98. Final Boss (IV)

Zane floated in darkness. A sightless, soundless void. He couldn't feel his body—he couldn't feel much of anything.

He could guess what had happened.

Well. He supposed that was it.

He wished he had a chance to let Reina know he was sorry.

Not for helping Evan. He had no regrets there—he was quite happy about that, actually.

He was just sorry he let himself lose. To a tree, too. It was kind of embarrassing. He guessed that was life.

The one thing he could feel right now was pain. A bright hot cloud of it, soaking him through.

…He hadn't thought death would hurt this much.

Something floated there under the cloud of pain. He tried focusing on it. He couldn't see it.

But there was something else, something burning away the cloud, something warm and bright—not harshly bright like the pain but soothing bright, like a hearth.

He knew that flame.

That was Fiery Renewal.

Why was it so strong? It was almost like it'd jumped a full Skill Level.

Soon enough of the cloud burned away. And he saw what he'd been looking for.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℂ𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙

𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝟝𝟘%

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟝𝟘%

𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟝𝟘%

So he was still alive.

This was a pleasant surprise. He could feel it now—his Health was a tiny stream trickling through him, barely there. So little it was almost nothing. It was the closest he'd ever been to death.

But he wasn't dead. He was healing. How? That last shot… there was no way he'd survived it. Savage Body must've helped blunt the blow. It couldn't have been enough.

He felt something pouring into his soul. A bond. There was someone on the other side, someone pouring warmth, pouring love and hope into him. Now he looked for it, he could feel it making him stronger, literally. It powered up Fiery Renewal. It powered up his steel body even—made it a Level stronger. That, plus all the rest, was what'd borne him through.

Huh.

It was that Power of Friendship Skill, he realized. It boosted the Skills of all Evan's friends—its power depended on the bond. It'd been pretty strong before. But this felt different—orders of magnitude stronger.

Evan must've seen what Zane had done. And somehow it made a difference? It was the only thing he could come up with.

He'd been saved by the Power of Friendship.

…Wow.

He'd recovered enough now he could feel his body again. He almost wished he hadn't—his lungs felt squished flat; he could scarcely drag in a breath. His whole body felt squished flat. He wasn't sure there was a single thing in him—bone, muscle, organ—that hadn't ruptured. He could feel the full weight of the meteor bearing down on him. This must be what roadkill felt like in their last moments of life. Very unpleasant.

He felt a soul nearby. A very familiar soul in massive distress. It was straining hard. And Zane felt all the steel over him start to shift. This was also very unpleasant—he felt like dough being slowly kneaded. Lots of things, already broken things, crackled and popped inside him.

A gap opened up and light poured through. He blinked. It hurt just to look at it. There was Evan, panting heavily, looking down. The boy's whole body was glowing. Zane could faintly see the Treant recharging in the background. Then it disappeared behind Evan's head—Evan had knelt down next to him, leaning over him. He was sobbing.

"Nooooo!" He cried. He cradled Zane's head. Which sent pain flaring up and down his neck. "Stay with me, Zane! C'mon! No, no, no—don't you die on me!"

The boy was swamped with despair. He really thought this was the end. Zane tried saying something, couldn't manage it at first, gave a bloody cough. Evan gasped. "Zane!"

Then Zane reached up a slow, shaky hand and flicked him in the head. Evan blinked.

"Not… dying," Zane croaked. His throat burned with every syllable.

"…oh."

"Will be… fine."

He pointed at the tree. "You. Kill. Tree. I. Be right… there…"

He groaned, laying back. "First… rest…"

Evan wiped away tears, sniffling. "Okay…"

"Counting… on you."

Evan nodded very quickly. A new fire lit in his watery eyes. "Okay!"

"Go."

And Evan jumped up, suddenly bursting with anger and joy all at once. He burned so hot with it Zane had to turn away, groaning a little; it felt like his soul was blinded. Evan felt like he had against that eagle boss. But this was so much more intense—so intense Zane was getting pumped up, and he was only feeling secondhand emotions.

Evan's Signature Skills—his Power of Friendship, his Power of Determination—were showing in full force. He was burning with so much power right now his eyes were literally shining. Was it Zane's imagination or was his hair floating a little too?

Evan screamed a battle cry. Then he leaped for it. And Zane gave a little smile. He regretted it instantly. It really hurt.

***

He caught the action through bleary eyes. The Treant was still recovering; it seemed halfway there. But when Evan blitzed for it, it perked up. Roots exploded out of the ground, walling up the path, grasping at Evan's legs—but Evan just whipped out his sword. "Sunblade arc!"

It was shockingly strong, almost as strong as Rising Storm Slash. The difference was in the time it took for Zane to throw one, Evan blitzed out five.

Roots reared up and gold instantly mowed them down. Those Sunblade slashes were blink-fast, so fast you couldn't see them moving, just the aftermath. The gold carved all the way through the teetering trunk.

One arc struck. Then another, and another—so fast they blended into the same shot. And the tree toppled.

Zane propped himself up to an elbow; he was almost past Critical Health now—he could almost feel his legs. But he just watched. He sensed something special was happening.

The ground under Evan's pattering feet was like a roiling, angry ocean. The Treant kept trying to catch him—kept trying to swamp him. Its Titansteel roots shot up high, crashed down like riptides, and Evan just flitted out the way, slashing and slashing and slashing—

The other tree was getting marked up now too. It started to wobble. There was nothing the roots could do. Evan's sword was moving so fast it marked a golden semicircle in the air, a little halo of intensely brilliant gold. Nothing could touch him—it was a gold that drowned out everything. The ground didn't look Titansteel gray-brown anymore; it was only a paler shade of gold. Evan was shining like never before. Not just his body but his soul.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" cried Evan as he slashed. His aura was going supernova.

The Treant could feel it too. It felt deeply threatened then. It felt it had to go all out. And its strongest power had finally recharged.

Clots of gray steel spread over a dark sky, thickening fast. This time the roots didn't even go for Evan. Instead they shot up around him in a thick circle, caging him in. The Ironfall hung above. There was no escape.

But Evan was still burning; he glared up at the Ironfall. He wasn't the least bit scared of it. He was a little ball of fury and bravery, just blazing with pure feeling. And as that first meteor fell, a golden arc rose to greet it—it was so bright it made everything else seem dim; it was like the first light of sunrise after a long dark night.

Zane felt a new Law there. He blinked. …Had Evan just comprehended a Law mid-fight?

The boy really was in another world right now. Far, far beyond his natural limits in some special state—Zane had never seen anyone else do that kind of comprehension before… it was something he thought only he could do.

It was something only he could do. Zane sensed it then. He sensed it through their bond—the way Power of Friendship was drawing on him. Not taking, but… sharing? In that moment, in this crazy trance of his, Evan felt closer to him soul-wise than ever.

Evan's slash met the meteor. Its Laws weren't as strong but its essence was undeniable. Zane expected an explosion, but no—it just sliced its way clean through. And the halves fell away, cratering into the ground. Steel essence rushed out like hurricane winds, stripping leaves from the bough as they passed.

Another meteor shot at Evan. And his sword flashed again, lighting up the night. Two down. Then three. Zane watched as the last meteor fell to a blitz of gold. One more slash brought down the wall of roots. Then there was nothing between the boy and the Treant.

Evan was starting to burn out. He'd burned too hot, too fast—but he screamed and put his all into one last slash. "Hi-ya!"

It took that final tree right off the Treant's back. As it broke off, its silvery glow dimmed. The essence in it died out. The beast spasmed, bellowing; an immense pain came over it. Roots fell like sloshing waves, petering out. Some core part of its powers was broken.

Then there was Evan. Breathing hard, still smoking gold essence. He fell to his knees. He was pretty cooked—he'd asked of his body far, far too much. But he kept trying to will himself to go on.

He felt a big hand on his shoulder. He looked up, blinking. Zane gave him a nod. "You did good. I'm proud of you."

"Really?" Evan beamed. Now he felt all warm on top of all that tiredness.

"You can rest. I'll take it from here."

"Un!" The boy nodded. Then he slumped like a ragdoll. Zane got the sense he wouldn't be waking up for a very long time.

Zane brought his Axes out and took a breath.

Fiery Renewal had boosted his Health up near 50%. And the Treant looked to be down about as much—It had lost the root of its power, literally. It was standing now, huge fists clenched. It was still a titan of a thing; it still had a body brimming with Elemental Law. It felt furious it'd been pushed this far. But all this was over now.

Its cold eyes locked on his. It wanted to crush him the old-fashioned way.

Zane snorted. So you're a brawler now.

He clenched his fists too. Well. So am I.

It bellowed at him so deeply, so loudly, it sent all the trees on the bough clink-clinking. And Zane roared right back, grinning. He set his Axes on Stormfire.

They charged together.

This thing might be Level 100. And its body might be tougher than Zane's. And it might have pretty much every physical advantage possible on him—including Health. Its main body looked mostly untouched.

But if there was one thing Zane had total confidence in, it was a slugfest.