Savage Awakening 454. The Beginning of the End (I)

Zane’s final rampage went down three days before the final showdown.

It was complete domination. Nothing could challenge him anymore.

He fought a horde of spiked hags at the edge of the Frontier—withered giant witches, each with a spike driven through their chests, teeming with Creation. Earth’s other top Rankers could barely slow them down, much less hold them off.

Then Zane took on the gauntlet.

He slammed a punch into one hag and saw the force blast through that withered skin—saw that Destruction waste it in an instant, shattering its Corrupted Bone before wrecking the one behind it too…

At this point, Reina was sure his force levels were rare even among elite True Gods.

There was no comparison she could find for him at Minor God.

Tier 7 True Gods couldn’t take more than a single blow from him anymore. The ones with Corrupted Bones couldn’t last more than a handful.

His Credits just kept racking up.

+3 Credits!

+3 Credits!

+3 Credits!

He was up to 14 now.

He came, at last, to a halt, barely breathing heavy. He surveyed the devastation before him and saw that it was good.

A slightly shaken voice came over the speaking charm—Gaia central command.

“That’s it, sir… you’ve cleared them all.”

He nodded. “Got it.”

He closed the line.

That was the last big horde before the final challenge.

There was nothing to do now but wait.

***

“There’s been some big news these last few days,” said Tyler. “It’s been mixed, granted—but there’s reason for hope! First, the readings from Reina’s new scrying stations in Gaia have come back—and it’s like we expected. The power levels in Dungeon X are several times bigger than we thought they’d be at the start of all this.”

“But Earth’s gotten a whole lot stronger too, let’s not forget!” said Becca. “And it’s not just Zane! Just this week, both Emeka Eze and Jason Walker made some serious breakthroughs.”

The scene changed.

There was Eze, on one knee, smoking slightly. A Tier 7 True God Giant trembled behind him, standing stiff upright, looking confused. It looked to be the end of a fiery exchange.

Then its eyes glazed over. They saw the soul leaving that creature’s body. It let out a silent howl before it collapsed to dust.

“His Touch of Death’s gotten even stronger, somehow,” said Tyler.

“It seems like Earth’s full of Monsters,” said Becca cheerfully. She nodded. “Professor Brom did say he’d never seen a planet like ours in all of history.”

She paused. “Though I guess he does say that a lot…”

“Then there’s Jason!” said Tyler.

Jason stood, covered head-to-toe in blood—not his own. Both his arms were broken. He was laughing, standing over the shattered corpse of a Tier 7 winged serpent—scythe dangling loosely in a fist.

“He’s only gotten more wild, hasn’t he?” said Becca.

“Just a few hours until it all goes down. We’re starting to see teams forming up!”

The scene cut to a live view.

There were Jason and D’Angelo, along with their Empire Faction elites, dressed in black and red. Jason grinned, leaning on his scythe.

“I’ll be honest,” said Becca, blinking. “I wasn’t sure Jason would come… then again—I guess he never was one to stay away from a firefight.”

“He might just be here for a bit of fun,” said Tyler. “Or maybe he really does care, deep down!”

“I don’t know…”

“Whatever the case—when Earth needed him, he showed up! That’s what matters.”

Becca nodded.

The scene changed to show Cristina Dos Santos and her elite soldiers—a phalanx of spearwomen, each holding Primordial-grade steel.

“That troupe’s a real force when they get going,” said Becca. “They’re just about up to the task of taking down Tier 7 True Gods too.”

Then there was Eze, standing there with his Royal Guard. His arms were crossed, eyes closed, cape flapping—just waiting.

“He likes finding his center before a fight,” said Becca.

The scene changed to Yuki the Sky Painter, surrounded by his clan’s strongest—all in gis. The boy was looking curiously out into the distance, quite relaxed, twirling his brush.

“Just a piece of gossip—over the war, Yuki and Evan Armstrong bonded over trading old Pokémon cards, apparently!” said Tyler. “They were stationed right next to each other. Just thought that was nice to hear. Though they don’t seem to be together…”

The scene moved on to some of the other adventurer parties.

“The Young Elites!” said Tyler. “They’re all the rage with the kids nowadays, so I hear—reminds you of one of those rock bands we used to have, but they’re an adventurer’s party. Tons of fans. There’s Henry Colt—dashing as ever. Then there’s Vivian Lin, the fashion heiress and Lightning Mage. Jacqueline Monet, France’s top archer, and Ben Lane, the brooding British Necromancer… quite some relationship drama going on with that team, I hear.”

“Let’s not get into that,” said Becca hastily. That was content for WRN’s channel 6.

“Right, right.”

“Ben Lane’s a real rising star these past few months. He’s even broken into the top 50 on the Rising Dragon rankings! It makes sense—he’s gotten lots of great corpses to collect.”

The camera panned to Evan, Avery, and Chomper, just standing around.

Evan beamed at the camera. Avery waved at what she thought was the camera, but was actually a funny-shaped rock. Chomper was chomping.

Then, of course…

There was Zane, standing alone.

“Reina will join him soon! But for now, it’s up to him to hold down the fort.”

***

The Lich-King Xolototh cringed in the Black Chambers and watched its master do its work.

It wasn’t sure what it was doing there. There was nothing it could contribute—the magics being worked in that vat were far beyond its comprehension.

But it didn’t dare interrupt.

The Ancients themselves would never dare attempt a feat such as this hissed Malzareth. Its eyes shivered with glee. No. They had neither the courage nor the knowledge…

Very good, master, whispered Xolototh.

It cringed before the sight of that Million-Year Bone. Even in this dank, Corruption-stained cell, that thing shone proud. It was taken from the True Phoenix itself. It might be one-of-one in this Galaxy—it was incredibly rare, for Phoenixes of such age and power almost never died. And when they did, they almost never left behind their Bone.

Pillars of Corruption surged out and blasted it.

The Bone began to blacken, its proud light waning, stained as though with ink in the Astral Plane.

When it was all done, that bone shone a new, uglier color.

Million-Year Corrupted Bone, hissed Malzareth, eyes going to crescents. And now…

Malzareth stabbed it straight through the heart of Monster X.

That lion head raised—shuddered.

Then it let out a sound of pure agony.

Even Xolototh had to wince.

If that thing’s mind wasn’t fractured enough already…

It was hard to imagine it was possible to shatter that Monster more. As the Bone sank through, a hundred fractured voices screamed at once.

Feed, child! shrieked Malzareth.

The Slayer thrashed. Cracks rippled down its body.

Malzareth’s eyes narrowed.

And worlds’ worth of Creation slammed down the tubes. The whole chamber began to shake, cracks running down the fabric of reality—

Master! cried Xolototh.

Then Malzareth spat a single word. A command.

HOLD.

And some very dark, very powerful Law ripped through the world.

All went still.

Malzareth let out a hiss, and in that sound, there was a note of triumph.

Monster X’s aura raged into the world.

Xolototh choked.

That is no True God.

But it is, hissed Malzareth with evident pleasure. It is that, and more… awaken!

The Slayer opened its eyes.

Xolototh had to flinch.

Xolototh was an Empyrean Endbringer, one of the greatest of the Monster Kings—nearly on a level with an Emperor.

Even still, that thing instilled within it a primal fear.

Zane is the great hope of all mankind, hissed Malzareth. What will it do to see their #1 Rising Dragon broken? Executed?

Malzareth seemed to be drinking in that thought.

The Slayer will not merely kill him. The Slayer will do it in such a brutal fashion that there is no fighting back… and all mankind will know the meaning of despair!

The Monster in the vat howled.

***

Zane had gone over battle plans with Reina the night before.

The Challenge could last a day or more.

She was still finishing up her business at the World Tree. Plus—she wanted to save herself for when the fighting got most heated.

Until then, it’d be up to him.

The territories marked out for each Top Ranker were a lot like they had been when facing earlier Monster Hordes.

This next challenge would take place right here. Reina said it was much like a Monster Horde.

Only far more relentless.

And the power levels of the Monsters within were beyond comparison.

The ‘Beginning of the End’ was its name.

Ten more Credits. He kept that number firmly in mind.

10 minutes remaining…

All of Earth’s finest were lined up to either side of him. He could make out Evan looking quite determined just a few hundred miles out. Avery too. The sight of them gave him heart.

5 minutes.

4.

3.

2.

1.

He took a deep breath and settled into the state of mind necessary for what had to be done. And then—

Third challenge…

Begin.

Portals burst open down the length of the Frontier.

The insides of Dungeon X broke open all at once.

The final chains had shattered.

He caught vague glimpses of the floors—the stormy black skies, the lava worlds, and the bleached deserts—each haunted by so much Corruption even True Gods would have trouble staying alive there.

Everywhere he looked, the worst horrors that dungeon could muster were crawling free.

The portal in front of him showed a grotesque nest made of giant bones. Millipedes the size of freight trains were crawling out.

Gigapede [Monster Prince]

Essence Level 638

Gigapede [Monster Prince]

Essence Level 644

And at the end of that long line—

Endbringer Goloid, the Gigapede [Monster King]

Essence Level 653

It was on.