Savage Awakening 457. The Final Boss (I)

A/N: Bonus chapter!

//

For a few seconds there was only the beating of his heart, steady even now. His heavy breaths, in and out.

Then he felt it detonate.

Felt a shock roil the Astral Plane—that feeling in his chest, a war cry echoing to the far reaches of the Frontier….

One heartbeat. Two. Three—

The sky was collapsing over him.

A black frothing sky. A sky stuffed with gnashing teeth and acid slobber and masses of blackened muscle, crumpling in—

A slow-moving horde picking up speed—auras overlapping, Distortion Fields stacking heavy on Distortion Fields, warping reality so badly it was as though he was staring down an apocalypse.

He’d never faced so many Tier 7 Laws at once.

First to barrel down the chute were a pack of demented bulls, snorting pale fire.

Then stomped in the orcs. Bearing rage-runes, and shields and spiked clubs heaving with unnatural gravity.

And behind that…

Thanatas, the Storm-King (Monster King)

Essence Level 663

A titan that breathed lightning-clouds. Thunderbolts clenched tight in its fists.

Minutes ago he would’ve had to drag himself up to face this. But right now…

He locked eyes with Reina; they grinned at each other.

Then he attacked.

***

And once more, Zane was the only man left standing.

He wiped the blood off his face. Not his own.

He still took the blows—still got gored by those horns, stunned by those lightning-bolts again and again. It took a physical toll—it’d pummeled him under 50%.

But he still felt pretty damned good.

Calculating credits…

+2.6!

They barely had time to catch their breaths before the speaking charm acted up again.

“Another wave—incoming!”

She wiped a strand of hair out of her face. “It looked like there won't be much rest from here on out…”

“I’m ready to take this to the end if you are,” he informed her.

She took a breath, nodded.

That wave had 29 True Gods. Most Tier 7. A horde of liches, rife with unliving vitality, backed by a Lich-Lord Monster King.

It drained his Vitality to fight him, numbing him. And used that fuel to hit him with curse after curse. It tried inflicting lethargy, but he shrugged it right off. Tried blindness and weakness.

In the end, the result was the same.

If you wanted to put him down, you’d have to hit him a lot harder than that.

Though the curses did put some more mileage on him. He was starting to breathe heavy again—but he could feel just how close he was.

Just a handful of credits to go.

It gave him yet more fuel.

And a good thing too—the next wave was already coming.

Two more Monster Kings. Naga this time, dual-wielding venomed ruby scimitars.

An ache was settling into his bones, even as Reina pumped vital energy through every limb—the wear-and-tear slowly breaking through again. A man could only push past his limit so many times….

Seven Monster Kings had fallen at his hands already today.

He went forth—and added two more to that score in brutal fashion.

By the end of it, he was so woozy with blood loss Reina had to keep him from going to a knee.

Warning!

Health under 25%

“It’s done,” he breathed, a big grin on his face.

“You mean…”

He opened the menu.

Buff of Ultimate Vigor [Uncommon (D)]

The Signature Buff of the Ancient Titan, who, by virtue of its sheer vigor and physique prowess, rose to Archon of the Celestial Imperium. Makes the user an unending font of Vigor.

This buff can only be wielded by those with the Savage Sage Title.

Perks:

1. Breakneck Starter. The body’s potency increases extremely quickly at the start of battle. For Zane Walker, that means 150% Asura Titan’s Body instantly.

2. Extreme Limit Break. The body can endure Limit Breaker form for 3x as long.

3. +50% to Health, +50% to regeneration. +20% to Limit Breaker power.

28 Credits…

He selected it.

Reina gasped as his chest heated up under her hands.

Igniting Archon Vigor…

0%... 1%... 2%...

Every muscle fiber felt painfully hot, hot nearly to the point of melting—yet the sensation was oddly pleasant. Soon every inch of him was searing.

A raw tingling ran down his bones.

“It’s working, I can feel it,” said Zane. “I think it’ll take a little time to go through. But when it does…”

It felt like something was unlocking inside him.

She looked relieved and pleased at once.

Then she was looking at his body again. All the wounds going down him. “First things first—let’s get you healed.”

Her brows furrowed. A bright warmth rushed through—he felt himself stitching back up, felt that bone-deep ache start to fade… his Health surged.

Before long, voices burst through the speaking charm.

“This is World Rank #47, Henry Colt, up north—looks like we’ve turned back the final wave…”

“World Rank #68, Shae White—speaking for all sectors of the southeast! We’ve held them off too!”

“This is Eze. All sectors clear on my end.”

The more voices they heard, the more hopeful they sounded.

But he didn’t let himself relax.

The job wasn’t done. There was still one more thing at the back of his mind.

He frowned toward that portal.

“What is it?” said Reina. Then she stilled too.

She’d felt it just as he did.

The tendrils of aura snaking out—an aura that could only belong to one creature…

Zane tensed.

Then it all blew open.

An ocean of static blasted the Astral Plane. Pure chaos—a thousand shattered voices screaming all at once, shuddering souls for thousands of miles.

A shadow crossed the threshold of the portal. Looming out into reality.

A scaled dragon’s foot stepped out. Another.

And the beast emerged.

Slayer (???)

Essence Level 666

The head of a lion. The wing of a great bat. The Million-Year horn that it stole from the Titan Rhinos. Its legs that of a True Dragon, its armored plate made of True Dragonscale.

And its claws, forged of a White Tiger’s million-year bones.

All its Bloodlines had thickened since the last time he’d seen it, throbbing heavy through its veins.

But it’d gained something else.

A third Bone going right through its chest.

Yet another million-year-bone—but there was something deeply wrong with its aura. It looked like it’d been sunk through tar.

So dense with Corruption it stained reality black.

Zane narrowed his eyes.

That was just as much Creation as he had Destruction.

The moment it clawed through that portal, its soul blasted out too.

Zane felt it slamming against his own. Just as strong as it’d been back in the Astral Plane—but he knew the measure of it now. He’d held his own against it then.

This time when it hit him, he didn’t flinch.

He had to set his jaw and hold his ground. Even with a soul like his own, he still felt that pressure.

He heard gasps ring out—choked sounds—as every man and woman in that Frontier, all of humanity’s finest, had their auras crushed to near-nothing.

One by one, they were forced to kneel.

In the distance he saw Vanessa Volkova and Jason stagger and fall. All around him brave World Ranker squads sank to their knees—forced to bow their heads…

“Zane…” Reina’s knees were trembling; she was looking right at him. Somehow she found it in her to stay up.

“It’s mine,” said Zane grimly.

He’d known this thing was waiting for him at the end of a long, bloody road. Known it for a while now. This moment felt like destiny.

The beast took a step—twitching as it did, like it’d never learned to walk properly—and its head swiveled without its body.

Its eyes locked straight on him.

Its lion’s mouth unhinged. It screeched like shattered glass.

The spike in its chest went supernova.

Then all those Godbeast Bloodlines erupted at once.

The howl of a bat. The bellow of a Rhino, the roar of a lion—all meshed in one fractured sound. A kingdom of feral gods built in a single beast…

Zane narrowed his eyes. Braced to face the threat.

It punched him so fast, so hard he didn’t even see it until it had already broken his face.

Broken his nose first. Broken the cheekbone beneath with a sickening CRUNCH.

He grunted as his head snapped back.

Then it punched his chest. CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

A third blow caved in his ribs.

And like that, three hardest blows he'd ever taken. One after another, after another…

By all rights, that should have put him down then and there. Should’ve knocked him out. It was impossible for him to even process how hard he’d been hit; he’d been hit so hard.

But some part of him—something deeper than the conscious, something ingrained in every inch of him—wouldn’t let him go down.

Somehow—even reeling, blood in his mouth, eyes rolling back—something primal in him bit down.

He found it in himself to steady himself, strike right back.

He hit nothing.

A Red Giant smashed mere air. He heard the distant screech of an eagle, the screech of a bat—Tier 7 Wind-Laws whisking away.

He stood there, heart hammering, breathing heavier than ever.

This thing hit damned hard.

He set his hammers in front of him. The thing was just too fast—he couldn’t match it blow for blow. He had to catch it coming in—

This time, he caught a glimpse of a blur.

Then it smashed him.

Hit him so hard it almost stopped his heart.

Warning!

Health under 50%

Then he was hurtling away, blasting through asteroid after asteroid, head ringing awfully, pain erupting through him—

There was a THUMP—another shattering.

The sound of the Monster smashing him again.

He tried finding his feet, tried fighting back, couldn’t even see there was so much blood in his face, growled, swung, missed—

CRACK!

And Zane found himself in a position he had never found himself in before.

He was being physically overwhelmed.

And in that monster’s presence, no one could even bring themselves to cry out.

It was silent, save for one sound.

The sound of him being destroyed. In that silence, you could hear the despair of mankind.

It wasn’t a fight right now—it was a beating.

And as he tried, and tried, and took blow after blow, he heard Reina make a heart-wrenching sound.

He roared—bit down—Chains exploded into his fists.

He crash-landed to a knee. Locked eyes with her, imploring. “Reina…”

For a moment, she just looked at him, distraught. Then she gasped.

And just like he knew she would, she understood.

She threw out trembling hands, and Creation shimmered. A heavy coating lathered his body. Something like sap.

The Slayer hit him again.

Warning!

Health under 25%

He had to fight hard to keep from blacking out.

Only this time, when that clawed arm drew back, it wrenched Zane with it.

It was enough for him to lash a Chain around its torso.

It stared at him, head cocked.

“Do it!” he roared.

And Reina hit him with everything she had. She poured her heart and soul into him.

At the same time, his body broke past his limits.

With how broken he was, he knew there wouldn’t be another chance.

He had to end this right now.

It was with that mentality that he clenched his fists and wrenched with all he had.

Prometheus Noose.