174. The S-Rank Dungeon (VI)

The Boss lair was at the very end of a tunnel ridden with heat vents. They had to swim through geyser after geyser spewing simmering bubbly fumes. It was boiling hot in here, like the place meant to cook them alive. Reina cast a light shield around them. It kept the worst of it off.

At the very end, waiting for them, lay the Blob King. And around him spread out in a circle were a dozen-odd lesser red dots—its Blob Spawn minions.

Zane felt he knew just the tool to deal with them.

He explained it to his friends. Reina was a little apprehensive; she always was when he suggested something risky. But in the end she agreed it was the best course of action.

"Stay at a safe distance," he warned. "This could get messy."

They nodded.

Zane's Stormfire would really be fighting him this time—and unlike before, he planned to let it have a longer leash. He needed that destruction right now. But he couldn't let it run wild; he'd just have to assert his will enough to keep it on the right track. He could do that.

It was a simple plan. Evan and Avery would strike from a distance at first, buy him a little time.

"We won't let you down!" cried Evan. He nodded firmly.

And Zane believed him—Evan had this shining look in his big eyes. And the Power of Friendship was soaring through him. Sometimes Evan got these big spikes of power from who knew where.

"Yea! We've got you big fella," said Avery. She gave him a salute. "Give 'em hell."

Reina gave him a kiss and wished him luck. And he was off.

He set his density high—so high he was walking, not swimming. Even down in these tunnels, the pressure was incredible; it weighed down every inch of him. And with how he was moving, he felt like he was striding on the moon.

The chamber ahead was so vast it was hard to call it a chamber, almost a little underground world. It had to be that big to fit all those Blob Spawn and that enormous King in the middle.

Zane caught a glimpse of them—there must've been two dozen of them, all slumbering. From a distance, they could've been giant boulders.

𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕓 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕨𝕟 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟡𝟚

𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕓 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕨𝕟 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟠𝟡

𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕓 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕨𝕟 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟡𝟛

On and on they went. If Zane came across them in the wild, even he might have some trouble taking them all on. He figured he could do it. But he'd come out of it pretty badly banged up. He'd have to take a lot of smashes.

He definitely wouldn't have enough left for that thing in the middle.

It was the biggest Blob of them all. Big as a mountain—a fat sack of turgid pale flesh, so pale it looked like a corpse's. And underneath was a pure wall of blubber packed at incredible density. Its face was horrifying, like one of those giant faces you'd find on a totem pole. All ugly and knotted and saggy.

Its eyes were one closed black line. It sat there still, heaving slowly as it breathed, fat bubbles leaking from its fissure of a mouth…

𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕓 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟡𝟡

Zane checked it out.

It had all the same skills as its Minions—Torpedo Rush and Gelatinous Absorption. But an upgraded version, an Earth-Common version that granted it a defense akin to Zane's skin. But for its blubber.

There was one more Skill too that gave him a little pause.

𝕄𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕆𝕔𝕖𝕒𝕟 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝔼)]: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕓 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕨𝕟'𝕤 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕢𝕦𝕖 𝕘𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪, 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕓 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕪 𝕦𝕟𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕀𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕙 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕖𝕕𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔾𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖.

It intrigued Zane. Zane knew someone else who had a rather powerful body.

When they came up against each other, which one of them would break?

He was getting excited just thinking about it; he felt a little tingly.

Its weaknesses were its core—hidden behind all that blubber. But Zane could've told you that without Sage Mind.

He forged into the chamber.

Avery and Evan and Reina stayed a little ways behind him, hugging the walls. Keeping a safe distance.

Zane took a breath. He lifted a fist. The signal.

Instantly he heard Evan cry out—"Clear Beam Slash!"

And Evan went nuts. It was like pure white lasers shooting overhead, lancing right into the middle of the Monster horde. They woke groaning and snarling and wailing. As they shifted their weights, the whole chamber began to tremble. A little earthquake rattling all around, cracking the walls.

At the same time the water started warping all over the place, started to shimmer as Avery worked her tricks. A strange world of noise bloomed in the middle of the cavern; all kinds of shouts and screams and screeches coming from everywhere and nowhere at once—and the Blob-things started bellowing, started charging at nothing. When some of their wild blasts got too close, they bounced off some kind of invisible wall.

It made a pretty good distraction. But it wouldn't last.

Zane had to hurry.

His Axes burst into being. Their edges lit up with True Stormfire, shining so bright it cast the rest of the cavern in that signature electric-blue color. And slowly, like a flywheel, they began to spin…

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝔼𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖 ℂ𝕪𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖 [𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕪 (𝕄)] 𝕀𝕍 -> 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖 ℂ𝕪𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖 [ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝔼)] 𝕀𝕀

Zane clenched his teeth. And shoved with all his might—willing his Axes into motion, willing his essence on through, opening up the gates of his soul and letting every little bit of him pour out into this attack. He felt his body straining with the effort as he forced it, yanking tons upon tons of soul steel faster and faster...

One.

He had to let loose here. Had to let his Stormfire run free—against a horde like this he knew there was no other choice. Even if there was a chance the monster he created came back to bite him.

The heat of it skyrocketed in an instant—the light too, raging against the waters, scalding them... and it hit a wall. A wall all around him, crushing down on him. A wall of pure water, pure Law—such enormous volumes it was like an ocean squeezed into a cavern. For a second there was a furious stillness; Stormfire raged and raged…

And broke through.

Started gulping down huge swathes of water, searing away the Laws, setting it alight—and then there was only more Stormfire. Ever-growing, ever-expanding, making new fuel of everything it touched. Carving a band of pure brilliant power through the air…

And Zane stood there, powering it all. Groaning. Feeling two mountain-like spiraling weights going around him, threatening to rip him at the seams; feeling his essence rushing out of him, more and more as his Stormfire brightened—

Two.

Avery was working some kind of crazy illusion trying to keep him hidden. Trying to keep his Stormfire hidden. For now, those Blob Monsters' eyes were still on the mirage…

Zane yanked harder, lugging with every fiber of muscle in his arms, down his back, felt a spike of pain rippling down him, let out another grunt.

The speed of it—the weight of it—was like nothing he'd ever felt. His new Stormfire had given it a raw momentum so powerful it surprised even himself. So powerful it hurt to hold.

But he could feel it working.

The Cyclone just kept growing brighter, growing hotter, growing bigger, threatening to swallow up the ocean, swallow up the cavern, swallow up the world and everything in it. If the waters were boiling before they were so hot now they were unstable, flitting between liquids and plasmas—especially wherever his Axes went…

And all that growing snarling Stormfire bucked and raged against him. This time he didn't force it to heel. He let it race along its own track, let it run free—even as it drained more and more out of him. So much essence was gushing out of him he was getting light-headed, blinking black splotches out of his vision.

He heaved in a deep breath.

Three.

"Hey Zane?!" cried Avery. Her teeth were gritted, her face sweating and pale, eyes all wide. "Can't… hold… on…!"

But now it had taken off. His Cyclone didn't need so much from him anymore; it had its own vibrant life, was building speed and power and a devastating momentum, changing the color of all that water, ratcheting up the sheer heat of it until the very sands began to boil, prying age-old stones from the crumbling walls, obliterating swathes upon swathes of sea even as more rushed to take its place.

This world was trying so hard to suppress him, throwing all its water, all its Law, more than Zane would have thought possible…The harder Zane pushed, the more he felt it trying to crush him.

But it couldn't hold him down.

Four.

But it was too late to force him to stop. Zane wasn't sure he could stop it all if he tried. Instead, his Cyclone was starting to change the direction of the ocean, change the flows of the very currents. He felt the pressure in the water starting to shift—like he'd been standing in some stew stirred by the hands of some angry god, and Zane just wrested away the ladle. This sea belonged to him now; every last bit of it was getting sucked into his swirling currents, burning brilliant white, a pillar of light stretching from the stony grounds to the craggy ceiling…

Five.

"Let them come," growled Zane. His voice was hoarse with strain. "I'm ready."

He felt a spark of pain behind him, a gasp—Avery dropped her illusion.

Evan flagged a moment later too, panting badly. He'd left big scorch marks all over those Blobs, lancing them with bloody gaping wounds; strips of raw flesh peeled off of them. Wounded. But nowhere near dead. Not even close.

Now they turned their eyes on their new enemy.

They stared in shock. At the burgeoning apocalypse that was his Cyclone, towering over them all, washing out the world in its aura, its light, its power…at the man in the center of it. Holding everything together with sheer brute will.

For a moment they were stunned.

And then twenty Monsters bellowed as one. Just behind came an even bigger bellow reverberating through the tunnels, spreading deeply, so powerful Zane felt it trembling his organs. So strong it felt like a sonic attack.

The minions rushed him at once.

But even as they charged, they were thrown out of whack. Their bodies weighed tons upon tons. That blubber was denser than max-grade Spirit Steel. And yet even they couldn't resist the drag of Zane's new Cyclone anymore.

It dragged them raging into the boiling steaming currents.

Six.

And his Cyclone began to shred them. Torch them alive. Those shining Axes moved with contemptuous ease; they met skin, muscle, fat, bone—it didn't matter. Those Axes knew only one speed. They were streaming with so much power, so much heat, they didn't care what they touched. They slashed. And the Blobs erupted.

Sometimes Zane thought when his Axes struck monsters it was like blood balloons bursting. If that was so then these were Hindenburgs, a fleet of blimps caught up in a storm far more powerful than any of them could handle. And exploding all at once. A Level 190 there got sliced clean down the middle; all that fat went up in flame, melted like candle wax in split-seconds. A Level 192 tried charging him. And an Axe lopped off its head, splattered burning sacks of fat, burning brain-matter all over the floor.

A few of the beasts got deep enough to charge him before being dragged screaming back in.

It was a good thing too. If something hit him now Zane couldn't even tense for the impact—it felt like every inch of him was stretched to the maximum, so much he could feel himself starting to tear…

He'd never wielded this much weight before. No man had. This new Stormfire, the sheer speed of the spin, the sheer power—it felt like he was trying to hold two drifting continents together with his bare hands. And the force just kept building and building—

Each Blob he slaughtered was a little reprieve. They gave his fires something to chew on, blunted his Cyclone's momentum just a little. But even still he felt stretched painfully tight.

Soon—

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟟𝟞 -> 𝟙𝟟𝟟

But almost as soon as he healed he broke again.

His soul could still handle it. But his body…

A sound escaped Zane. Not quite a roar or a grunt—a low, guttural groan that escaped him, a noise of sheer effort.

His skin might be tempered strong. His body had its limits. He could feel himself rushing up to the edge of it.

Either he wrestled it down, and killed it. Or the raw power at his fingertips at this moment would start to destroy him.

He made his choice firmly, instantly.

Seven.

A shocking line of hot burning pain tore up his chest. A muscle splitting at the seams. He just ate it, grunted, kept going. He felt Reina's warmth pouring through him, struggling to patch him up even as his own Stormfire Renewal playing over the flesh—

Another line of muscle split down his back, and his whole body spasmed. The pain was blinding even for him.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%!

If all this kept going it might swallow him too. It felt like his arms might come off at any moment…

He didn't care. He grinned through all that mind-bending hurt.

He just had to turn all this power on a target. On something that wasn't himself.

As though on cue, a shadow loomed over him. And kept looming and looming until it blocked out his whole field of vision.

Roaring, he gave it everything.