Everything whited out. Went to static. Raw energy swallowing physical, releasing their shapesâŠ
Slowly colors filtered back. Sound trickled into the ruinsâŠ
ððð§ðð ðŠð¡!
ððð§ðð ðŠð¡!
ðŒð€ð€ðððð ððð§ðð ððð -> ððð¡
ððððð ðŠð¡!
ðð¥ð ð£ðððð£ð ðððð€ð ððð -> ðð
ððððð ðŠð¡!
ððð€ð ðð¡ð ð ðž ðð¥ðð£ ððð -> ðð
Zane stood there panting. Breathing in the smells of the crushed blackened world.
He smiled. Good.
He was still pretty pumpedâbut the Level-ups had healed him, body-wise. He had maybe half his essence in the tank. But he would get it back soon enough.
He was focused on his Level. Just one awayâthat was when Reina thought it would happen. The next Class Evolution.
He turned to face her. She stood there gasping, hands on knees, all sweatyâher essence was nearly drained too. Zane had been careful to curve the blast around her. Now she smiled weakly up at him. Evan ran at him, tackled him a hug. Avery scampered over and gave him a fist bump. "Alright!" she cheered.
But just when they were all starting to relaxâŠ
The cavern began to tremble.
And the ground shifted beneath their feet, uneasy, rocked on its axisâmoved. By something else, some great weight shiftingâand Zane felt a soul flare to life, a signal flare in the Astral Plane...
There came a cavernous gravelly roar. A roar that shivered the ice off the distant mountain-peaks.
And those giant Monstrous coils in the distance began to move.
Zane frowned.
There was a disturbance in the Astral Plane. A flex of raw power. Essence gushing into the world.
The mountains began to glowâthe whole range. All at once. Not of their own volition. Something huge streamed through them, lighting them up from behindâŠ. They started shaking violently, white cracks ripping down their lengthsâ
"Get back!" Zane roared. Even as he dashed over, scooping up Avery, Evan, putting his body in front of Reina, managing to cover her tooâhe held them all tight, using his back as a shield. He was just big enough.
He was just in time too.
The mountain range blew.
Not like a volcanoâlike a hunk of dynamite. There was so much power running against them from the other side they gave out. In spectacular, violent fashion.
Smoking peaks flipped overhead, spinning like tops, trailing long tails of blocky iceâ
He burned his Bloodline. Made sure his muscles held strong, his skin ran hot with essenceâ
Then an avalanche of force, of essence, of sheer heavy icy matter crushed right across his back.
Pain flared all over him.
It felt like they dropped a street's worth of skyscrapers all over him. Crumbling to pieces all around him, blasting into the seaâŠ
He staggered. But held. Looked down at his friends, worried.
They all looked safe. Surprised, but unhurt.
He turned back around breathing heavy, felt cold smoke drifting off his back. Saw the raw chunks where the skin had been scraped off his sides, exposing chunks of bleeding muscleâbut otherwise he found he was alright.
He looked back.
The Isle had been flattened out. Where there had been beach there was now snow. A vast plain of it. The mountains had been reduced to mere powder mists blown away on the wind⊠they could have been standing on some Arctic ice sheet.
And the creatures on the other side, the creatures that had done this, were coming on through.
The first was a little bald purple-skinned old man with a thick white beard, cloaked in fluffy fur robes. Tiny fangs poked out the sides of his mouth. His eyes were mirthful crescents.
He floated on a little frosty cloud, a bubble of wintry wind that swirled wherever he moved, dropping drifting snowflakesâŠ
He held a scepter at least as big as his body. A scepter crowned with a giant pearl. A Weapon Soul.
That auraâŠ
Zane knew what it was. Identify confirmed it.
ððð£ððð€, ðððððð ð ð ð¥ðð âð ð£ð¥ð ðððð (ðð ðð€ð¥ðð£ ðððððð¥)
ðŒð€ð€ðððð ððð§ðð ðð ð
Behind him, coiling through the air, was a strange behemoth of a Monster. Its body could've been that of some world-striding centipede. Corkscrewing through the air. A herd of dragon's feet traipsed across low-hanging clouds. It seemed to take off half the sky. But where its head should be, four necks split offâmaking four massive ugly heads. The scales looked like sheets of cracked ice.
And they were all trained straight on Zane. The mists billowing out its nostrils made its own little cloud layer.
ðððð¥ðð ð€, ð¥ðð ðœððððð ð¹ððð«ð«ðð£ð âðªðð£ð (ðð ðð€ð¥ðð£ ðððððð¥)
ðŒð€ð€ðððð ððð§ðð ðð ð
Its Bloodline simmered within it. The final evolution of all Zane had just faced. The Ghoul Eels, the Drakes⊠now this.
Reina tensed as they floated on over.
The Shaman spread his arms wide. Grinning wide too.
â€ððð ðððððð£, said the Shaman. He gave a wheezy cackle. ðžð¥ ððð€ð¥! ðð ðšðð£ð ðšð ðððð£ððð ðð ðš ðð ðð ðšð'ð ððð§ð ð¥ð ðšððð¥âŠ
The Hydra's four heads each gave cloudy snorts.
ð ðð ð¡ð ðªð ðŠ ðððð ðªðð ð¥ððð¥ ððð¥ð¥ðð ðð¡ð¡ðð¥ðð«ðð£, said the Shaman. Those little fangs flashed wickedly in the dim light. ð¹ðŠð¥ ðð ðš ð¥ðð ð£ððð ððððð¥ ðððððð€, ð'ð ððð£ðððâŠ
He raised his staff. And icicles the size of icebergs rose overhead, crackling into being, steaming with so much essence they cast warbling aurora lights on the ceilings high above, spilling out, coloring the snowy floorsâŠ
The Hydra growled. And its mouths started smoldering essence too.
Zane narrowed his eyes. And readied himself for battle too.
Summoning what remained of his powers. And his body started smoking essence too, the pale image of a Titan Rhino flickering faint over his headâŠ
Nothing more needed to be said.
He was half-exhausted. His Bloodline was half-burnedâthat did not matter.
He would fight until he got the job done.
ðð ðŠ ð€ðð ðŠðð ðð ðð ðð ð£ðð! said the Shaman, leering. ðð¥ ðð€ ðð ð¥ ð ðð¥ðð ð¥ððð¥ ð ð¡ð£ð-ððð¥ððð£ðð¥ðð ð ðð ð£ð¥ðð ð£ðð¢ðŠðð£ðð€ ð¥ðð ðð¥ð¥ððð¥ðð ð ð ð ð¥ðšð ðð ðð€ð¥ðð£ ðððððð¥ð€âŠ ððŠð¥ ðªð ðŠ'ð§ð ðððŠððð¥ ð¥ðð ððªðð€ ð ð ðð ð£ððð€ ðð ðððð ðððð¡ ðšðð¥ððð ð¥ððð€ ð¡ð£ðð€ð ð, ð'ð ððð£ððð. ðœð ð£ððð€ ð¥ððð¥ ðð£ð ð§ðð£ðª ðŠðððð¡ð¡ðª ð¥ððð¥ ðªð ðŠ ðªðð¥ ððð§ð.
By now Xanthos's breaths were gathering so much power they were starting up their own atmosphere.
ðð¥ ðð€ ð¥ððð ð¥ð ð£ðððððª ð¥ððð¥.
Zane was trying to take the measure of both of them at once, trying to figure out how he could take both their strikes. He was already asking a lot of his body in such a short time.
The two of them at onceâŠ
This would be tricky.
He would do this, he told himself.
He would find a way.
ðð ðŠ'ð£ð ð ðððððª ð ðð, ðð£ðð'ð¥ ðªð ðŠ? said the Shaman. âðð£ððð¡ð€ ðªð ðŠ'ðð ð£ðð¢ðŠðð£ð⊠ð ððð¥ð¥ðð ðð ð£ð ð¥ð ð¡ðŠð¥ ðð ðšð. ððð€.
He snapped his fingers. More giant icicles bloomed at his sides.
ðžððª ððð€ð¥ ðšð ð£ðð€?
"You should never have come here," Zane growled. He swore he would make good on that.
The Shaman laughed.
At Zane's side, his friends weren't sitting still. They were powering up too, readying themselves for another pitched battle. Evan was trembling a little, he was so full of gold light. He was also rather scared. Avery had picked herself back up, put her game face back on. Reina was the worst offâshe'd given almost everything into helping Zane. But she was gritting her teeth; she'd give it her all, he knew.
He would have to do his best to take the load off of them. He could shoulder this. He would.
It turned out Reina was thinking the same thing. He felt a spark of intent behind him, a spark of determination. She'd come up with a planâshe made a snap decision.
"Evan!" she cried. She was in commander mode. "Avery! To me!"
They started in surprise then scrambled over to her.
ðŒð? The Shaman seemed to notice her for the first time.
Then he hissed.
A golden laser slashed through the airâand nearly skewered them right through the face. An icy shield slashed up at the last moment blocking itâbefore exploding in tiny chunks.
The Shaman snarled. âð ðš ððð£ðâ
Then he yelped. There was a Terrordactyl wheeling through the air, screeching at him, spitting a hissing sludge. The Shaman vanished in a puff of snow, came up a dozen feet away, returned fire, snarled, missedâ
He tried taking aim at Reina and Avery and Evan, but Reina whispered in Evan's ear and cried, "Now!"
A gold beam ripped through the airâcurving at the Shaman's blind spot. And he was forced to whirl around to block, grimacingâ
Reina locked eyes with Zane. "We'll hold him off for you," she promised him. She looked all determinedâhe got her meaning instantly. By now they felt so close she didn't even need to say anything. He knew her. He trusted her.
"Then I will kill the Hydra," he promised her back. They nodded. And sprung into action.
***
He turned back to face his foe.
Just him now. His friends were leading the other Monster Knight farther and farther away, harassing it as best they could⊠he trusted them. He could not think on that now.
He needed his mind solely on destruction.
He and the Hydra faced each other across that flat icy expanse. A light snow drizzled between them. One of them was enormous, crowding out half the sky, so many heads, so many feet, an army unto itself. The otherâone man. One block of flesh and muscle. Tiny in comparison. But blazing white-hot through every last fiber.
It was a strange thing though. In the Astral Plane their auras were just about matched. One hot. One cold. Both rising to the distant ceiling, blasting out at each other, charging fast⊠meeting in one stark invisible line, halfway between. And holding there.
The quality of Zane's core, erasing a Forty Level difference.
But the physical presence of the beast was still overwhelming. It loomed over him, over everything, its shadows crisscrossing its own shadows, mouth seething with an absurd amount of Law, of essence dipping to temperatures humans would struggle to measure, much less understandâŠ
Ghostly avatars rose over each of its heads. Its shining white eyes. A larger shadow of itself. Its Bloodline.
It felt like a Godbeast Bloodlineâjust corrupted. But no less strong.
Zane's Titan Rhino Blood held up strong against it. Could still claim the advantage, drop-for-drop. But the amount of Bloodline⊠complicated things.
Zane still frowned at it. He had no clue where to even start with this thing. How best to hurt it. It was a Hydra⊠four headsâŠ
Hmm.
He had to be careful here. He did not have the essence, the powers, to spare mistakes now.
They stood there still for a moment, each charging their powers to feverish heights...
Then the Monster opened its mouths.
And it felt like whole atmospheres dumped out at him. Blizzard on blizzard on blizzard.
Instantly Zane smashed the Stormfire Step. Tendons snapping fierce. And he was goneâskidding so fast it broke the sound barrier, so fast he left streaking ghostly after-imagesâbut those huge mouths were on him just as fast.
His tendons came in handy thenâhe had never realized just how fast he could change directions. He kept circling, eyes narrowed, sensing the intent of the beast. Trying to figure it out.
It was no easy thing. Four heads felt like four split intents and they kept crossing over each otherâand he was barreling so fast, going so many waysâ
He crossed right through the path of one of those breaths.
He bellowed.
For a second he felt like he'd been plunged into the depths of an icy river. The cold tried grips all over him, tried dragging him underâbut his own Bloodline went white hot, fighting it back, and he burned his way through. Forded his way through the other side with a beastly step, broke through to the air, kept barreling onâŠ.
He glanced down, gasping. Huge patches of his skin had gone black. The rot was creeping into the muscles underneath even as Stormfire wrestled with it, trying to burn it off⊠his organs felt very, very cold. For a second his blood had gone sluggish. He'd felt a shock of brain-freeze.
That had been just one stream. His Health had dipped ten percentâin seconds.
He could not let himself get caught in those. That was the thing about his body. Steel could burn very hard very fastâbut it could cool that way too. His great strength was also his great weakness against this thing.
And still he couldn't seem to find its weakness.
He scrutinized its body as he sprinted, hoping to see a heart flare up red under its scales or its Core, a weakness he could smashânone sprung to mind.
The closest thing, his instincts and Skills told him, was those heads. That was the key. One of his first instincts had been to bash them in too. And yetâŠ
He Identified it with Sage Mind.
Flickered through its Skills. Found what he was looking for.
âðªðð£ð'ð€ âðððð£ð¥ð (âðð€ð€ðð§ð) [ð¹ðð ð ððððð - ðððððð¥ðŠð£ð]
ð»ðð€ð¥ð£ð ðª ð ðð ð ð ðð¥ð€ ððððð€, ððð ððð ð¥ððð£ ð¥ðððð€ ðð¥ð€ ð¡ðððð. ððð ð£ð¥ ð ð ðððð¥ð ð¥ððð€ ð¡ð£ð ððð€ð€ ððððð ð¥ ðð ð€ð¥ð ð¡ð¡ðð.
He had a feeling that would be the case. He had been hoping maybe he could burn the stump with Stormfire, stop it from coming back. No luck.
In the distance he felt a shockwave blast, heard Reina cry out. Gritted his teeth.
His reserves were dimming. His Bloodline too. He was running out of time. He needed a plan, and fastâ
He got caught in a blizzard stream again.
This time it got him head-on. Too clean. It blinded him. He had to fight like hell to get out of it, working his poisoned rotting muscles, straining his whole body just to break freeâhe stumbled smoking. Eyes narrowed.
ððð£ðððð!
âðððð¥ð ðŠðððð£ ðð%
This time, he would not have Wish Upon a Star eitherâŠ
His eyes flashed.
Maybe he would not need it.
To kill this beast he would have to attack the heads. Without destroying them.
It was time to bring new powers to an old-school idea. Back to where he'd begun.
He swapped out his Hammers.