks spread across it instantly.

Kai landed hard, scanning the wreckage. Six enormous scars scored the ground, but their combined force had merged into one overwhelming wave.

"...It combined them," he said.

"Yes," Tiamat confirmed.

"Six swords, one attack."

"Correct."

He stared at the giant. "That’s new."

"You are learning."

He sighed. "I preferred it when it was just swinging swords."

"Everyone!" he called.

Mira climbed to her feet. "I’m fine."

"Fine," Sera said, standing.

Raze coughed. "...Mostly."

Kai laughed. "Good enough."

"The outer barrier took most of it," Gabriel reported, checking the damage.

"The city network absorbed some of the rest," Lily added over the network.

"But another hit like that could break several defensive zones," Elden warned.

Kai looked toward the creature. "Then we don’t give it another easy shot."

"Positions!" Mira called, and the team fell back into formation, Sera and Raze angling for the legs, Mira coordinating the hunters, Gabriel reinforcing the line, Lily and Elden returning to the systems.

Kai stepped in front of the giant. Its three heads locked onto him instantly.

"Still want me?" he asked.

The center head shifted. He ran.

It followed him instantly, footsteps shaking the ground.

THOOM.

Sera struck the left leg.

SLASH!

Raze hit the right.

BOOM!

Mira joined in.

BOOM!

The spectral body cracked, and the creature’s next step wobbled dangerously.

"Again!" Kai shouted.

They struck once more.

BOOOOOOM!

It staggered hard.

Three swords suddenly swung to intercept them, one catching Sera’s blade.

CLANG!

Another blocked Raze.

CLANG!

The third stopped Mira cold.

Kai’s eyes narrowed. "They’re protecting the legs."

"It has identified your strategy," Tiamat said.

"Already?"

"You have been using the same attack pattern."

He sighed. "Fair."

He rushed the center head directly, and it turned to track him, one sword shifting to protect it. He changed direction mid-stride, and the sword followed.

He smiled. "Got you."

"Now!" Sera shouted, striking the exposed leg.

SLASH!

Raze hit from the opposite side.

BOOM!

Mira finished it.

CRACK!

The leg buckled entirely, and the spectral warrior’s knee crashed into the ground.

THOOM!

A shockwave rolled outward, and several hunters stumbled.

Raze laughed. "We got it!"

"Keep it there," Mira said.

"What’s the timer?" Sera asked.

[Sixth Calamity Duration: 5:11.]

"Almost halfway," Kai said.

He looked around at the kneeling giant. "Don’t try to kill it."

Raze glanced at him. "Why not?"

"Because we don’t have to." He pointed at the timer. "We just have to keep it here."

"Containment," Mira said.

"Exactly."

The creature slowly raised its head, all three faces fixing on Kai again, the pressure of its attention pressing down on his chest.

"...It doesn’t care about anyone else," he said.

"You’re still its priority," Gabriel said.

"Then I’ll keep its attention." He looked at Sera. "And we’ll keep it from reaching you."

She smiled. "Sounds good."

The giant forced itself upright, the damaged leg shaking, cracks spreading through it.

"It’s standing," Kai said.

"Then hit it again," Raze said.

Kai raised a hand. "Wait." The three heads had started glowing again. "...Something’s happening."

The six swords rose, and instead of attacking directly, they began rotating into a new formation, one behind the creature, two crossing in front, two aimed at the battlefield, one held above its head.

"...It’s changing formations," Kai said.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you learned its previous pattern."

He sighed. "Of course."

The swords swung, but the blades never touched the ground. Instead, six enormous arcs of spectral energy launched outward.

WHOOSH!

"Everyone!"

Sera jumped clear. Raze braced and blocked. Mira raised her shield. Gabriel’s barrier flared again. The arcs collided across the battlefield.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The barrier shuddered, cracking further. Mira’s shield vibrated in her grip. Raze got thrown back several feet. Sera slid across the cracked stone. Kai’s body shifted on its own, Distortion pulling him through the one clean gap, the energy passing harmlessly around him.

Silence fell.

Lily checked the readings. "The damage was concentrated."

"Meaning?" Elden asked.

"It has another way to attack without moving."

"...That’s annoying," Kai said.

He looked at the legs again. "Then we force it to move."

"How?" Mira asked.

"Same strategy."

"Attack the legs?" Sera asked.

"Exactly."

Raze grinned. "Back to work."

Sera struck.

SLASH!

Raze followed.

BOOM!

Mira finished.

CRACK!

The damaged leg bent further. Kai pressed from the front, dodging a swing while the defensive swords repositioned, and Sera and Raze hit again in the opening he created. The creature staggered a second time.

It tried to step forward. The leg failed. It tried again, and buckled once more.

"We’ve got it," Kai said, smiling.

"For now," Tiamat said.

"You really need a new line."

"You keep proving me right."

He laughed.

The team settled into a rhythm after that, nobody wasting attacks anymore. Kai held its attention. Sera struck exposed openings. Raze worked the opposite leg. Mira supported both. Lily tracked the pattern. Elden ran the city’s remaining defenses. Gabriel kept the hunters covered. Nobody needed to shout every order anymore.

Then the three heads turned, one toward Sera, one toward Raze, one toward the gathered hunters.

Kai caught it immediately. "...They’re looking away."

"Everyone!" he shouted. "Scatter!"

The six swords attacked six separate points at once.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Hunters scattered in every direction. Sera barely cleared one strike. Raze blocked another head-on. Mira threw herself in front of a group of hunters. Gabriel’s barrier caught a fourth blast just in time.

"It changed," Kai said.

"Yes," Tiamat confirmed.

"It realized attacking only me isn’t enough."

"Correct."

He gripped his sword. "Then I’ll make it focus on me again."

He charged the center head directly. It reacted instantly, a sword swinging for him. He dodged, attacked again, and the head tracked his every move. He kept pressing, and slowly the other two heads began turning back toward him as well.

"He’s pulling its attention back," Sera said.

"Then hit the legs!" Mira called.

She and Raze struck together.

BOOM!

The creature staggered hard. Another sword swung for Kai, and he ducked. Another followed, and he activated Air Run to clear it entirely.

"Again!" he called to Sera.

"Got it!"

They struck once more, the leg cracking further.

[Sixth Calamity Duration: 7:20.]

"Two minutes and forty seconds," Kai said.

"We can do that," Mira said.

"We’ve already survived longer," Raze added.

"Then keep going," Kai said.

Then, without warning, the spectral warrior stopped moving entirely. The six swords lowered. The three heads went completely still.

Kai slowed. "...Why did it stop?"

"Is it hurt?" Sera asked.

"Maybe," Mira said.

Kai shook his head. "No." He watched it, unmoving, silent. "It’s thinking."

"Be careful," Tiamat said quietly.

"I know."

"No."

His eyes narrowed. "...What?"

"It has been learning every time you attack." The three heads began moving again, slow and deliberate. "Now it has enough information."

He gripped his sword. "...Enough for what?"

Tiamat didn’t answer.

The creature raised all six swords, but this time the blades pointed skyward instead of toward the battlefield. The ground beneath it began cracking outward in jagged lines. The sky above darkened.

"What’s happening?" Lily asked, scanning her readouts.

"I don’t know," Elden said.

"The energy output is increasing," Gabriel said, watching the giant.

"How much?" Mira asked.

Lily checked the numbers, and her expression fell. "...Too much."

The three heads began glowing brighter, the six swords burning like small suns, the spectral body solidifying further, the air itself starting to tremble.

"...It’s preparing something," Kai said.

"Yes."

"Can we interrupt it?"

"Possibly."

"That’s not reassuring."

"I wasn’t trying to reassure you."

He laughed despite himself. "Fair."

"Everyone!" Mira shouted, and the hunters regrouped fast. Sera moved to Kai’s side. Raze took the opposite flank. Gabriel raised every barrier the Church had left. Lily and Elden pushed every remaining system online.

"Don’t attack yet," Kai said.

"Why?" Mira asked.

He looked up at the towering warrior. "Because we don’t know what it’s about to do."

"Then what do we do?" Sera asked.

"Survive the first attack."

[Sixth Calamity Duration: 8:02.]

"Two minutes," Kai said.

"We’re close," Mira said.

"Very close," he agreed, but he didn’t relax, watching the six swords burn brighter above the giant’s heads.

Then all three jaws opened at once, and a deep, unnatural sound rolled across the entire city.

RUMMMMMBLE.

The six swords rose even higher, the gathered energy pressing down on the battlefield like a physical weight.

"Whatever happens next," Tiamat said, voice sharp with warning.

Kai waited.

"Do not let yourself get hit."

He gripped the Fractured Blade. "...Wasn’t planning on it."

The six swords began their final descent, the whole battlefield shaking beneath the strain.

He looked up.

"...Here we go."