Rory could have been struck by the Knight’s lightning, could have tripped and broken his nose or something worse, could have heard Dez or Trish or someone else scream as they were struck down by their unkillable enemy. Through it all, he wouldn’t have stopped. Viv lay motionless at the edge of the pit with the Emberfang’s corpse. He would get to her.

“No,” he muttered as he came to a stop before his wife, falling to his knees hard enough for it to hurt. Not that he felt it much. “No, no, no, no.”

Viv was in a terrible condition. All those wounds, all those patches of burned flesh, falling hair, and charred clothes were reminiscent of the substation. She was still alive, as confirmed by a finger to her neck, but for how long?

Rory had no idea what to do to help.

Frantic, he stared around, hoping to catch sight of anything that could assist him. All he got was the Thunderclaw Knight slowly floating towards him. Its last attack had changed the entire shape of the hall’s landscape, turning it from a forest of debris hills to a half-molten plain with broken chunks and lumps here and there.

“Sentiment will save you from nothing, mortal,” the Knight said. “You live, or you die. All else to existence are but frills and trappings.”

Rory’s face burned with raging heat. “What would you know about sentiment, you monster?”

As the flare of anger dissipated as quickly as it had risen, Rory thought he saw figures in the distance outside coming towards them. Closer at hand, he saw a corrugated curve of metal, like a steel sphere that had been pounded all over by a sledgehammer. Ah, there they were. Hopefully, Dez and Trish had survived behind the steel shield.

The Knight lowered its sword, pointing the tip at Rory. “Clearly, there is nothing for us to discuss. May you learn from your folly upon your passing.”

Rory raised his hand, ready to defend himself with his Weaving however he could. But the Knight froze. It was staring at the approaching figures, and it took all of Rory’s willpower not to stare as well. No way was he turning his back to an enemy.

Thankfully, the Knight spared him such difficulties. Ignoring Rory completely, it floated off to the left and headed towards the courtyard. Now that he wasn’t in any immediate danger, he tried to see who it was that had distracted the Knight. But the monster’s bulk blocked out almost everything outside the hall.

Viv. Rory wrenched his mind back to the present. He didn’t have much experience with medicine—and he didn’t have anything besides a first-aid kit in his backpack anyway—but he did have his Weaving. Maybe he could Weave the pain away. It felt too abstract, but Viv’s wounds were tangible. He could make it work.

As he steeled himself to try, footsteps interrupted him. Several stopped, probably shocked at the sight, but one crouched down next to him. Evelyn’s face was as haunted as when she had seen her son’s ghost floating around. Distantly, Rory wondered where the kid’s apparition had gone. The idea that he was really dead clawed at the growing hollowness in his chest.

“Can you help her?” Rory asked. “She’ll be fine, right?”

“Let me see what I can do,” she said. “Give me some space.”

Rory sat back. Everything seemed to drain out of him then. If he’d tried to stand, he’d have toppled like the columns that had held up the next floor before the lich had eradicated them. The others were there to help him up, though, Allen propping him upright much as Trish was doing to Dez. He was too tired to ask why they’d returned instead of getting out the back.

“What’s happening outside?” Dez asked.

If that was supposed to distract Rory, that alone didn’t work. But then he stared out into the parking lot. His breath caught.

The Knight was fighting someone or something. Its sword swung this way and that, trying to slice a length of chain flickering around it like a metal whip. Lightning was flashing everywhere, thunder booming loud and constant. But what had truly stuttered Rory’s reaction was the fact that the Thunderclaw Knight was losing.

Somehow, impossibly, it was being beaten back. Its lightning seemed to have no effect on its adversary, and bits and pieces of its body kept flying off at every exchange with the whip.

Dez stepped forward, pulling Trish along with him. “What in the world…”

Intrigued, Rory followed the others past the debris and monstrous corpses until he was standing at the ruined entrance.

The creature fighting their enemy almost made Rory forget about Viv’s mortal peril. At a glance, it seemed to be a robot, a mechanical automaton made of plates, cranks, gears, shafts, pipes and more, all twisting and turning and belching steam together. It moved strangely too. The way it changed directions and accelerated without moving its legs much proved it had rollers under its feet.

When the Knight sliced at it again, the automaton simply rolled backwards, leaving a cloud of steam in the monster’s face. Lightning flashed, but it didn’t affect the automaton. Maybe it was grounded.

The chain whip had been retracted, but when it came out next, it shot out like a rocket. There was a harpoon at the end of it, which punched through the Knight’s electric forcefield and stabbed into its rocky guts. The automaton accelerated away, pulling so hard and fast that the monster’s chest collapsed before it could react.

“You are trespassing on matters of import,” the Knight yelled out. “Begone, interferer.”

The automaton, it seemed, knew how to talk. Its voice sounded muffled and tinny, but strangely human. “And you are a prize I cannot leave be, Thunderclaw.”

“You will not—”

“Stop wasting Master Arelland’s time, you freak!”

The new voice made Rory twist his head almost painfully. Thanks to the fight, he hadn’t noticed the girl standing near the gate with one arm raised and a furious expression on her face.

“I am not your master, Mara,” the automaton said with a sigh that made the gears in his helmet whir.

“Kick him between the legs, master,” the girl yelled. “That’s the least that it deserves.”

Rory blinked. Mara. That was the name the guy who had died in the clothing store had given. This was the girl?

His thoughts were dragged back to the fight when it resumed with fury. The Knight fell silent as it was forced to defend itself. Another patch of metal retracted on the automaton’s arm, a long blade extending out of the pocket. A quick acceleration took it past the swing of the Knight’s sword, and the resulting slice chopped the monster in two at its waist.

Though the Thunderclaw Knight fell to the ground in two parts, it wasn’t about to be taken down so easily. It raised its sword high in the air. Rory had no trouble recognizing the smell of ozone falling thick over the area. The automaton hadn’t realized the danger yet.

It was a good thing Dez was there. He launched a black fireball, glinting with blue flickers all over, and it exploded on the Knight, interrupting its thunderous casting.

The others followed suit. Ned threw a wave of water to mess with its flickering lightning, Sue hammered it with an Electrium-hardened barrier, and even Trish speared its cracked chest with a javelin.

Nodding at their efforts, the automaton charged ahead and rammed straight into the Knight. The collision was so powerful, it shattered the monsters’ body, sending its broken pieces sprawling all over the courtyard with a vicious thunderclap.

The Thunderclaw Knight was finally dead.

New Achievement!

Conquest Claimer! You have liberated a monster-infested zone. Enjoy a small respite of peace and freedom before they return to reclaim the land.

Rewards

Sigil of Vital Recuperation

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Vital Recuperation. Taking life is far too easy, so here is a large something to help balance the destructive odds

[Argent I] allows passive minor healing and energy replenishing in a 3-meter radius after every battle.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Exceptional

Tier: Argent I [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [40%]

As the last notification disappeared, Rory’s backpack suddenly felt far heavier than before. He nearly stumbled, his mind flailing at the reason before recalling his Looter perk. It must have summoned all the Sigils from the dead monsters he hadn’t Woven yet. At least it spared him a lot of work.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Flarespike. Summon devastating spikes that act like miniature volcanos. Restricted to your body.

[Argent VIII] allows minor volcanic spike evolution for 65 seconds on 20% of your body.

Stats

Type: Evolution

Rarity: Exceptional

Tier: Argent VIII [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [37%]

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Distant Detonation. Turn anything you throw into a bomb upon impact with its target. Beware the effects.

[Argent VIII] allows 4 minor object bomb transfusions with a 1.5-meter blast radius per hour.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Argent VIII [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [37%]

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Seed Bomb. Leave a little exploding gift for your enemies wherever you go. It’s the least you can do for their troubles.

[Argent VIII] allows 4 minor bomb summoning with a 1.5-meter blast radius per hour.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Argent VIII [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [37%]

New Sigils. Rory assumed the rest that had filled up his bag were a combination of those and ones he had already found.

He’d have to check them all later. Despite the many questions and concerns Rory harboured, he took the new Sigil and hurried back into the main hall. The Sigil showed the image of a circle of humanoid figures relaxing. He handed the new Sigil to Evelyn.

“Use this,” he said, gulping down a quick breath to get his next words out as fast as he could. He had never been bothered by his age, but now his propensity for shortness of breath, his low stamina, and his body’s general physical weakness were all starting to grate on him. “It should help get her back in shape.”

Evelyn stared at the Sigil blankly. She had already wrapped Viv up with her golden bandages, a soft glow emanating off the glittering wraps.

When Evelyn finally absorbed the Sigil, green and gold light emerged from her downturned palms, sinking softly into Viv and the floor around her. Three metres, the Sigil’s description had said. Rory found himself feeling lighter and cleaner, his aches disappearing, his calves no longer burning, and his energy slowly returning. Miraculous.

He hadn’t felt this good since… since yesterday, when he’d been about to head out to the auction.

It lent him a strange sense of perspective. Just over a day and his entire world was upside down. Rory had dealt with the grief of knowing what had happened to his friends, of realizing that the careful life of peaceful retirement he’d built for himself was now up in flames. Yet it struck him hard all over again.

He swallowed down the growing lump in his throat. “Is she okay?”

The light from Evelyn’s Sigil was fading. “Her body has been healed, yes.” Evelyn’s voice was scratchy and reedy, and Rory wished he had some water to offer her. Maybe Ned could help. “But I’m not sure when she’ll wake up. Best to let her rest for now.”

Rory nodded. Another strange effect of the Sigil of Vital Recuperation was that it had also calmed him down, dampening his panic and worries and letting his brain relax for a moment.

It hadn’t taken those feelings entirely away, though. They surfaced again, roiling like a storm. Rory pushed them aside. Viv was fine. That was enough.

“Thank you,” he said. He placed a hand on Evelyn’s shoulder and squeezed. “I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’re going through, but the fact that you still managed to help destroy the lich and now you’ve healed Viv too…” Rory shook his head. “I’ll always be indebted to you for this. Always.”

“I did little,” Evelyn murmured. She was looking down at her lap, refusing to let Rory see the expression on her face. “You’re the one who created the Sigils we needed. You made the Pyroclastic Hellfire from the souls of the… of the dead. And now you’re the one who received this new healing Sigil. If it weren’t for you, I doubt any of us would have survived this long.”

“And yet, for all the Sigils I can make, I can’t use any of them. I can’t fight like the way Viv and the others did. I don’t have the potential for fixing others up the way you do. It’s a team effort, and you’re a big part of that team, Evelyn.”

“I… didn’t want anyone else to die. Not after…”

Somehow, Evelyn held herself together, not dissolving into tears, though she looked as though she wanted to.

Rory got up, realizing she needed some space. “You won’t be losing anyone else, Evelyn. I promise.”

She didn’t say anything to that, but she did nod. Just a little.

Distant conversation distracted Rory. The automaton had come up the stairs and was talking with Dez and the others. Rory took a deep breath, surveying the carnage around them. The entire front half of the bank had basically been demolished. It was a wonder they were all alive.

Not unhurt, though. Rory rose, renewed as far as his age allowed thanks to Evelyn’s Sigil. It was time to get to the work they still had before them.