The One Big Gamble

The first strike came as the Oscillium Giant passed under a bridge that connected between two buildings. A sudden crackle and boom brought the whole structure down on top of the massive puppet. Landing with a crash that rocked the city, it was nonetheless tossed aside as the giant pierced out from under it.

Fortunately for the gang, the stopped time of the city’s ruins did not extend to any actions taken after the spell first activated. A strong enough impact would knock it free, like dispelling a trance. Taking advantage of this wonder, Milipitas cast a giant whirlwind that sucked up the floating debris stuck in the sky. With it funneled all into a vortex, it fired out of one end like a gun.

The giant tried to move out of the way, but one leg had been pinned. With no way to run, the debris slammed into its face, stunning it for an instant with every connected shot.

“Keep up the pressure. I’m almost ready!” Raffy cried out from the rooftop of one building.

The sky filled with giant blocks of ice, casting shadows across multiple streets. As if sensing the looming danger, the giant slammed a fist into the wreckage trapping its leg before tearing free.

At that moment, a shield struck the leg anchored to the ground. Another shield struck the other one having found freedom. A disruption instantly formed as one leg became slow to rebalance while the other was repelled from where it wished to go. It sent the golem crashing to the ground as a result.

“Accelerare!”

The ice blocks fell, started by gravity but aided by an additional downward force.

A barrage of ice rained down, smashing buildings and flattening the cityscape all around the giant. A plume of ice shards blanketed the entire area, but that wasn’t the end of the ambush.

Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind blew. First, one way, but then another direction in the next instant. Soon enough, a swirling typhoon maintained a raging ice storm around the giant as the temperature dropped to an extreme cold.

Gideon was actively stopping and releasing time to create gusts on all sides. He ran around, waving branches in a circle around the giant, effectively boxing the giant in with the cold.

To keep it even more sealed, Milipitas brought down her vortex from above to hold it all from ejecting from the top.

Even as Gideon struggled to maintain the pace, a confident smile remained on his face as he recalled the plan to take it down.

“Even a metal as tough as Oscillium gets more brittle when it gets really cold, right?”

Gideon looked over at Ferdinand, the master of handling metals.

“Of course, we’d have to go way below sub-freezing temperatures for that, but in theory, cold should slow down its capability to dampen any shock. At a certain point, it won’t be able to keep up, causing it to snap like any other metal.”

They both looked over at Raffy, whose eyes lit up as he understood where they were going with it.

“While I can generate ice, it would be difficult to maintain it long enough to bring down the temperature, particularly so for a moving target. The smaller the area of effect, the higher our chances. So first, we would need to immobilize it.”

“We’ll bring the city down on it if we have to,” Gideon grinned cheekily. “Golem practice in the quarry prepared us for that!”

“But then, I’ll need a way to ensure the ice does not disperse.” Raffy looked over to Milipitas, who turned to Gideon next.

“We’ll think of something for that. Gideon appears to enjoy combination attacks.”

“You bet I do!” He flashed a thumbs up.

Because of their combined efforts, the Oscillium Giant was now contained in a small area, trapped in a swirl of ice like being in a snow globe. Its movements dulled as it stumbled around to escape.

“More incoming! Keep it up, everyone!”

Giant blocks of ice shot into the storm, shattering and adding to the cold. In the midst of this barrage, two shields continued to fly in and out, keeping the giant’s movements in check. Everyone was doing their best to drop the temperature of its outer shell as much as possible.

Five minutes passed, and then, ten. The movement of the giant had completely stopped. Seeing that, the others raised their arms to stop the assault. The wind died down, and they were treated to the sight of the giant covered in a jacket of icicles.

Raffy, Roze and Milipitas hopped down with the guidance of her wind. Together, they all appreciated their handiwork.

All that was left was a strong enough blow to shatter the metal.

Gideon appeared, doing a windup with his drumsticks. He had the best chance of succeeding as he could pile up blow upon blow, condensed in a single moment.

An ear-splitting crack sounded as the giant lurched back from the invisible hit, a deep fissure suddenly appearing on its front. In that gash, the glow of a magic diamond could be seen. It was the life magic that was controlling its very actions. Breaking it would end the fight.

“Strike it now, Gideon!” Roze cried out.

Another crackle sounded in the air, but then, a dull ring accompanied it. They all stared in surprise as Gideon was tossed back, as if he had been ejected away from the giant.

Standing up quickly, he relayed the issue to the others.

“It’s no good! As soon as I strike the gem, my Time Stop is cancelled out!”

“A clashing of similar magic? I’ve heard of this before, the overlapping of similar techniques cannot happen as interference disrupts one or the other,” Raffy realized aloud.

“So that means, someone else will have to break it?” Milipitas added.

“It’s just a diamond. Far more brittle than Oscillium. We just have to give it a good smack with the chisel!” Ferdinand went to fetch one from his bag, but then he was stopped by Gideon.

“I think we have a more pressing issue here. Look, the whole damn thing is glowing.”

They all turned to the giant, staring as the gash had started self-repairing. Bits of the broken Oscillium lifted from the ground and went back to where they were, reversing the damage that had been done.

Barely ten seconds had passed before the restoration magic had kicked in. There was simply no time to even coordinate an all-out attack to break the gem by the others.

“Heh, I knew it would come to this. Every damn time. Looks like I have no choice.”

The air around Gideon changed. Roze’s eyes widened, sensing something strange in his voice. She reached out for him.

“What are you-”

“Not now, Roze. I have to strike again while the metal’s still cold. Do me a favor, cover your ears. As soon as this thing explodes, give it all you got. Don’t hesitate and do what you do best. That goes for all of you!”

Seeing Gideon’s seriousness, she did exactly what was said. She instinctively knew it. He had never done her wrong. Those eyes of his wished her the best all throughout this journey and they never stopped shining. From the very beginning, they made her believe.

Gideon nodded, seeing his earnest request done.

“For the future you,” he muttered, too soft for covered ears. And then, he disappeared.

The loudest crackle and shatter Roze had ever experienced overwhelmed her ears even with them covered. She forced open her eyes to see no sign of the giant aside from the glowing gem remaining. Its Oscillium shell had been blown clean off and flew away in a magnificent spray of metal behind it.

But then, she saw Gideon and her heart dropped.

A burst of blood exploded where his hands were supposed to be, and he collapsed to the ground.

“Get it done!” he cried out with a bestial roar, setting everyone into motion.

Milipitas caught the flying gem from the air, tossing it back towards the rest of the party.

Ferdinand rushed forward with his chisel and forge hammer, striking it with the ferocity of a blacksmith who knew no equal. He managed to make a small dent in the gem, enough for the chisel to now be held in place, but not enough to fissure it.

“Speed me up, Roze. Just do it!”

“Accelerare!”

Roze targeted Ferdinand’s hand, trusting that his decades of muscle memory would guide his swing correctly without any thought needed. A loud and clear ring echoed as if her hunch had been correct.

Soon enough, a fracture stretched across the face of the gem, but even then, that didn’t stop its magic. In the distance, a glimmer of Oscillium approached like a swarm of pests, hellbent on returning to its original place.

“More! More!”

The surface of the gem suddenly grew cold. Its reach seeped into the cracks and expanded where water vapor turned to ice. Raffy had been waiting for this moment. He held an Ice spell ready to slip into the weak points and put pressure on the fissures that had been started by Ferdinand’s strikes.

The accumulated stress of all the ice expanding finally caused the gem to split right down the middle. As it fell apart into several shards, the Time magic housed within it dulled in brightness before fading altogether.

Pieces of the Oscillium shell rained down on the party at that moment, the magic calling it back having been dispelled. It was a clamor of metal that echoed their victory.

But for Roze, a different rain pelted her eyes.

“Gideon... Gideon! What did you do this time?!”

She fell to her knees before him, pools of blood gathering where his hands exploded. They were gone from the elbow down on both sides.

Her vision wavered as she searched around for anything as makeshift tourniquets for him. Finally, she settled on tearing the cloth from her personal bag, letting the contents of herbs and tinctures spill out carelessly. Every touch and movement caused Gideon to wince. Yet, his eyes remained trained to the sky.

She had no time to process anything else but to stop the bleeding as the others approached with stinted gazes.

“Even those weapons of his had its limits. Rest in peace, Magellan. You’ve done your duty.”

It clicked to Roze that Gideon’s precious drumsticks were missing. As she tightened the knot on her tourniquet, she could finally follow up on that statement.

“You mean, it broke? A weapon crafted to be shock proof… broke?”

“It shattered. Giddy boy struck so many times that it couldn’t hold up anymore. Compared to how big the giant’s shell was, a smaller weapon made of Oscillium would have less volume for the force to disperse. The excess shock went right to his hands.”

“But for it to shatter, he’d have to hit…”

A thousand times, no. Far, far more...

Roze stood up. She looked at the wagon in the distance, parked by the entry gate of the city. Barrels and crates had been broken into, scattered all over and empty. That had been the party’s supply of food and water for the trip into the Northern Lands. But now, it looked to be half raided through.

“How long?” Roze’s voice started to fail her. Her eyes went to his arms, but the part where the countdown had been was missing. “H-How l-long! How much of your time did you use?!” she squeaked, tears overcoming her.

Gideon’s gaze was still vacant, but he mustered up a smile, like he had prepared a joke like always.

“Everything...,” he paused and chuckled, “... or just about. I left enough time... for you to access the archives...”

Gideon thought back to his final attack. He knew it was coming. It wasn’t any different than previous cycles, once he figured out the trick to it. But damn, did it hurt every time.

Given that a focused strike that was well near his limit had only created a gash, he had no choice but to risk it all and go bigger.

With the remaining countdown he had left, he kept time frozen continuously.

He struck the giant all over until he grew exhausted. When he couldn’t go on, he raided the wagon for food and drink to replenish his energy. He even slept in frozen time. All throughout, his body still operated as normal. That was why he stocked up for the final stretch of the journey.

With nothing but the countdown to keep track, the number of hits piled up until he could no longer go on, repeating this monotonous cycle of ‘smash, eat, and sleep’, before getting up to do it all over again.

Knowing that he only had one shot at this, he pushed himself on and on in this isolated space, alone save for his hunger and exhaustion. He continued to watch over his frozen companions, mentally praying that they would finish the rest.

Sometimes, they succeeded. Other times, they couldn’t connect the pieces. All Gideon could do was use his experiences to bring them together well enough for that chance.

He had met them all many, many times. Long enough to know that it was all a big gamble. Frustration didn’t come as strongly now as it did early on. Now, he simply enjoyed the short journey each time it repeated. He had seen all sorts of variations in their behavior and responses to his actions.

But there was not a single time that he regreted it. Looking back at his mistakes was part of the joy, along with the successes. And even if only he could remember, having to try all over again was met with silent reservation.

Perhaps, he had gone mad at some point. Maybe, he was merely covering it up with fun and games. That didn’t matter at all anymore. He had decided to live in this world to its fullest. One moment at a time.

By the time he knew that he had done enough, months had counted down. He stopped long enough to see them reach their journey’s goal. And for him to give a wishful farewell.