The Simulacrum - Chapter 120 - Part 3 (Patreon)

So, first things first, let's assess the current situation.

My honour guard fell back, as instructed, and formed a perimeter that enclosed me and this Colossus thing. According to Mike's father, the elite Seraphic Safeguard needed some time to prepare a specialized weapon or tool or something to take down the big fella. Let's say, fifteen minutes. I was in good condition, with two legendary weapons and a reasonably optimized suit of physical enhancements powering me up, plus thanks to the groundwork I'd laid beforehand, I could Phase around in a pinch and justify it later by calling it 'spatial substitution' and 'full sensory illusions', and then refusing to elaborate.

In front of me, I had a huge, humanoid living statue with four arms. It was a little over three meters tall, in the form of a muscular man wearing ancient Greek armour. Its newly grown arms, sprouting from its shoulders, were bare of equipment. Its other limbs, in contrast, had elaborately embossed shin- and forearm guards depicting lions and other wild animals, as well as a pair of leather sandals. On its chest it wore a fancy breastplate with finely crafted abs and pecs, complete with a skirt of leather straps hanging from its bottom and smaller leather tassets on the shoulders.

It was hard to tell whether or not it had a face, as its closed helmet topped by a red plume crest only had a pair of eye holes, and those were filled with a bright cerulean light. Finally, it had a short sword in one hand and a large, round shield in another. Both of them were rather plain but shined to a mirror finish, like the rest of its gear. I said 'gear', but since all of those things actively scaled with the Colossus as its shape shifted before, I was fairly sure they were part of its body; a notion that was soon reinforced when I tried to interact with it using my phantom limbs.

"Yep, just as expected," I whispered under my breath and took a stance. "This thing is just a fancy Chimera."

When the Colossus saw me getting into position, it… roared again, and beat its sword against its shield with a deafening noise. Was it trying to intimidate me, I wondered? Or to taunt me into attacking first? Whatever the case might have been, I remained still for the time being and continued my evaluation.

While the creature was big and imposing, it wasn't the first time I was facing off against something this size. Heck, as much as the title annoyed me, I did fight not one, but two Chimeras (or the same one twice, but let's not get bogged down in semantics) without equipment or training, not to mention facing off against an actual dragon. Well, okay, we're talking about a young and inexperienced dragon, and I wasn't as much fighting her as teasing her while running away, but I'd say it still counted.

Throw in about a thousand hours' worth of Dominance training with Brang on top of that, plus all the enchanted gear I was using at the moment, and it wasn't hard to see why I had a hard time mustering up any tension when facing this Colossus thing. It was only me though.

"{Ah! Another worthy opponent to pit your mettle against, young knight! Let's go, to glorious battle!}"

"{Exasperated Remark: Teeny would like to request Cal to calm down and focus.}"

"{I'm calm! And focused! In that order!}" The sword in my right hand scoffed, though I could clearly feel their excitement through our link. He had a similar reaction when I was 'testing' armour-guy a while back, so maybe he was just really into the idea of fighting enemies that used swords and shields.

Cal wasn't the only one getting hyped up, as a simple glance at the audience, reflected on the floating magical screen overhead, made them cheer like I was a new babyface entering the ring after an infamous heel just demolished an entire tag team. Wrestling analogies aside, my eyes swept over the crowd, and my gaze soon landed on the lookout tower in the distance. I couldn't see them from this distance, but I was still a little concerned about what this whole charade was about.

Shaking my head, I tore my eyes away from the building and focused my attention on the creature again. I would have all the time in the world to figure out why they set up this whole situation after I beat it into submission. I would also be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit curious about the capabilities of this living statue. So far, I wasn't super-impressed by the Celestials' military might; while they had overwhelming numbers on their side, their individual prowess was nothing to write home about, and the less said about their military doctrine, the better. Not only that, but unlike the other main supernatural factions, where the Abyssal Lords, Draconian patriarchs, and arch-mages represented the peak of their fighting forces, the Celestial directors were rather underwhelming in comparison, being more of the scheming, paper-pushing type.

On the flip side, this Colossus creature was apparently their equivalent of a Chimera. Considering that the latter was something of a boogeyman among the supernatural folk, especially the Magi, whose whole build was more-or-less nullified by its magic resistance, I figured that this thing must've been similarly powerful, and about as dangerous as anything the Elysium could field.

So far, there was only one thing I could ascertain about it: it wasn't very aggressive. Comparing side-by-side, during my first encounter with a Chimera during the school incident, it immediately rushed us, and it took me a lot of effort to keep its attention on me and stop it from hunting the girls. In comparison, the Colossus was focused entirely on me, and remained completely stationary, continuing to wave its weapon and taunt me with low, gravelly grunts. Since I didn't move either, the initially excited crowd broke into two distinct groups; the basic Placeholder types continued cheering unabated, while the slightly more developed types, including the soldiers at the edge of the grounds, seemed rather confused by my inaction.

I wasn't in a hurry though, and after observing the Colossus's movements, I flourished my weapons again. It flinched and raised its shield, but when no attack came, it beat its swords against it while waving its extra arms around one more time. That was a pattern, meaning it was being passive on purpose. Was it intimidated, I wondered? I quickly discarded that idea. There was no reason to assume my reputation preceded me amongst semi-sentient magical constructs, and I sincerely doubted it had some kind of measuring ability to tell it my power level was over nine thousand.

Was it on the defensive because it was instructed to do so? It was supposed to serve as a showcase for the Praetorian Guards, so it would've made sense, but while I wasn't paying full attention to their battle, I was pretty sure it was rather proactive until I showed up. If not that, then why was it so timid?

"Let's experiment a bit," I concluded with a sigh, and took a step forwards, causing the crowd to cheer and the Colossus to let out another threatening bellow.

Ignoring both, I planted my feet, pushed the physical enchantments powering my legs up a notch, and dashed headlong, thrusting Cal forward to poke at an opening in its defences. It hastily pulled its shield over, stopping my half-hearted attack, and the moment metal met metal, I could see a thin barrier forming between the two, pushing the tip of the blade back, leaving only a tiny nick on the polished surface of the shield.

That was only one data point, so out of curiosity, I followed the strike up with a shallow slash with Teeny in its short sword form. Sparks flew, and once again, I could only make a small scratch on the surface of the shield. In the meantime, the Colossus raised its sword high, telegraphing a vertical hack I avoided by side-stepping it without much trouble.

In the meantime, I instructed Teeny to switch form, and using the gap in the creature's defences provided by its counterattack, I slipped the head of the spear between its shield and its sword-bearing hand, impacting its breastplate. While it was little more than a love-tap, the Colossus let out a groan and staggered back, assuming a defensive posture again.

As expected, I only left a small mark on its armour, yet it caused another wave of cheers to erupt from the peanut gallery. It sent a wave of adrenaline through my system, but I suppressed the excitement and let out a pent-up breath. In conclusion, the metallic bits had some kind of power field surrounding them, and since they weren't enchanted but parts of its body, it was likely some kind of Barrier. But if so, wouldn't it also cover the rest of its body? Asking my spear to return to its sword form, I took up a stance again, and this time, I decided to focus on the unarmoured parts.

Recognizing the pattern, I waited until it started taunting me again. As soon as it started shaking its shield and got ready to beat on it with the flat of its sword, I crossed my arms, dropped my center of gravity, and assumed the usual 'Phasing cover-up' position. Lurching forward, I Phased to its left, then changed directions before Phasing directly behind the startled creature, simulating high-speed movement, and then leapt up. Swinging both my swords at once, my targets were the bare arms sticking out of the back of its shoulders, and to my initial surprise, my blades bit deep into the white flesh of the Colossus.

I didn't quite have enough momentum, and my arm injury meant I couldn't push its physical enhancements too hard, so I was unable to sever them in one go. Not that it was ever my intention, but since the edges sunk in much deeper than expected, it seemed that both Cal and Teeny would be stuck in the cuts. That was something I had to avoid at all cost, so I set my feet against the back of the creature and kicked off, tearing my weapons out of the wounded arms, leaving behind a pair of deep, gaping wounds and staggering the Colossus.

Belatedly realizing what just happened, the creature let out a cry that sounded more surprised than pained and swung its shield behind its back. By this time, I had safely touched down, eschewing style for efficiency by not doing a backflip and simply landing on my feet. Glancing down, I couldn't see any blood on my blades, and neither on the Colossus. It continued to roar and flail around, its extra arms dangling from its back and revealing a strange, spongy inner structure that immediately reminded me of the seemingly organic material of the big Celestial towers.

That impression was further reinforced when the Colossus began to rapidly reabsorb the useless appendages into its torso. It was a process more reminiscent of the walls of the Migdál melding into the floors under the musical ministrations of the construction crew than a Chimera's more organic change in response to damage. The added bulk made the creature's entire body swell and ripple, its remaining arms and legs becoming even thicker and its muscles more defined, as if it just went through half a year of bodybuilding in the span of a few seconds.

By the end of it, its already impressive physique morphed into one that would've made even Duncan jealous, and the light in its eyes went from a pale cyan to a deep, angry shade of blue. In conclusion, it appeared that it had little resistance to damage, and it relied on its armoured parts and its ability to absorb and redistribute its mass to defend itself. On the other hand, unlike a Chimera, it didn't alter its body-plan in response to its opponent, though to be fair, we only had a single exchange, so maybe it just didn't have the time to do so. All in all, I was still left curious about its capabilities, and itching to find out more.

"Lord Archon!"

It was exactly this moment that Kane chose to land by my side, displaying his four wings and his combat transformation, which was, unsurprisingly, yet another variation of the usual ancient Greek hoplite outfit common in the Elysium. His colour scheme was dominated by a mixture of red and gold, and the design showed off his toned arms. He also chose to use a magitech shield similar to armour-guy's, and a long spear tipped with a leaf-shaped head, about two heads longer than he was tall.

"Primus?" I turned a questioning look at him, followed by a measured, "What exactly are you doing here?"

"I came to support you!" he declared, his spear already pointed at the Colossus. "Procuring the apparatus to disable the Colossus may take longer than initially expected, so I'm here to take responsibility and hold the Colossus at bay to uphold the honor of the Seraphic Safeguard!"

"I have also arrived," an apathetic voice declared behind me, and I didn't even have to look over my shoulder to realize that it was Jaakobah. "I will provide ranged and healing support for the subjugation."

"Oh, great," I muttered under my breath, but neither of them was able to detect the sarcasm.

"Your Arbiter should also arrive shortly," Jaakobah added, and I could hear him dramatically cock his magitech pistol.

I was just about to let out another snide comment, but then I swallowed it as an involuntary frown settled onto my brows. Letting Rinne loose on this thing was something I wanted to avoid, lest she would get too worked up and blow her cover. Fighting against a Chimera-adjacent magical creature was going to do that, and with all of these eye-witnesses around, it would be only a matter of time before someone would connect the dots. Then I would be forced to explain how she entered the Elysium without anyone's notice, and the only reasonable way to do that would be by playing the Bel card again, but that would then cause another round of outrage, and…

Should I just end this quickly before she got here?

"Director Savir asked me to tell you," Kane interjected, drawing my attention back to him, "to prioritize your safety, Lord Archon, and wait for the Seraphic Safeguard's strike squad. Your personage is too important to risk your life in such a meaningless matter!"

Blinking, I glanced at the man, but he was entirely serious. Was… Was this another instance of reverse psychology? Was Savir trying to goad me into being reckless, or was she in fact asking me to draw out the fight so that…

"I grow tired of this," I growled, much to everyone's momentary surprise, and I directed another glance at the lookout tower. I let my gaze linger for a second, and then faced the Colossus again, and cranked the physical enchantments of my outfit to one hundred percent.

"{Young knight! Your internal injuries will—!}

Ignoring Cal's complaints, I exhaled hard, and through my links with the swords in my hands, I pushed my body even further. Even with all of that combined, I would only be able to reach the baseline performance of my Lion Knight gear, and only temporarily, but it was more than enough. I'd drawn this out for too long already, and I was getting fed up with this entire situation.

Channelling all that indignation, I took a measured step forward. Neither the Colossus nor the onlookers could make sense of what I was doing, but I continued to walk with leisurely steps. As expected, the moment I got within its reach, the Colossus let out yet another flaccid bellow and swung its sword at me. Predictable.

Despite its enormous size and tree-trunk-like arms, it was far from impossible to parry it. The second the blade got into my own arm's reach, I used Teeny to bat the incoming strike away. The large sword bounced off as if hitting a solid steel wall, revealing an opening the size of the Grand Canyon.

Following that, I changed the direction of my next step and ducked under the creature's raised arm. Before it could react, I swung Cal upwards with all my might, and the blade easily bit into the spongy flesh of the Colossus's armpit. Like carving tofu, I sliced right through, feeling minimal resistance as I sent its arm flying, along with a few of the leather tassets attached to the breastplate. I didn't know if it was due to the enchantments or the rush of adrenaline, but time slowed to a crawl as I watched the limb slowly fall to the ground. Nevertheless, my arms didn't stop moving, and neither did my feet. Even as I pulled Cal back after the successful slice, I turned to my right. With both my hands high in the air after the successful parry and counter, I swung them down at same time.

In a flash, I moved past the creature as it belatedly staggered. While the cut was shallow due to my less-than-ideal posture, I still managed to cut deep enough into its right thigh to unbalance my opponent. It frantically tried to step back and out of my range, but I stomped my foot hard to shift my momentum and followed right after it.

Seeing that, despite its injuries, it was already moving to intercept me with its shield, I reflexively Phased to its other side and slashed at its remaining elbow. While I wasn't able to sever it in one go with Teeny, a follow-up strike with Cal did the trick. In the meantime, I could see that the creature was already in the process of reforming its missing right arm. It never got the chance to do so, as now that I reduced its bulk by two limbs, I could move on to the next step, and I rammed its chest with my shoulder.

As my Leoformer outfit met with the Barrier around the Colossus's armour, it immediately triggered its defensive wards, and the clash of the two caused a small explosion of magic at the contact point. I was braced for it. The Colossus wasn't, and without its arms for balance, it toppled backwards without much recourse in the matter.

It landed on its back with a thud that shook the ground under my feet, but it was too early to rest on my laurels yet. Before it could get up, I swung Cal again, aiming the same spot on its right leg I previously cut, and this time I was successful in severing the leg. Once it was detached, I immediately kicked it away, lest it could rejoin the main body. The Colossus was still struggling at this point, its eye-lights going from blue to a flickering indigo. Ignoring its trashing, I switched Teeny into its spear form and nailed its other leg to the ground with a single, vicious thrust.

Once I let the spear go, half of my mana supply was cut off, so I had to act fast, before the Colossus could regenerate its limbs, I reached down with my free hand, and with a single tug, I tore its breastplate off its torso, revealing an indistinct mass of spongy flesh underneath. I was once again thankful for the fact that these things didn't bleed, otherwise this would've been the goriest thing I've ever seen.

Hypotheticals aside, under the stunned eyes of the onlookers, I casually walked over to the fallen arm of the Colossus, pried the large golden sword from its stiff fingers, and after returning to the twitching body on the ground, I unceremoniously stabbed it in the chest, pushing through with all my strength. It still wasn't enough, so once I'd done as much I could with my hand, I raised a foot, placed it on the flat pommel, and stomped on the sword until it was buried down to the hilt, securely nailing the creature to the ground.

I was tempted to let out a tired breath, but I had appearances to uphold, so I grabbed the shaft of Teeny, and with one last burst of effort, I twisted the spearhead with all my might. In the end, it was more 'tearing' than 'severing', but I managed to get the last appendage off the torso of the creature, now pinned down like a giant bug in an entomologist's collection.

Considering all of that a job well done, and the Colossus functionally disabled, I let out a long breath and turned all the physical enhancements down. I was consequently assailed by a sudden onset of vertigo, but I thoughted it out as best as I could.

"Lord Archon… I…"

Kane looked like an especially confused fish out of the water as he walked over, stepping over one of the discarded limbs on the ground. Right behind him, he was closely followed by Jaakobah, with Rinne arriving last from a different direction, and even though her face was hidden by her helmet, I was about two hundred percent sure she was pouting under it.

Now that the 'crisis' was averted, my honour guard also closed in on us, and I could practically see the scene where they would prostrate themselves in front of me to ask for my forgiveness, or something equally trite. Needless to say, I wasn't going to have any of that, so before they could get a word in, I returned Teeny to its sword form, dramatically sheathed both of my blades and turned at the group with my best 'hard-ass drill sergeant' impression on my face.

"Have this Colossus analysed for traces of tampering." I waited for a beat, and then addressed them individually, "Primus Kane, tell the directors that I will be returning my quarters to rest. Prefect Jaakobah, you are in charge of the investigation. You can use my Arbiter. Leave no stone unturned." I faced Rinne next, but she nodded at once and stepped up to Jaakobah, so I was sure she already knew her job. "As for the rest of you, continue to secure the area and then support the investigation to the best of your abilities."

I didn't even wait for their responses before turning on my heels, and after a quick wave at the magical cameras, I walked off the field, surrounded by the cheers of the crowd. I could hardly care less about it though; I had more important things to worry about, such as finding a quiet corner from which I could check the three head directors' responses, and find out if I made the right call by cutting the fight short or not.