-5 seconds

  "I guess I can ask that Golden Guard," Eislock started, before Banks pulled himself from the rubble, forcibly wriggling through despite his atrophied muscles and none so slim physique.

  "It's not friendly," he said sharply, just as the thing seemed to come alive lifting it's head and regarding the two of them, before raising a hand. Banks observed, gaining a blurry impression of mana that swirled around them, briefly before it coalesced into a rough shape before thrusting forward as a beam. A second before the beam went off, Banks pushed Eislock separating the two and causing the beam to blast through a what remains of the wall on the other side.

  "That's quite a bit of mana," Eislock said as he pulled out a weapon that looked like a flail of some kind. "They truly deserve to be regarded as the keystone of two Empire's."

  "Golden Guards weren't the keystone of the Golden Emperor," Banks refuted as he looked around for a weapon, before grabbing a nearby piece of metal pipe from the debris. "They also feel different from the ones used by the Golden Emperor."

  "Any better analysis than different," Eislock muttered as the arms of the Golden Guard began to transform, shifting into a tower shield on the left and a large broadsword on the right.

  "I'm afraid not," he said as he moved closer, not quite entering the range of the Golden Guard. "It's still big, still golden, still heavy, and still brimming with a respectable amount of mana."

  "And still very dangerous," the Nevadie said. "I may have a special tactic. When I say to run then run, just get out as far away as possible."

  "Nope," Banks said immediately. "You're referring to Hecatomb and while I deeply respect the ability and willingness of your race to blow themselves up, I do think it is a pity to waste it on a mere Golden Guard." He turned away, gesturing at the bulky armored being with his thumb. "Come on, between the two of us I don't believe that we can't take it." His words were emphasized by a sharp pain in his side as the construct took the time that he was facing away to bisect him at the waist.

  -0.5 seconds

  He jumped upwards, seconds before the blade hit, barely clearing it before he landed on his back on the floor. A massive metal boot came down and he wedged the metal pipe beneath the sole, holding it for a moment as he rolled under the Guard, before it snapped beneath the weight. It turned to bring down the sword on him, only for it to raise it's shield as a flail crashed into it with a boom.

  "You're okay, buddy?" Eislock asked.

  "Peachy," Banks said, as he leapt to his feet lashing out with a kick leveraged towards the reverse side of the knee joint, before wincing in pain. "Nope I think I pulled a muscle, gonna try that again in a safer way."

  -2 seconds

  Peachy," Banks said, standing up from his position on the floor and dodging a swing from the broadsword that crashed into the floor next to him. He jumped on the arm, before launching a kick at the helmeted head that caused it's body to shift slightly, before he bounced off and was bashed with the shield midair. Clasping the edge with his finger he hung onto the shield riding the momentum and touching down on a wardrobe that had fallen onto the lower levels. Another blow landed on the head of the creature, causing it to rock to the side and it paused, rotating it's head and locking onto the small human. Reaching into the wardrobe he pulled out a relatively fashionable dress and leapt off the wardrobe. He hit the back of the creature immediately looping the dress over it's eyes and the whole thing went still.

  "Did disabling it's eyes actually disable the whole operation," he mused out loud. "That's playing it very safe. Especially for the Undyyyy__" at that moment the Golden Guard went berserk. Both weapons disappeared as it desperately clawed at it's back grabbing him before tearing him apart.

  -2 seconds

  He pulled himself up a second before hands reached around putting his legs around the constructs shoulders, wrapping his hands in the folds of the dress before slamming down his fist on the side of the head, where the helmet used to be. The head rocked to the left and then the right and then the left again as he slammed back and forth until the thing threw both of them backwards slamming the both of them to the floor. Banks pulled himself to his feet, only to block a wayward punch that sent him tumbling over and the thing crawled to it's knees stretching towards him before it screeched in pain as that flail came in again, straight into that knee joint he missed earlier.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Since when do they screech," he said as he pulled himself to his feet. Musing as the thing randomly swiped backwards trying to take down the Nevadie only to hit air. The thing raised a hand accumulating mana before he took a run up, full force landing a drop kick on the back of the construct that lost it's balance and fell flat on it's face. A moment later a bath tub from the upper floor slammed down on the spot next to it.

  "Huh, let's try that again," Banks said before the hand swung back in a blow that may have crushed his organs if it hit.

  -2 seconds

  He landed the drop kick sending the thing collapsing to the side, and it barely had the time to raise it's head before the wooden bathtub as well as a good portion of the ceiling collapsed on it. He walked close to the thing that was spazzing out completely and he got a good look before slamming down his foot on the head.

  "I know what he did," Banks mused to himself as he stepped back. There was an underlying smell of rot, beneath the gold, absent from the original. Whatever lay beneath the armor was alive enough to die and it certainly was dead by this point. "Oh, oh there's something I always wanted to do," he said as he walked backwards and hopped behind what was left of the bar. He nodded at the waitress who was cowering beneath the counter, before he grabbed one of the barrels of liquor and dragged it, behind him.

  "Where are you going, buddy," the Nevadie asked as he walked up the stairs.

  "Just give me a moment, I want to try something," he said.

  "It's fine. I'm not going anywhere," Eislock said. "He's not going anywhere either. Think his legs fully busted."

  "Him," Banks mused, as he got to the top floor. "You think it's a guy?"

  "I don't know," the Nevadie said as he was circling around the Golden Guard, as it tried to draw a bead on him. "Should I be using 'it'. Does it have a gender."

  "Not currently," Banks said, taking a whiff of the cask. "Wow, that's the bad stuff." He rolled over the cask to the edge, dropping it over the side and... "Missed damn."

  -0.5 seconds

  Missed.

  -0.5 seconds

  Missed.

  -0.5 seconds

  Missed again.

  -0.5 seconds

  "Got him," he said, watching as the cask exploded on the head of the Golden Guard who stumbled, barely remaining upright as the construct was drenched in cheap alcohol. It barely remained upright before he landed two feet down on the helmet sending it crashing to the ground. "Got a light," he asked the Nevadie who looked at him with some amusement and tossed him a pack of matches. A weird piece of trivia came to mind at that moment. Ironically, the modern match was among one of the many, many inventions of the Golden Emperor. Smiling he struck a match and tossed it behind him.

  The construct had barely crawled up to it's knees when the match hit the liquor and burst into flames. Apparently the alcohol didn't only smell like paraffin but must have contained a fair dose, because in seconds an inferno had sprung up. A horrific wailing came from the apparent construct as black smoke began pouring out of the mass of golden armor and for the briefest moment the helmet opened up and he caught a glimpse of blackened teeth. It started to flail around, erratically twitching, the smell was nothing quite like he imagined. Not burning flesh, not scalding metal, but rot and flame and pain and something that he had never smelt before. At the last moment, the faintest image of pure white strings appeared around the Golden Guard before they evaporated and the entire thing fell still.

  "Hey I didn't need to blow myself up," the Nevadie remarked staring at the flaming mess that lay amidst the collapsed building. "Er, we should probably be helping the people now, right?"

  "Oh, shit you're right," Banks said. "Alright, I'll lift you pull. Let's start with...." He paused as the doors burst open and several squads of guards burst into the room.

  "Raise your hands," the guards said, weapons out, a mix of spears, swords and crossbows, all trained on the pair.

  "Good timing," Banks said sarcastically as he raised his hands, the Nevadie following straight after him.

  "I should go out drinking with you more often," Eislock said, not a trace of sarcasm in his voice. "This is perhaps the second greatest bar fight I've ever been in."

  "You must tell me about the first," Banks said as the guards secured his hands. "Maybe over a drink sometime."

  "You're paying," his new friend said as his own hands were secured.

  "Take them to the guardhouse," one of the guards said. "The Chief will want a word with them."

  Banks said nothing as Eislock gave him a wink, the Nevadie apparently riding a high. Instead he inwardly chuckled as he was led out of the partially collapsed tavern, by the callous hands of some very rough or stressed guards. He paused for just a moment, seeing the torn and cracked name board hung over the front of the bar. Before he was roughly dragged forward, by the official thugs of Pragnosis.

  "The Silver Peony," he mused to himself, firmly committing the name and location to his not very great memory. Whatever those guards had seen in the room above, it had set of an explosion. "It was the third floor fifth room. Whatever was in there both obliterated a good portion of the inn and possibly made the Golden Guard go rogue. " Silently he made a mental note to explore the room above, before those guards got the opportunity, when next the time loop activated.