Crack. An arrow flew through the air and struck a shadow squarely in the chest, right above the heart—or right above where a human heart would be. Who knew what the hell that thing was. In any case, it grabbed the arrow and pulled it out as if it were nothing. It tossed it aside, ignoring even the blood. It must have been close to piercing its heart or lungs, but it acted as if nothing had happened. Not even a tickle. Unsettling.

  Who had fired the arrow? Tara, of course.

  "For fuck's sake," the aforementioned said. "There are too many of these bastards, and they don't go down easy."

  Vincent had to dodge the golem again. He rolled on the ground, of course, far away. Otherwise, the word would have been "block," which wasn't very smart against an enemy of that size. But he hadn't dodged a fist, but an open hand. That damn thing had tried to grab him. It wanted to crush him or trap him. Vincent didn't want to die, but even less did he want to serve as bait for his loved ones to get hurt. He wouldn't allow that. He would rather die first.

  "I've found the core," Elizabeth said, without stopping her contribution to the fight, of course, out of pure survival. She was informing the royal guard. It was common sense, to leave it in the hands of the professionals instead of resorting to first-year students. "There are several points all over the body that supply energy to the center, right in the chest, like a heart. You need to destroy them all for the colossus to fall."

  However, Vincent had no intention of staying behind or doing the sensible thing. He heard every word. And when Elizabeth finished, he leaped, climbing onto the golem's leg to start.

  "What the hell are you doing?" Elizabeth almost choked on her own saliva.

  Ayame just laughed.

  "Very good. I like that."

  Vincent's smile widened even more. Us against the world? Damn right. They complemented each other perfectly, for better and for worse. Yes, but something better came out of it. Something greater than the sum of the parts, transcendental.

  He scaled the giant carefully, using every crack, every small opening, hands and feet, or by driving his sword in. The golem forgot about the enemies on the ground, concentrating on shaking and moving constantly to get him off. Its efforts were fruitless, of course. He hadn't come this far to be crushed like a fly by a magical construct, and one that wasn't even a worthy opponent at that. A human or at least an intelligent monster he could fight? No. This was just a tool, and it was going to be shattered like a suit of armor. The weight of his armor and shield were actually the biggest obstacle to climbing at the moment, but he could bear it.

  It didn't take him long to reach the nearest point of those Elizabeth had mentioned. With some reluctance, he took one hand off the wall to be able to draw his sword. Okay. Whatever the gods will. He raised the sword above his head and plunged it forcefully into that point. It looked like a rune, or runes in the plural. In that case, it would make sense that this was serving as a power source for the core, that he could only destroy it when he finished with everything else.

  The shadows weren't stupid. They knew the monster's weaknesses better than they did, so halfway to the next point, something wrapped tightly around his ankles, pulling him back and down. One of those chains, of course. It was just squeezing, it hadn't bitten into his skin yet, but it hurt, it hurt more than he had thought, as if it were burning.

  A snap, a choked cry, and then the pressure left his feet. There was no doubt. He knew it before Tara spoke. That had been an arrow.

  "Keep going. Keep going. We've got your back."

  That's why they were a team. Yes. He took a leap, climbing faster than ever. A family, and the one you chose, not the one you were born with, wasn't so easily broken. It meant even more than blood. Meaning, there was nothing to say that this had to have been this way from the beginning, but it was in the end anyway. But the meeting of people who didn't have to have met, much less become friends, was obviously special. Surrounded by so much magic and splendor, sometimes people forgot the real miracles. They were his strength.

  But let's put the mushiness aside for the moment, or I'm going to end up crushed, he thought. Climbing was not easy at all; it required his utmost concentration. And the higher he went, the more the pressure increased, because he was painfully aware that one false step would send him falling into the void, to certain death. No one could rescue him in time, surely, and as soon as his body hit the ground, it would explode like a pi?ata, despite the armor. There was nothing in his arsenal that could protect him from a fall of that height. A real knight could have saved himself with certain abilities he knew of, but he was not a real knight. There was little real about him.

  No, no. He might not be a knight, but he was strong and brave, and he was proving it in front of everyone. Soon his name would be known throughout the kingdom as the person who saved the princess and prevented a war.

  It tried to crush him again with one hand. Vincent was near its shoulder and the next power point. He knew he wouldn't be able to dodge the blow. If he rolled, he would fall or end up on its back, losing significant progress. Anyway, those arms were long enough to reach behind its back, even if it had to swing blindly to do so. So Vincent decided not to even try. He stayed where he was, only he took out his shield, raising it above his head. That was the most important thing to protect. No matter how sore and broken his body was, he could keep going, but if his head was screwed, he was screwed.

  Indeed, he blocked the hand with his shield, preventing it from crushing his head like a ripe melon, though barely. He gritted his teeth. He thought he had only delayed it, that it was only a matter of time before that thing crushed him. There were the killer shadows and the constant movement of the golem, threatening the ants below and the buildings. They couldn't always be watching him. But he wasn't alone. The royal guard, which existed to protect the city, the kingdom, and the royal family... however, the pressure vanished. The arm moved away from him. It wasn't moved away. He saw the blue flash of Elizabeth's whips. She had saved his life and allowed him to continue his climb.

  "We're here for you, no matter what!" Elizabeth shouted.

  Yes, his friends were there to protect him. He reached the next power point, right on the left shoulder, and destroyed it. This time it took several blows from his sword. There was little left, and he could feel the golem weakening, its movements becoming slower, clumsier. There was little left. It was what he had to do, but he wasn't exactly going to sign up to be a colossus killer. Being in the shadow of colossi was not a great idea. Adventurer, fine, but he'd had enough of golems for a lifetime today, perhaps, as well as any other giant or colossal creature.

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  As soon as Vincent moved to the other arm, Ayame blew the left one to pieces. Of course, that formed a great shower of debris. Any of the debris could kill several people at once or reduce houses to ruins, but she hadn't gotten lost in her bloodlust, she hadn't lost her sanity, her common sense, or her good heart. Naturally, she got rid of the debris before it could do any harm. The only thing that reached the ground were pebbles. How did she manage that? With the weapons, of course. Something like a storm of swords.

  The next power point was right on the son of a bitch's forehead. A single slip could cost him his life, but you had to look on the bright side of things too. The height was such that a fall would undoubtedly kill him. He had already passed that point long ago. What was left after the fall, not even his own mother would recognize. But precisely because of that, the shadows couldn't attack him. Now there was no one who could interfere. It was him against the golem, what was left of the golem, no more, no less.

  His hands were sweating, slippery. His heart was pounding against his chest, as if it wanted to give up, to stop working. But he continued upward, bravely, without looking down once, without hesitating once.

  "Whoever you are," Vincent began, imagining that whoever had built this thing could hear him, whether they were below or in hiding, "it was an arrogant mistake to try this in the heart of our kingdom, and you will pay for it. And I, I will be someone. Everyone will know my name."

  He finally reached the power point and did the riskiest thing he had ever done in his entire life: he leaned back, holding the sword with both hands above his head for the final blow, the coup de grace that would bring everything crashing down. He didn't know if he would manage to survive the landing of the golem, which was thrashing with more and more furious desperation, almost as if it were a living being, as if it possessed a consciousness and the fear of death. He almost wished it did, that it felt it. This thing, or the master connected to it, it didn't matter. Someone had to pay, and it was a good start.

  The effect was instantaneous. The core lost its power and, although he didn't even touch it, this caused the colossus to collapse. Its shadow loomed over the street, over the buildings, as it fell rapidly. The people on the street had already dispersed, they had had plenty of time, but it could crush buildings, hurt people who were still nearby or not so nearby. The debris from the houses, flying, could go very far. But he didn't have time to worry about anyone else.

  He slid down to the beast's neck, holding on tight. There was little else he could do but cross his fingers and hold on tight. Cross his fingers to survive the fall, for other people to do so. He should have let someone else do it, perhaps, but he hadn't been able to resist. And even now, feeling as if he were going to faint from the tension, he didn't regret it. He was actually euphoric.

  The royal guard finally got to work in earnest. Not just bodies to throw against the shadows. Four or five of their bastards, he wasn't sure from so high up, set to work creating a net of magical energy, large, very large, tied around the nearby buildings. The Golem fell right on top of it, but not completely. It didn't crush anything or anyone. Well, it damaged the road a bit, but nothing more. And so it remained suspended.

  How long would the weight hold? He didn't know, he didn't want to know. Vincent let himself fall, sliding down the Golem's body to the ground. He went as fast as he could, and with all the care he could. Dammit! It was too high. The stones grazed his ass. Everything hurt. And it was too high. He should never have done this, come this far.

  He felt as if his heart had risen to his throat. Every time he breathed, the walls squeezed it. As if he were going to vomit or lose consciousness, or maybe even both at the same time. Everything was a blur, like flies, like shadows of shadows. Even though everything was approaching at high speed, his eyes simply didn't focus on it. Mostly because of the fear, the awareness that he was on the edge of the abyss.

  Ayame landed next to him and fell with him, her hands on his shoulders, stabilizing him, helping him down. At that very moment, his fear, well, it didn't evaporate, but it became bearable, more or less.

  He slid down the back of that damn thing, reached its ass, and almost fell to the ground headfirst, almost. Ayame grabbed his hand, pulling him back. What a shitty rollercoaster. Vincent couldn't take it anymore. He turned around and vomited, practically on all fours, like a dog.

  His breathing was much faster than normal. Damn, of course it was.

  "Damn," Vincent said, "this is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done."

  "So far," Ayame replied.

  "Well, probably."

  But it was too early to celebrate. They hadn't even finished anything. There were the remaining shadows, still fighting. The fall had felt eternal. It had only been seconds, but enough time to forget about those things, in any case.

  Vincent stood up. He had done a lot, more than could be expected of him, as a blacksmith and as a student. But he could still do more. He still had work to do. That was reason enough for him.

  They joined the Royal Guard, again, to help them with the spring cleaning. The term felt appropriate. There were many of those killer shadows still standing. They had started out dying like flies, with hardly any resistance, but he had to admit it. It was due to the element of surprise, or at least it must mean that the incompetent ones had been the first to die. Even if you encountered a far superior opponent, any animal could make the decision to flee to save its neck. Even an animal could recognize when there was nothing more to do, that it had not the slightest chance of winning. However, none of them fled. They were all cut to pieces, mercilessly.

  He should have applauded, but suddenly Vincent no longer felt triumphant, he felt rather uneasy.

  "Too easy," Vincent said.

  "Easy?" a member of the Royal Guard repeated. "What did you find easy, brat?"

  "Watch how you talk to him," Ayame replied, without fear.

  The guard crossed his arms.

  "Great, now I'm going to be lectured by a damn vampire."

  Vincent lost his temper in an instant. He couldn't help it. And he didn't even try. He raised his sword, ready to do something he would regret for the rest of his life. He barely restrained himself. The only thing that stopped him was the truth. If he killed him, well, if he just hurt him, he wouldn't get away with being the errand boy for a while to show he was sorry, that lack of decorum. It would put his life in danger, and Tara's and Ayame's lives too. It wasn't worth it. He was just another asshole from the Royal Guard, but it wasn't worth it. Still, that face, he would remember it, burn it into his mind. Sooner or later he would put a name to that face and one day he would make him pay. He would, he swore to himself.

  "Shut the hell up," a second guard snapped, elbowing the first one hard.

  That didn't influence his decision at all, needless to say.

  "Vampires are citizens of the kingdom with as many rights as anyone else."

  He only said something that should be common sense, but the response...

  "Yeah, yeah," he waved a hand. He clearly didn't believe it.

  How was it still possible for people like that to get so far? He wasn't even subtle, he didn't even try to hide it. This was what awaited Ayame even after she graduated. The same assholes putting up barriers for her because they couldn't accept how things were. Or worse still? No, much worse. Much worse, without a doubt. The students, after all, had no power and the faculty was on their side, or at least not against them. This was worse. The real world was always worse. He felt like throwing up again, but for a very different reason.

  The reasonable guard, or the one who at least knew what to say in public, continued to speak.

  "Kid, what exactly are you thinking? That there might be a secondary force behind the royal family? We've killed so many already? That seems very unlikely to me."

  A secondary force? No, nothing like that. Just the opposite.

  Vincent kicked the nearest shadow without holding back.

  "Oh yeah? Is that what we did?"

  He could have looked like an idiot. It wasn't something he knew, just a hunch. But it turned out he had hit the nail on the head. The corpse vanished, as did the rest, filling the street with a black fog.