Abandoning all sense of caution, Brisingr charged back in. She only had one objective: kill.

Seeing Nicole’s limp and battered body flashing through her head only reinforced the goal as she fired off heat. The air turned shimmery, the ground melted, and nearby buildings that still stood crumbled away.

And even in the midst of all that, he stood triumphantly, knowing full well she couldn’t hurt him.

In the very back of her mind, the very crevasses, she knew she couldn’t go all out. Years of training and leading warriors led her to learn how to make the best choices in battle, one that would guarantee them success with the least amount of consequences later on.

Using her full power would also mean less control, along with other things. Never mind Atlas’ fist, her flames could do nearly as much damage. She defended the innocents, not making things worse for them.

All this was in her mind, and yet she still wanted to burn him to a crisp.

She flew through the air, kicking out fire to grant her more speed and better movability. Perhaps he sensed her newfound anger because he was actually trying now, ripping out and throwing chunks of the ground.

Brisingr made sure to either burn them all or throw them back. She didn’t want any of them to land in the city, causing further damage. Deciding that using raw power wouldn’t be enough, she decided to do some techniques.

Throwing a huge orb of flames which Atlas punched through, Brisingr threw a small spark to the side. When Atlas stepped on it, a series of huge explosions blew up, encasing everything in balls of orange and red.

Brisingr didn’t have time to admire her work though; she needed to use this to her advantage. Brisingr flicked her wrists and small tornadoes of fire sprung to life by doing a highly advanced technique. She directed them toward Atlas and collided them, four on each side converging onto him.

As he flailed around, Brisingr finally found Cynthia. She was hiding much further back then when Brisingr last saw her and had a thumbs up. On her face was a smile that seemed innocent enough but Brisingr knew she was beyond mad about what happened to Nicole as well.

“I’m ready, just disperse the flames.”

For a split second, Brisingr felt her rage flare up and she wanted nothing more than to continue circling him with her tornadoes. Sighing, she tore them apart to reveal an open shot at the Titan.

“Astoria!” Cynthia exclaimed. The name triggered a faint memory in her mind, of a young girl who wanted nothing more than to help people, but her shyness got in the way. Why was Cynthia mentioning her now?

The suitcase opened up, revealing what looked to be a miniature cannon. Cynthia slapped the button and a round flew out.

All eyes were on it as it rotated through the air, over and over again. Brisingr prayed this would work. Otherwise, she might lose it for real.

Brisingr had no doubt Atlas saw the round and could have dodged out of the way any time he desired. He thought he was invincible, which might be his downfall.

The round hit his left arm and imploded. Instead of the standard fire Brisingr was anticipating, darkness rose out of the shell. Brisingr gasped as she realized what this meant.

The Shadow Arts.

One of the 8 Arts a person with circuits could use. Shadow was second rarest, being only second to Void. Even to the scientists at Yggdrasil, it was a mystery of what its true potential and limits were.

Well, it appears a breakthrough had been made.

The darkness enveloped the Titan’s arm as he panicked. He somehow managed to clutch the shadows and ripped them off, but at the same time, they took something with them. Once his arm was bare once more, Brisingr could see they were grayish; like they’d be drained of color.

“Now, Brisingr! Use your flames and strength! Punch it!” Commander shouted.

Coalescing fire around her fist and building up wind, Brisingr struck at the gray area, wondering what was supposed to happen. When her hit landed, it didn’t get negated. Instead, Brisingr felt her hand submerge itself into his skin a bit before pulling back out. She was stunned to find a small crater in his skin. Nothing, much, a mark you would get if you pushed against something for too long and it made an indent on your skin. Still, his Willful Construct should have made even that impossible.

“It worked! Now’s your chance!”

Throwing away all her questions, Brisingr didn’t waste a moment. Going on the offensive, she stabbed her sword down onto his arm and began pushing down with all her might. To her glee, it sank in, far more slowly than normal but even so, it worked. Atlas howled as a small stream of blood dripped out as he tried to get Brisingr off his arm.

“Eyes on me! Brisingr, activate your earmuffs!” Cynthia yelled.

Brisingr didn’t waste a moment, turning on her earmuffs before going back to work, using her entire body weight to shove the sword down some more.

“Alister!” Cynthia shouted, throwing a small cylinder grenade? Before Brisingr could figure out what was happening, the grenade opened and emanated the loudest sound Brisingr ever heard.

It was high-pitched to the point where you could see the vibrations in the air, and the ground began to get chipped away by the sheer force. Even Brisingr who had her Yggdrasil approved gear on was wincing from the noise.

It was a brilliant move though; Atlas’ Willful Construct nullified the force and weight of an attack. She’d worried it would do the same to noise, but no. The sound waves did nothing to affect him, but the sound volume was most definitely causing him a migraine.

“GET OFF!” Atlas bellowed, clutching her leg and throwing Brisingr as hard as he could. She tumbled through the air, not knowing where the air and ground were until she hit the earth. She crashed through at least several acres of solid concrete before resting on her back, feeling like she’d just been run over by a truck.

“Brisingr, your armor defense system is at 49%. However, Atlas is injured and we’ve discovered he’s vulnerable to sound. This is the perfect time to strike!” Commander stated.

“How many sound grenades do we have?” Brisingr requested to know.

“Eons has 4 left on her right now but we’re deploying more this instant. You just need to hold out a bit-wait a second.” Commander went offline.

Brisingr frowned. What was occurring inside of Yggdrasil at this moment? Commander signed back in.

“Brisingr, we have permission to fire at full capacity. I repeat, we have full permission from the UN and Association to go all out!”

Brisingr straightened her back. “Seriously?” she asked incredulously? They never helped Yggdrasil before, usually hindering them instead.

“Hm-hm. Think you’re up for it?” Commander made sure.

Brisingr smirked and slammed her fists together. Smoke rose from her body as she began raising her body temperature to ridiculous heights.

“No problem, boss. I can handle this now.”

“Be careful,” Commander warned. “You know your body’s limits.”

Brisingr nodded. “I know,” She drew her feet back, channeling more energy as her body began to glow. “That doesn't mean I’m going to hold back in the slightest!”

Commander sighed. “Well, I know better than to argue with you. Eons, pull back. Your circuits are also showing strain from maintaining the bubble for too long, you need some rest.”

“Aw, that’s not fair! I wanted to see his body writhe in pain and agony!” Cynthia whined.

“That’s an order, Eons.” Commander’s voice was firm and unrelenting. Cynthia knew better than to argue against her, despite her flaws.

“Fine, I’m coming, I’m coming. Good luck and have fun, Brisingr,” Cynthia said before turning off her mike.

“Oh, and Brisingr?” Commander said.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Burn him to Tartarus, would you?”

Brisingr sneered. “Yes, ma’am!”