Aries Floor 5, The Emperor’s Ascent - 10:59 AM

  I released the hammer head Construct on the Staff of Raphael and tried to thrust it between the Soul Shearer’s knees to knock him off balance. He took a step and raised back up to his full height, removing himself from his precarious position before I could send him sprawling to the ground.

  He lifted me up by my armor’s face plate with one hand, completely disregarding my high Constitution score and the rules of forced movement, and swung me. The Reaper didn’t let go, only taking a single step back as he aimed for the nearest tree. Flaring out my wings, I attempted to slow myself down but it wasn’t enough. I maneuvered my still floating Golden Bowling Ball so that it was in between me and the tree. I reached out, grabbing it.

  The extra help it gave me when blocking helped immensely, even if I was technically hitting the tree and not the other way around. My arm still nearly buckled, pain lancing through it, but I managed to keep it straight. The tree trunk caved in around my Golden Bowling Ball, and I got to work.

  Against a flesh and blood enemy, there were ways to open a hand that had a good grasp on you. The Soul Shearer was not that, but instead skeletal. There were no muscles or tendons to exploit for an escape. That left physics.

  I pushed off of the tree and spun so I was upside down, my wings keeping me stable. The Soul Shearer’s arm twisted with it, and I used Drop on both of my Heelies to get my feet back on the ground. The act put pressure on him. He refused to let go, causing him to twist his body unnaturally to keep his grip. With the staff in one hand and bowling ball in the other, I used Orbit to aid my swing as I attacked from both sides.

  The Soul Shearer blocked my staff with an elbow and my Golden Bowling Ball with his knee, his body further contorting in a way that a living creature could not. Even with only one foot on the ground, he felt solid. I sent Vermon’s Smash Stick, or what was left of it, out of my inventory. It fell, but I used Orbit to bring it around my body and strike at the Reaper’s leg.

  He took the blow, wobbling only slightly, and made to set his foot back on the ground. I didn’t want to accept getting put back into a defensive position here, and moved my Golden Bowling Ball in front of me. Pressing it against his rib cage, I activated Crash Test.

  The Soul Shearer was caught off guard by the sudden movement. His bony foot kicked up grass and dirt as he was forced backwards. Behind him, I Constructed a simple slab emerging diagonally from the ground just past where the skill ended.

  He slammed into it at what I looked like one of his weakest points, the base of his spine. I stopped just short to prevent the recoil damage but the Reaper’s momentum kept him going backwards, his body snapping cartoonishly against the slab. The grip on my faceplate just would not be relinquished, however, and I lurched forward as well. His foot lashed out from the awkward position, and I activated Shield to block it.

  The invisible force caught the attack, but nearly broke in the process. I pulled the staff back and jammed it between the Reaper’s ribs as he jerked me into the air again with the intention of putting me on the ground behind him. The weapon held, and a creaking noise could be heard from the bones before I had to let go.

  “Good night, Jezebel!” I yelled, flapping my six wings in unison.

  The manuscript returned to its original form, freeing me from the Soul Shearer’s grasp as my armor transformed into paper and returned to my inventory. At the same time, I made my Constructed slab disappear, letting him fall to the ground. His feet hit first, and he stayed horizontal as if he were about to limbo under something. The amount of effort I was putting into getting this creature on the ground was not worth the results I was seeing.

  Lunging upwards, the Reaper attempted to grab my coat before I got too far away. His hand hit a Force Field angled away from me, sending him off course. He immediately shifted, turning his body and jumping to spin kick my chest.

  Spinning midair, I moved to block with my wings. Shield was still up, even if barely, and it took some of the attack before shattering completely. Once it was gone I received the rest of the damage. My white feathered wings slammed into my ribs. I coughed as the wind was knocked out of me, but I continued ascending when the Soul Shearer’s feet met the earth.

  “By the power of Enigma Hemingway,” I said, conjuring my armor right away.

  I landed on the ground some twenty feet away. Not far in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough distance to react to whatever he was going to pull off next. I watched as the Soul Shearer dusted off his black robes and kicked the dirt off of his feet. He pulled the Staff of Raphael out of his rib cage and tossed it towards the ground.

  Both it and Vermon’s Smash Stick came to me as I Pulled them. I retrieved the Kedjen’s Khopesh from my inventory while Constructing a drill head and short hammer in the air along with a longsword in my hand. All five of the loose items were set to Orbit me as I watched the Soul Shearer check his condition.

  “Adequate,” he said, making it sound like praise. “And here I was worried that your bark is worse than your bite.”

  “Oh yeah, feeling really adequate being tossed around over here,” I replied sarcastically.

  The five items I had Orbiting me were Pushed out first. Then, I charged. It would have been nice to sit there and waste time, allowing Force Field to regain hit points and Shield to come off of cooldown after being broken, but I was in my Angelic form. I knew it was eating through my MP at an unreasonable rate and would be coming after my hard earned points right after.

  I closed my eyes. This was always easier to do through Absolute Awareness and the three dimensional vision it allowed me. Especially with as hard as I was going to need to focus. It was rare that I was met with an enemy that actually challenged my skill on this level. There were few things other than a personification of death that had the experience to push me this far.

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  The Constructed drill was the only thing that went straight for the Soul Shearer, aiming for its skull while Spinning as fast as I could allow it to. The other weapons were aimed at various other spots in an attempt to catch him dodging. Each one came from a different angle whether it was Push or Pull, Lift or Drop, or Orbit.

  Retrieving the Vague Stick from my inventory, I thrust it towards the enemy to prevent a forward escape, I cut off almost all avenues of escape. The Soul Shearer’s flaming eyes moved quickly within their sockets, taking note of everything, and took a tiny step backwards and shifted to the side. It was such a small movement and yet everything missed him. The drill whirled past his head, the khopesh cut through his black cloak, and the only thing that came within inches of his bones was the hammer.

  I pulled back from my thrust, not wanting to overextend myself chasing him. Five Starstones whistled past me towards the exact space he stepped. He twisted, and four of the projectiles passed cleanly through his rib cage, punching through the cloak on their way by, while the last one hit his spine. It disappeared as dust, dealing damage but leaving no lasting mark.

  The Soul Shearer ducked low as the drill turned and came back for him. At the same time, my Smash Stick made for his head. I closed off his left and right with the remaining items, boxing him in, and fired another set of Starstones in a shotgun spread. The Reaper jumped and spun upside down, placing his hand on my Constructed hammer as it passed by, using it to escape the lane I tried to trap him in.

  Before he could get too far, I stopped focusing on it. The hammer disappeared in his grasp, and he fell to the ground. Another Starstone hit him, this time straight in the skull, before his hand reached the earth and he twisted unnaturally. Without flesh and muscle to get in his way, his flexibility was unmatched.

  Back on his feet, the Soul Shearer lunged as I Pulled my weapons back to me so I could replace the Vague Stick with the Staff of Raphael. I brought my Golden Bowling Ball low before throwing it forward. Flames burst from it as it headed straight for the Reaper and I paid careful attention. He dodged left, leaving barely enough room between himself and the bowling ball, and I had him.

  I could normally only Split my focus five ways but, with the application of Break Free, that was increased to six. I used Orbit on the bowling ball, changing its trajectory at the last second. The Soul Shearer’s eyes went wide as it impacted the side of his face. He was sent off course and right into my trap.

  The rest of my Starstones peppered him as he placed his hand on the ground to keep him from falling. They each disappeared into motes of stardust as they connected, and the Smash Stick slammed into his spine along with a newly Constructed hammer.

  I wasn’t idle as my weapons converged on the enemy. The place I had chosen to stand was flat, and I surged forward on my Heelies again. Dismissing the drill, I put the hammer back in place on the Staff of Raphael and brought it to bear as I repeated my opening move.

  The Soul Shearer raised his hand and caught the weapon before it could hit his head. The bones in his arm creaked in protest at having to stop such a savage strike, and a hairline fracture appeared on his humerus.

  Not done, I let go of the Staff of Raphael and my various Constructs before encasing my shoes in heavy bricks. I used Orbit on them to swing myself backwards, stabilizing the awkward spin with my wings before using Drop on both feet. My weapons prevented the Soul Shearer from moving away from or under me.

  To my great satisfaction, the Reaper flipped himself onto his back and reached up with both hands to stop my blow. He gripped the Constructed bricks with such force that he broke through them. They dematerialized, and he grabbed onto my feet. His bony fingers pierced through my armor and the leather of the Heelies to dig straight into my flesh. I grunted in pain before he managed to flip onto his stomach to slam me into the ground face first.

  I managed to protect my head with my arms before it could hit a thick, exposed root. There was still damage as I once again had the wind knocked out of me. Behind me, hands still firmly inside my feet, the Soul Shearer attempted to rise to his knees. My weapons struck him in the back, keeping him down with consecutive strikes.

  Pointing my right hand towards him, I ejected the Cable Conglomerate and snaked it between the Reaper’s arms. Before I could tie his wrists together, his fingers ripped out of my feet and he rolled onto his back and kicked away my weapons in a flurry of blows. Next, he kipped up into a standing position and turned to lunge at me.

  Not willing to get into a knock down, drag out slug fest with a literal Reaper, I lifted myself off of my stomach with my wings and used them as legs to escape. It wasn’t fast, comfortable, or efficient, but it worked. I Constructed new weapons between myself and the Soul Shearer, attempting to get some distance.

  I wasn’t being subtle about it, either. The enemy had to dodge and weave to avoid getting damaged or entangled by my Cable Conglomerate, which was still trailing behind me. His speed made it difficult to keep him back, but he was becoming wary of me and my tricks.

  He lunged, trying to push the Golden Bowling Ball out of the way as it attempted to hit his arm. It barreled through the Soul Shearer, completely ignoring the attempts to guide it by someone who was not its authorized wielder, and he was pushed back down to the ground. A growl of indignation escaped from him before he returned to his feet.

  By then, I had lifted myself off of the ground with my wings. I gingerly touched down on the grass, but the pain that went through my feet in protest the moment I did told me that I was going to cause myself more damage that way. Damage that wasn’t going to heal until this fight was over. I Pulled the Staff of Raphael and Golden Bowling Ball back into my hands

  “Looks like I got you on the ground, Soul Shearer,” I said. “Twice now.”

  “Yes. It seems as though you have earned the right to be confident,” he replied as he took a few steps back. My Smash Stick narrowly missed his snout, and the Kedjen’s Khopesh missed as he lifted his foot. “Perhaps I need to fight with the long-term in mind. Death is patient, after all.”

  An aura of black fire escaped the Soul Shearer in all directions, overtaking the battlefield. The grass, trees, and other plants started wilting immediately, turning our immediate surroundings into something straight out of a horror movie. The area became as cold as a corpse, almost as if the aura was sucking away all of the heat.

  My soulfire hair burned ever brighter underneath my helm in protest, and I could see my breath in the air. The Angelic energy prevented me from wilting like the plants, but I was still affected. Each of my weapons started moving slower as his aura messed with my telekinesis. I could control them, but it was taking extra effort.

  Unfortunately, it got even worse. Holding out his hands, the same black flames erupted sideways. They dispersed quickly, showing off a wicked polearm that was the Soul Shearer’s namesake.

  At the end of two close, parallel shafts were two blades connected like a pair of scissors, one larger than the other. They were black enough to seem to drink away any light that touched it, but anyone paying attention could see shadows moving across the surface. Those were the souls of the damned taken by the Reaper. Sara had assured me that it was simply a visual effect and not actual people, but it still sent a shiver down my spine.

  “I believe that, in the current vernacular, this would be called phase two. Is that correct?” he asked, swatting away my weapons easily before getting into a fighting stance.

  “Boneshatter,” I answered, activating a spell as the feeling that I was fucked became even more pronounced.