The Calamity fell from the sky like a cathedral made of death. It folded its wings a little and turned its huge body toward the center of Mistfall.

The sound of two hundred feet of metal and malice cutting through the air was deafening. People ran away like ants under a falling boot, their screams mixing with the sound of the waterfalls.

"Positions of defense!" Christoft's voice cut through the panic like a knife through butter. "Everyone with shields, make a wall around the ways out!"

"No matter what, we will hold this line!"

Greg fully activated his Guardian's Oath, and the shield appeared with a burst of energy. Marina, Bork, Felix, Seraphine, Elwen, Donetta, and even Mira did the same thing around him. The arm guards they all wore lit up, making a semicircle of shiny barriers.

"Bork! Make sure to secure the carriage first so that we can evacuate as fast as we can!" Greg said.

Bork nodded. "Got it, boss!" and then he ran away as fast as he could.

The Calamity hit the ground with such force that it cracked the stonework in the plaza in a spiderweb pattern that spread out for hundreds of feet. The buildings shook while the closest waterfall's flow stuttered because of the sheer force. The monster stood in the middle of the crater it had made and looked at them with its vortex eyes.

"NOW!" Christoft pushed both of his hands forward, and the waterfalls did what he asked.

Millions of gallons of water changed their natural paths and bent toward the Calamity, even though gravity was pulling them away. The streams came together to form a giant torrent that hit the creature's side like a battering ram. The attack made the monster stagger and even pushed it back a few feet.

"It's working!" Marina yelled, but the noise of the redirected water drowned out her voice.

But the Calamity changed even as she spoke. The weapons on its body moved around, making channels and deflectors. The water stopped hitting it directly and started flowing around it, as if the creature had turned itself into a ship's hull that could cut through water.

"Of course it adapts," Tunner said under his breath as he raised his warhammer. "Everything that will harm it only strengthens it!"

The wings of the Calamity opened wide, and weapons flew through the air like a storm of metal. Hundreds of blades flew toward the line of defense, and everyone in Greg's group raised their shields at the same time.

The impacts were huge, with each weapon having enough power to break stone. Greg could feel his shield taking hit after hit, and the stored kinetic energy was getting dangerously high.

"Let go on my mark!" Greg yelled. "Three, two, one, NOW!"

All the shields released their stored energy at the same time, sending a shockwave that knocked the incoming weapons off course. But even as they fell, the Calamity's pull started to work. Every blade that hit the ground glowed with that familiar purple-silver light and flew back to join the monster's mass again.

"We can't even waste its attacks," Seraphine said through clenched teeth. "Every weapon just goes back to it!"

Christoft's hands moved in complicated ways, and sweat was already forming on his forehead from the magical effort. More water rushed forward, this time taking the shape of giant snakes that wrapped around the Calamity's legs. The constructs froze, turning into temporary ice that held the creature in place.

"Hit it now that it's tied up!" Christoft said.

Greg ran forward with his shield up. The others followed him, their shields making a wall that moved.

They got to the Calamity's legs and started hitting them with shield strikes, which used the energy they had absorbed to make small explosions of force. The ice broke. Then it broke.

The Calamity's legs moved with unstoppable force, breaking free of Christoft's ties. A giant foot rose and fell where Elwen had been standing just a moment before. She fell back, Hammy screaming in fear on her shoulder, and the impact made another crater.

"Too strong," Elwen said with a gasp. "We're not even close!"

If the Calamity's hand had struck them, it would have been fatal. Greg raised his shield, bracing for impact, and the others followed suit. The resulting destruction was immense.

Greg's arm went numb, and no matter how hard he tried to hold on, his whole body slid back across the broken stone. The others didn't do any better because they were all over the place like bowling pins.

"Get back together!" Lylia yelled, "Help Marina up! We need a better plan!"

"There is no better plan!" Tunner's voice was full of desperation. "Don't you get it? We're like bugs to this thing!!!"

"We can annoy it and maybe slow it down for a few seconds, but we can't hurt it!"

The Calamity started to destroy Mistfall in a planned way, as if to prove his point. One hand came down on a house and smashed it to pieces.

Weapons came out of the rubble, called by the monster's power, and flew to join its mass. Every building it destroyed made the creature bigger.

People who hadn't left in time ran through the streets. Some were trying to get to the eastern passes, while others were just running away in a panic.

Greg watched in horror as a group of guards tried to form a defensive line with their swords drawn. The weapons started to glow, and the guards dropped their swords in fear, but it was too late. Their bodies began to change, and metal burst out of their flesh as they became part of the weapons they had tried to use.

"NO!" The plaza echoed with Christoft's painful cry.

He raised his hands to the sky, and a wall of water burst up between the changing guards and the Calamity, stopping the pull for a short time. "Go!!! Drop everything that is metal and RUN!!!"

A few guards were able to get away, but others finished changing and became humanoid weapons that jerked up and flew to join the monster. Each absorption made the Calamity bigger, clearer, and stronger.

"We're feeding it," Seraphine said, her voice shaking as she spoke. "Everyone in this city who has ever worked with weapons, every forge, and every armory. That thing eats it all...!"

The Calamity turned toward a big building with the symbol of the Mistfall weapon guild on it. It brought both hands down on the building before anyone could react, destroying it completely.

Hundreds of weapons flew out of the ruins and joined the monster. It grew ten more feet in a matter of seconds, making it taller than the tallest buildings.

Christoft kept attacking over and over. Water turned into giant fists that hit the Calamity's chest. The spray from the waterfall made ice spears that shot out like bullets.

Liquid whirlpools tried to knock the creature off balance. But the monster got better at avoiding attacks every time one hit. It altered the functioning of its body, creating structures specifically designed to fend off attacks in the water.

"It's learning my patterns," Christoft said, out of breath. "Every technique I use makes a counter in a few minutes..."

"Fuck! This isn't just a monster! It's a weapon system that changes over time."

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