The construct reared back as they grew closer. Its glowing eyes locked on Angel and a keening whir emerged from its mouth. The giant swung a hand down towards him. Angel shot his grappling barb at the nearby wall, launching himself out of the way and into the air.

Dust flew and the ground cracked as the giant’s hand crashed through the floor, leaving a crumbling hole behind it. It turned, tracking Angel as he sailed through the air and swinging its other hand to swat him like a fly.

Angel swung out of the way once again, but the wind from the strike as it passed him by was so strong that it spun him in a circle. He tumbled through the air, hitting the ground in a roll and hopping up to his feet.

Cowl launched into the air, his wings lifting him up as he swung the massive sword into the back of the giant’s knees. Metal rang out against metal, but the construct didn’t even seem to notice the Hunter. It turned, forcing Cowl to fly back to avoid getting crushed as the hulking construct lumbered towards Angel.

“What’s your problem?” Angel yelled, hopping onto his board and speeding towards the other side of the room. “Go bother Cowl!”

The giant responded by ripping a section of the wall free and hurling it at Angel. It exploded against the ground, sending fragments of stone ricocheting throughout the hall like dozens of fist sized bullets.

One of them scored across Angel’s arm, nearly knocking him off the board. He cursed, gathering his balance again. The giant reached down to grab another projectile and Cowl flew up behind its back, thrusting his blade into a damaged section in between the plates of armor.

Circuitry sparked and hissed. Cowl twisted the blade deeper and the construct spun, launching the Hunter and his sword across the room like a cannonball. He managed to spin midair, righting himself and landing on the wall feet first.

Cowl shot off at the giant again. It finally acknowledged his presence, swatting at him with both hands. The Hunter jerked back to avoid the powerful wave of air that followed in the trail of the attack.

The giant’s eyes started to grow brighter. Both Cowl and Angel let out a curse at the same time, darting out of the way as fast as they could as two beams of searing red light tore out of the monster’s eyes.

They scorched across the floor, melting clean through stone and metal. The temperature in the room rose several degree and the beams followed after Angel and Cowl, destroying everything in their path.

After a few moments, the beams faded away. The giant shuddered, the light in its eyes dimming and flickering. Electricity arced over its body and the smell of hot copper filled the room. Its eyes lit up again, but they were slightly dimmer than last time.

“It’s too damaged to do that attack much!” Angel yelled. “Damn thing must be running on fumes. Screw its circuits up more and we might kill it!”

A warm glow filled the room as the metal on the construct started to heat. The color intensified until it was a brilliant cherry red. Electricity crackled and popped all over it, and the plating beneath its feet started to sag. It took a lumbering step towards Angel, burning steam rising up from it.

“Okay, maybe don’t get close to the crazy robot,” Angel said as it grabbed another clump of the wall and lobbed it at him. He shot out of the way, ducking to the side to avoid the hazy wake of the projectile.

“I’ve got it!” Vanessa yelled. “The door’s open!”

Angel spun around to face her. The molten giant stood between him and the door. It seemed to sense his intention, lowering to the ground and letting out a grating roar. Cowl was already on the other side, so the Hunter just flew over and joined Vanessa by the door.

“Come on, then!” Angel yelled, leaning forwards and accelerating towards the gap between the giant’s legs. It roared, raising its hands and bringing them crashing down before it. Angel accelerated, leaning forward as far as he could.

The air near the giant was so hot that it was almost impossible to breathe. He barely slipped underneath its burning hands, shooting out from behind it just moments before they crashed into the ground behind him.

The room rumbled as the damaged floor finally started to give way. Angel pulled back and leapt off his board, nearly plowing into Cowl and Vanessa by the door. Cracks followed him and large fragments of metal and stone tore away, falling into the growing abyss behind them.

They all dashed into the door. The giant let out a roar of fury as it toppled into the darkness. It scrabbled to grab hold of the ground, but only succeeded in tearing more of it away. With a final shriek, it launched the chunk of masonry at them. Angel slammed the door and Cowl grabbed him and Vanessa, yanking them away from it.

The door rumbled, bulging outwards with the shriek of warping metal, but didn’t break. All three of them sat in dark room they’d burst into, breathing heavily and staring at the warped entrance.

“That went well,” Angel said, slowly climbing to his feet and brushing the dirt off himself. He glanced into his pack and grimaced. “I messed up a few of my empty cannisters. I’m going to have to fix them.”

“I think that’s a fair trade for not dying,” Vanessa said, her voice shaking slightly. She handed him back his set of lockpicks. “Here. I messed one of them up. Sorry.”

“I think that’s a fair trade for not dying,” Angel said, quirking an eyebrow and taking the tools back. He tossed them into his travel pouch and adjusted his jacket.

The only light in the room came from a faint glow from around a door at the far end. Angel’s palm throbbed and he grimaced, clenching his hand. Something felt like it was poking around his arm from within it. He flicked his eyepiece down, hoping the system could make something out of the darkness.

Faint orange lines tracked across the room as the artifact scanned it. They faded, leaving a few objects highlighted along the walls. There was what appeared to be a box at the far right side of the room, and a large cleaver hanging off the wall.

Angel raised his hand, summoning a small spark of magic and illuminating the room with faint blue light. “We can’t afford to stop moving now. I don’t know how deep we are, but the strength of that giant implies we’re close to the core of the catacomb.”

Cowl approached the cleaver hanging from the wall. “Is this magical?”

“It is,” Angel said. “It’s an artifact of some sort, and the box over there has some traces of magic as well.”

“Is it safe to touch?” Vanessa asked.

“I was just about to check,” Angel replied, approaching the cleaver carefully. It had a wide, silvered blade with thick leather wrappings around the handle. The initials ‘V’ and ‘A’ had been carved near the hilt of the blade.

The wall around it seemed plain, and the cleaver hung from a simple hook. Despite that, something tingled at the nape of Angel’s neck the longer he stood beside the weapon. Something about it just felt… wrong. There was no good reason to think it, but he hadn’t survived this long by ignoring his gut feelings.

“Don’t mess with the cleaver,” Angel decided. “I don’t like it.”

“That’s it?” Cowl asked. “You just don’t like it?”

“We’ve already covered this,” Angel said, narrowing his eyes. “You call the shots on the surface, but I lead underground. This is my domain. There are all sorts of ways that your subconscious can warn you of danger that you can’t sense with your active mind. The knife makes me uneasy, so we’re not touching it. You don’t get rich stealing from kings. Nobles are a much better target.”

Cowl stared him down for a few moments. Then the hunter grunted and nodded. “Fine. What about the box?”

Angel was already ahead of him. He approached the box, first checking the surrounding area for any signs of traps before kneeling beside it. The box was made of bronze, with a rusted iron lock. It was about as long as a forearm.

“This seems fine,” Angel said, carefully lifting the lock and inspecting it. It was so badly rusted that it felt dusty in his hands. The Seeker gave the lock a sharp tug and it snapped off. He tossed it to the ground. “Stand out of the way.”

Cowl and Vanessa moved to the other end of the room as Angel stood behind the box and carefully lifted the top inch by inch. Nothing happened, so he pushed it all the way and peered inside.

A glimmering gold bracelet rested in decayed mush that might have once been soft padding. He tipped the box to the side and the mush slid out of the way. His brow furrowed as he saw a thin metal wire connecting the bracelet to the base of the box.