Chương 56: Healed

The next day they readied themselves to face the Giant. During the night, two other groups had tried and failed to kill it. The sound of them fighting had woken them, and the sound of one of them screaming in pain as they died had kept them awake. The clock tower had woken up again, only to drag someone else into its maw. Natalie was the only one who watched that, the rest of them didn't have the stomach for it.

The only positive was that they wouldn't have to worry about that, as it seemed like the Eye couldn't see this close to it's base. Grim didn't have too much she needed to prepare, her sword was sharp and ready, and it wasn't like she was going to be able to do any repairs to her armour. It had held up well so far, but there were numerous gashes and gouges on it. She didn't mind, however, those gouges could've been inside her.

With her secret out there, the obvious place for her was going to be in the frontline against the Giant. Along with her would be Maya, SongJae and Alyn. Maya would distract and deliver precise cuts while SongJae would do his best to keep his attention. His Boon [ELEPHANT BALANCE] increased his balance the more he weighed, which he claimed would be enough for him to deal with it. Whatever that meant. Alyn would siphon as much energy as she could with [SOUL TAP] while Grim was going to try to use [CEDE] on it.

She wasn't sure if she'd be able to, but there wasn't much else she could do. Behind them would be Solomon, Natalie, Carrion, and Sam. Solomon would provide overwatch with his rifle while he kept Natalie safe with him. He had a multitude of weaker rounds which he wasn't sure would penetrate through the creature's armour but he did have one B-rank round which he would have at the ready if nothing else worked.

Carrion claimed to be able to punch over his weight class with [BLOOD BOUND] but there was only so many shots he could do before he ran out of blood. So he'd be using weaker strikes on critical points until they opened up a chance for him to deliver a kill shot. Sam was the wild card and would be pure utility, using her ability to move the rest of them out of harm's way. She was also one of their trump cards because if she could move the rest of them into the clock tower, they wouldn't even need to kill the Giant.

Each of them also had several other Boons but most of them were utility-focused and wouldn't be as useful in a straight-up battle. As for Authorities? Grim wasn't surprised to know that Maya had one, but what came as a shocker was Solomon claimed to have one as well. Even as an E-rank.

"You? No offense, but you're an E-rank," Maya said. Grim spoke up, "Is that an issue? I mean, I'm just a D and I have one." Maya squirmed a bit, "I mean, yeah, but your aura… you have almost as much as me. Low ranks could probably have one, but you need a minimum to activate it." Solomon shrugged, "The exact reason why I'm E-rank is why I have an authority. If I accepted a Die, I would no longer have my authority. It's why I'm here and why I'll always be able to keep up even if all of you surpass me in rank."

There was a current of power in the air as he spoke, the wisps of an authority settling in the air. It was noticeably less than either hers, and especially not Soryn's, but it was still there and it was real. It felt like a snake rattling its tail, daring her to challenge it. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Maya put up her hands, "Okay, I get it. Don't need to wag that thing at me." The wisps of his authority receded, and the air returned to normal.

By now she'd gotten used to feeling people's auras flare up, so she didn't hold it against Solomon. It was instinctual when someone got too close to the concept behind their Authority. Maybe once they were more skilled, it'd be easier to control.

"Sorry. All I'll say is that if we run into trouble, run and let me handle it. I'll be able to buy us some time," Solomon said.

"You're that confident?" Maya raised her eyebrows.

"Yes."

"Fair enough, but I won't be waiting to use mine. This is what I've been waiting for, and not even your little chains will be able to slow me down, Grim." She nodded, "Yeah. I'm not the most practiced with mine, I've only used it twice in my life and it's only just recovered from last time." Grim prodded that little feeling in her stomach, and it was still raw and angry, but if it was a sprained ankle, she'd still be able to run on it at least for a little while.

"If you can hold it down, I'll take it out," Carrion said.

"Even if it takes everything I've got." If she was thinking the same thing he was, that was no small promise he was making. He hadn't said much because of his injuries, but he'd earned some respect with that comment.

"Yeah," Grim said.

"Is everyone else ready?" She got back a chorus of affirmatives and what she'd thought was a meek no from Natalie but she didn't say anything and neither did anyone else. It's not like she had much of a choice.

"Just remember to hold your breath and close your eyes if I grab you!" Sam said with a smile.

"Or we're going to have a really bad time."

"Three, two, one… Go!" Grim said as Maya led the way, followed by SongJae, Alyn, and then her. She didn't look behind her as they ran forward, trusting the rest of the group was where they needed to be. As they got a few steps away from the office, the scent of iron hit Grim, blood had been spilt on this ground. A lot of blood. An uncanny scream shrilled through the air, Grim craned her head to see where it was coming from.

The clock tower and the Giant were in front of them, but on top of a two-story building with the second floor reduced to rubble was another petal. Its mouth enlarged as the sides of the jawbone split so it could produce more sound. Its head exploded a second later as the sound of a rifle cracked behind them.

"Why's it doing that?" Grim asked.

"Dinner bell," SongJae said. Another Petal went to scream, but Solomon once against blew a hole through its head to stop it. With as much noise as they were making, it still hadn't seemed to wake the giant yet from its placid state, as it stood there like a statue. Maya was the first one to step off the grass and onto the concrete pad that surrounded the clock tower. As soon as her foot hit the ground, the Giant came to life and came barreling towards her.

The sound of it's footsteps cracked like thunder as it moved way faster than it had any right to. She immediately blurred, and the Giant veered, tracking her movements until it took one last step and brought its club down, forcing her to dive away. The massive club, a mere foot away from where she'd been. A bullet hit the lump where its head should be, and it turned towards Solomon right as a massive spear of blood shot into its chest. The blood splattered as it hit the creature, covering it in red.

It took a step back, staggered slightly from the sheer force of the shot but quickly recovered. Grim couldn't see from where she was if it had penetrated, but even if it had. It wasn't deep. The attack did give Maya the moment she needed to get up and blur away, where she appeared in front of the rest of the advance group, "This things faster than it looks, be careful."

"Change of plan. I slow it down," SongJae said as he raised both of his hands up." [SHARED GRAVITY]." The Giants bound towards them, slowed as the ground beneath SongJae splintered and cracked. His head bowed slightly as sweat immediately drenched his face. He hadn't told them about this Boon but judging by its effects, he must have used it on Orion in the stairwell. That was probably how he'd floated down with him, but if the name of his Boon was accurate.

He could change someone's gravity by how much he did it to himself. If that was true, how much pressure was he putting on himself?

That monster was hundreds of pounds and it looked like most of it was muscle, for him to slow it down, even by a little. It must be hundreds of pounds of pressure he was putting on himself right now. How was he even standing?