Die. Respawn. Repeat.

Chapter 204: Book 3: An Ounce of Prevention

"Don't let that get to the Hand!" I call out.

I dash forward as I speak. Guard must have reached the same conclusion a second before I did, because he's already moving, determination blazing in his optic. He yanks on the chain, dragging the Hand toward us and away from that storm of incoming Firmament; at the same time, Ahkelios flies up into the air, his blade shining with another one of his sword skills.

He slashes, creating a rift in the air that barrels forward and slices through the corrupted Firmament. It hangs in the air for a moment, and for a split second, I think it works—but then it simply gathers itself together again and flows onward, untouched.

Ahkelios lets out a growl of frustration. I call out to him even as I charge toward the Hand. "Use my skills!"

There's a burst of intent through the link between us. In a single moment, Ahkelios and I agree on a plan, and that plan crystallizes into action. Ahkelios draws on a combination of Crystallized Barrier and Firmament Control, creating a scattered array in the sky to stop the progress of that corrupted Firmament. In the meantime, I grab the Hand and throw, lifting it clean off the ground and tossing it further in Guard's direction.

It screeches in protest, of course. The noise is a shrill scream that cuts through the air and makes me wince. "You struggle for nothing!" it seethes. "For nothing! You struggle to save a thing that deserves no pity!"

I am so very sick of hearing this. "Gheraa deserves a second chance," I snap. "And you aren't going to stop me from giving it to him."

It's the wrong thing to say, apparently. The Hand doubles its efforts to break free, straining against Guard's chains and making him grunt with exertion as he pours in Firmament to try to keep it down.

Even with his enormous reserves, there's only so much he can channel at any one time.

And he's not the only one that's struggling. Ahkelios is barely able to contain that incoming Firmament; the two skills he's borrowing help, but not enough. That incoming storm of power is too slippery, for lack of a better term—just like the Hand itself, it's corrupted with a Concept that makes it difficult to manipulate. It acts almost like it has a will of its own, albeit a very basic and rudimentary one.

If nothing else, the Hand is relatively easy to keep under control, but even that doesn't sit easy with me. It's one of the strongest creatures we've fought; even with how much we've grown, I'm not sure it should be this easy—

I narrow my eyes, taking my thoughts back a few steps. Guard can only channel so much Firmament at once, despite his reserves. The Hand...

It's using us.

The thought strikes me out of the blue, but I could snarl at myself for not thinking of it earlier. It really, really wants to stop us from reviving Gheraa, that much is clear, but there's a problem with that plan: there's only so much Firmament it can handle at once. It's packed full of power, and all that power means there's less space for it to take in the dungeon's Firmament and corrupt it.

Guard's problem is that he can't channel the amount of Firmament he contains. The Hand is the opposite. It can channel Firmament enormous volumes of Firmament just fine, but there's only so much it can hold. It hasn't had the same reinforcement I've given to Guard.

Which is where we come in. The more damage we inflict on it, the more it's able to absorb everything around it. The reason the fight hasn't been harder, the reason it hasn't shown us anything besides a single offensive skill...

It wants us to hurt it. We're accelerating the destruction of the dungeon. Every time it heals itself, it consumes a chunk of Firmament and creates a little more space.

We need a different strategy. A way to destroy it without giving it the chance to heal.

The problem with that plan, of course, is that it's a solid block of Firmament that doesn't have any vital organs or distinct weaknesses—no matter how much we hack away at it, it's able to regenerate near-instantaneously. With all three of us fighting it, we can do just enough damage to overwhelm its healing, but in retrospect, that doesn't mean it'll die. Not as long as it has a source of Firmament. And with Ahkelios preoccupied trying to hold all that power back... RἈꞐỗBΕs̩

Come on, Ethan. Figure it out.

If we could destabilize whatever it's using to hold itself together, for example, or interfere with whatever viral Concept it is that's infected it, we might be able to tear it apart—

The Hand manages to briefly shatter Guard's chains; he staggers backward, trying to recover, and in that window of time the Hand launches off the ground and toward Ahkelios. I grit my teeth and Warpstep into the space between them, grabbing it by the finger and using its momentum to whip it around and back into a mostly-depleted pile of rubble.

Quickened Mind doesn't give me that much extra time at this level of combat, I note grimly. I need to be faster.

It doesn't have any weaknesses that I've observed. It does have a pattern—it always uses its index finger to fire that void-beam skill. Whenever we succeed in cutting it off, it doesn't use it again until the finger's regenerated.

If it's holding back, then it stands to reason that it has a few other skills it hasn't used. I don't think its enormous physical strength and considerable durability count as skills. Likewise, its absorption and regeneration appear to be innate qualities. What am I missing?

I let out a sharp breath of air.

I can't sense any skill constructs. I can't sense a core.

Which means it is using another skill.

"'Kelios." I use our mental link to contact him—it's easier and faster than shouting across the dungeon. He glances back at me, still frantically juggling a series of barriers.

"Little busy here!"

"I need you to let it through."

"What—are you serious?" He takes a second to process my tone. "You're serious."

"Trust me. Please."

Ahkelios stares at the storm of Firmament he's trying to hold off, then lets out an aggravated sigh; a moment later, the barriers all collapse, and he Warpsteps over to my side. "I hope you know what you're doing, Ethan."

"So do I," I say wryly.

The Firmament pours in toward the Hand. It lets out a triumphant screech as it turns to face that incoming storm, opening its mouth to swallow it all—even from here, I can feel its core beginning to flex and bend at the onslaught.

"Keep its thumb severed," I tell Ahkelios. "I don't want it trying to trick us again."

He nods and dashes off, blade in hand. The Hand's preoccupied trying to take in all that Firmament—if it weren't for the fact that it would just heal instantly, this would be the perfect opportunity to try to kill it. Instead, I turn my attention to He-Who-Guards.

This isn't going to be enough. We'll need one more thing to push it over the edge, and it's by far the shakiest part of the plan. Partly because I've never even considered the possibility before now, let alone tried it.

"Guard," I say. "Do you trust me?"

He gives me a strange look. "I am offended you have to ask."

I chuckle at this, despite the situation. "Had to make sure," I say. "I'm going to try to create a link between us. The same one I have with Ahkelios. Are you okay with that?"

Guard's optic flickers as he processes my words. "Is that... possible?" he asks, uncertain. "I am not opposed. It would be an honor. But how would that help us win this battle?"

"I'll tell you the rest once we're linked, if it works," I say, offering a slight smile. He bows his head in acknowledgement.

"When you are ready, then."

Prismatic Firmament swirls in his chest. Guard's core, unlike any other core I've seen, carries so much Firmament that it's perfectly visible. The fact that his body was built with a specialized housing unit just to contain it is a remarkable reflection of exactly how much power it holds.

I reach out to make contact with it, my fingers brushing against the glass housing. Guard shivers in response, but says nothing; instead, he waits.

There's exactly one piece of evidence that this might work. I've tried it once before, although it feels like an age ago: back when Rotar was frozen in the Fracture, I empowered Temporal Link with an Inspiration and tried to connect with him. It went poorly, but it did establish two things for me.

First is that I can use Temporal Link on any entity that's out of sync with Hestia's time. Given that the sheer weight of Guard's core has given him immunity to the loops, he qualifies.

Second is that I can, in fact, use an Inspiration—The Mirror Twice Shattered, specifically—to empower my ability to form a Temporal Link. I hadn't fully understood the skill or the Mirror at the time, and even now, they're among the more complex tools I have.

The main difference now, besides all the ways I've grown? I hadn't known Rotar particularly well. The Mirror Twice Shattered is an emotional Inspiration. It emerged from some of the worst moments of my life. I can't use it to create a link with someone I don't understand or with someone that doesn't understand me.

He-Who-Guards and I, on the other hand...

It may not have been for long, but we've fought and stood together enough for me to begin to understand the kind of person he is. I have no doubt he's done the same for me.

It'll have to be enough. I call on both Inspiration and skill.

The Mirror Twice Shattered: Temporal Link.