The Executionor recovered from Frankie's strike far faster than any human opponent would have.
The dagger buried beneath its ribs forced the creature to twist sideways for a moment, but the movement looked more like irritation than injury. Pale blood ran down the seams of its armor, yet the angel barely acknowledged the wound as it turned back toward her.
Frankie pushed herself upright and steadied her breathing.
Her ribs still throbbed from the first blow. The pain radiated through her chest every time she inhaled, but she forced herself to ignore it. Pain was information, nothing more. If she let it slow her thinking, the next strike would end the fight before she had time to adapt.
The Executionor stepped toward her again.
Its wings shifted once behind its back, the pale feathers brushing against broken stone. The creature's movements remained calm, even now. It did not rush wildly or lash out with uncontrolled fury. It simply advanced with the quiet certainty of something that had crushed hundreds of opponents before and expected this fight to end the same way.
Frankie studied the way its weight settled each time it moved.
That certainty was the weakness.
Behind her Marco and Luca adjusted their positions without needing instructions. The fight had already separated them into roles that none of them had consciously chosen.
Marco stood slightly forward, absorbing attention whenever the angel tried to break past Frankie. Luca remained to the side, Red Oath glinting in the weak lantern light as he waited for openings that appeared for only fractions of a second.
Across the rooftops Rafe and the others watched tensely while the Watchers remained stationed at every street entrance. The pale figures had not moved closer, but their presence formed a silent perimeter around the square.
They were not here to fight.
They were here to watch the outcome.
The Executionor lunged.
This time Frankie was ready.
She slipped sideways as the creature's fist smashed into the ground where she had been standing, shattering the cobblestones in a spray of stone fragments. Before the angel could recover she darted forward and drove her dagger toward its throat.
The blade struck the armor instead.
The metal rang sharply as the dagger glanced away.
The Executionor's arm moved faster than before.
Frankie barely avoided the backhand that followed. The strike caught her shoulder instead of her head and threw her sideways across the square.
She rolled across the stone and sprang back to her feet before the angel could close the distance.
Marco stepped forward again.
The Executionor swung its massive arm toward him with the same crushing force it had used earlier. The blow struck Marco squarely in the chest.
The impact echoed across the empty street like a hammer striking an anvil.
Marco slid backward a full step this time, his boots grinding across the stone as the force passed through him and bled away into the ground beneath his feet. His body absorbed the energy in the same unnatural way it always had, the strength of his Bastion evolution growing more obvious with every strike he endured.
The Executionor tilted its head slightly.
For the first time the angel seemed uncertain.
Luca seized the moment.
Red Oath flashed forward in a brilliant arc of crimson light and cut across the Executionor's forearm. The spear carved a deep line through the pale armor, drawing another stream of blood that glowed faintly in the lantern light.
The creature roared and swung toward Luca with sudden fury.
The strike would have crushed him if it landed.
Frankie moved first.
She darted in low, sliding beneath the angel's guard and driving both feet into the back of its knee. The unexpected force knocked the creature slightly off balance just long enough for Luca to retreat out of reach.
The Executionor stumbled forward half a step.
That was all Frankie needed.
She surged upward and drove her dagger deeper into the wound beneath its ribs, twisting the blade as she withdrew.
The creature roared again.
This time the sound carried real anger.
Its massive hand closed around Frankie's arm before she could pull away.
The strength behind the grip was overwhelming.
For a split second she felt the bones in her forearm begin to bend under the pressure.
Then Marco struck.
The reinforced metal of his cane slammed across the angel's wrist with a crack loud enough to echo across the square. The blow did not break the limb, but it forced the Executionor's grip to loosen long enough for Frankie to tear herself free.
She staggered backward, clutching her arm.
The Executionor turned toward Marco with murderous focus.
It struck him with both hands this time.
The impact lifted Marco clear off the ground and threw him several meters across the square. He hit the stone wall behind them and slid down onto the pavement with a heavy thud.
Frankie's breath caught.
Marco pushed himself upright again.
Slowly.
The Bastion armor beneath his skin absorbed the damage the way it always did. He winced slightly as he stood, but the bones in his chest remained intact.
Across the square the Executionor studied him with growing interest.
Then its attention shifted back to Frankie.
The angel was beginning to understand.
She was the real target.
The creature charged again.
Frankie ran to meet it.
Instead of dodging she moved directly toward the angel, forcing the creature to commit to its attack sooner than it expected. The Executionor swung its fist downward like a falling boulder.
Frankie dropped beneath the strike.
The blow shattered the stone behind her.
Before the angel could recover she sprang upward and planted both feet against its chest, using the creature's own momentum to flip herself over its shoulder.
She landed behind it.
Red Oath flashed again as Luca struck from the opposite side, driving the spear into the gap beneath the angel's wing.
The weapon bit deep this time.
The Executionor roared in fury and spun around with terrifying speed, forcing Luca to retreat before the retaliatory blow could crush him.
Frankie saw the opening.
The creature's breathing had changed.
The wounds were beginning to slow it.
Not much.
But enough.
She steadied herself and wiped blood from her mouth again.
Marco limped back toward her side while Luca adjusted his grip on Red Oath.
Across the square the Watchers remained perfectly still, their pale eyes fixed on the battle unfolding in front of them.
They had expected the Executionor to end this quickly.
Instead they were watching something far more dangerous.
Frankie tightened her grip on the dagger.
The fight was shifting.
And for the first time since it began, she believed the angel could actually lose.