"What do we do?"
That was the only thought in Caleb's head.
Urgot was no easy opponent.
Even if his followers were basically a bunch of complete weaklings right now, that absurd oversized body of his was still a nightmare to deal with.
"Let me think…"
Sheltering behind cover, Caleb carefully ran through every ability Urgot had shown so far.
Right now, their side was at a disadvantage. A huge disadvantage.
Caitlyn's Hextech rifle couldn't keep him pinned down properly from higher ground.
On level ground, at best she could hit his chemtech legs, and those things were incredibly tough.
Vi's fighting range was too short. If she rushed in recklessly, the scattershot blasting from those chemtech legs, plus the machine gun in Urgot's hand, could leave her badly injured or outright kill her.
As for Caleb, his close-quarters combat ability had always been pretty average. This time, the only things he had brought were the Hextech shield and the Hex Claw.
The Hex Claw's laser could not get through Urgot's defenses, which meant Caleb and the other two had a very hard time doing any effective damage to him.
"We barely finished dealing with Mundo, and now this."
Caleb had barely gotten to his feet before the wall that had been serving as cover was blasted into rubble.
"Seriously, does the world just not want me alive?"
He kept retreating while desperately thinking of some way to deal with the enemy.
The only good news was that Urgot was too bulky and still had to reload the ammunition in those six legs of his.
So the three of them could still fight while giving ground, instead of just breaking and running.
"Can you hit the barrel that sprays the flames?" Caleb asked Caitlyn beside him.
"I can, but I'd need to get to higher ground."
The request was ridiculous, but Caitlyn still answered honestly.
And higher ground, of course, also meant greater risk.
None of them had forgotten those Chem-Barons from just a moment ago, the ones who had gotten too full of themselves.
So while Caitlyn fired from above, Caleb and Vi would have to do everything they could to draw Urgot's frontal fire.
That was not going to be easy.
After all, even if the people around him were weak, they were still reckless fanatics who didn't care about dying.
In their eyes, Caleb and the others were part of the trial, and death, both their own and everyone else's, was as ordinary as a daily meal.
Against attacks like that, Caleb really wasn't sure he could walk away unharmed while also surviving Urgot.
"The weapon box on his arm can fire two different kinds of rounds."
Knowing that Vi and Caitlyn were not especially familiar with chemtech, Caleb explained while running.
"One type causes an explosion, and it looks corrosive too. It's probably battery-based."
"The other is sustained suppressing fire. With that caliber, if it even grazes us, we'll probably be getting prosthetics."
"And then there are the legs that spray chem-fire, plus the big killer weapon in his stomach."
Caleb looked grim, but he still did his best to stay calm.
"He might actually be harder to deal with than Mundo was a few days ago."
Even Mundo had not exactly been blessed with much combat intelligence.
He could not hurt Zac. Ekko could reverse time. Vi's fists were always faster than he was.
And then there was Caleb, hanging around the edge of the fight and taking cheap shots whenever he could.
Mundo still had plenty of stamina, but he had never really managed to deal meaningful damage to any of them.
The only time Ekko had needed to rewind time more often was when Caleb, a T4-tier deadweight by human combat standards, went in close and used the Chempunk Chainsword to cut through Mundo's limbs.
If they were comparing the four-man team that took down Mundo against Urgot, then things looked much worse.
Vi could barely get close.
Ekko could keep him occupied, but could not do meaningful damage.
Zac would be hurt by the chem-fire and the corrosive electric charges.
And Caleb was even worse off. If Alina had not jumped out just now, the one hit by Fear Beyond Death would have been him.
And judging by the screams that came from inside after Alina was pulled in, the process had been horrifyingly painful.
"Tch."
Caleb clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Caitlyn was already moving for higher ground, which meant Caleb and Vi could not keep falling back anymore.
And besides, if they retreated any farther, they would reach the urban district of Zaun.
At that point, once Urgot started spraying fire in every direction, the civilian casualties would be impossible to count.
As Governor, Caleb could not allow that to happen.
He and Vi burst out of cover at the same time, one on the left and one on the right.
Only a few of Urgot's followers were still standing now.
Vi could practically drop them one punch at a time. No matter how fearless they were, that did not make them harder to hit.
Through her triple-lens scope, Caitlyn's rifle remained perfectly steady in her hands.
This was the partner she had trusted through life-and-death battles ever since first entering Zaun. Of course she trusted him.
Aim. Exhale. Do not consciously pull the trigger. Let the finger contract naturally.
Caitlyn had practiced that motion for so long it was carved into her bones.
Bang!
With a loud detonation, the chem-fire ignited inside Urgot's leg instead.
Caitlyn's bullet had successfully punched into the pipe in one of his legs.
The sudden loss of one leg threw off Urgot's balance, and he pitched forward.
Even so, he still managed to fire the gun in his hand.
Caleb immediately threw up the Hextech shield, only to be blasted off to the side and sent rolling several times by the force of the explosion.
Then Vi appeared behind him, the Atlas Gauntlets glowing as she drove a beautiful uppercut upward.
That punch tore Urgot's mask clean off, and Caitlyn fired her second shot at exactly the right moment.
With both of his front legs suddenly out of control, Urgot could no longer stop his body from tipping backward, and instead crashed heavily onto the ground.
"Goodbye."
Still sprawled on the floor, Caleb did not bother climbing back up to deliver some grand speech.
He simply raised the Hex Claw and aimed it at Urgot's now-exposed forehead.
The laser pierced down through Urgot's skull, and the body he had been so proud of was ripped apart into chunks by a chemtech explosion.
The blast wave hurled both Vi and Caleb through the air, and the remaining followers around Urgot all went still as well.
"Finally took care of him."
Before being flung away, Caleb had managed to open the Hextech shield.
Even so, what he landed on was still unbelievably hard, and Caleb felt like his back was about to snap in half.
"You motherf…"
Groaning, Caleb stood up while clutching his aching lower back.
Nearby, Caitlyn helped Vi to her feet, then went to retrieve the slightly damaged gauntlets from where they had fallen.
Watching that scene, Caleb felt unbelievably bitter.
"Don't tell me there really isn't a heroine after all?"
With that question still on his mind, Caleb returned to his office and stretched out hard in the soft chair.
"Let me go! You rough, hot-headed maniac!"
"Did you forget we're friends?"
"We were so like-minded once! We were climbing the heights of explosive science together!"
The shouting outside made Caleb open his eyes in irritation.
A tightly bound yordle had been thrown onto the floor in front of his desk by Jinx.
"There. I did what I promised."
Jinx lazily bit into a skewer of grilled meat, though Caleb had no idea what animal it had come from.
Still, food was food, and Jinx clearly did not care.
"The last Chem-Baron is dead," Caleb said, raising both hands in surrender. "I didn't do it, and I couldn't stop it."
Jinx's face went through several rapid changes of expression, but in the end she just nudged the Ziggs on the floor with her foot.
"Whatever. I already dragged him here."
"You can ask for something else," Caleb said, still rubbing his back.
That hit had felt like his spine got knocked out of place, and it was only now slowly settling back where it belonged.
For once, Jinx actually fell quiet, like a little girl thinking about what present she wanted for Progress Day.
"Then... take me to see Silco."
After a long silence, Jinx finally spoke.