82. Princesses & Queens (II)

Vanessa strode into the Boss Lair with her head held high.

It was a throne room made entirely of ice. The ceiling arched so high it seemed like a second sky. Little crystals studded the dome, twinkling like stars in the deep dark blue. It sloped down in icy pillars, pillars dense with Law. Frost smoke drifted off of them, making little wispy clouds that hung low in the chilling air.

She was begrudgingly impressed.

Well of course it'd be big, she told herself. It's a hall built for giants! Nowhere near as pretty as her mother's castle, though.

At the far end of it, motionless on a stark ice throne, sat the Boss. Jotunn.

It looked much like its golem minions, just bigger. A lot of thick, rugged ice welded together. The joints glowed an eerie blue. Icicles streaked off its face, making a white beard. Its eyes were bright blue and coldly empty.

As it saw her striding up, he stood. Smooth and easy. No joints creaking. No scraping. It didn't grunt or groan—just stood silently and stared at her. It was somewhat unnerving.

Thick frost smoke poured off its body.

𝕁𝕠𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕟 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 — 𝕃𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕣 𝕀𝕔𝕖 𝔾𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟡𝟝

That gave her a little pause. Then she shook her head. How many Level 90-plusses had she taken down before?

Though… usually, that was with her Mother's help…

No. It was like Mother always said—if you let doubt cloud your mind, you've already lost. She had this. She was Vanessa Volkova, crown princess of the most powerful Faction in the World! She could take a Boss in some piddling backwater dungeon.

She turned up her lip at it, feeling powerful.

Bring it on!

Just then, a cloud of glittering dust poured out from behind Jotunn. Frost Seraphs. Judging by how dense they were on her mini-map, there must've been hundreds.

She frowned at them, wondering just how she'd go about wrecking the little beasts when Jotunn clenched his fist.

Streams of frost smoke started pouring out. Some kind of Skill. Then he took a step—a step that groaned cavernously down the hall, a step so heavy it sent cracks spidering down the icy floor.

Then another. Then another, eyes brightening. And it charged her.

She could've laughed. Stupid beast. Blizzard Artisan!

Icicles crackled into being to either side of her, building fast, loaded with a trifecta of Major Ice Laws: Crystal Formation. Deep Freeze. Winter's Dominion.

Jotunn kept charging, oblivious. It made her job a whole lot easier. Snorting, she threw out an icicle. It flew like a missile—right for the thing's throat. It couldn't even block in time.

It could only watch as that devilishly sharp point made impact. And exploded.

The blast took off half its face.

She pursed her lips. "…What?"

It wasn't bad. But she'd expected to take the thing's head off. How is it still…?

Then she felt a stab of horror.

It was healing. Ice packed on its face so fast she couldn't believe it—in a beat it was blinking again. It was all those Seraphs it had behind it! She frowned. She had to get rid of them first.

But there was no time. It was rushing her, fists swinging—

Gritting her teeth, she threw a second icicle—this one right at its eyes. Blew off the top of its head.

But that didn't stop its momentum.

It just kept charging. It was just three of those massive strides away now, and she was starting to panic. She thrust out her staff. Chilling Embrace!

A blizzard roared to life behind the Giant. Furious winds dragged at it, trying to yank it backward. A chunk of that Frost Seraph cloud got dragged in and shredded in those fierce winds…

Jotunn stuttered. But that was all.

It wasn't dashing anymore. But it kept surging, planting foot after foot, step after step, getting closer even as hurricane-like winds ripped at its body—it didn't make sense! She could tear off whole buildings with those winds! Something about that frost smoke—it had the same Laws her winds did. It cancelled her out!

The Boss loomed over her now. All she felt was horror, like a shock of ice water to the face. She cried out—and with the last of her strength, she threw up an icy shield.

That massive fist fell. There was a cold blast. Her shield cracked—then it pounded it again, and shattered. It was like watching a hammer go through a window pane. The force of it crushed her into the pillar. She barely had time to throw up another shield before a fist came down again and broke it utterly. Blood spurted out from her mouth. She didn't know what to do! She kept throwing up shields—she could barely hold it off—she wasn't sure how long she could last. She—

Then it shattered a shield. But before she could get another up, another fist came through. And crashed into her chest.

The force was like nothing she'd ever felt. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt. She went hurtling like a cannonball, cracked hard into a pillar, and slid bonelessly to the ground, shaking, blood dribbling from her lips. She just lay there in a daze, gasping.

She blinked involuntary tears out of her eyes. Everything hurt so much....

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟝%

She stared dumbly at it.

Seventy-five—in one blow?!

Then, at the silent, cold, unfeeling beast charging her again. She trie, but she couldn't seem to move—it just hurt too much.

She didn't understand. A fist came down with the force of a glacier, huge and overwhelming, and brutalized her paper-thin shield. How could you even resist that? It was too much…

She realized, with a dull shock, that she was going to die.

God…

As she lay there, watching it come closer through hazy eyes, she felt like the stupidest person in the world.

All Vanessa could think about then was how disappointed Mother would be if she saw her like this. 'You pathetic hotheaded fool. How many times have I told you your pride would be the end of you? It's almost poetic.' Her eyes brimmed with tears. She was right, of course. Mother always was. Vanessa wondered, in a kind of surreal haze, watching that Monster stomp closer an closer, why it always took a beating to drill something into her. It'd sure be nice if she could learn the first time, wouldn't it?

She didn't know what to do. Her head throbbed something awful.

The fist came down…

There was an immense crash. Her world shook.

There was a silence. A silence filled only by the sound of her breathing. And the sound of someone else's, too, right in front of her—heavy and slow.

Her eyes fluttered open.

She didn't know what she'd expected to see. But not this—a wall of tensed, rippling muscle right in front of her. She realized it was a very broad back.

A very broad back of a very broad man. He'd stopped that massive blow cold.

What?!

The man grunted, shifted his force in one huge move. It was a flash of red and white—and the Giant went flying. Flying! It crashed into a pillar. Almost like she had just a moment before. Her Blizzard couldn't even move it!

A deep, smoking gash ran down its chest.

… just… just what was this power?

The man turned back to her. His forearms were bruised purple, but the rest of him looked fine.

Her mouth felt dry. It was him!

The man cursed. "Birds."

"… What?" she croaked.

He gestured at the huge swarm behind Jotunn, pouring in rivers upon rivers of pale essence. In a heartbeat, the Giant had healed up so much you could hardly see the wound.

"Kill the birds," he rumbled. "I'll take care of the Giant. Got it?"

She nodded quickly. "Yes," she breathed.

And he strode back into the fray.

***

Zane saw the problem with his Boss the moment he laid eyes on it.

𝕁𝕠𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕟 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 — 𝕃𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕣 𝕀𝕔𝕖 𝔾𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟡𝟝

𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤:

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝔽𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕖

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝔻𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕟

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔾𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕄𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

𝔾𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕖 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕤—𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕚𝕔𝕪 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒 𝕘𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕖.

ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕣 𝕀𝕔𝕖 𝔾𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕖𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕒 𝕠𝕗 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕪, 𝕤𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕝𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖.

ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕥 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕪, 𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕖𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤.

𝔸𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕙 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟]

𝔹𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕦𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖.

𝕊𝕟𝕠𝕨 ℂ𝕣𝕒𝕤𝕙 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔸 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥-𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗-𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕥, 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟.

Three Epic-ranked defensive Skills. All passive. One regeneration, two pure defense. It was nuts. Plus it had all those birds healing it…

Zane nailed it with another Rising Storm Slash as it got to its feet. He managed a pretty deep cut. But it smashed at him again. By the time he got out of the way and spun back around, he saw it'd mostly healed. Freaking birds.

The Giant threw at Zane, and Zane threw right back. His Axe ripped down its front, blazed fresh trails down its mountain of a body. And it clocked him with a few good ones with that weird smash Skill—the fists just clang'd off his body. The ice never went very deep. It still stung like hell, though. He didn't mind letting it hit him a few times if it meant he could give more back. Only it was still healing too fast—he couldn't do this forever. What was taking her so—

Ah. There it was. He could feel a blizzard coming, picking up speed and power in the center of the hall. He reached back with these feelings, felt her intent. Where she meant for it to go. He had it.

He swung with the Giant again, traded a few hard shots. Then he leaped back, leading it on as it stumbled after him. The birds came with it too.

Right into the path of the Blizzard.

The blizzard winds made a beautiful arc down the corridors, sucking in the birds, scooping up the whole cloud of them at a single go, shredding them up. In seconds they went from a cloud of shrieking beasts to a cloud of glittering dust. This sparked joy in Zane.

Now the real fight began.

He turned just in time to meet a fist driving at him up top. He was too slow to dodge. He caught it on his forearms and it felt like his bones might shatter. He came away with deep purple bruises. He winced. This thing hit harder than anything he'd ever fought.

Then its other fist whomped him in the belly.

It felt like getting struck by a battering ram. It punched the air straight out of him—he felt the force go up his guts.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%

But he grinned even as blood leaked from his lips. His body had taken all that momentum, all that force—but he'd held firm. He had it exactly where he wanted it.

A beat after it struck him, his Axe finished its giant arc and chopped deep into the joint of the arm.

It went in so clean, just the angle he'd imagined it—it almost lopped the limb off then and there.

The Giant stumbled back, suddenly off balance. And his other Axe rushed from the front and finished the job. A giant craggy arm crashed to the ground.

Now he'd gotten it angry.

It rushed after him, face twisted, mouth wide open in a soundless roar. It tried grabbing hold of him, but he Volt-stepped out of the way like a matador and whipped it on the back with his Chains. With how unwieldy it was now, it didn't take a lot to send it crashing off balance.

Before it could get back up, he sank an Axe into its chest. He shoved it to the ground again. Then he leaped on top of it, clenched fists blazing with Stormfire, and just started wailing at its head.

THUD. THUD. THUD. He smashed it again and again. Soon it was burning up and melting at the same time. It shuddered, trying to stand, but Zane had his weight on it now, all the weight of his Chains on it now. It just couldn't get up. It couldn't do anything but take the beating. Zane grinned bloodily.

Then he felt desperation light up its twisted soul. And its whole body began to glow…

Shit. He knew exactly what it was going to do.

Snow Crash.

He went straight for Vanessa. She yelped as he scooped her up and buried her in his body.

The self-destruct blast hit.

Pain tore up his back, digging deep into the muscle. It felt like all his skin had been flayed off at once—then cold knives carved into the tender flesh underneath.

He hissed.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟝𝟘%

𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!

𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

Then there was only silence.

𝕁𝕠𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕟 𝕃𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕣 𝕀𝕔𝕖 𝔾𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟠𝟠 -> 𝟠𝟡

ℂ+-𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕕𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟 𝔸𝕓𝕪𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕝 ℂ𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕!

He pulled back, breathing heavy, still hot from the fight. And there was Vanessa, limp in his arms, flushed, breathing just as heavy as he was.

"Wow," she whispered.

"Are you alright?" He said, and she nodded.

Her gaze started to soften. "What's your name?" She said it weirdly shyly.

He thought about not telling her. But at this point… "Zane Walker."

"Zane Walker," she breathed, and he got a bad feeling from the way she said it.

Zane got some warning before it happened. He'd reached out to her during the fight, and they were still connected. He thought she'd be scared—but all she felt were weird feelings. Again. But much more intense than before.

Contrary to apparently popular belief, Zane was not a brick. He was a man, literally hot-blooded in this moment, holding a beautiful girl with the kind of slim yet curvy body that'd make other girls deeply jealous. And she was very close just then; her feelings for him just poured into him…

He blinked.

But… he'd only felt these things for Reina. Looking at her, feeling these things—it just felt wrong.

She leaned in, closing her eyes, red lips drawing together—

Uh oh.

He panicked and dropped her.

She landed on her ass in freezing water.

She stared up at him, mouth slightly open. He stood, scratching his head sheepishly.

"Uh," he said. "I have a girlfriend."