Brisingr believed she broke her own record as she flew towards the damaged Neverstien. That was good, you always needed to push yourself beyond that of yesterday.

Brisingr’s experienced eyes scanned the battlefield. There were fires everywhere, along with millions of dollars in property tax.

“Brisingr, Brisingr? I repeat, can you hear me?”

Her old mic piece grabbled to life and Brisingr responded, “Yes, I hear you. May I have a report on the situation?”

“Indeed. The Aria known as Atlas had appeared in the eastern section of Neverstien. The Alpha Duo, comprised of Thor and Eons have done their best to restrain him. The situation you’ve wandered on is Thor is down. She and Eons are hiding an unground bunker while Atlas is activating his Willful Construct,” the voice of Rhea stated in her ear.

“Atlas is the priory then?”

“Yes.”

“Understood,” Brisingr affirmed, heading towards the east section as images popped up into her screen. It showed what Yggdrasil could see of him, with over half of his body obscured in shadows and debris.

Brisingr pushed herself even further, appearing within the scene. Drawing her infamous long sword, she smacked Atlas over the head.

A huge gust of wind tore apart from where the impact landed, shoving Atlas back while breaking apart huge chunks of buildings.

“Gah!” Atlas stumbled, a hand clutching his face. He glared at Brisingr. “Another one? I’ve already defeated two, what’s one more?”

“I would advise you the difference could be staggering in battle. Now, I give you this chance. Surrender yourself and you will have a fair trial and answer. Fight, and Il shall answer with equal force. Aim to kill, and I will do the same.” Brisingr stated her claims.

Atlas took a long look before bursting out laughing. “You must be insane! Do you think you can challenge me with a far too thick sword and some strength? Think again!”

Brisingr didn’t let this get to her, instead deciding to confirm what she believed he said. “You have understood my terms?”

He waggled his fingers. “Oh, whatever, whatever. Say, you look real pretty. How about we take off that armor and have a little fun?”

“You repugnant cur! How dare you speak to me like that?” Brisingr used all her speed to vanish from view, before reappearing behind him,

She struck down with her blade, getting a good clean cut across his back. Brisingr jumped back before he could retaliate, determined to maintain a safe distance. Atlas was a brawler at heart, much better at a short distance. Brisingr was the same, but she had one crucial difference.

She wielded her sword. While its design may seem a bit strange to people, with its unusual width and crude design, its longer length would give her the advantage. The edge was keen, and as Brisingr had leapt back, she’d tilted the sword slightly so it would dig in more. In this case, the width succeeded in aiding her.

“You wench! I will have your head and dip it into the rivers of the Underworld!” Atlas cursed.

Brisingr was undaunted. “So you will aim to kill me?”

He growled. “Of course! Nobody injuries me to this extent and lives to see the next day!”

“Understood. Then I recognize you as a warrior as our weapons clash. Let us begin.”

“Let’s!” Atlas snarled, before launching himself at her.

Brisingr jumped into the air, stabbing Atlas in the shoulder before landing on a nearby building. Her blade hadn’t penetrated his skin, but it must still have hurt.

“Mongrel! This ends now!” Atlas roared. He crossed his gauntlets and began chanting.

“A thousand weights I have lifted,”

Brisingr’s eyes widened, and she struck at Atlas. He dodged and continued on.

“Body turned to steel and mind turned to ash,”

“Brisingr!” Commander said.

There was no need to specify. “On it!”

Gathering all the strength she had, she brought down her blade over his head. He blocked it with his gauntlets, but the blast still summoned a gust of wind that obliterated every building within a 500-meter range. His feet created a huge crater as his arms strained to keep the blade up. Still, he chanted.

“Since long forgotten, buried in punishment

Have witnessed pain like no other

But in the end, I shall prevail”

“AAARGH!” Brisingr yelled as she pushed down. This was getting her nowhere! She needed to change tactics before he finished.

Drawing her fist back, she began unleashing an array of devastating punches to his face at blistering speed in order to shut him up. Atlas grunted, before chomping down on her hand.

Brisingr barely had time to register the small amount of pain she felt before he tossed her aside with his mouth.

“For all thy might falls short to me

And all thy effort will never be enough

As I am He Who Held Up The Sky!”

Brisingr winced as an onslaught of aura was unleashed from his gauntlets. He’d activated it and now there was only one more step.

He turned to her, a leer present on his face. “Watch and learn, little girl, what it means to challenge Atlas!”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Brisingr scooped up her sword and hurtled it at his mouth. Grunting, he swatted it away but in the second, Brisingr zoomed to him.

She clobbered him in the stomach with everything she had and as he doubled over with spittle flying out, she kneed him in the face as well.

“Ah!” Atlas cried. Brisingr needed to stop the flow of aura! Unrelentingly, she punched at him, her fists becoming a blur. The sound was like thunder, as he struggled to maintain his footing.

“You are insignificant!” He grabbed her next punch and hurtled her aside. “I shall show you true power!”

Brisingr scrambled up in time to see Atlas clench his fists. “NO!”

His mouth opened and uttered, “Ulter Morn,”

Runes on his gauntlets flashed to life, shining a deep crimson red as power overflowed from him. Sneering, he turned to her. “Well, little girl? Still think you can beat me?”

“You need to take him down, here and now!” Commander ordered.

“Understood,” Brisingr readied her weapon and examined the situation. Atlas had activated and used his Willful Construct. Brisingr didn’t know what it could do, but no Willful Construct was to be under estimated. However, it should have something to do with his title.

He Who Held Up The Sky.

That’d been what he said. It must have something to do with holding up the sky, yet he didn’t show any clues to what it could be. Perhaps it enhanced his strength? No, his Will wouldn’t create something redundant like that. His physical powers were already beyond comparison, now that he was serious.

“Aren’t you going to attack first? Guess I have to!”

He disappeared and Brisingr moved to the side, barely avoiding a fist. Even if she did avoid it, the impact it created as it hit something behind her was more than enough to send her flying.

Brisingr flailed in midair, unable to control which direction she was heading to before managing to stabilize. Shaking her head, she examined the damage.

Atlas had completely upheaved the ground, making it impossible to get through. There were huge cracks, which were most likely directly underneath the city.

“This is bad. He’s too strong for you to overwhelm or block completely. You may need to use it.”

Brisingr scowled. Along with the other 4, she always made it an unspoken rule never to use it unless it was absolutely necessary. Well, except for the 3rd. Then again, she’d always disregarded common sense.

“Very well. However, I hope you know the consequences which will come from it.”

“Indeed.”

“Where are you, little girl? Don’t tell me I flung you so high up?” Atlas mocked.

“As if!” Brisingr smashed into the ground, twirling around and smacking Atlas on the arm with her sword. He merely gave her an unamused glance in exchange.

Brisingr narrowly dodged another strike, which sent her tumbling again. She cursed. How was she supposed to defeat him if even just the aftereffects hurled her around? She felt like a leave in a windstorm, for heaven’s sake!

And how come he hadn't seemed affected in the slightest by her attack. It should have still hurt him. Maybe invulnerability was the Willful Construct?

“No, that’s not it,” she murmured to herself.

“Talking to yourself? How pitiful!” Atlas charged at her and she jumped into the air, only for Atlas to follow her and send her crashing back down with a backhand.

“Urgh!” Her bones creaked as she hit the ground, causing a tornado to swirl into existence. The one hit would have achieved far more damage if she hadn’t blocked it with her sword. Still, how far outmatched was she by this goliath?

Atlas raised his leg as he came back down and Brisingr kicked out her feet. The force of the motion sent her propelling backward an instant before Atlas’s ax kick landed.

Brisingr tumbled down as the ground lifted up and then crashed back down again. At the rate this was happening, he was going to destroy the city, be there defenses or not!

She needed to figure out his Willful Construct, and fast.

“If it was invincibility, it wouldn’t help him with the sky. He was supposed to hold it up. Invincibility would only have made it so he wouldn’t die if he let go. Maybe it reduces the weight? But my sword wasn’t that heavy, so force then?”

“What are you babbling about? I thought we were fighting, not having a debate!” Atlas asked.

“A battle of the tongue is still a battle,” Brisingr stated.

She was confident in her answer. There was now only one thing left she needed to make sure of. Did his Willful Construct nullify the weight or force on him, or canceled out the attack entirely?

When Atlas attacked again, Brisingr didn’t move away. Instead, she flung herself at him, punching him in the chest with everything she had.

Even if her punch didn’t register with him, the force of it should have some effect other than on him. When there was no destruction, she knew the latter of her hypothesis was true.

“I didn’t feel a thing!” he boasted before taking a swipe at her.

She cartwheeled out the way and watched as the swipe sent a gust of wind to dent a huge metal wall. How was she supposed to defeat somebody whose ability allowed him to cancel out an attacker’s force and weight? To make things worse, his power made it so not only did her strongest attacks feel like a baby on him, but it also did the same for anything else. Essentially, any hit that landed on him instantaneously became something an ant would land.

“Part of winning is knowing,” she whispered under her breath. Atlas was strong, fast, and none of her attacks would affect him. At this point, she didn’t even know if her fire would hurt him either.

“Aw, why are you looking so sad? Realizing the futility of your attacks?” Atlas asked.

Brisingr needed some time. Smacking her sword down, she did the same as Atlas; creating an avalanche of ground and debris. He punched straight threw it, and Brisingr dug her sword in to keep from blowing away.

“Is that all you have? Well then, looks like your species is doomed! I will reclaim this world, and reshape it into my image!” Atlas said.

“You’re nothing more than an old relic of a time long past,” Brisingr felt the need to say. Even if they were on opposite sides, he deserved to know this.

His eyes squinted. “I know not what trickery you spin. The Titans. . .were never the key.”

Brisingr didn’t know what to say. The Titans were certainly myths created by humanity, but there had to have been at least some truth behind them. The Legends had been here for a long time and had worn many names. So many legends surrounded them, but could the Titans be the truth?

Nobody knew where these Legends came from. Could Atlas be the one to finally crack it for them?

“From which place do you come? I, from Britain.” Brisingr inquired.

Atlas snorted. “I come from land not worthy of your lips! Mount Othrys!”

“Try to get him to spill some more,” Commander ordered.

“What time period?” Brisingr asked.

Atlas laughed. “The Age of the Titans, of course!”

“Judging from what he said, he came from a time where there were no human days. Either he’s holding something back, or he was asleep for a long time before civilization arose. ” Commander noted.

“Where on Mount Othrys are your brothers and siblings?” Brisingr asked.

“Bah! What is this, a game? No, we fight.” Atlas raised his fists.

“It seems the confrontation will continue. Brisingr, use your flames and escape. Fire off one huge blast covering a huge area and fly through it. Head to this location.” There was a THRILL and a map appeared, showing a shed illuminated. “It’s the entrance to where Eons and Thor are. We’ll deal with the fire before it gets too much. Hurry!”

Brisingr pushed off the ground and glared down at Atlas. He gazed back, a smug look on his face.

“What are you going to do now, child?”

Sparks were lit as her palm lit up with a blue tint. The air blurred and Atlas’ widened as he felt the heat.

“Die.”

A burning rage made itself known as blue and white flames shot out endlessly, dousing Atlas entirely in the fire before scorching the rest of the city as well. It was a wave of heat, unstoppable and merciless.

“Now, Brisingr, run!”

Brisingr shot herself through the flames, flying blindly as white and blue danced in her vision. The heat didn’t bother her, but the loss of sight did. Her hearing and smell were also blocked by the fire.

Hoping Atlas wouldn’t find her, Brisingr upped her speed before bursting out of the firestorm. With smoke trailing her like an overgrown cape, she turned around.

Everything was ablaze, and Atlas was nowhere to be seen. With one last study, Brisingr shot off, breaking the sound barrier.

She could only hope her, Eons, and Thor could bring Atlas down together.