Path of the Forsaken Sigil

Chapter 47

Without even slowing his sprint, Bruce reached his left hand up and caught the glowing red fire-arrow directly out of the air. He did not even look at it. He simply absorbed the fire magic into his palm, turning the iron arrowhead to rust, and kept running. 

The guards on the ground were completely decimated. They could not fight back. They could not even defend themselves. Every time they swung a weapon, Bruce was already behind them. Every time they tried to use magic, Bruce ate it, growing stronger, faster, and more deadly. 

It was not a battle. It was a harvest. 

In less than sixty seconds, the remaining twenty Iron-Guards on the ground were completely erased. There were no bodies. There was no blood. There were only piles of gray ash quickly washing away in the freezing rain. 

Bruce slid to a stop. His bare feet dug deep grooves into the wet stone. 

He was breathing deeply, but he was not tired. The stolen magic rushed through his veins, repairing his torn muscles instantly. The blue medicine protected his core from cracking under the massive intake of power. He felt invincible. 

He looked up at the high stone walls. The twenty archers were staring down at him, their hands shaking so violently they were dropping their expensive crossbows over the edge. 

"Do you want to come down?" Bruce asked. His magically amplified voice echoed loudly across the plaza. 

The archers did not answer. They threw their weapons onto the ground, turned around, and ran for their lives, abandoning their posts completely. 

Bruce was the only human left standing in the plaza. 

He turned around slowly. He faced the massive, eighty-foot Northern Gate. 

Lady Hestia, the giant monster of rusted iron and bloody hard-light, glared down at him. She had watched him slaughter her elite soldiers in sixty seconds. She was angry, but she was not afraid. She had the power of the deep earth and the stolen blood of hundreds of souls. 

"You are fast, little rat," Hestia’s monstrous voice growled. The heavy iron bars of the gate shifted and clanked as she spoke. "But speed means nothing against a mountain! I will flatten you!"

Hestia attacked. 

Because she was fused with the massive gate, she could control the metal structure itself. Two giant arms made of twisted iron girders, sharp spikes, and glowing red magic ripped themselves free from the wall. 

The giant right arm swung horizontally across the plaza, aiming to sweep Bruce away like a broom sweeping dust. 

Bruce jumped high into the air. The massive iron arm passed directly underneath him, smashing into a brick building on the side of the street and tearing the front wall completely off. 

While Bruce was still in the air, Hestia’s giant left fist came crashing down from above, aiming to smash him out of the sky. 

Bruce twisted his body in mid-air. He swung the Blade of Lost Tears upward with all his immense physical strength. 

The dark smoke-sword collided with the giant rusted iron fist. 

CLANGGGGG!

The sound of the impact was deafening. Sparks of red magic and black smoke showered the entire plaza. 

Bruce was much smaller, but his Void magic was incredibly dense. The dark blade sliced deep into the giant iron fist, cutting off three massive metal fingers. The heavy pieces of iron fell to the cobblestones with a loud crash. 

Bruce landed gracefully on his feet, holding his sword ready. 

But Hestia just laughed. 

"I am immortal!" the monster screamed. 

The glowing red blood-magic pulsed through the giant iron arm. Instantly, the metal shifted and twisted. New, sharp iron fingers grew right out of the stumps. The giant fist was completely regenerated in two seconds. 

Bruce narrowed his silver eyes. 

"She is feeding on the stolen blood magic," the Ashen Seraph whispered from Bruce’s shadow. "As long as she is connected to the city's Runic Array and the stolen souls, she can regenerate any physical damage you cause. You cannot kill her by cutting her."

"Then I won't cut her," Bruce said coldly. "I will eat the core."

Bruce looked at the center of the eighty-foot gate. Hestia’s giant, hideous face was embedded right in the middle of the thickest iron beams. Her glowing red eyes were the center of the magic. If he could get close enough to touch her actual face, he could unleash a massive Devour attack and suck the stolen magic right out of her mutated body. 

"Cover me," Bruce commanded the Seraph. 

"With pleasure, Master," the Seraph hissed. 

Bruce charged directly toward the massive gate. 

Hestia roared and swung both of her giant iron arms down at the same time, trying to crush him in a pincer attack. 

From Bruce’s shadow, thick tendrils of black smoke shot upward. The Seraph used its remaining magic to create heavy, dark chains of Void smoke. The smoky chains wrapped around Hestia’s giant iron wrists, pulling tight.