Savage Awakening 451. Armor Break (III)

A/N:

Make-up chapter, see y'all Saturday!

//

Just a few days after Noughtfire left, Zane got a message from the Barbarian Sage.

“Well,” said the Sage. “Might’ve heard the news by now. Caught ol’ Steelheart out in an ambush…”

He crossed his arms. “I’ll have to go back and make sure things’re settled—” 

There was a shriek in the background, and a giant many-eyed head poked its way in. The Sage laughed.

“Fluffy says hi!”

He shoved Fluffy aside.

“I've been keeping an eye on things out there,” said the Sage. “Snagged a few recordings. You’re putting in the work! Good on you, lad. But most of it’s those Laws of yours. Don’t you forget—”

He thumped his chest. “The body’s what it’s all about. Pump up those physique numbers! Might be you can get another Bone while you’re at it. That’s the stuff.”

Zane nodded. “I’m on it.”

“Alright, alright,” said the Sage. He grinned and put up a fist. “You go get ’em!”

With that, it faded out.

***

He also caught a brief Rhino update.

Elias’s network had spread surprisingly fast. He had reporters all over the place—even as far as the Western Desolate Wilds.

The Rhinos had made it after all. He saw Old Nog and Shaman Guri dozing beside a giant bonfire. And out there in the Plains, thousands of Titan Rhinos grazed side by side. More still squinted out into the dark, ready to charge at a moment’s notice. A healthy herd.

There had to be almost a hundred True Gods in all.

“We’re checking in now on the Wilds’ defenses!” said a slip of a reporter—an elf-man. To Zane’s surprise, he recognized the guy.

This guy delivered one of Reina’s messages to him back when he was out in the Wilds.

Guess he got hired on.

“Chief Domo’s one of just a handful of Godbeasts with a million-year Bone. He's taken down every Empyrean that’s come this way.”

The guy seemed less frazzled than last time. Though when a teenaged Rhino came over to bump him from behind, he still squeaked and jumped two feet. The Rhino rumbled off, amused.

“Sorry about that,” said Arien. “Err—like I was saying—it’s quite rare to see the Wilds standing together like this, Rhinos and Lions, side by side. They’re calling the Rhinos the ‘Shield of the Wilds’—they’re stubborn, strong, and they don’t know what it means to quit!”

Zane nodded. Sounded about right.

“It’s really very inspirational. Well, I think so, anyway. That’s the kind of fighting spirit that’ll keep this place going… right! That concludes this special report—”

He could just about make out Mook in the background, teaching little Rhinos how to charge.

***

With that, Zane headed out into the field.

The next horde was set to hit in the next few hours, and just as well.

He’d finally get a chance to test his new Armor’s Bane.

He hadn’t really gotten a chance to see what it could do—see just how much stronger it made him.

All around him, fighters were taking their stations. Little flags were planted on a handful of asteroids, marking out the zones. The horde was coming from the north this time, so they were all bunched in one place.

He’d met with Eze briefly before they took their posts. Eze was Earth’s clear-cut #2, not to mention #11 on the Rising Dragon Rankings. He told Zane he could take care of True Gods with three hundred-thousand-year Bones.

If Eze teamed up with a few other top rankers, they could even match Tier 7 True Gods.

But Corrupted Bones were still too much for them. And the forecast promised quite a few.

Those were Zane’s to tackle.

He could just barely make out Earth in the distance—a tiny blue dot—a dot teeming with double the energy it had at the start of the war, leveling up fast. But from this perspective, it seemed quite easy to break—if it wasn’t protected.

Evan, Avery, and Chomper were stationed nearby too. They took the rear flank. He checked in with them before things really went down.

Avery yawned and rubbed her eyes. She was still a bit cranky and drowsy. But she was mostly ready.

“I’m gonna try a new strategy,” she announced to him. She frowned at Chomper. “I watched Kung Fu Panda 2. I think the problem is I’m trying too hard, y’know?”

“Sure.”

“I’m gonna ride the waves,” she said. “Like a surfer or something. I will give up the illusion of control.”

“Woah…” Evan brightened. “What’s that mean?”

“I don’t know,” said Avery slowly. “But I’m gonna find out.”

At Zane’s look—

“Hey—it’s gonna work,” she said. “Just you watch!”

“You can do it!” said Evan helpfully.

As he walked away, he heard her muttering, “motion of the ocean,” over and over.

He saw some of Earth’s best not far off. Cristina Dos Santos—Earth’s #8—was stationed to the northeast, along with her cadre of elite spearwomen. There were raiding parties full of Top-100s too hailing from all over Earth, making a colorful guard.

He took his station.

Wouldn’t be long now.

A few minutes later—“Gaia to Earth Elite.” A calm voice came through the speaking charm. “We’re getting some massive readings—incoming! Nearly thirty Tier 7 True Gods, several Corrupted Bones, hundreds of Base True Gods—it’s orders of magnitude greater than any of our pre-wave estimates…”

A silence descended.

“Ten thousand half-step True Gods too—you’ll have to pace yourselves. It could be a long one. Six hours, half a day, even—may Fate be with you.”

The line cut.

Zane took the charm.

“If you ever find yourself overwhelmed,” he said. “Fight your way to me. I’ll take care of it. There will be times the wave seems overwhelming. Too much. But I will be here, and I will stand my ground. If I’m still here, just know—the fight’s not done.”

He caught nods all around.

He’d noticed it with Reina first. Folks seemed calmer when he made his presence felt. He wanted to make it clear this defense started and ended with him. All that stress they were feeling—whenever the Monsters seemed too much—put it all on him.

He wanted all the Monsters had to give.

He looked out at the distant horizon and felt his heart beat faster.

He'd heard from Noughtfire and Reina that these coming waves would be the heaviest by far—ramping up until that Final Challenge… 

This was also where the bulk of the Credits got made.

“Gaia to front line—Monsters inbound in five minutes!”

He took out his hammers.

And soon the smashing began.

***

The dungeons seemed to be breaking floor by floor.

The first few hordes seemed to come from some underwater floor—a swarm of giant killer gunk-crabs and sea urchin-like creatures.

That first horde had thousands of half-step True Gods and nearly sixty basic True Gods. Just a few months ago, that would’ve seemed an insurmountable number.

Now it was target practice for Zane. Easy credits.

One hammer rocketed out—and wrecked a good dozen of them.

Destruction shattered every single shell instantly with a pleasant CRACK!

It was hard to tell how much Armor’s Bane did. They were crushed too easily.

All around him, he saw energy beams falling, glaciers hurtling through the air—mankind fighting back.

So far, so good.

By the time it was over—

Calculating credits…

+2.3!

Cheers ran through the battlefield—but that was just the first wave.

“Next wave in ten minutes!”

Just enough time for most of the folk there to catch their breaths.

Right now things were pretty manageable. He felt comfortable enough to munch some dreamsteel as he waited.

It turned out to be a good call.

Skill up!

Asura Titan’s Body, Second Form IX -> X

Friend of the System II — 77% Progress

Neat.

The next wave was a horde of eels shuddering with black lightning, led by two Tier 7 True Gods.

He took the bulk of that horde on his own and blasted them without much trouble.

Calculating credits…

+2.5!

He was starting to farm in earnest.

In the next wave he met his first Corrupted Bone Monster—a starfish with suction cups that spit whirlpools and tore voids in deep-space. It had a jelly-like body that took force well, and could regenerate planets’ worth of material.

A formidable foe. For a man not named Zane.

Two clean Axes through the center damaged it beyond salvageable. A few more finished it off clean.

Calculating credits…

+1.8!

Nothing had really tested him. Not yet.

Five hours in, and his Health had never gone below 80%. His Asura Body was barely over 150% power.

But the strongest were yet to come, he felt. Something was boiling just over the horizon…

Hours passed…

Then he saw them.

***

They were bred to kill the greatest of men.

Endbringer Skarnox and its brethren cruised through deep space.

Their bodies had been Dread Eagles—among the proudest of the Monster Prince bloodlines.

Then they’d been augmented.

Plate after plate of the finest Primordial steels tempered 10,000 times in the Forges of Mount X—a material so terrible top-tier True Gods could barely scratch them.

The finest of Skarnox’s breed were awarded Corrupted Bones.

Skarnox was the greatest of them.

A Prime Corrupted Bone seethed in its chest, stuffed full of Creation.

A defense that wrecked True Gods without losing a point of Health.

Skarnox had heard much of the man they were sent to brutalize, the man they called Zane. Seen how he had wrecked that fool, the Defiler.

But it had never met a creature like Skarnox.

Zane was just a man.

It let out a high-pitched, mechanical whine, nearly a shriek; its feathers shuddered, clicking and clacking.

It would show this man the difference between flesh and steel.

Then the fleet made contact with the first of mankind.

And the screaming began.

They blasted right through a shield wall. Slammed their first row, the most elite of their species, into oblivion. Bulky warriors and lithe archers went flying, blasted away—

“Look out!”

“I can’t even dent that thing—”

“Holy shit…”

“What’re they made of?!”

They scattered like mere ants.

Bring me the greatest of men, screeched Skarnox. Bring me... the one they call Zane!