Savage Awakening 477. Legendary Duel (I)

Diseased limbs exploded out of the Blood Demon’s body, ballooning fast. Skin bursting open to show tattered wings, hands turning to claws, bulging—this giant, heavily diseased gargoyle unfurling in the middle of the arena…

***

“The Blood Demon Sage just started his transformation!” cried the announcer. “…Damn, that’s nasty… but Jack doesn't look too fazed!”

Zane cracked his neck. Heart pumping, the runes on his body flaring…

For the first time in months, the aura of Asura Titan’s Body burst out.

And the Third Form made its presence known.

An ancient aura, the aura of the Ten Million-Year Bone, trampled over the arena with such force it shuddered the suppression wards.

It wasn't just the Blood Demon Sage that got to unleash.

Now he got to play rough too.

It was time to unleash the full potential of the rock.

The cowl dissolved. The wings unfurled farther. Displaying the spike going right through the Monster’s chest, searing with Creation…

That’s right, shrieked Vorlok. Or did you not think I’d possess such a thing?!

A corrupted Million-Year Bone.

***

“Goodness, that spike looks nasty,” said Jun, wincing. “…I wonder what it does?”

***

Last chance, human. Vorlok’s eyes narrowed. Or do you still refuse to pay me the proper respect? Show me your true might!

Zane considered the Bone. Then… “I don’t think I will.”

Vorlok shrieked. Its Bone-Aura flared, contending with Zane’s own.

And it attacked. Gargoyle wings heaving into one great flap. Blood splattered. Giant pools of it, almost like acid, hissing where it touched, making a terrible rain—Zane had to leap back, dodging between the globs…

***

“Looks like Jack’s getting pressured again!” cried the announcer. “But we know how he does under pressure… can he show us something incredible, yet again?!”

***

Zane readied himself to bonk.

He knew he had to take this seriously.

He’d prepared a Skill just for this occasion.

His Way of Rock was getting rather robust, which he was pretty proud of, actually. It was starting to shape up as a martial art.

And its capstone was this.

The edges of his rocks began to flicker. Streaked with the white of Destruction…

***

The night before…

“I just need to check something.”

The Pagoda Spirit squinted. “Talk.”

“This Rock Smash Skill—it won't be all that hard to scale it up, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Say I want to put down a True God with it,” said Zane. “A strong one. Monster King Level. I’d just have to hit it harder?”

“That’s about it.”

“What if it’s got Creation?”

“You’d have to throw in Destruction. That would make the Skill a little more complicated—”

The Spirit paused. “You want to make a Rock Smash with Destruction.”

“….Maybe.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to hit it with your normal Skills at that point? Putting Destruction in a Rock Smash—it’s like…” A long pause. “I can’t even come up with an analogy! That’s how wasteful it is!” 

He thought about explaining his whole situation—he figured it’d take too long. “Let’s just say, I don’t want to blow my cover if I don’t have to. Look—you can make the Skill, can’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah…”

***

Zane charged the Blood Demon.

He dodged a giant gob of blood. Dodged another. Smacked a third out of the sky, body burning hotter and hotter—he was really feeling the effects of that quick-start buff now, that Buff of Ultimate Vigor.

Paired with his Asura Body, Third Form… his body was just exploding with new strength—he felt himself blasting past 150%, past 200% Vitality—

He was so much stronger—in terms of raw physical power—than before he’d taken in that Ten Million-Year Bone. The Zane now could crush that Zane with ease. He could feel it with every step he took…

He wasn’t sure what it’d take to threaten Empyreans. But he had trouble believing any but the most elite True Gods could withstand just his body right now.

It took a massive effort not to overdo it. He stomped—skidded across the arena—trying to limit himself, but still that barest effort shot past the limits of Ascendant, deep into Minor God territory.

But in that moment, few were paying attention, which was lucky.

The eyes of the world were on his rock.

Watching as he leaped. Cranking it all the way back. Watching Vorlok’s eyes widen with horror—watching Zane wind his whole body back like one great bow—

Then bring that brick, full force.

Right on Vorlok’s head.

CLANG!

An earthquake ruptured the Astral Plane.

Broke through a glut of Creation. And whacked that Monster King soul, head-on.

Monster Kings—especially peak True God Monster Kings, especially ones with Million-Year Bones—were tough bastards, usually. They could take quite some damage before going down. Taking it down in just one blow…

That would take a truly monstrous amount of force.

That was exactly what Zane delivered.

Vorlok shrieked—cut off quite abruptly.

Its eyes rolled back. And it crumpled—shrinking as it did, until it was just a diseased-looking man with a shiny new bruise on its head.

Like that, Zane eviscerated a Monster King True God.

He looked at his handiwork, breathing fast, and grinned.

“Thanks,” he told the unconscious Monster. “It’s been a while since I got to stretch my legs… I enjoyed that.”

The wards seemed to be fading—the announcer’s voice broke through.

“…just another typical Jack domination!”

That was how it looked from the outside. With all the auras suppressed, it might’ve just seemed like he’d bonked yet another Ascendant—just a more horrifying-looking one. Nothing out of the ordinary. He hoped, at least.

Cheers rained down on him. “Jack! Jack! Jack!”

He waved his brick. Had to give the fans what they wanted.

He was surprised by how the realm held up—no tears in reality or anything. He’d swung quite hard there. Though if this was the original Dragonspire, like Reina thought—it wasn’t too surprising.

“He’s through to the finals!” cried the announcer. “Which means next up—and I can’t believe I’m saying this—Is Salazar! The Sword! Against the brick! Unstoppable force versus inexplicable object! Stay tuned, folks—it’s shaping up to be the battle of the era!”

***

“He’s come a long way, hasn't he?” said Ryu.

Jun looked a little dizzy. “Jack’s really facing the Sword Saint…”

“I wonder what his odds are,” said Ryu.

“Jack’ll win for sure,” said Kira confidently. “That Sword Saint won’t know what hit him!”

***

“That…” Salazar blinked. Then laughed; it was as free a sound as he’d ever made.

He grinned.

“Hells,” he breathed. “I can’t remember the last time I felt like this…”

His sword hand was actually trembling.

He had the vague notion he was one of very few who understood just what had happened down there in the arena.

Jin was still dazed by his side. The boy shook his head—“I swear I saw him before! He just… really reminds me of someone…”

***

The healers came to pick up the Blood Demon Sage.

“No,” said Zane, shaking his head. “No worries. I'll take him to the medic.”

“That's real sportsmanship right there!” said the announcer.

The healers didn't seem to want to touch the fellow anyway, understandably. They nodded gratefully.

Zane promptly took Vorlok to a cave on one of the less-inhabited mountain peaks. He took a fistful of Red Giant and exploded the Demon King’s head.

Sure enough—the realm held up nicely. No great tears or anything—neat.

That was the end of that.

***

He waited another few days and was pleasantly surprised to see nothing happened. No Malzareth descending on him, no new Monster activity. He supposed those suppression arrays did their job.

To the outside world—other than him going shirtless and showing off some cool new tattoos—it seemed a standard Jack performance, apparently.

Low profile.

Before all this went down, he would’ve thought it was unlikely he’d pull this whole low-profile thing off. He had to give himself a pat on the back.

***

“You really made finals!”

The night before the final duel, he ate dumplings in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with Jun, Kira, and Ryu. Just one more day in the capital for all of them—there was an air of restless anticipation.

For Jun and Kira, at least. He still felt pretty chill about it.

“Should be fun,” he said—and he really was looking forward to it. “That Sword Saint guy sounds pretty strong.”

The kind of Ascendant who could beat top-tier Minor Gods… kind of like he’d been, actually.

To beat that guy—while pretending to be an Ascendant himself…

It’d be an interesting challenge. That was for sure.

And after that—the Library. And his new Concepts. Which, he felt, was about time.

“Have you thought about how to do it?” said Ryu, looking curious. “Any strategies?”

Zane shrugged. In general, any elaborate plans he made tended to fall apart pretty fast—he left that to Reina nowadays. He was better off thinking on his feet and going with what the fight brought.

“I figure I just have to whack him,” he said through a mouthful of dumpling, which summarized his thoughts on the matter nicely. “I’ll figure it out.”

***

He did do a few things, though, in preparation.

He headed out of Astra, out to the Steelheart Conclave, where he got a nice fellow named Gong to forge his rock halves with Primordial Grade Steel. Then finish them so they looked like rocks—even felt like rocks.

Gong looked a bit baffled at the request, but he was happy to do it.

“Anything else, champ?”

“That’s all, Gong. Thanks.”

“’Course! You go crush it!”

Zane intended to.

Another piece of prep, just in case—he limited the size of his Aegis to just 10 layers for this one. He’d done some research on this Salazar fellow—he seemed kind of like Jack. His attacks hit in both the astral plane and the physical. Zane wouldn’t want his soul defenses to seem suspiciously high.

He took some extra rocks with him too—never knew when they’d come in handy.

Then he took a bottle of secret stuff and put it in his back pocket. Just in case. He had a trump card in mind, but he wouldn’t use it unless he absolutely had to.

That all done, he was pretty much as ready as he’d ever be.

The day of the fight, it felt like all of the divine realm had descended on Cloud City. The streets were swamped outside the arena—staring at massive projections fixed on its walls. A funnel of great clouds swirled above, stuffed full of Minor Gods.

Then there was the arena itself. Those giant steel pillars were trembling.

“Salazar the Sword Saint!” roared the announcer. “The man needs no introduction! It’d be easier to list the things he hasn't done. Certain men blazed their names across the face of an age. Certain men leave all other geniuses gasping, ruined in their wake! For our era—perhaps for all eras—that man… is Salazar!”

He gestured to the heavens. “Is there a Minor God up there who dares stand against him?! I doubt it, folks! But this man… this man does! On the other side… it’s Jack!”