Zane advanced slowly on his brother. It was a big arena, but to those watching Zane seemed to take up more space than even his massive body suggested. His shadow loomed larger and larger until it swallowed Jason up.
Jason tried standing then, gritted his teeth. He rolled his eyes at his own strangely bent leg like he was annoyed it had betrayed him this way.
There was a sound like a cannon firing. And Zane's massive body shot forward.
"It's Stormfire Blitz!" cried Becca.
He came like a freight train hitting top speed. So fast he almost ran Jason clean over.
But even on one on one, Jason was devilishly fast. He pivoted out of the way on his one good leg, a bloody blur, emerged just to the side of Zane's rampage charge—and laid into him. He slashed once, twice, three times, carving bloody scars into bloody scars. Zane's huge sides were already badly mutilated. It was just that there was so much of him to cut through. Even Jason's butchering took a while to slow him down.
Zane just ate it. Swiveled around. And unleashed a Stormfire Punch.
And this time, Jason found himself wedged against the wards—he couldn't get out of the way in time.
With that huge rush Zane had forced him here. Forced him to take it head-on.
Jason gritted his teeth, and did.
A shield blossomed in front of him. A gleaming bloody whirlpool. And in it, swirling among the currents—
"That's Zane's own Steel!" cried Becca. "Zane's own Stormfire—he's using them against him!"
Zane let out a bellow. And rammed in a massive punch.
It was wound so far back it almost started at his ankles. Then it rose, and rose, and kept rising—swerving overhead, whipping in air, gathering momentum, gathering power, a blazing crescent of sheer power. It felt like staring at the center of a bright blue sun, a cold sun…
Jason could only brace.
It struck the middle of that shield.
For a moment the shield held him off. Those two enormous forces raged against each other, the dark red against the bright blue, frozen in space and time. And then—
The blood exploded like a blood balloon. Stormfire broke through Stormfire, broke through everything, and laid into the man beneath.
The crowd let out a shout.
Close-up, they saw one last trick. A subtle layer against Jason's skin, a web of translucent red hugging him tight…
"It's Jason's Earth-rank passive Skill!" roared Tyler. "Blood Cloak!"
A skill he'd pilfered from an A+-ranked dungeon. One of the most powerful defensive passives in the world—extremely high Level. Some said it was almost of a grade with Zane's own Steel body…
It wasn't enough.
There was an earth-shaking crashing. A burst of blinding light, a deafening rush—and a line of smoke arched through the mess. Shooting out, crashing against the wards, crumpling to the ground…
There lay Jason Walker, very pale. Blood trickling between his lips. He looked rather stunned then; he let out a hacking cough.
Above, Zane's Health dipped below 50%... but Jason's went below 30%.
"Good god—Zane's walking him down again!" said Tyler. "He's coming in for the kill!"
"Imagine how terrifying it must be in there!" gasped Becca. "An angry, bloodied giant coming after you—and it's like he doesn't feel pain, he doesn't feel fear, all he wants to do is crush you to dust!"
"But Jason still doesn't look scared to me, Becca," said Tyler, frowning. "Just surprised? Now he's smiling again!"
Jason sat there, propped up against the wards. Weakly grinning with the few teeth he had left. His skin was all raw red and burnt black. He looked like a mannequin.
There was a strange gleam in his eyes.
"Impressive," he croaked. "No one's pushed me this far. Ever. You've really become something else, haven't you?"
Zane stayed silent. His footsteps thumped heavy as he came.
"Fine then, brother!" said Jason. He coughed blood so black it looked like tar. "You've proven yourself… it's time I stopped treating you with kid gloves."
He staggered to his feet. His grin widened, grew lopsided. And that gleam in his eyes only brightened…
***
Jason's pupils began to burn. A strange aura flowed out of him—his whole demeanor changed. An odd black-red pattern swirled over his skin, spiraling all over him—and his aura erupted to the skies.
His leg twisted back in place. His skin started patching back up—his Health rocketed up too—he let out an awful scream.
A crackling sound spread out from him. He twitched, spasmed, like his whole body was breaking and reforming at once. Bright red cracks spread down his skin… his teeth began to sharpen. The bones on his face stuck out. Fat beads of sweat ran down his skin.
And he began to swell. Everything. His skin, his muscles, his limbs… sharp joints of bone broke through, jutted out of him…
Zane narrowed his eyes.
He knew this was the most dangerous part of the fight. Reina had warned him about this.
Jason had gotten his hands on two drops of Godbeast Blood. It was his ace power. As best Reina could tell, he'd gotten it from a pair of A+-ranked dungeons formed on two of the bloodiest battlefields of World War II. An incredibly rare drop, even then…
That Bloodline was part of what powered his defensive passive. But it had a stronger Skill too—his last resort. Something Reina had only heard whispers of, even with all her research.
Zane used Sage Mind to bring it up.
ℍ𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 ℂ𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕓𝕒𝕝 𝕏𝕀𝕀 [𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 - ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟]
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥—𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥. 𝔸𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖, 𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕧𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕤𝕦𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣. 𝔼𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕖𝕟𝕕. 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕔 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞, 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 ℍ𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥. 𝕌𝕤𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟.
Jason laughed—a feral sound, and huge gobs of blood spittle came spluttering out of his massive mouth…
***
"What the hell is that?!" said Tyler, voice cracking. "It's like Jason's transformed into a demon! That aura—"
"It's beyond even A+-ranked Bosses!" gasped Becca. "I've never seen anything like it, not even the Monsters coming out of S-ranked dungeons!"
It was Zane's turn to fall in Jason's hulking, disfigured shadow. Jason's whole body was warped, bulging, bone jutting at odd angles... Only his eyes stayed the same. Vicious, intense eyes.
He let out a guttural roar.
And he blasted straight toward Zane, swinging massive bony fists.
Each nail was as long as his scythe; a foot straight of deadly edge, a lethal weapon. Jason didn't wield any weapon anymore. Weapons were for men—and Jason Walker had made himself pure raw aggression, a beast in mind and flesh.
As he fell on Zane, the crowd let out a cry—their hearts were in their throats. It was impossible in that moment not to panic for Zane as that monstrosity loomed over him, blades whirling... in that moment, Jason's aura rose so high it smothered Zane's totally. It was a mass of essence like no one had ever seen.
But Zane wasn't panicking. He stared it down with cold hard eyes.
And when it came at him, Zane let out his own deep roar. And met it head-on, fists blazing Stormfire.
They fell in a bloody tangle, slashing and blasting. Each strike was like a bomb going off, trembling the stadium, knocking thousands of fans out of their seats—for a moment it looked like the arena wouldn't be able to hold them. Rivers of blood splattered the wards. Those two huge beasts rammed each other wall to wall, tearing ferociously at each other—
But one of them was getting the upper hand.
Zane had punched huge craters up and down Jason's body. But—
"Look at Zane's arm!" cried Becca. "His legs—his face! He's being ruined!"
Those Godbeast claws did their awful work. They'd shredded Zane so badly whole chunks of him dangled useless.
Zane fell roaring defiantly; he tried getting up—
SCHLUNK.
A sword of a fingernail stabbed him straight through the chest. Pierced a line straight through his thick body. Into the sands beneath. Pinning him to the ground. He frowned at it.
Then jerked, stiffening, thick veins standing out against his massive neck—as it began to wrench out his life force, his Law, his essence…
Zane groaned, bucked against it. Kicked, grunted, tried building up, smashed a huge fist against Jason's monstrous form—but the wounds were taking their toll. And he couldn't make use of his great firepower, his brute force, pinned down like this. Neither could he swing his Chains. All he could do was blast and blast that one fist, making craters all over Jason—
But Jason was shredding him just as fast. Faster.
And the more damage Jason inflicted, the bigger he seemed to get; soon Zane's own Stormfire flickered across Jason's body, blunting the blasts, and Jason laughed cruel and shrill, and those claws descended on Zane over and over, drawing out fountains of blood—
The tide had turned now. Well and truly.
Jason was carving Zane into slabs. Savaging him like a pack of hyenas falling on a wounded bear. The big man fought and fought, but soon he was little more than a mass of thrashing red flesh; his movements started getting weaker, started faltering—
It was stunning to see a powerhouse like Zane held down like this. The audience could hardly believe their eyes. None of them would've thought it'd be possible before now….
Jason kept laughing. Kept pouring in everything he had, burning brighter, brighter—his outburst was hitting its peak.
It was getting hard for the crowd to watch. Zane's Health had dropped at a dizzying pace. In just seconds it'd gone from 50%, to 40%, to 30%...
"Jason's killing him!" cried Becca. It was so brutal even she forgot she was just watching a sparring fight. Jason clawed out one of Zane's eyes then—and even Zane had to spasm at the pain of it.
By then the crowd was totally silent.
In the Luminous Faction locker room, there came a strangled cry...
But then. Just as Zane's Health dropped past 20%. A huge bloody fist struck up—and grabbed hold of Jason's own. Flesh on blade.
Jason growled, yanked hard—but Zane just wouldn't let go. His one good eye met Jason's.
That eye shone just as bright, as hard, as it ever had. Unflinching.
Jason stilled at the sight.
Then one Chain snaked up Jason's trapped arm.
Jason was panting. He was frowning; he looked surprised. He'd just thrown up a hellstorm of offense. He couldn't seem to understand how Zane was still fighting back—still conscious.
Then Jason snorted. Raised his other arm to claw out Zane's throat—
And another Chain lashed out and caught it.
Jason yanked one arm. Yanked at the other. But he looked surprised by the power, how tight they held him—he could barely wriggle.
Even ruined as badly as he was, Zane still kept that immense power of his.
And then the Chains caught Stormfire.
Jason howled. He gave a brute-force effort; his whole body started to shine, burning over; his muscles enlarged, bulging, lit up vivid red—
"Jason's burning all his essence!" cried Becca.
He managed to wrench a hand free—but almost as soon as he did, that viper of a Chain snagged hold of him again. The Chain over the other arm started constricting, climbing, until it seemed the brother on top was just as pinned as the brother below.
Jason howled. Tried thrashing free—
And Zane yanked.
That huge devilish body came tumbling over. And the bloodied giant beneath came to life; slouched over, staggered his way up, looming over, bleeding every which way—and those Chains just snaked tighter and tighter—
Zane let out a roar, a roar that sounded like it came from the bottom of his still-beating heart.
And the crowd went wild.
"Savage Sage! Savage Sage! Savage Sage!"
Far louder than they'd ever been—it was like life had been breathed back into them.
"HEAVENS! What a stunning reversal— just stunning!" screamed Tyler. "Did Zane just weather the storm?!"
"Look at Jason's face!" shouted Becca. "He looks shocked—shocked Zane didn't go away, shocked he found a way out! And now look at him—now he's shocked he can't move at all!"
"If there's one place you don't want to be," said Tyler, "It's pinned under all those Chains of his! The Savage Sage's power is like nothing we've ever seen—and look, he's starting to squeeze!"
Jason choked. His blood-streaked eyes bulged; he tried turning on his side, clawing his way to his feet—
Zane's entire arm lit up with pure Stormfire. Concentrated on one slab of hard bone.
He had a sitting target.
He limped up to Jason. Their eyes met one last time. Jason's eyes were wide, mouth hanging wide open. Zane's was narrowed.
And then Zane unleashed everything. Something deeply buried, pent-up within him burst out into his flames. And made them burn hotter than they ever had.
BOOM!
Jason let out a soundless cry; a great many bones shattered up his chest, up his throat. You could see the blackened ruins of his heart. He tried bucking out—
BOOM!
A fist crushed Jason's head back into the floor, cracked that huge monstrous skull. Until half the face was a roasted mask. But Jason was still kicking, shrieking—
Zane dropped his fist like a hammer.
BOOM!
The skull exploded. The skin and the bone instantly tried stitching back together; the bloodline burned more furiously than ever—
But Zane stayed on him like a dog with a bone. He wouldn't let go. And those giant fists started raining down. You could feel the rage in every single one—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The throat exploded. The joints that made up the spine cracked, went flying in splinters. Bits of smoking jaw splattered against the wards.
Until one last hit detonated over the head. And it shattered in a thousand flaming smoking pieces.
Jason's monstrous body stopped kicking. Went limp, still.
There was a silence.
The crowd went ballistic. Cheering swamped the air. Tyler and Becca tried shouting things, staring at each other in stunned happiness, but nothing they said could be heard, even through the anti-noise wards.
Zane leaned back, breathing hard. Only then did they all realize just how badly he'd been hurt. Half his guts were spilling out. One eye was poked out—the face was a mask of blood. His muscles were so torn it was a miracle he could move at all. Every little shift must've been incredibly painful. Zane hadn't whimpered once.
The only thing keeping him upright was that same emotion burning in his one good eye…
He closed it. Let out a deep breath…
The arena faded away.
𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕜 #𝟚 𝕁𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕
𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕣: ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣!