As Jonathan tore apart the horde of golems, racing against the arrival of their progenitor, a host of Uthraki watched from the walls of their capital. All of the peak Tier 2s were there, watching the interloper fight against a monster that none of them would have dared to do battle with. The Volcanic Hegemons were among the strongest monsters of the Ash Heaps, and the source of most of the elementals that roamed the land. The spawning grounds only created living creatures for the most part, using the Hegemons to create the golems. Now it was fulfilling its true purpose, to serve as the whetstone with which a prospective circle lord would sharpen himself. The Uthraki knew little of Jonathan Harlowe, save for the fact that he had ascended the levels so quickly.
The two remaining overseers of the Uthraki race, left behind after Altus’ defeat, were the most curious of all. Altus would eventually be reborn, but for now, they were bereft of his power. Marena Karold and Jakon Alb were the only Uthraki at the max level for Tier 2 other than Altus, and their powers were just as impressive. Marena wielded the will of the Earth itself, and was able to swamp cities with waves of rock.
Jakon on the other hand was one of the most potent warriors that this realm of Tartarus had ever seen. With the strength to break hundred foot tall golems with a single punch, he was a massive man, easily twelve feet tall, and almost half of that in width. Some might think that would make him a rather comedic figure, but instead of looking like a brick given life, he looked like someone capable of ripping anyone who disrespected him in half.
“He seems to be making a run of tampering with the sacred balance of our realm,” Marena icily observed, watching as Jonathan fought the Volcanic Hegemon. Despite her vitriol, she still felt respect for the man. After all, strength was all that really mattered in this realm.
“I like him,” Jakon said, leaning over the side of the wall. He seemed excited at the prospect of a fight worth his time more than anything else.
“Of course you do, you brute. Some men care about money, women, or drink, but all you care about is sating your lust for battle. It would be unbecoming, save for your strength.”
“Save your wit for the battle to come, you old harpy. Whichever of them wins, we will have to deal with next. That Hegemon will be enraged if it suffers serious damage, and the intruder will likely want more essence, in the form of our hard earned power, unless he manages to achieve his goal before we become a factor.”
Both of them lapsed into silence, intrigued by the battle unfolding before them.
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Jonathan cared little for the attention of the watchers on the city wall, even though he knew they were there. With his new senses, he could see them as if they were only a few hundred yards away. Of course, most of his concentration was upon the Volcanic Hegemon looming above him, casting the land into an even deeper shadow than normal.
The monster raised one ponderous fist, and slammed it down, the building sized arm moving with such force that it could have leveled a city block with ease. Jonathan easily dodged, and leaped up onto the arm, ready to enact the strategy that he usually used against monsters of this size. However, this time did not go as planned.
The monster’s skin began to ripple as he stepped on, and plates of rock formed out of the substrate, pushing into the air. Within the blink of an eye, what looked like an entire series of barricades had formed, stopping his motion forwards. Loops of rock liquified and formed into humanoid defenders, clutching weapons of compressed stone. They awaited Jonathan’s attacks eagerly. The Hegemon raised its other arm and slapped down towards where Jonathan was standing. If he did not want to lose his momentum, the only way was forwards.
He slalomed through the barricades, knocking the golems’ weapons out of their hands, and using them to increase his reach. He had little time to use his new ultimate ability, so he instead had to rely on a more conservative slice of his skill set to get by. Namely, his immense strength and speed.
The golems were built for defense more than anything else, but they still crumbled before a single strike from their own weapons. The invariably destroyed the weapon as well, but Jonathan managed well enough. The only problem was how much of his time it was wasting. Eventually the Hegemon would grow wise to the fact that it was slower than him, and instead sweep its arms together, forcing him away.
Jonathan sped up to avoid this, and dashed along its arm like a streak of light, his armor glistening in the meager light of the realm. He blitzed past the fortifications and the golems, avoiding the slow strikes of the massive arm above him.
Eventually, the Volcanic Hegemon had enough of the pest racing along its arm, and it started to stay true to its namesake. The stone beneath Jonathan began to glow red as he passed the elbow joint, which was the only warning he had before the entire thing liquified. The rock turned to lava in an instant, burning his skin through his armor. It was the same magically enhanced lava that was so common within this realm, lava that was more than able to harm even Jonathan.
He leaped off the side of the arm to escape, his only real option at that point. However,the Hegemon wasn’t having any of that. Spikes of lava shot out of its arm, and chased him down, homing in on his location. It was almost impossible to dodge them midair, and Jonathan was struck. He turned around and channeled the Void to his arms, sending a pulse of nothingness out in front of himself. The lava seemed to be enhanced in some way, likely by the towering Hegemon’s own elemental mastery, and they only broke apart rather than dissolving into nothingness. Some of them were unaffected, and they continued on towards their target without stopping.