ECHELIAN HERO

Glax noted with consternation that Sillabot was moving to the right, in a clear attempt to avoid the frontal attack on its most vulnerable point.

"No!" Glax growled in frustration. There was nothing he could do to change that, other than to prepare for new shots.

The first explosive shell hit the monster just above its permanently open furnace. The second ball blasted against the metal carcass. Both exploded, sending pieces of metal and wood everywhere. A superficial damage, unable to stop Sillabot in the short term.

"SIIIIII…" The monster howled, shaking, and began to discharge even more smoke and steam.

'Oops, it looks like Sillabot decided to go turbo! He's going to launch an attack!' Glax reasoned.

It was difficult to see what was happening. The vision was blurred, and the eyes stung and watered with smog. Glax had the impression of hearing Chriseis's cry, but what she said was lost amid the cacophony of deafening sounds and drizzle.

Specifically, the unnerving sound of the wire on Sillabot's arm ricocheting as it burst, taking some men and their lives with it.

The following friction of metal against metal when the worn joints struggled to move the arm caused a screeching and ear-piercing noise.

But it was done. Sillabot's right arm could not bear to lift his own weight, without all its wires, and went on limping beside his body, unusable.

Looking up, Glax saw Chriseis climb over the monster's head, fleeing the boiling vapors. She was trying to find a safe way to get down. But Glax saw none at the moment.

However, the robot used its still useful arm to sweep the water, as he did the first time. Sillabot's better attack was to capsize the vessels, and the monster had few alternatives now.

The captain shouted commands while Glax prepared another shot. The ship was caught halfway through its evasion maneuver by a huge wave, though.

Glax had little time for anything else but grip the railing. The Medeia tilted fully to one side, and the Valosian felt himself gliding down the deck before the ship straightened up again. The men operating the sails cheered the maneuver.

Medeia missed the course for a moment, and when Glax saw something again, he realized they were heading towards the Temnian trireme! The trireme, in turn, first spun, then rolled before Glax's bulging eyes.

He saw when its main mast cracked and fell behind in the waves. The rowers and warriors who were still on the ship plummeted from the vessel and were lost in the sea.

'I think I'm in a hard mode in life. Is there a way to select the 'easy mode'?' he gasped, watching the Medeia's crew deftly deflect the Temnian ship as it rode down the wave. A surge of euphoria for the incredible maneuver opened a smile on his face! Medeia was the best ship in Stygia, and certainly, Captain Laertes had the best crew in the Empire!

Malko was no longer on his side. Glax figured he was more needed elsewhere on the ship now, and he couldn't blame him for that.

Then Glax saw they were about to pass right by Sillabot's ascending arm, emerging from the waters.

He had a unique opportunity.

The two onagers had already been prepared. He needed to light the fuse and fire at least one cannonball at Sillabot's remaining functional limb.

He didn't have much time to set up a crosshair, so he just did it, not sure if it was going to be an effective shot or not.

BOOOMMMMM

Without stopping to look at the effect, he ran to the other onager.

But before he fired, he saw Rasmus tossing the hook to grab Sillabot's arm, which was just a few meters away from the Medeia.

Dumbfounded, he saw that not only did Rasmus hit the target, but the rope in his hands ran quickly, as the robot made the upward movement away from the water. While his gaze was raised he saw the red dot, Chriseis, preparing to jump. But... where?

Rasmus glanced at his friend, and asked,

"Am I going or are you going? It would be nice to use those explosive balls from above, Glax!"

He was quickly learning that in combat, improvisation could be more effective than sticking to the plan.

Glax grabbed the rope, just making sure his bag was across his chest, just as his sword. He had no way of taking a heavy cannonball with him, holding on the rope and lighting the wick, at the same time. But he had a shot from the weapon the god had given him.

'Is everyone mad in Stygia?' He wondered, still doubting he was planning to do something so crazy. The rope in his hand started to pull him and his feet slid on the wet deck. Glax still had the option to give up, but he decided to follow the Principle of Courage:

'Risk the greatness, because the Gods are watching.'

"Shit!" Within seconds he was suspended in the air, hanging by a mere non-certified rope, attached to a metal monster a few stories high!

Sillabot was lifting his arm at the same speed as a Ferris wheel cabin was going up. His fuel was low, but he still could cause damage. And at that moment, the boom vibrated.

"DAFUQ!" He couldn't see from where he was. But he was sure it was Chriseis, the only one who could have reached Sillabot's arm from the opposite end. He climbed the rope, realizing it was more difficult than it had seemed when the echelian soldiers did this.

"DAMN IT! I AM A FUCKING KROTON NOW! If I fall from here, not only they won't lament it, but they'll think it was my fault for being a weakling!" He had already figured out the spirit of his new family.

Anger at this idiocy fed his spirit and his body to try harder, and Glax clung to the metal boom, rising so that he could reach the 'elbow' junction. He had not yet loosened the rope cautiously, in case he slipped, because, by the gods, Sillabot was slippery and it was raining.

As soon as he reached the elbow joint, he stuck his sword in the cogwheel mechanism. The sword would break in there and do some extra work for the wires, making Chriseis' job easier. And now, he had little time to try something...

Pulling the mortar launcher the god gave him from his bag, he tried to aim for the hole near the furnace. It was as close as anyone could get, and he only had a few seconds to do so.

His wet hand trembled from the physical effort he had just made. He forced his numb finger to pull the trigger. The gun recoiled in his hand and pushed him back. He saw the fireball and the flash forming just after the gun's mouth, at the same time his body dropped in the air and he lost control of the gun…

His wrist was stopped by the rope loop he had himself made for security, with a tug that almost seemed to rip his arm out of place. Glax quickly gripped the rope again with his free hand and a gasp, watching the weapon slip and fall into the sea.

"SHIIIT!"

And just after that, the crash and the heatwave hit him from below.

BOOOOOMMMMMMMMM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOOMMMMMM

A big blast from the bowels of Sillabot resounded, followed by minor explosions, and the mecha's body shuddered and kind of howled with shrieking metal sounds and sizzles.

Before Glax celebrated, the resulting pressure cracked the creature's metal structure, violently displacing the air. It started to collapse.

'Uh-oh!'

Sillabot's arm shook all over, and Glax felt himself being thrown into the air. He saw the hook that held the rope flying away from the boom… Completely loose.

'FUCK.' His body was floating in the air, since the rope was not secure at all. It was kind of funny and ironic, in fact. In those microseconds, Glax wondered if it was time to say goodbye to Stygia.

Apparently, nothing would save him from death.

He felt a new tug on his wrist. This time, he was sure he broke it.

Looking up, he saw Chriseis grabbing his rope with her human arm.

The general was clinging to Sillabot's boom, but slipping. Her mechanical hand was digging into the monster's metal arm, but the weight of both made it slowly tear through the metal as they inexorably descended.

It was a matter of time.

He heard her groan in pain.

Even a few feet below her, he acknowledged the superhuman effort she was making, and that she couldn't bear to sustain them both forever.

But Glax knew she had just saved his life.

"GLAX! JUMP!" she yelled.

Glax looked down. Half of the Temnian trireme drifted just below them.

It was now or never.

Thinking only of the god of the roads, he wished himself a good landing and jumped.

At the very same time, a lightning bolt lit up the stormy sky again, making everything white luminescent for a moment...

He felt his body crash onto something soft and flexible first, and then hit the hard part with a crack. He had fallen on his back in the tangled and sails from the wreckage.

As he looked up at the stormy sky and saw the lightning cut across the sky, hitting Sillabot as a divine punishment, he remembered Sienna and her placid smile.

But it was Chriseis who was falling from the sky, like a comet, toward him.

"NO! CHRISEIS!!!"