“Itsy, give me a hand!” Phon called to their own giantess as a massive fist came careening down at them. One of the huge Rathes had moved to the back wall, hiding while the other two took charge. The one on the left chose to go with a direct attack, punching at the crowd of Fiends
With Itsy’s help, the two women held up one of Phon’s shields to block the incoming strike, and they clashed with a resounding clang, creating a reverberating shockwave that sent pressure all around the room. Egawo was thankfully able to lower the resulting blast of noise just enough that their ears didn’t get injured.
“Dice!” Phon now called for the lad to take action. She threw her other shield up off to the side, next to the now immobile hand that was still trying to squish them, and activated the hover function.
The Slicer vaulted up onto the newly created platform and slightly crouched, taking a stance as he’d prepared his attack. Ever since his overwhelming failure at the tournament, Dicatta had to come to grips that his Curse wasn’t all powerful as he and many others might have initially thought. Though it contained the most potential destructive power out of all of them, it also had some of the pickiest caveats along with plenty of situations where it was ultimately the wrong choice.
So in light of that, the man had begun his training as a proper swordsman, working tirelessly to become as proficient as possible over the course of the previous year—maximizing technique over raw power. And his efforts had paid off, now able to keep up with Jaid in spars, able to deflect and parry her attacks, even though she had the superiority in both strength and weight of her weapon.
To aid him as well, Nathym had forged him a sword that could be considered unparalleled to any other. Frankly, it only looked like a sword on the surface, and was actually a mix of micromachines and cybernetics that had been refined into a blade. The sword was sharp to an extreme, able to cut through virtually anything, with practically no chance of breaking, and it would never dull. But still, it took a long time to master.
And the training worked cyclically. The better Dicatta got with a sword, the more he improved with his Curse, learning the science and intricacies behind it, and was able to improve his calculations, often resulting in fewer cuts needed. Also, he found that he could basically use his sword as a catalyst. If he mimicked cutting an object with the blade, it would help him figure out the required math.
But in this case, all that training would finally prove itself useful. Dice took a good deep breath. Then with one quick lunge forward, all part of a single fluid motion, he unsheathed his sword and dashed past the titanic hand. When he landed on the other side, sliding back down to the crowd, his job was done. And Rathe’s wrist severed completely from the rest of her body. Itsy gave the shield a bash from below, launching the stone hand to send it flying away from the group, preventing the impending crushing.
And the newly handicapped Rathe actually reeled their now shorter arm back, as if she’d been hurt, or perhaps she just wanted to get away before they could do more damage. But a duo pursued her. Kaizu jabbed her daggers into the raising arm before it was out of reach, and pulled Gatrim up with her.
The man then took hold of his wife and dashed up the rocky limb. He dodged the other hand that came after them to try and sweep them away, treating them like pests that had crawled up her sleeve. The Memory then dropped Kaizu off on one shoulder where she wrapped one end of her chain tightly around her body.
Gatrim took the other dagger from The Streetsweeper and did the same. He then dashed away from her, across the behemoth’s body, around her neck, and off to the other side, then still continued to bolt when the chain snagged. And in tandem, Kaizu jolted away, jumping off her side of the titan while she pulled with all of her strength.
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Together, they applied enough force while choking Rathe that the chain crushed through her stone skin. A moment later, the colossal head came crashing down off of her newly decapitated body, quickly followed by both it and the lifeless corpse crumbling to pieces.
“Hey Kada, try this,” Alk suddenly popped up next to the woman who was still firing orbs mercilessly at the Rathe on the right—one who had been stretching her fingers towards the group like long wily serpents, very similar to how Drim attacked with vines. But the group had been repelling her attacks by gunning down the infinitely regenerating digits.
The Plague Doctor offered up an orb of her own, having used it as a vial to transmute a new disease. “I’ve been working on this since we started fighting. It was difficult because of our limitations, and isn’t as potent yet as I’d like it to be, but I hope it’ll be effective—a disease designed to infect stone.”
“Oh, thanks Alk, you’re the best!” Kada accepted it happily and loaded it into her anchor.
The blushing woman then had to break through the trance of the praise she’d received to offer one more comment. “Erm, I don’t have enough left for another shot, so don’t miss.”
Kada took that to heart and used a bit more care with her aim, making sure it was steady and true before pulling the trigger. The orb exploded on impact, spewing the liquid all over the demigod’s body. And its effects were immediate. “Just what is this?!” Rathe wailed as her guard was immediately dropped. Her entire body began to shiver as she desperately tried to wipe away what was causing the ailment.
“Ah, very effective,” Roque slid next to the women who were admiring their handiwork, having stopped firing his tank because it had run out of ammunition until it could regenerate. “Now if only we could crack through her shell, I have something in mind that’d take this one down for good.”
“Allow me,” Xard overheard and took the initiative. He blasted forward straight at the writhing demigod and grabbed onto her stomach, using a bit of power to create handholds and dig his fingers into her undefined navel. “Aim your shots at my back!”
Those holding firearms knew better than to question it and began shooting at the redhead. Each bullet plinked off his backside like he was being pelted with wads of paper, but Xard was making use of every ounce of that energy. Tapping into his own reserves was arduous in their current state, but as long as he didn’t try to control or manipulate the energy too much, he could let it flow right through him.
Shot after shot, the kinetic force transferred from his rear, down his arms, and out through his fingers. Steadily, he used his gripping hands almost like powertools, crunching away at the stone and widening the gap he had made. Soon, he’d bored a wide gap into the giant woman’s front, giving her an actual and deep belly button.
“Ah, that’ll do,” The Swindler applauded the effort. “Thank you, Xard, but you might want to get clear. Go, Thievius!” The mechanical Ratcoon answered the call and sprinted towards the incapacitated demigod. It quickly climbed up her body and buried itself into the hole that Xard had made. “Cover yourselves!” Its owner instructed as he himself shielded his own face and turned away.
A second later, there was a massive explosion behind them, and they had to thank Egawo once more for their undamaged ears. When they turned back, the Rathe they’d been facing had been blown to smithereens with rubble still landing all around. Only the outline of her lower legs remained, but they too began to disintegrate.
“Don’t worry, Thievius will be fine,” Roque unfurled a contract indicating that the artificial creature still existed when a few among the group shot him dirty looks. “Just needs some time to recuperate.” The man then grabbed one of the many spare rifles that were just sitting around thanks to Rishaki and got back to work.
But there wasn’t much left to be done. The two massive Rathes in their way who were protecting the third finally crumbled to dust entirely. And not only that, the constant attacks from her smaller forms had ceased entirely as well. It was like she’d run out of steam, and now there was only one more version of her left to face. It was odd, as the group approached her, practically cornered her against the wall, for a second, it almost looked like she had a twinge of fear. Regrettably, though, it didn’t last.