Keep your metal toys away from my rod, Arthur. Static hissed through the tactical communicator strapped to Leo's wrist, the sound sharp against the distant rumble of collapsing buildings. Lord Arthur's laugh sounded like grinding gears, devoid of any genuine warmth or humanity. "You are in no position to bargain, boy," Arthur's voice boomed over the frequency, cold and demanding. "That beast will flatten your precious sanctuary in minutes. Hand over the Calamity Rod, and my heavy division will put the monster down before it steps foot inside your gates." "No deal," Leo barked, watching the horizon where a colossal silhouette of jagged stone and pulsing magma stepped over a ruined skyscraper. Ground-shaking tremors rattled the gravel beneath his boots, sending small pebbles dancing across the cracked asphalt. "Listen to me, Arthur," Leo continued, his voice dropping to a dangerous, icy register that cut through the static. "Your conventional weapons can't pierce its skull. You'll just make it angry. I am the only one who can pull its core out from the inside, and I need my rod to do it." Silence stretched over the radio, broken only by the thunderous footsteps of the approaching titan. "And how do you propose to get close enough to do that?" Arthur asked, a hint of curiosity cutting through his arrogant tone. "I'll be your spearhead," Leo said, his eyes tracking the molten cracks flowing down the titan's colossal legs. "Your armored vehicles drive me right to its feet. Your tanks fire everything they have at its chest and face to keep its attention away from the ground. I climb, I fish, we both survive." "You expect my men to risk their lives just to play distraction for you?" Arthur sneered. Those men are dead anyway if that thing reaches the sector border, Leo thought, but he kept his voice steady. "Do we have a deal, or do I watch you write off your entire eastern division trying to fight it alone?" "Fine," Arthur growled. "But if you fail, my men will pick your bones clean of that rod. Coordinates sent. Get in the transport." --- Dust surged into the air as a heavily armored Coalition combat vehicle skidded to a halt beside Leo. Heavy steel plating covered the massive tires, and a dual-barrel autocannon spun lazily on the roof turret. Sliding doors hissed open, revealing a tense squad of Coalition soldiers clad in reinforced ceramic armor. "Get in, fisher boy!" the squad leader yelled over the roaring engine. Leo leaped inside, securing his cosmic rod across his back with a heavy leather strap. Metal scraped against metal as the heavy doors slammed shut, plunging them into a dim, red-lit cabin that smelled of sweat, cordite, and raw fear. "Hold on!" the driver yelled, slamming the accelerator. Violent jolts sent Leo's shoulder slamming into the reinforced bulkhead, but he barely felt the impact. Deep focus consumed him as his mind mapped out the titan's structure from the tactical screen displaying its rapid advance. "Status report!" Leo commanded, his voice carrying an authority that made the seasoned soldiers glance at him with uneasy respect. "Target is moving at twelve miles per hour," the squad leader reported, tapping a rugged tablet. "Its thermal signature is off the charts. We're talking three thousand degrees Fahrenheit at the core. Nothing survives close contact." "I will," Leo said flatly. Outside, the sky had turned a sickly, bruised orange, choked with ash and dust. Ash drifted through the air like toxic snow, coating the windshield in a thick, gray film that the wipers struggled to clear. Radio chatter filled the cabin as the driver pushed the engine to its absolute limit. "Tell them to wait for my mark," Leo ordered, checking the strap on his leg holster. "We need maximum impact when I make my jump. If they fire too early, the titan will shift its path and crush us before we even get close." Sweat dripped down the driver's neck as he threaded the heavy vehicle through a graveyard of abandoned sedans and collapsed concrete pillars. Up ahead, the titan came into full view, a towering monolith of primeval destruction. Monstrously tall, it easily dwarfed the twenty-story buildings surrounding it, its body made of interlocking plates of cooling basalt. Thick streams of glowing magma dripped from its massive chest, pooling in the cracked asphalt below and igniting instant, violent fires. Every step it took sent a shockwave through the ground that threatened to flip the armored vehicle. "Brace yourselves!" the driver screamed. Searing debris the size of a school bus crashed into the street fifty yards ahead, sending a shower of sparks and superheated air washing over the windshield. "Now!" Leo roared into his communicator. "Arthur, open fire! Target the upper chest and eyes!" --- Thundering booms echoed across the ruined city as the Coalition's distant artillery batteries opened fire in perfect unison. Bright streaks of light arced across the darkened sky, slamming into the titan's massive stone chest in a series of blinding explosions. Roaring with primeval fury, the mountain of stone and lava swung its massive arms, trying to swat at the pesky explosions. "Go, go, go!" Leo yelled, sliding the side door open. Intense heat blasted into the cabin, instantly singeing his eyebrows and making his skin blister. Gravel sprayed as the driver pulled a hard drift, bringing the armored vehicle within a dozen yards of the titan's left heel. Shouting over the deafening roar of the engine, the squad leader gave Leo a grim nod. Crouching at the ledge, Leo didn't hesitate. He leaped from the speeding vehicle, his boots hitting the cracked pavement with a heavy thud. Rolling instantly to absorb the momentum, he sprang back to his feet, running directly toward the moving mountain of stone. Waves of oppressive heat rolled off the titan's leg, threatening to cook him alive where he stood. "Frost Infusion!" Leo cried out, channeling his mana directly into his hands and feet. Crystalline blue light flared around his boots and gloves, hissing violently as it met the superheated air. Leaping upward, he slammed his hands against the titan's calf. Steam erupted with a deafening screech as his frozen palms made contact with the molten rock. Using his frost abilities to flash-freeze the outer layer of lava, he created a solid, dark-gray handhold. "Keep climbing," he muttered to himself, his teeth grinding against the searing pain in his lungs. Every breath felt like inhaling liquid fire, but he refused to let go. He pulled himself up, kicking his frozen boots into the rock to carve out small footholds. Another shell from the Coalition's artillery slammed into the titan's upper torso, causing the massive beast to stagger backward. Violent vibrations rippled through the titan's leg, nearly shaking Leo loose from his grip. Gritting his teeth, he hung on by his fingertips, his muscles screaming under the strain as his body swung out over the empty air. Looking down, the armored vehicle looked like a tiny toy navigating a sea of fire. "Can't stop now," he whispered, his vision blurring from the sweat stinging his eyes. Reaching up, he channeled another burst of frost mana into his right hand, shattering the molten crust of the next ledge and pulling himself higher. Step by step, he conquered the vertical cliff of moving stone. Sulfur stench was overpowering, choking him, but his mind remained entirely clear. He could feel the pulsing heartbeat of the titan's core deep within the rock, a massive concentration of high-tier mana just waiting to be hooked. "Just a little further," he grunted, dragging his body over a massive, protruding spike of basalt. He was now halfway up the beast's torso, climbing toward the massive shoulder. Below him, the artillery fire continued to rain down, keeping the monster's attention focused forward. Arthur's plan was actually working, much to Leo's surprise. Scrambling onto a relatively flat ridge on the titan's upper back, he took a brief second to catch his breath. Searing heat radiated from the rock beneath him, but his frost barrier kept his skin from burning away. Unclipping the cosmic rod from his back, the cool metal was a comforting contrast to the blistering heat around him. Looking up at the titan's head, which was only a few dozen meters away, he prepared his final approach. If he could reach the shoulder, he would have a clear shot to cast his line directly into the monster's glowing eye socket. --- Suddenly, the constant barrage of artillery fire on the titan's chest stopped. A heavy, ominous silence hung in the air, broken only by the crackle of burning buildings below. Leo frowned, his instincts screaming at him that something was terribly wrong. He looked down toward the distant horizon where the Coalition's tanks were stationed. A high-pitched, whining sound filled the air, growing louder by the second. Several bright red tracking lasers suddenly painted his chest, painting bright crimson dots over his heart. "Arthur?" Leo hissed into his communicator, but only dead static answered him. High above, several long, fiery trails erupted from the Coalition's main battery lines. Just as Leo reaches the titan's shoulder, the Coalition's artillery suddenly shifts targets, firing a barrage of heavy missiles directly at Leo instead of the monster.

Chapter 32: An Alliance of Necessity