"You think you know how to craft as a true blacksmith?" Agatha's voice was full of real anger now.

"You call yourself a blacksmith, but you just keep on denying who you really were in the past!"

"You make those useless, peaceful things and act like you're doing something good for the world, but real craft requires sacrifices for the greater good! It takes understanding that making and breaking something can be the same thing."

The wooden structures attacked in a planned way. Greg's shield work became a blur of movement, blocking and redirecting, but there were too many ways to attack.

One spear cut him on the shoulder, making him bleed. A sword cut Hilda's arm, and she screamed but kept fighting.

Elwen's plant magic grew stronger, and vines burst through cracks in the stone floor to wrap around the legs of the constructs. It slowed them down, but Agatha's control was too strong. The wood of the constructs just changed, growing sharp thorns that cut through the vines.

"Hammy! Now!" Elwen yelled, and the slime answered her signal.

It shot out of her shoulder like a cannonball, with the hammer inside its body giving it weight and speed. Hammy hit one of the constructs in the chest so hard that it broke the animated wood into pieces, but even though it fell apart, the pieces started to move, come together, and try to knit back together because of Agatha's spell.

"You can't win," Agatha said, sounding almost sorry.

She hadn't moved from her spot by the door because she was just using her staff to point out her creations. "Every hit you make, I can fix it without any trouble..."

"I can get around every defense you put up."

"This is what sets a real master apart from amateurs who are just playing at it."

Lylia threw the staff she had made at Agatha's head like a javelin. The old woman didn't even move. Her staff moved in a small circle, and out of nowhere, a wooden shield appeared in the air to stop the projectile.

"Pathetic," Agatha said. "Is that really the best the Royal Knights could teach you? Or is this what happens when you make soup instead of working on your skills?"

"I said... SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Lylia yelled and ran at them again.

This time, she wasn't alone. Greg followed her, raising his shield to make a hole.

Hilda came from the right and swung a pickaxe in a big circle. Elwen shot at Agatha with thorny vines that grew quickly and tried to keep her from moving.

For the first time, Agatha had to move. She stepped back, and her staff spun around in strange ways. Every time something happened, it was different.

A chair broke apart, and then many pieces flew through the air like missiles. The metal frame of the lantern opened up like an origami figure and turned into a wire net that tried to catch them.

Greg's shield took the most damage, but he could feel the force in it. The Guardian's Oath was supposed to absorb and redirect kinetic energy, but Agatha's attacks were more than just physical force. They were powered by magic and the will of a master craftsman that made things happen.

"Do you want to know the truth about the Royal Knights you respected and glaze?" Agatha kept defending her perspective, but her voice sounded tired now. "They knew..."

"They knew about the Calamity, the dangers of spreading weapons, and the cycle of violence that their existence kept going. And they didn't do anything about it... what they did was just keep things the same because it was good for them."

"That's just a load of bullshit! Everything that came out of your mouth is a lie that can't be forgiven." Lylia got close enough to hit Agatha hard on the shoulder.

The old woman groaned in pain but didn't fall. "Heh... you're saying it as lies? How unfortunate of you..."

"I started to think your loyalty has really blinded you." Lylia suddenly saw a dozen small knives made from the metal parts of nearby furniture when Agatha's staff came up. "Think about it, Lylia..."

"What really made you go? Did you leave because you thought of a 'different way to serve'? Or was it because you couldn't stand the hypocrisy anymore?"

The knives flew. Most of them were stopped by Greg's shield, but one got through and cut Lylia's cheek. She didn't pay much attention because she was too busy fighting.

They fought through the room, breaking things and then putting them back together, while dodging projectiles that seemed to come from everywhere. Hilda's pickaxe worked really well because it used earth magic to take away Agatha's power over things nearby for a short time.

But she was getting slower, and the silver spots on her skin were getting bigger. No matter what was going on with her, the effort was only making it worse.

Greg noticed that Agatha was also slowing down. Her breathing was getting harder, and the staff she was leaning on was getting heavier. The link to the Calamity was killing her, just like it had tried to kill Hilda. She was running out of time.

"That's enough," Agatha said, and her staff suddenly got excited. "Let me show you what a real craftsman can do."

She hit the staff with both hands, and everyone in the room reacted. At the same time, all of the handmade items and materials came to life. The metal veins in the stone floor cracked, which showed how powerful Agatha's magic was, even in such an old building.

A wave of power hit everyone. Greg's shield took in what it could, but it was too much for it.

He felt like he was being thrown back and lifted off the ground. He hit a wall so hard that he saw stars.

Even though his vision was blurry, he could see that Lylia was having trouble standing. Hammy was frantically chirping as it tried to protect Elwen, who was on the ground.

Hilda had been thrown the farthest. She was crumpled against the wall at the end of the room, and the silver marks on her skin were so bright that they cast shadows.

"You fight with heart," Agatha said as she walked toward them with a lot of effort.

It hurt her to take each step. "I'll give you that, but heart isn't enough to beat someone who's really good at what they do."

"Who has learned that to make something real, you have to be willing to destroy it..."

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