The steel doll rose to its feet as the assailant’s blade sparked.
Dotta’s first action was simple. It was completely nonsensical in terms of swordplay and even combat in general, but it was business as usual for him. Essentially, he turned tail and ran. Right toward a wall.
“Tsk!” The man with the eye patch clicked his tongue. “Stop runnin’!”
The man was swinging his blade so close to Dotta’s back that he could feel the heat of it.
No thanks. I’m getting out of here.
There was murderous rage in the man’s voice, and all Dotta could think to do was to put as much distance between them as possible. He kicked up snow as he dashed toward the wall, then he used the hooks on his clothes to scurry up it like a lizard.
“Kigigigi!”
The steel doll swung its arms as it pursued him. It managed to crack the wall, but not enough to take it down.
It was now a straight shot to safety at the top of the wall.
This man is insane. He’s gonna slaughter me.
Dotta scrambled up to the roof in a flash, then looked back down at the ground. He readied himself, keeping the man with the eye patch in focus as his opponent climbed up after him, blades poised and ready to strike.
There’s only one kind of fighting I’m good at…
Dotta pulled out an especially short lightning staff.
…and that’s attacking someone who can’t fight back.
They called this weapon the “Quadio.” It was a new type of lightning staff developed by Verkle Corp, and once Dotta had witnessed its capabilities, he’d decided it would suit him perfectly.
Eat this.
A chaotic burst of lightning erupted from one end of the weapon. Multiple bolts dispersed through the air toward the man with the eye patch. Many streaked past him, but several found their target, searing his shoulder, arm, chest, and abdomen with such ferocity that his blazing daggers slipped from his grip.
This is amazing. Even I can hit someone with this.
The Quadio was designed to fire multiple bolts of lightning in a scattershot pattern. The downside was that it ran out of luminescence relatively quickly, making it somewhat inefficient. Nevertheless, its wide coverage could be devastating under the right circumstances, and even someone like Dotta, with limited skills, could land a hit as long as they were close enough.
Dotta liked to keep his enemies at a distance, so he wasn’t very comfortable with weapons like this. But lately, he’d had a bad feeling in his gut, especially in regard to Trishil, so he’d brought it along. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was planning something reckless and aiming to get him involved, so he wanted to be armed at all times.
“Why, you little…! That lightning staff…!”
His hand still smoking, the man in the eye patch grimaced and reached for his fallen sword, but Dotta wasn’t going to let him grab it. Now that he was disarmed, Dotta was confident he could beat him. Some of the other penal heroes were like humanoid weapons, but this thug was a far cry from monsters like Xylo, Jayce, and Patausche. There was no reason for Dotta to be afraid of him.
“Uh…” Dotta jumped on the man’s head. “Please don’t come back to haunt me as a ghost…”
“Guh…!”
Dotta slit the man’s throat, severing his windpipe, then drove his knife deep into the enemy’s chest. The man stopped struggling immediately, but Dotta’s fight wasn’t over yet.
“Giii. Gih.”
The steel doll bent its wired arms and swung at Dotta, forcing him to roll forward and grab the fallen man’s sword. Quadio’s magazine was now completely empty, and there was no time to replace it.
I’ve gotta do it. Just like Xylo or Trishil would!
Dotta brandished the dagger and activated its sacred seal, sending sparks into the surrounding air.
“Take this!”
He swung the weapon, smashing its flaming blade into the doll. This might well be the first time Dotta had ever delivered such a powerful blow.
“G-giiiiii!!”
A metallic screech, almost like a roar, erupted from the creature. It seemed to be in pain as the blade scraped across its steel surface, flames scorching the metal. But despite the damage, the doll continued its relentless assault.
“Ack! I didn’t even put a dent in it!” Dotta cried.
The steel doll brought down its arm in a powerful swing. It was a fatal blow, and Dotta was about to take a direct hit, all because he’d chosen to attack. He’d tried something new and immediately regretted it.
He instinctively tried to defend himself, and a shock wave ran through his body. Something snapped—his left arm, or perhaps his shoulder.
Ouch. That…really hurts! This can’t get any worse!
Dotta tumbled helplessly, rolling across the ground as the steel doll closed in on him. As he lay there, he wondered if he was already dead. Then, all of a sudden, he heard a savage, primal scream.
“Outta the way, idiot!”
A strong arm snaked out from behind Dotta and yanked him to the side. Then he heard a metallic clang as a knife deflected the steel doll’s attack. Dotta looked up to find the arm belonged to none other than Xylo. The man, with his menacing glare, had just saved Dotta’s life.
What’s Xylo doing here?
But Dotta was unable to speak.
“You just had to be a pain in the ass tonight, huh?” Xylo hissed.
He was moving in ways Dotta couldn’t even comprehend. In one fluid motion, Xylo pressed the palm of his left hand against the steel doll, freezing it in place. Then he plunged his knife into the creature’s armpit, exploiting a gap in the metal at its joint. He followed up the strike with a powerful kick and sent the doll flying.
Less than two seconds later, the knife embedded in the doll began to glow and then exploded. But the doll kept coming. Even missing a chunk of its body, the creature pushed on.
“Gih, gih, gih.” It charged at them again, its voice a hoarse metallic screech.
“Damn thing just won’t go down.” Xylo reached for another knife and grimaced, remembering that he’d left his weapons belt behind. “…Dammit! How could I be so stupid?!”
Thinking fast, he balled his hand into a fist.
I know Xylo’s tough, thought Dotta, but there’s no way he’s gonna break that thing with his bare hands.
How could anyone beat a creature like that without a weapon? It swung its arm, but Xylo dodged and retreated…until his back was up against a wall. There was nowhere left to go.
This is bad!
Dotta adjusted his grip on his blade. He had to aim for the gap in the doll’s metal plating, just as Xylo had.
It’s kill or be killed…!
Steeling his resolve, Dotta took a moment to concentrate. His head cooled right to the core.
A moment later, something slammed into the doll from the side, sending it flying. There’d been a blinding flash of light, even more intense than the one from Xylo’s knife, and a roaring sound that reverberated all down the street.