Forbidden science and Dark Magic had combined to create a construct whose body was linked by tendons and bearings, its horrifying mechanized limbs driven by nerves and cables. Even as a spectator, Salomon could still feel the demon's pain. The demon machine, twice the height of a man, had had its vocal organs removed. It could only silently activate the sharp ratchets beneath it and charge forward. There was no strategy, no thought—only frenzied attacks, as though that was the only way to ease its pain.
Bayonetta immediately met it in battle. Salomon tossed the boy behind the nearest gray stone monument, then joined the fight as well.
The Witch leaped gracefully into the air and spun, arching backward like a world-class female high jumper to evade the giant ratchet sweeping horizontally at her. The rapidly spinning blades whipped up an icy wind that stung the skin, grazing past the Witch's nose, chest, abdomen, and toes without leaving so much as a scratch. The instant she landed in a half-crouch, she drew her long blade and slashed backward without looking, cutting away the metal spikes beneath the demon that secured and propelled the ratchet. Then, taking advantage of the construct's loss of balance, she began attacking the smaller gears on the demon's upper limbs, intending to cripple its ability to attack by destroying the transmission system of the demon construct.
The Arcanist immediately cast a spell to summon chains and straps to restrict the demon's movements, buying time for Bayonetta's assault. Chains appearing from thin air jammed tightly into the construct's gears and small blades. An immense current surged through the chains and into the construct, charring what little flesh the demon had left and briefly paralyzing its mechanical structure.
By the time he entered the fight, the Witch had