The angel swung its sword in an arc and a wave of flame burst from it. Helena dropped to the ground and threw out her hand. "Aegis!" It was raw power formed into a shield, but it might lessen the blow.

Heat rolled over her as the shield broke. The pews shattered before the firestorm, and her own defenses glowed white as they redirected the flames. She heard Camila cursing loudly in Portuguese, but the woman didn't sound hurt..

Then the tempest stopped. Helena spared a glance behind her to see that Nezaiel had used his wings to protect Father Peter, wounding himself again in the process. Well he could probably survive. "Get him out of here," she yelled at the priest before summoning a mote of fire and flinging it at the false angel. It ducked then swung its blade again. Too fast. She saw Camila stop her rush as the blade sliced in front of her.

Alright the fake angel was metal and fire. She needed to figure out how to combine water and fire to beat it. Or maybe take control of the fire-

A flash of silver and the angel was in front of her. She leaped above it's sword strike, but it reversed the blow. Far too fast!

Sparks flew as a green shield appeared in front of the blade. "Not this time!" Camila yelled as she held the sword back. Helena took the moment's respite to blast the angel with the strongest flame she could summon, flinging it back through the air.

With a beat of its wings it recovered and began another charge. "It's not going to give me time to be fancy," Helena said as she fished out a truesilver feather. "We'll have to beat it here or draw it outside!"

Camila ducked under the angel's charge and kicked it in the chest. The creature staggered, but then flipped over her and swung at Helena. This time Helena skittered away before it could catch her with its blade. "What about the Adena? It's been three minutes!"

"He can't shoot without blowing up the whole cathedral. He'll only fire if we're dead." Helena waited until the beast committed to a swing at Camila before crushing the feather to power her spell. Three silver orbs formed around her, each unleashing a searing beam of light.

The construct dodged away. Camila zipped in for another kick but the angel spun upside down and hacked at the hand she was using for balance.

"Camila!" Helena screamed as the woman's hand was cut off. The jiang-shi fell to the floor, too shocked to cry out. How dare it hurt her! The damn piece of junk should rust away!

One of her orbs turned black and hurtled towards the angel without her even thinking about it. Helena ignored that to rush to Camila's side. The jiang-shi woman was getting up, but she looked confused by the loss of her hand. Thank Hecate that Camila couldn't go into real shock. Helena grabbed the severed limb and held it to the stump while pouring magic into it. The wound sealed immediately, the blessing from the sword falling away as Camila returned to her true form.

Helena grunted as Camila pushed her aside. The jiang-shi held up her hands to form a shield and the holy sword slammed into it again. The angel was back. Its upper left wing was black and tarnished, but it seemed otherwise unharmed. Helena pointed at it, and another one of her orbs flew out. It bowled the angel over, and the things' tarnished wing shattered.

The room spun and Helena dropped to her knees. She'd used too much power too quickly. She could use mid level spells forever in this place, but she couldn't overdraw like that. Not after everything she'd done in the last few days.

She felt Camila's grab her and leap away. The shining form of the angel appeared before them and there was a clang as the jiang-shi kicked it in the chest. "You okay Helena?"

"I'll be fine," Helena gasped as the room came back into focus. The angel was down to three wings, and she saw dents where Camila had gotten in a good blow, but it was still ready to fight. She called upon the last remaining orb to fire a laser. The beam splashed against its sword, but it bought her time. She placed her hand on Camila's back. "Nemesis give us power to crush our enemies."

The curse of undeath flowed into Camila's body, strengthening her. "Whoa, nice. But is this okay?"

"Yeah. It's not that powerful a spell. Just a constant drain, and that's not an issue now." The angel's wings pumped and Helena readied a firebolt. "It's coming."

"Then let's smash it," Camila growled and dashed forwards to meet it. She zipped by with a cartwheel kick that sent feathers falling, and Helena followed up with her cursed flameblast.

The angel cut the firebolt in half and rushed towards Helena. She retreated as fast as she could, ducking a wave of flame that blasted a stained glass window to pieces. "You're fighting me asshole," Camila yelled as she charged in. She slammed a knee into the angel denting it again, and got slammed into the ground for her troubles. But she hopped up immediately. Helena was glad to see her strengthening was working.

The duel fell into a horrific pattern. Helena pelted the angel with spells, it chased her, Camila punished it, then got hit in return. Stone shattered, and wood exploded as the three fought on. Every time one of them deviated from the dance someone got hurt. Helena had two shallow cuts from bad dodges. Camila had been run through and had slowed down as her body fought off the blessing. And the angel had lost another wing from a combination of a Greek fire spell and Camila's pounding.

"Are we winning?" Camila gasped as she picked herself out of another crater in the floor.

"We aren't losing," Helena said as she tried to get away long enough to get another Greek fire spell up. This was turning into a battle of endurance, and she wasn't sure whether the angel would drop before she did. She considered true magic, but she wasn't mentally ready for the raw manipulation of reality. It would be too dangerous.

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She threw the half formed spell and flew straight up to avoid the wave of return fire. Two metallic impacts below told her Camila had recovered and returned to the fight. She began conjuring a blast of sound.

She needed a trick. Beating her head against its power wasn't working. Something to get it outside? That would be hard if it was covered in truesilver. Something to unleash her own siege spell? That might work. But she'd need time or powerful reagents.

The angel zipped in front of her and she rewarded it with a thunder clap. It staggered back from the raw force of the noise, shining feathers falling.

Her eyes caught the feathers. Of course! That was it! "Camila, buy me some time!"

"Got it!" The jiang shi rocketed into the angel, her green shield leading the way. This wasn't a martial arts move, just raw violence. But it distracted the angel.

Helena took that precious second to drop to the ground. She grabbed seven feathers from the ground, her heart beating fast. The truesilver might be useless for targeting the angel construct, but she could still use it to empower her spells.

Camila slammed into the ground near her, and Helena winced. She looked up to see the angel plunging towards her, but this time she stood her ground.

She held up the feathers and absorbed their power, watching the silver tarnish and rust away. Here in the corrupted chapel that was her own she called upon the curses the fake angel had unleashed. "Death leads to death, sin leads to sin, revenge leads to revenge. Creature brought to life by slaughtering sins, be bound by the lives you have taken!"

The shadows of the cathedral roiled as if they were laughing. Chains burst from the darkness, each bearing the mark of one of the deadly sins that had been used to create the construct. They caught the fake angel in mid air, tangling it in a web of black steel. It strained against the chains, but they bound it ever tighter, each fastening to the creature's form.

Camila picked herself out of the floor with a groan, then hopped to Helena's side. "Any way I can help?"

"Catch me when I fall," Helena said as she started summoning her power. This was sure to drain her.

The jiang-shi smiled. "I've got ya."

Runes like blood formed around Helena, slowly spinning in alternating directions. This was her spell. Not something from her goddess, or her teachers, or her family. It was hers alone. And that knowledge made it stronger.

"You blame me for all ills, you call on me to serve your needs," she intoned as the third circle of runes appeared around her.

The angel was twisting and writhing in the chains, desperately trying to escape. She'd have to time this perfectly to catch it with the full blast.

"Desired as a servant, never a friend." Five circles now. Camila stood by her side, one of the exceptions that proved the rule.

The chain of avarice snapped. Then gluttony. Not surprising. The creature didn't possess those traits even if you stretched the definition.

As the seventh circle formed she saw Father Peter weeping, while Nezaiel shielded him with his wings again. "Born of gods, but seen as mortal."

The angel construct screamed and thrashed, and two more bindings shattered. Now only pride, wrath, and acedia held it in place.

Eight circles now. It was becoming harder to form them, but Helena pressed on. "I claim my birthright! Your fate is mine to control!"

Wrath gave way. The angel beat its wings, trying to fly up and away from Helena's spell. It was trying to flee! But she wouldn't let it.

The ninth circle flickered slowly into existence. With her there were ten. Ten and one. The spell was complete. She pointed her left hand at her foe.

There was a horrifying crack as pride gave way. The angel flew upwards, but it froze at the second story. Acedia held!

Helena said the final words. "I am Helena, the Curse Gunner! And this is my divine will! Miasma Katharsis!"

The circles flew up around her, focusing her power, and then a cascade of black energy five feet wide tore through the air. The angel tried to dodge, but the darkness enveloped it. The roar of her power shattered the votive candle holders, and the blast tore a hole in the front ceiling, sending rubble cascading down.

And then there was silence. The runes vanished, and the room went dark.

Helena opened her eyes just in time to see a silver figure crash to the ground. Metal feathers rained down around it. Camila was holding her upright. She flung an arm around her friend's shoulder. "Is it done?"

"I think-" Camila stopped as the silver figure slowly pushed itself up. There were tarnished spots all over its body, and its wings were shattered and torn, but it managed to stand. It held out its hand and its sword flew into its grasp. "I think it's my turn. Gimme a sec to bash it into scrap."

Helena opened her mouth, and the stained glass window behind the altar exploded.

A streak of holy light flew down. The fake angel turned, but it was too slow. With a rending screech, the gleaming warrior pinned it to the ground with her own sword, then tore the blade free.

The fake angel's head clattered across the floor of the cathedral, and the creature collapsed into ruin.

"Damn. I was kinda hoping I'd have a chance to save the day," Camila said.

The light faded, revealing Amaiel. The angel looked at them, then lowered her sword at Helena. "Give it back, witch."

Helena took a deep breath, then released it as she let her essence leave the temple. The darkness faded, leaving only the smoking traces of angel blood and the night. "It's yours. Or well the Catholic Church's," Helena said. "Have fun."

"You think you can just desecrate a chapel, then give it back and walk away?" Amaiel asked incredulously.

"Well, like, it was that asshole Bishop who desecrated it by stabbing your friend," Camila said. "And shouldn't you be helping him? I mean he kinda got stabbed, and I don't think we can help."

The doors burst in and a flood of blue ran in. "Especially since we're probably going to be held for questioning soon," Helena said.

Amaiel frowned, but sheathed her blade. "You speak the truth, annoying as it is. Once the police are done with you, get out."

"Sure." Helena suppressed the urge to wave. Amaiel probably wouldn't take it well. And she had helped out, so Helena was willing to grant her a slight reprieve. Instead she turned to Camila. "Try to give me some cover so I can loot the feathers."

"Uh, should we really be doing that now?" Camila asked quietly.

"Look, we aren't getting paid again, so if you want to make rent next month...."

Camila shook her head. "The angel was right. You're a terrible influence."