Beauty X Beast ~ Thirty-Six!

There was an uncertain air about the soldiers in Gasteel company, and they shifted uncomfortably as they tried to come to terms with their commander’s defeat. They stood in uneasy formations, their weapons raised half-heartedly, their eyes darting between the Beast who still had a blade to the throat of the seething baron.

Slowly, the mechanical entity pulled the sword away then stepped around Gasteel. Torso faced directly at the still-frozen man, the headless automaton gripped both the tip of the sword and the handle, then began applying immense force, bending the weapon until it was completely unusable. The runescript along its edge sparked brilliantly and fizzled out, leaving the onlookers blinking in pain as they tried to get the afterimage out of their eyes. 

Tossing the ruined metal to the side derisively, the Beast shifted and began walking toward the dining room, where the Artificer was waiting to perform repairs.

“This isn't over!” 

The Beast stopped short, his movement checked not by swords or might, but by the desperation in Gasteel’s booming voice. “Yes. It is.”

“Lefroupe! Get over here and explain to the Comte why he’s in the wrong here. Point out how he cheated, how the law is in my favor,” Gasteel commanded desperately as he worked to control his expression. “If I say anything else, I'm going to end up doing something rash!”

The weasel of a man was soon shoved into the room, holding Gasteel’s tome of the kingdom's laws in one hand and his hunting musket in the other. His sweat-soaked clothes flapped around him with every nervous motion he made, glancing between the naked weapons surrounding him, the automatons, and finally the face of his lord, which was twisted into a mask of venomous fury. Clearing his throat, he quickly flipped open the book and started turning through the pages until he got to the chapter on honor duels.

“This, uh, this duel was not conducted according to proper procedure.” His voice was quavering as he spoke, filled with a note that caused suspicion and disbelief in everyone who could hear him. “Yes, as shown here, the terms were not sufficiently documented, the outcome afterward was chosen half-haphazardly, and the use of a proxy-”

“That’s directly from the section on conscription!” Danielle’s voice drowned out Lefroupe, “Even if that's the only part you read, you can't apply conscription of civilians to an honor duel between noblemen!”

“Belle!” Gasteel barked at her. “Whose side are you on here?” 

“She's right. Those are adorable legal platitudes, but unfortunately for you, they hold no weight here,” Kota called out in a cold, commanding voice. “The terms were perfectly clear and accepted by both parties, witnessed by the wards of Verdelune. You will stop this farce immediately. It does your lord no favors—only making it ever more apparent that he is surrounded by sycophants and lackeys who are willing to outright ignore the law, if it is convenient. I'll tell you now, your words, your will, cannot override mine.”

“But what of the precedents?” Lefroupe tried again, tapping on the book once more, licking his lips as he shot a nervous glance over to Gasteel, who seemed as though he were ready to explode.

“There are no precedents,” the Comte confidently declared, his voice cutting through with the blustering like a wire through soft cheese. “Do you know how I know that? It is because I have made a study of the laws of the kingdom. All the laws of the kingdom, not just volume one, which you hold in your hands.”

“Volume… one?” Gasteel slowly turned to stare at Lefroupe and the absolute doorstop of a book he was holding. “There's more than this?”

“In fact, there is!” Seeing as the aggressors were not immediately leaving, Kota decided to twist the knife a bit. “One of the first assignments given to any newly raised noble house is to carefully read through the entirety of this text. In the middle of the penultimate chapter, there’s a writ from the king, which orders the new noble to present themselves to the crown as soon as they have finished their first read-through.”

The Comte’s grin widened as he saw the abject panic on Gasteel’s face. “Don't worry, it’s not to test your knowledge. No one expects you to have memorized and understood everything on the first read. As a point of fact, the writ is there as a way to show how the new noble followed through on what they were told to do. At that next meeting, you would have been granted a staff of legal professionals, as well as a copy of all the remaining volumes.” 

Gasteel went pale, looking as though he could have been knocked over with a feather. At this point, it had been nearly a full year since he’d been raised to his position. 

“I see you are beginning to understand what this means, Baron. Even if you rushed back to the palace this very night to show that you’d managed to read through the text… you would be derided as a weak-minded man with no further potential. At this point, you—and likely your progeny—are doomed to remain at this level of society, no matter how much you struggle.” 

Comte LeKrout’s voice softened as he decided to extend an olive branch. “Instead… instead, let me offer you a position in my lands. Declare that I am your liege lord. You will have everything you deserve and almost everything you desire. Certainly, this is more than the Crown will offer you, at this point.” 

Danielle watched the exchange with immense interest as the Comte verbally flayed the man she’d come to know as little more than a bone-headed lump of muscle and charisma. Her eyes darted between the Artificer, the baron who was on the edge of exploding, and the scribe, who was flipping through the book to try and see if they were being told the truth.

“You’ll hang for this,” Gasteel finally managed to whisper, closing his eyes, only for them to pop back open, wider than seemed healthy.

“Again… you have no power here.” Kota let out a sigh, shaking his head and dismissively gesturing at the door. “Soldiers of Gasteel Company, your leader lost an honor duel and is not following through on his end of the bargain. Step outside of my manor immediately, so as to not witness his shame any further. Have some respect!”

As though he was absolutely deaf to what was happening, Gasteel stared at Lefroupe, his words echoing around the hall like a snake hissing in a cavern. “I gave you one job, Lefroupe. I told you to obey my orders, and if you haven't, if you don't… I’ll make sure you pay the price. Right…”

“Ignore him, Lefroupe!” Danielle’s shout was steady and calm but filled with urgency. “You don't have to listen to him any longer. You're a good man and fun to be around. Leave your position behind, and I guarantee you a far better one with me.”

“…Now!” Gasteel finally finished with a shout, spinning back to face the Beast and holding one hand to the side. Lefroupe’s expression flickered with doubt, but without a word, he slung the musket off his shoulder and forward into Gasteel’s waiting hands. Time seemed to slow as the baron caught the rifle, face twisting into a triumphant sneer. He leveled his weapon and shouted a series of words that caused a gout of flame to erupt from the open end.

Danielle screeched and flinched away, but her voice was drowned out by the deafening explosion echoing off the walls of the confined space. After a moment, she managed to look to see what had happened, only to realize Gasteel was tossing his weapon to the side in a pique, frustration writ large on his face.

“Sacrificing your own creations to save yourself? At least that I can understand and respect.” Gasteel’s furious shout reached Danielle's ears as though from underwater, and he continued while she shook her head to try and clear them. “Somebody get me a sword; tonight we win… or we die!”

The Beast stomped forward, causing the soldiers who’d started rushing back into the building to flinch back with a hefty dose of fear in their eyes. Yet, the automaton only made it two steps before the oil and steam gushing from the point of impact *hissed* and spurted its last. Momentum allowed the automaton to continue forward, but all that accomplished was the Beast slowly toppling forward and landing on the ground, unable to move.

“The Comte’s champion has been slain! Victory, glory, honor! It's here for the taking!” Gasteel was howling as he and his men leapt into action, charging into the ranks of the metal soldiers and swiftly carving through the first rows. With the baron at the head of the charge, the battle began anew, and the hallway devolved into a scene of chaos and violence once more. 

Danielle found herself rushing forward, only to force herself to come to a stop and pull back before her impulses could control her further. “Kota! Grab the Beast. Use the pulley system and yank his core. It's time for us to get out of here before this turns into the scene of a massacre.”

“Hold your ground! Aim for the legs; they don't need those so much!” the Artificer howled in a rage as his machines fought back. Danielle needed to grab his shoulders and shake him to break the man from his focused rage, and only after she repeated herself did a light of understanding appear in his eyes. “Right! He's not dead, he just can't move!”

Cables began dropping from the ceiling, wrapping around the Beast and yanking him into the air.

“That's my trophy!” A moment after his shout, Gasteel’s musket practically exploded once more, impacting the control mechanism for the pulley. Sparking furiously, it went limp, dropping the huge chunk of metal. Just before it would have crushed a slew of men beneath it, a sharpened spear slammed into the Beast’s body. 

The chain it was connected to went taut.

“Harpoon!” Doc cackled like a madman as the Beast swung down, then back up, barely clearing the heads of the packed metal soldiers. At the top of its arc, the harpoon retracted, sending the BST model three tumbling through the air. Automatons were scattered like bowling pins as the great weight bounced and skidded, but there were hundreds more ready to replace those who had fallen. “Ssspider for the win!”

Danielle and Kota rushed forward, the Artificer already making motions with his hands which caused the nearest mindless machines to either step out of the way or begin rolling the Beast to the side for easier access to his core. Within moments, they were at his side, struggling against rust and years of poor maintenance to try and force its internals open. 

The Enchantress whacked the Comte on his arm to break his attention as he fiddled with tools. “Stop being delicate and chop his core out if you need to! We’re officially out of time.”

Blinking at the barked order, the Artificer nodded once and motioned for the machines around him to get to work dismantling the Beast. It was the work of a few minutes to get through the thick armor, welded-on plating that had been added when sections rusted through, and faulty, broken internals. When he pulled his arm out of the Beast’s chest, both his clothing and the core were soaked in various mechanical fluids.

“I never stopped to think how badly he must have been damaged over the years.” LeKrout sighed gently as he cradled the glowing rectangle in his hand. “I can only be glad my creations don't feel pain, or he would’ve been suffering terribly.”

With a quick swipe of his stylus, the Artificer removed the self-destruct portion of the Beast’s rune design. When Danielle didn't respond to his words, he glanced over at her, only for his eyebrows to shoot up, practically vanishing under his thick hair. “By the system, what are you doing?”

“Grabbing… this!” Danielle grunted as she dug through the Beast’s chest, absolutely coating herself in filth. She shoved a thick plate of metal out of her way, coming up with the Comte’s preserved heart. “What's going on with this thing? Why’s it floating? Is that blood?”

“Ah, I’d wondered what the Beast and your father had been doing.” Kota’s offhanded remark caused Danielle to sweep the room for her father, but one sigh of relief later, she still hadn't found him. “That's a much lower-end health potion. Essentially, all it will do is provide enough healing and nutrients to keep that organ healthy. If it breaks down too much, it's likely that some of the oaths etched onto it will degrade before we want them to.”

“Enough of this! Your toys are defeated, and your monstrosities are nothing compared to me! Soon, you will have no choice but to accept that!” Gasteel’s voice was filled with madness and venom, “I will… crush you… and take what’s mine!”

“I've already warned you, Baron!” the Artificer shouted back with great annoyance. “All of this is working against you. The more impressive your reward would have been, the farther you’ll fall now that you’ve proven you have no honor!” 

The bubbling laugh of a madman caused Danielle to feel a sinking pit in her stomach as Gasteel answered, “You think I'll lose my rank for this? That I’ll be slapped down all the way to a Greenhorn? Good! This! This is what I love! Living on the edge, one mistake away from absolute destruction. The growth zone! If I can't be the most powerful, respected noble, I'll be the most feared man in the entire kingdom!”

“Comte LeKrout!” Gasteel howled as he swung his sword hard enough to send metal soldiers tumbling through the air. “By the authority of the king of Verdelune, cease this resistance! You’re ordered to report for wartime duty under my banner!”