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‘I’m not sure how strong it is,’ said Garovel. ‘You should armor up while you can.’

‘Right.’ Hector held both fists in front of him and concentrated. He had yet to recreate his helm from scratch, but he was sure it was possible--he’d designed the thing himself, after all. It was just a matter of imagining it precisely enough in his mind.

The metal accumulated around his head, fitting a bit more snugly than he anticipated. He forewent the movable jaw entirely, letting the metal cover his mouth and extend partway down his neck. The rest was roughly correct: smooth, dark metal with one large slit for both eyes, allowing himself a wide field of view. Next, he began crafting his gauntlets.

‘Try to keep your distance, if you can,’ said Garovel. ‘It will be fast and unpredictable. Be wary of the hydrogen, especially. Consider every part of its body dangerous and go for the brain.’

As the gauntlets completed themselves, he went to work on an iron breastplate, but by now, he had piqued Stoker’s curiosity. He saw the man moving closer, shambling toward him.

But only at first.

Stoker shot forward, accelerating with hydrogen jets. Hector made a wall. Stoker leapt cleanly over it, then rocketed back down to the ground.

He tried to coat it in metal, but the creature was much too fast. And just like that, there it was, right in Hector’s face. It lunged for his neck, biting and drooling. Its teeth hit metal and chewed ineffectually.

He pulled back, and Stoker grabbed him by the gauntlet, trying to bite through that, too. He could feel its beastly strength, but as he looked at the man, Hector couldn’t help frowning. “Please don’t make me hurt you...”

‘Stop hesitating.’

Stoker looked up at the reaper and made to swat at him, but Hector caught the man’s wrist.

Garovel backed off and flew up to observe from above. ‘This isn’t a game, Hector. You have to kill it. Letting it live on like this is not a mercy.’

Stoker’s hand converted to hydrogen and exploded, tearing through the gauntlet and taking most of Hector’s arm with it.