A howling jagged void tore open. First down the middle of the sky. Then—in two violent rips—running down the horizon.

  Zane’s eyes narrowed.

  That aura…

  It stained the skies with Monstrous colors.

  Noughtfire’s words came to him then—to guard himself, since in the moment of breakthrough he’d be most exposed.

  A single slitted pupil broke open. A crimson crescent that took up half the sky.

  Their eyes met.

  Zane knew he was staring at something unfathomably vast. He got an impression of a mind like no living creature; like he was staring at some ancient star.

  It could only be one Monster.

  The pupil dilated.

  Savage Sage.

  It was full of mirth.

  Zane gritted his teeth, forced his way to his feet even as meteors pounded him.

  More cracks split the skies.

  Spears of bloody black—like dried blood, badly diseased, frozen solid. Slowly turning…

  Instantly, their presence trembled the fabric of the realm. The Astral Plane began to flicker.

  Those spears were choked with darkest black. A black beyond void; something higher—

  Those Laws…

  Creation. Raw, dark Creation.

  He could see the Astral Plane straining horribly; any more and those spears would fall through reality itself.

  They were loaded with the maximum possible soul damage.

  Zane stared them down.

  He would just have to take this.

  He had never felt anything like those spears. The closest thing was the Archangel’s soul attack, which had shattered a third of his Aegis.

  But those spears—those Laws… it was like comparing an ember to the rising sun.

  This was not the same species of power.

  He refused to think about it.

  Instead he set his mind on the one thing he could control.

  He owed it to Reina—to his friends—to Earth itself, to take this. And as he thought about them and hunkered down, his Aegis began to shine.

  A single candle, flickering against a merciless sky…

  The spears fell—

  And an ocean of golden white erupted above him and razed the air.

  A star being born and dying in an instant—going supernova.

  Streaked through with the white of Destruction.

  The forces struck.

  Just the aftershock of that explosion hit Zane like a hammer blow.

  The golden-white erased nearly every single spear—

  But one still made its way through. And that one held enough power to kill an Empyrean.

  But then a single gray flower bloomed mid-air—and swallowed it whole.

  The Last Wish.

  When it all cleared—when the very Astral Plane stopped shaking—a man stood between Malzareth and Zane.

  “I thought you might try something like this.” Noughtfire was pale, but he spoke in measured tones; his hands were clasped behind his back. He spat blood. “I must say I’m surprised. The Heavens will exact a heavy price—even for you.”

  Noughtfire. Malzareth spat the name with absolute loathing. You dare play games with Malzareth?

  A shrieking hiss.

  Fool! There are things you cannot see.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Noughtfire raised a brow.

  Then a second soul broke through the void.

  Zane’s head jerked up.

  Monsters had twisted souls, but this…

  A Frankenstein patchwork of a soul—a thousand sliced-up screaming voices, all stitched together by one seething feeling.

  Utter hatred.

  A Monster stalked through the gate.

  Titanslayer, the Apex Predator [Monster Chimera]

  Its head was that of a lion, its wings a great bat’s. It was plated all over with True Dragonscale. Its hands ended in claws seared white at the tips—a million-year Bone.

  Gleaming fangs extended from a drooling mouth.

  A confusion of Bloodlines raged through it.

  But one thing made Zane go still.

  On its head, standing proud, was the million-year Bone of a Titan Rhinoceros.

  In that Bone, Zane could feel the souls of ancient Rhinoceroses howling in pain. Twisted, tortured, bent to this creature’s will…

  He ground his teeth.

  It was a mistake coming here today… That eye shivered with mocking pleasure. Dark Creation gathered in the void. Laced all over the skies—making a cage.

  You shall perish, alongside your disciple!

  That Creation blazed; began to dwarf Noughtfire’s Destruction—and around it the Astral Plane began to warp…

  Noughtfire snorted.

  He held out a hand. There lay a simple staff—a stark, austere length of white wood.

  “Try me.”

  His pupils went all white.

  And the deities went to war.

  Zane couldn’t focus on that.

  The Slayer shrieked, and it sounded like the death throes of a thousand Godbeasts.

  A blink—and its soul went supersonic. He’d hardly seen it move.

  Then his soul was rammed through the side of the mountain.

  They were wrestling in the Astral Plane. Soul battering soul.

  His Asura Body fired up at the challenge—gave him a jolt of strength. But the force coming at him was incredible.

  All those souls, stitched together, had a heft that matched Zane’s own.

  Then there was the raw power.

  This power could not come from nature. It was stolen. Corrupted—making its blood an uneasy solution. The powers of True Dragons, of Heavenly Elephants, of White Tigers, rammed into him then.

  Even the strength of a Titan Rhino.

  Rage.

  Zane stomped, exploded out—and threw it headfirst into the ground.

  He leaped into the crater, fists clenched.

  Back and forth they wrestled even as his Aegis shattered over his head, even as the comets kept pounding his head, over and over—

  The Slayer’s claws burned.

  Zane knew that flame.

  It was true dragon-fire—but boiling the color of tar, demented… a searing soul strike.

  What caught his attention, though, was the white tearing through it.

  Heavenly Destruction.

  A single swipe shattered five layers of his Aegis at once, and Zane coughed blood.

  He tried crushing it back—but this creature was just as big as him, and under that dragonscale were muscles packed so dense they felt like Primordial Steel.

  Even as he wrestled for control, the beast sank in claw after claw; he groaned.

  The meteors just kept coming. He couldn’t fight both at once.

  His Aegis was getting down to its last layers.

  It was as though the Monsters had taken every apex predator the Dragonspire Galaxy had to offer—and fused them all into one ultimate weapon.

  Made just to take him down.

  Then the Slayer lowered its Rhino horn. And Zane felt the density in it skyrocket—and they were packed so close he could do nothing but brace.

  It gored him right through the chest.

  It was the hardest blow that had ever struck his soul. It nearly knocked him out, then and there.

  His Aegis shattered. He coughed blood.

  And he knew this was the critical moment.

  Zane let out a roar, a sound of sheer exertion.

  His body seared to its limit—

  And Chains shattered over his body.

  The Slayer’s eyes widened; it felt that sudden surge of force—and Zane could see his soul shining in its pitch-black eyes.

  Zane was a fighter of flesh and blood and Law. They’d ambushed him in the Astral Plane, where his weapons were weakest. Honed those special Destruction soul Skills, just to take him down.

  This was a calculated assassination.

  But in that moment, it didn’t matter.

  He knew exactly what he wanted. He saw how the Slayer had done it.

  He had that power too.

  He willed Destruction to his fists—and it answered.

  White streaks flared down his knuckles.

  Knuckles he slammed straight into the Slayer’s face.

  Skill Learned!

  Fist of the Titan Slayer [Rare (P)]

  A lion’s snout shattered. He pounded another fist in—and the Slayer’s great head jerked back.

  For the first time that fight, the Slayer howled in pain. A thousand dissonant shrieks blended together.

  Back and forth they tore into each other. The Slayer shredded his soul, and he crushed its bones in, fist by fist—each fist landing so hard he felt the organs pulverizing beneath the scales.

  But neither man nor Monster gave an inch.

  The Slayer’s mind was a cauldron of fear and anger and hatred and greed—a thousand feelings driving at a single thought.

  MUST. KILL. ZANE.

  They made crater after crater…

  But the Slayer had surprise—and the meteors—on its side.

  All Zane had was grit and fury.

  Blackness fringed his vision. Even as he set his jaw in defiance, his head was going light.

  There’s no time, shrieked Malzareth. KILL HIM—NOW!

  The Slayer screamed and gored him again with that horn.

  But Zane’s soul was at least as robust as his body, and he took it with a grunt.

  Then his hands closed around its throat and blazed with raw Destruction.

  His eyes narrowed.

  He refused to break first.

  A notification box flickered.

  Malzareth let out a sound of pure frustration—a sound that chased the clouds from the sky.

  The void was closing.

  The Heavens were breaking back through.

  The Slayer gave Zane one last hungry, hateful look.

  Then it stomped down on Zane’s chest, slamming him into the ground, and broke free. It ripped away so fast it left ghostly afterimages.

  Then it was gone.

  Up in the sky, the crimson eye was still trained on the white-bearded master in the skies, bloodied robes fluttering….

  NOUGHTFIRE!

  Then… it was gone.

  There Noughtfire stood, hands clasped behind his back.

  He bore a wound so huge it almost seemed to slice the old Sage in two—striking from his hip to his shoulders.

  Just a little deeper and it would be a fatal soul wound.

  As it was, Noughtfire’s soul was already flickering. He looked quite pale.

  But the Sage just stood there, eyes cold, until the skies closed up.

  Then he coughed blood and wrinkled his nose.

  He landed next to Zane.

  “What an irritating creature.”

  “Your chest.” He saw Zane’s look of concern.

  “What, this?” Noughtfire glanced down and waved it away. “I’ll live. More importantly—let me be the first to congratulate you, disciple.”

  He gave a wry smile. “You’ve earned it.”

  Trial Complete!

  Level up!

  Essence Level 499 -> 500

  Class Evolved: Juggernaut Titan (Mythic [E]) -> Sovereign of the Solar Flare (Mythic [P])