The Blob King trembled like a cannon about to blast. Zane felt its essence drawing in, thickening, raging down its flesh, brightening by the second until its whole fat body glowed like a supernova in the astral plane. Like was it was setting its very life on fire. It bellowed a war cry.
And its Bloodline burned. Its skin burned too. So did the blubber underneath, streaming with unnatural pale light. A light so thick it saturated the waters, warring with the colors of Stormfireโฆ
It flexed that mountain of a body and Zane saw thick slabs of muscle, rootlike veins bulging under the fat. The thing looked grotesque. It smiled grotesquely too, a too-big shit-eating grin on its too-big face.
And a Concept poured out from it.
Absorptionโat a density Zane had never felt before.
It charged him like a wrecking ball.
And Zane answered it with a roar of his own, a roar of pure effort. The sound a man makes when his soul's still raring to go, but his body can't take any more.
He heaved, straining with everything he had. And unleashed his Cyclone to its fullest.
There was a horrible tearing sound slashing across his body. Like some invisible zipper running across him was ripped open at once. Then a brutal pain lancing up and down his body, slashing him open inside-out. He felt half the big muscles in his upper body rupture all at once. Rivers of blood exploded out of him, flowing upward; reams of flesh tore up and down his body...
He grunted, wobbling on his feet. He felt a crash of pain. It felt like a baseball bat to the dome.
Zane could eat most anything, pain-wise, with barely a reaction. But this... his biceps, his chest, his back, all shredding up at onceโeach on its own would send grizzled warriors flopping to their knees, writhing and howling. And they hit him all at once.
Even Zane had to stagger.
Chunks of innards floated out of him, borne out by those blood-riversโฆ
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐!
โ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐%
At the same time, his Axes found their mark.
They met the Blob King as it blasted at himโand struck the beast right under its sagging triple-chins.
SCHLUNK-SCHLUNK!
The sounds cut through everything pristine and clear and ever-so-sharpโyet strangely soft. A sound made slick by Stormfire. When that fire grazed the tips of Zane's Axes it transformed them utterly. They sank through everything they touched, finding no resistance; they cut like only the sharpest of blades could. Almost gently. Sinking through the softness, blazing a shining new trail through that giant chunk of a bodyโฆ
The Blob King's mouth drooped open. There was a strangled choking sound. Its filmy milky eyes popped wide.
It slid into the flesh so easily it surprised even Zane. Then again, it was moving with a ludicrous amount of momentum. He'd never thrown that much sheer force beforeโฆ
And it all descended through the Blob King's innards.
And all the Monster felt was an excruciating pain. Almost as much as Zane felt in that moment.
The difference was, the Monster couldn't handle it.
It lost its mind. It howled, made a guttural warbling sound, shivered, and thrashed this way and thatโbut the Axes held their course. And just kept sinkingโฆ Zane gritted his teeth. He kept the Stormfire on a leash, primed it to explode, but not yet. He needed his Axes deeper.
Ten feet into the Blob King's fatty armor. Twenty. Meeting that turgid ultra-dense essence head-on and carving straight through it.
Zane felt a war being fought in its bodyโa war between two mighty forces. Oneโhis Axes, wielding their Stormfire. And the sea of Water and Earth and Absorption raging through that mad Monster's body.
They tried to suppress his Stormfire, wrapping around him, smothering him where he stood.
And Zane sliced right through it. Burned through everything it threw at him, cleaved them clean through in one smooth stroke. It didn't even matter what it was. His Axe was so sharp right now, so hot, he felt he could drop it straight on the ground and it'd slice down to the core of the Earth without stopping.
It was slicing through to the core of the Blob King too.
Now it was doing a different kind of trembling. Trembling like a bomb about to explode. It slumped, sagging into itself, jowls dragging wide open, trying to drag in desperate breathsโbut even as it did, its lungs crisped inside its body. Its organs were turned to liquid, then steam; a glut of Stormfire was raging inside with a vengeance. And every ounce of blubber it burned only made it hungrier. .
There was nothing the Boss could even do. Zane's Axes were like missiles making a long arc toward their target, toward the creature's very coreโฆ Zane clenched his bloody teeth.
And finished it.
Stormfire erupted inside that mound of fat.
The Blob King's eyes became two brilliant blue spheres. Its mouth a lake of Stormfire light. For a moment, every open wound, open mouth, open nostrils, open eyesโit shone with that same color.
A flash of Stormfire blue blanketed everything.
Thenโ
CRACK-BOOM!
Pure Stormfire swamped the world.
Zane felt it falling over like a tsunamiโit was going to swamp the cavern, swamp the oceans, swamp everything, and it was only getting strongerโit'd gotten out of hand. It was so huge in the Astral Plane everywhere Zane looked Stormfire was all he saw. A beast that'd grown so big the collar snapped right off. That mass had a mind of its own now. A mind that only knew hunger.
Zane's hunger.
It was the same feeling that burned inside him every time Zane went to war. And it'd taken on new life.
Zane frowned at it. His head felt very light. He wasn't sure he could move right now if he wanted to.
He was realizing he might've underestimated his own powers.
Then he felt his friends right behind him, standing at the entrance. Avery and Evan and Reinaโฆ
NO.
He bellowed. He staggered to his feet and forced up his shaking, torn-up arms.
The sea of Stormfire washed over himโฆ
And he threw every last shred of soul he had at it.
It swallowed him whole.
That beast of his own making torched him alive. He felt a searing pain running through him all over. A pain on top of the excruciating pain already lancing through himโand for a moment he felt blackness blanking out his eyes; he felt his body going weak, felt the world slipping awayโฆ
He refused to go like that.
He wrenched himself back, and began to wrestle with the beast.
He slammed his will into it, jerking it back, forcing it down, using all his powers in the Astral plane, all his flesh in the physical, to force that sea of roiling Stormfire to heel. He rolled even as his own body exploded chunk by chunk, failing him by the second; even as Stormfire scorched his innardsโ
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐!
โ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐%
He felt it raging against him, a pure intense hunger, an ungodly power looming over him, ready to scorch its own maker to ashes. But Zane stood strong.
Zane knew his body wasn't invincible. His flesh could fail him. But he also knew, deep down, at the core of himโthat if there was one thing that would never fail him it was his will.
Nothing had ever even shaken him there. And this was a battle of wills.
That simple confidence made a huge difference as he went to war. When he felt himself straining, felt himself burning alive, he kept on pushing. He knew he'd win. He had to. As they clashed, and he felt that shock of feeling, stood there, letting it wash over him, letting it pass. And then forcing his everything upon it. Bringing it low, snuffing it out bit by bitโฆ
All the while his flesh was turning to liquid. Even his Indomitable Hide. In the distance he heard Reina crying out. He felt her throwing her warmth all over him, throwing as much power into him as she could even as he overdrew himselfโjust to fight his own wild feelings. He felt her panic in the back of his mind; felt her running closer to him, running into Stormfire's blast zone just so she could throw more essence into him. He had no time to tell her to stop. He was too busy wrestling for his life.
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐!
โ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐
But the Stormfire was burning out.
It had thrown everything at him. And he'd taken it unflinchingโand crushed it lower and lower, so lower it was a field of dim ghostly flickersโฆ Submit, Zane commanded. His eyes narrowed.
It was his soul that spawned this fire. It was his soul that would destroy it.
I created you. You are mine. And you WILL kneel.
He said it like an order. He didn't give those wild feelings a chance to disobey. His soul clamped down, asserted its dominance utterly, and finally the wildness flickered out, bowed tameโฆ
That feltโฆ strange.
Zane blinked. It wasn't like all the other times he'd interacted with essence. It felt like his soul just did something it had never done before; it almost felt like aโ
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐!
๐ผ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฃ'๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ (โ๐๐ค๐ค๐๐ง๐) [๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ (๐ผ)]
๐ธ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐. ๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ช ๐๐ค ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช ๐จ๐๐๐, ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฃ๐ค.
โฆHuh.
Zane blinked at it, feeling rather woozy.
Then he almost face-planted.
Almost, because Reina was on him almost instantly, crying out, catching him, burying him in her warm embrace. He felt his head pressed against her as she worked on him, fretting, pouring warm essence all over himโhe must've looked pretty dire.
Almost at the same time, though, the last of the Blob King's essence poured into him.
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ -> ๐๐๐
๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฃ ๐น๐ ๐ค๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐!
๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐!
There were only two more floors to go. And his body had mended in a flash. His soul still felt a little woozy, though.
Reina was still checking up on him.
"Are you alright?" she said, holding him by the shoulders. It was kind of adorable how concerned she was. Of course he was fine, he said. He felt good. He smiled; he was still pretty pumped up, ready to go. He wanted toโ
He blinked.
It seemed his cheek was plastered on the ground.
โฆHmmm.
Apparently he'd blacked out for a second.
โฆMaybe they could take a little break.