“Well, we can’t do anything about it now,” Vanessa said, trying to sound upbeat. “Is there a way we can escape from here? Something tells me this elevator isn’t going to take us back up.”

“Yes, actually,” Angel said. “A rather effective one. Unlike regular catacombs, Great Catacombs can attempt to forcefully eject you. If we do enough damage or steal enough loot, it’ll spit us out.”

“So do what a Seeker normally does?” Cowl guessed. He seemed to have dropped his line of questioning for now, but the man’s robotic voice still didn’t sound particularly happy.

“Pretty much,” Angel replied. The floor finally rumbled to a stop, nearly knocking them all off their feet with the final shudder.

A large section of the wall swung open, filling the shaft with dim yellow light and momentarily blinding Angel. He blinked furiously, letting the magic in his hand fade as he adjusted to the new environment.

The room before them looked like an abandoned armory. It was drab, with a single barred iron door on the far end and several weapons hanging from the walls. They were covered in a thick layer of dust. It smelled musty and every movement Angel made sent a small puff of dust up from the ground.

“Nice place,” Angel observed, walking out into the room and kicking up a small cloud of dust. He peered at one of the large swords on the wall. “If this was smaller, I’d take it. Interested, Cowl?”

“It’s not an artifact, is it?” the Hunter asked.

“Just steel,” Angel confirmed, examining it with his eyepiece. “Pretty boring, actually.”

“Is there anything I could use?” Vanessa asked, eyeing the large weapons doubtfully.

“Probably not here,” Angel said, shaking his head.

“Then I’ll pass. I don’t need extra baggage,” Vanessa said.

“Wise decision,” Cowl said. They walked to the far end of the room and Angel pressed his ear against the door, concentrating for a few moments before carefully trying the handle.

It turned effortlessly, which only deepened the Seeker’s frown. “Be ready for anything. If we’re close to the center of the catacomb, you can expect all manner of traps. I don’t know if I’ll be able to detect them all.”

He slowly pushed the door open, but he wasn’t ready for what was on the other side. Brilliant yellow light washed over them from a room the size of an amphitheater. A long hallway led up to it, lined with shimmering lanterns lit with what Angel strongly suspected to be Old World magic.

At the center of the room, an enormous metal giant rested on one knee. It was easily five stories tall. Circuitry and wires hung free in the air, and oil had stained the ground beneath it. Large chunks of the giant’s body were missing. The only part that had been unaffected was a box at the center of its chest. At the far end of the room, hidden behind the giant, was a normal sized door.

“Buried gods,” Angel whispered.

“That might literally be one,” Cowl said, his tone showing just as much awe. “This is Old World war technology, isn’t it?”

“It might even predate that,” Angel said, his skin prickling. “And it’s not a buried god. According to everything I’ve read, the gods could crush cities with a single foot and some even scraped the clouds. This thing might be a replica of one, though.”

“Is there a chance it’s still functional?” Vanessa asked, marveling at the great construct.

“The intact portion at the center of its chest is probably the power source,” Angel said. “If whatever originally powered it is still there, we should assume it’s still functional. If it’s gone, then the thing is dead.”

“Well, how can we tell? It’s sealed,” Vanessa said.

“Then assume it’s still alive.”

“We can’t exactly turn around,” Cowl said, drumming his fingers on the hilt of his sword. “And frankly, we don’t want to use up all our food down here. Going back to Churning Sands would not be optimal, and that’s assuming we can escape this gods cursed catacomb.”

“You said it yourself,” Angel said, slowly starting down the long hallway. “We don’t have a choice. We move onwards and deal with things as they come. If the big scary thing wakes up, then we deal with it. There’s no other path.”

Angel watched the metal giant warily as they grew closer to it. There were no lines anywhere in the room. If it hadn’t been for the huge construct, it just would have been a large, empty space.

However, there was no way a catacomb would keep a useless hunk of metal so deep within it for no reason. Angel flipped his eyepiece down and scanned it.

Race: Great Construct [Old World]

Level 280

Status: Severely Damaged

Information accuracy: 32%

Strength: 305

Intelligence: 4

Nimbleness: 2

Toughness: 500

Rating: Incredibly Dangerous

Weak point(s): Not Enough Information (0/100)

Element(s): Steel

Error: Unable to analyze further. Information incomplete

“It’s still functional,” Angel whispered. “Be wary, and don’t get hit if it wakes up. The thing packs more than a punch.”

“I couldn’t have guessed that myself,” Cowl said in the same low tone.

They stepped out into the center of the room. A crackle of static filled the air and Angel’s hair stood on end. Sparks danced across the construct’s body as a hum echoed out from within it. With a raking whine, gears within it started to turn. Dust cascaded to the ground as the giant’s head slowly rose to look straight at them, its eyes glowing a faint red.

“Well, I can’t say I didn’t see this coming,” Angel said, his calm tone hiding the panic he felt building up. “Run!”

They dashed to the side of the room as the giant rose to its feet. It took a shuddering step towards them, damaged metal squealing in protest, and brought its fist crashing down. The ground rumbled, nearly knocking the group off their feet from the sheer force of the blow.

“What if the door’s locked?” Vanessa yelled as they scrambled towards the exit.

“Then we politely ask it to open!” Angel replied. The robot took a step towards them, easily closing most of the distance they’d covered, and brought another fist down on the ground. The ground crumbled, pieces of metal and stone plummeting into a dark void opening up beneath them.

Vanessa’s skates hummed to life and she shot forward, grabbing both Angel and Cowl before launching over the chasm opening up beneath their feet. They skidded to a stop on safe ground and she released them.

The door hadn’t seemed that far at first, but now that the massive creature was hot on their heels, the short distance felt insurmountable. There was a loud crunch and Angel turned back to see the giant pull a fistful of the ground away like it was putty before hurling it at them.

Angel shot his grappling hook at the wall and swept Vanessa into a one-armed hug, yanking them both out of danger. Cowl’s wings shot out of his back and he blurred out of the way, making a beeline towards the door as the projectile demolished the ground where they’d been standing.

As they flew through the air, Angel grabbed his board and tossed it out before him. He ripped the grappling hook free and landed on top of it, zipping towards the door as fast as he could without losing control indoors.

They skidded to a stop before the door, the giant rumbling towards them. The screech of metal was so loud that Angel could barely hear himself think. Cowl had beaten him and Vanessa to the door and had jammed his sword into the crack.

“I don’t recognize the lock!” Cowl yelled. “It might be reinforced. I can’t break it.”

“Damn it. Let me pick it,” Angel said, stepping forward to push him out of the way.

“We don’t have time,” Cowl growled, pulling his sword free and spinning to face the giant. “I can’t fight this thing on my own. You need to help.”

“Then how do we get the door open?”

“Let me try,” Vanessa said.

“You know how to lockpick?” Angel asked.

“It doesn’t matter!” Cowl yelled. “The girl picks the door. Move, Seeker!”

Angel grabbed his lockpicks and tossed them at Vanessa before spinning towards the lumbering construct rapidly closing the distance. Cowl slammed the disk onto his sword as they ran and it expanded in his hands.

“How do we fight this thing? It’s massive and I don’t know if we can even break its armor!”

“Just distract it. The girl just needs time to open the door. We can’t beat something like this, but it’s slow enough that we’ve got a chance of surviving so long as we don’t get too stupid.”