Chapter 503 - Anything Can Be Destroyed (Patreon)

The skill didn’t require a gesture, but Zeke had long grown accustomed to swinging his hammer when he used his skills.  In this instance, that wasn’t possible.  He’d lost Voromir early during his stint being tossed around inside the living tornado that was the storm elemental.  So, without his customary weapon, he thrust his hand out, palm-first, and released the skill. 

Immediately, a black sun dawned directly over the storm elemental.  Wreathed in white flame, wherever its light touched, the color was drained away, casting everything in highly contrasted black and whites.  Even the metallic skin of Zeke’s titanic form glowed with pale light. 

The black sun roiled, emitting a burst of power before it started to absorb the nearby mana.  Zeke only watched long enough to ensure that the storm elemental was affected before he used [Shifting Sands].  Time slowed, but when Zeke dipped into the ground, he was horrified to feel that the pull of the black sun still affected him.  He raced ahead, pushing his skill to the limit as he tried to escape the impending explosion.  He made it around a hundred yards before he emerged from the glassy surface of the plateau. 

The ground cracked as he threw himself into a sprint.  In his mind, Eveline screamed.  He still hadn’t solved the issue of how horribly the skill affected her.  Instead, he could only hope that she remained intact.  He ran, his long legs eating the distance at a pace that would rival even the most luxurious sports cars.  And yet, he knew it wouldn’t be enough. 

The black sun’s appetite was endless.  It drew everything into its depths, consuming mana and debris alike.  Zeke felt the pull, but he fought against it.  It slowed him down, though the pull weakened with every step he managed. 

Then, everything went quiet.

It only lasted for a split second, but to Zeke, it felt like it was an eternity.  It was precisely the opening he’d been waiting on, and he once again used [Shifting Sands].  As soon as it activated, he wasted no more time before he sank beneath the surface of the plateau and raced forward.  He covered two-hundred yards in an instant, but when he emerged, he was reminded that it was not enough.

The black sun of [Wrath of Annihilation] exploded. 

Despite his immense weight, Zeke was thrown across the plateau by the explosion’s shockwave.  He hit the ground, shattering the glassy stone upon impact, but his momentum wasn’t spent until he came to a stop after another quarter of a mile.  He lay there for a long moment, his body twisted and broken by the destruction wrought by the devastating skill.

He could hardly breathe, and beneath the veil of his pain tolerance, he could feel the agony of his injuries.  On top of that, his racial resistance to pain did very little for the destruction coursing through him.  Due to his extensive efforts in inoculating himself against his own power, the skill’s residue wouldn’t kill him.  Yet, that didn’t do much for the pain. The only answer was to suffer through it.

“Are you okay?” asked Zeke.

“No.”

“Are you just saying that?” he persisted.  “Or are you really injured?”

“I’m fine.  I think we got away in time,” Eveline answered.  “But can you please not do that again?  It was close.”

“Sorry.  I couldn’t think of another way to kill it,” he stated.

Indeed, he’d spent so long trying to clear a path to the core, and when he’d given its destruction his best shot, it had failed. 

“You still haven’t,” Eveline reminded him.

That’s when he realized that the storm elemental still lived.  He hadn’t received any kill energy from it.  So, he pushed himself to his feet, but when he did, he noticed something he hadn’t expected. The wind had stopped.  There wasn’t even a slight breeze anymore. 

“What do you think?” he asked, looking in the direction of the tower.  There was no sign of the storm elemental.

“I have no idea,” Eveline admitted.  “This is all new territory for me.  I’ve never seen an elemental that strong.”

“Really?  I thought they were supposed to be really powerful.”

“They are,” she said.  “Within reason.  That thing did not confine itself to those bounds.”

“Fair enough,” Zeke said, pulsing [Hand of Divinity] as he strode toward the tower.  The plateau seemed odd without the wind, like it was missing some integral part that made it what it was.  Not that he missed it.  Being able to walk without hunching his shoulders against the gale was quite nice.  After a while, he remarked, “This is further than I expected.”

Indeed, he’d managed to travel a good distance from the tower – or more importantly, the black sun of [Wrath of Annihilation] – before the explosion.  And that was probably what had saved him.  Certainly, it had spared Eveline from destruction.  He truly did need to be more careful in the future.  Sometimes, it was easy to forget that she was much more vulnerable than he was. 

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“I know.  I’m sorry,” he apologized.  “I’ll remember it next time.”

“Good.  Otherwise, I won’t make it much longer.  I can only endure so much damage before I can no longer hold myself together,” she said. 

That just highlighted that their current arrangement was not ideal.  She could survive in his head, but sometime soon, they would need to find a more permanent solution.  As much as he wanted to protect her, there were some things he encountered during the heat of battle that would bypass whatever measures he took to shield her.  Perhaps the answer was an upgrade to [Bulwark of the Triumvirate]. 

“Or you could just stop walking into situations where you have to worry about getting ripped to pieces by arcane forces,” she suggested.

He gave a deep rumble of a chuckle, then said, “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a viable option.  You know me.  I’ve never been good at avoiding potentially fatal dangers.”

She sighed.  “That’s true.”

Finally, he drew close enough to see the aftermath of the skill.  And it was…disappointing. 

“I thought there would be a crater, at least,” Zeke muttered.  Instead, all he’d gotten was a shallow pit that stretched for a few hundred yards.  It wasn’t perfectly circular like he expected, either.  It probably would have been if it hadn’t run into the tower, which seemed entirely untouched. 

Zeke stepped into the hole, skidding down the slope for a few feet before it leveled out.  Then, he continued along, and he was surprised to find that a slight breeze persisted.  It was intermittent, and barely more than a few miles an hour in velocity, but it was still noticeable.  Once he reached the center of the pit, he discovered the source. 

The storm elemental’s core lay in a slight depression, its glittering blue surface bearing hundreds of cracks.  Some were shallow, but others clearly went down to the center.  Around it, lightning crackled, rain swirled, and a somewhat stronger wind blew.  Somehow, the thing had managed to survive the combination of his powerful skills and his Worldbreaker technique.  However, it hadn’t done so unscathed, and now, it had been crippled. 

“Finish it off,” Eveline advised.

Zeke had no issues with doing just that, and he stepped closer, raised his foot, then brought it down with a furious stomp.  It was like kicking a brick wall back on Earth.  There was no give to it.  Yet, Zeke saw that some of the cracks had deepened.  In response, the storm surrounding the elemental increased in intensity, though it was far from dissuading Zeke from doing what he needed to do. 

He stomped it again, and to similar results.  So, he kept going, continuing to assault the creature until, at last, a piece of the core fell free.  That was the beginning of the end, and over the next fifteen minutes, Zeke dislodged more and more chunks of the core until, at last, the blue surface dimmed.  After the next, it winked out entirely. 

That was when he finally received the kill energy that was the reward for his efforts.  It pushed him to the next level, then to the next after that.  It didn’t stop until he felt that he was on the verge of reaching level eighty.  He didn’t know how much kill energy he needed to bridge that gap, but he suspected that he would reach – or even exceed – that mark before he completed the dungeon. 

“Your leveling speed is disgusting.”

“I thought you’d be happy,” Zeke responded.  “The stronger I am, the better I can protect you.”

“Ah, yes – that’s obviously your main goal.”

“Come on.  I apologized.”

“You almost killed me, Ezekiel.  Again.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“Sometimes, an apology isn’t enough.  Sometimes, actions are required,” she huffed.  “But yes.  I’m happy you gained another level.  Perhaps next time you’ll gain a skill that will aid you in your obvious quest to destroy me.”

Zeke was about to respond, but he thought better of it.  She had a point, and what’s more, she’d retreated to the back of his mind where he’d have to consciously try to reach her.  It was a sign that she wanted to be left alone, and it was one Zeke intended to respect.  Still, he didn’t know how he could have done anything differently.  The fight had nearly stretched him to his limits, and he’d done what he thought was necessary. 

In the wake of his conversation with Eveline, Zeke bent down and touched the core.  He activated his looting ability, which gained him the shards of the core, but nothing else.  Aside from the levels, it had been a disappointing victory. 

Sighing again, Zeke straightened to his full height, then looked around.  It didn’t take him long to locate Voromir at the edge of the crater.  So, he took a few moments to retrieve his trusty weapon.  The brief loss had stung, so when he wrapped his fingers around its grip, he felt a distinct sense of relief.  With that singing through him, he studied his immediate surroundings.

His destination was obvious.  The storm elemental had guarded an entrance to the tower, which meant that that was where he was supposed to go.  So, he made his way out of the shallow pit, then headed toward the entrance.  As he drew closer, he saw that it was little more than a large, rectangular opening in the exterior of the black tower. 

Cautiously, Zeke moved closer.  However, when nothing happened, he continued along a little more confidently. 

The entrance was much larger than he’d first suspected, which tracked with everything else he’d encountered since starting his ascent up the cliff.  His perspective had been thrown off by the sheer size of the tower, but the entrance was at least fifty feet high and nearly as wide.  So, as he stood before it, he knew that passing through would present no issues.

Still, he hesitated.

He’d kept [Hand of Divinity] active since using [Wrath of Annihilation], so he was in as good of condition as he could have expected.  Perhaps he could use a little sleep and a good meal, but neither was necessary.  He could go without food or sleep for months at a time, and if it truly came down to it, he could probably keep going indefinitely.  It wasn’t as if he was going to keel over from lack of food. 

That wasn’t to say that he would remain in peak condition, but that wasn’t the concern.  He knew he needed to conquer the tower, and quickly.  Already, more time than he’d allotted had passed, and there were people depending on his success. 

So, without further hesitation, Zeke strode through the tower entrance.  As he passed into shadow, he couldn’t help but wonder if Talia was okay.  He hoped so, but there was nothing he could do to affect her fate. 

In any case, he didn’t have any further opportunity to consider her situation before a rumble filled the area.  When Zeke jerked his head in the direction of the entrance – or exit, as it had become – he saw that a large, black door had begun to slide over it.  A brief pang of alarm erupted in his chest, but he quickly suppressed it.  He had no intention of going back the way he’d come.  There was nothing for him out there.  Instead, he needed to focus his attention on the way forward.  So, the fact that his avenue of retreat had been cut off shouldn’t have been alarming.

Still…

When the door closed, Zeke couldn’t help but feel a little trapped.  Or claustrophobic, especially surrounded by inky darkness.  Despite himself, his breath quickened and his heartrate increased. 

Then, a brilliant white light bloomed into being.  Zeke blinked, but his eyes quickly adjusted.  The light itself didn’t seem to have a source, but it illuminated a long hall, the walls of which were carved in realistic-looking sculptures of mighty warriors and monsters. 

Cautiously, Zeke stepped forward, and there was another rumble. 

Another step, and the rumble repeated.  Only, this time, it didn’t stop.  Zeke turned around to see that the door he’d just left behind had begun to move forward.  More distressingly, the sound of stone grating against stone drew his attention to the walls.  The carvings of the mighty warriors had begun to move. 

“Oh, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he said.

It was at that moment that one of the warriors – a fifteen-foot-tall ogre armed with a spear – detached.  It didn’t take Zeke long to smash him with his recovered hammer.  The thing shattered, but its destruction acted as a signal, and along the entire length of the hall, the sculptures continued to come alive. 

With the other end of the hall steadily pressing him forward, the way was obvious.  He needed to smash his way through the sculptures.  Fortunately, that was perfectly within his wheelhouse.  And after the impotence he’d felt while trapped within the confines of the storm elemental, he had some frustration to exorcise. 

So, without further delay, he stepped forward and swung his hammer, connecting with the next living statue.