“Such strength,” it hissed. “And not even at the peak of the Tier yet. What a monster you must be.”
“I don’t skip leg day,” Jonathan replied drily. “You should try it some time.”
“Cease your foolish prattling! We have a debt of death to pay to one another.”
“Can a man really say no to that?” Jonathan leaped off the titan, trusting in Hushar to lead his allies to victory. Then he hurtled across the plain, a tight smile on his lips. The monster that stood before him was the strongest he had ever faced, whether beast or of the equally common sapient variant.
The Shard of Slothari began to weave coruscating tapestries of energy around itself, each hand acting like a needle in the hand of a master tailor.
Waves of energy condensed into one point, and a hole was ripped into the fabric of reality. A portal filled with toxic green light opened, a gateway into a realm of pure elemental mutation. A wave of rampant energy spread outwards, washing over Jonathan. His skin began to prickle. For once, his elemental manipulation was too weak to overcome the concentrated power. The Shard was angry, likely a rarity for a being that had long been at the top of the realm.
Jonathan felt his skin crawl in a literal manner, trying to wrench itself free from the moorings of his bones. It was a uniquely horrifying experience. Ever since coming to the Hells, it seemed that he went through those far more often than anyone should.
He continued forwards, relying on his immense stats to keep moving. Although his flesh was under assault, the bones and organs beneath were shielded by his Resilience and inbuilt elemental mastery.
The Shard redoubled its efforts, but the portal started to destabilize as the roiling power being channeled through it started to eat away at the corners of the construct. Jonathan’s skin began to smoke, but it was too late. He had only lost about a sixth of his health pool from the attack in the end.
Behind him, the Uthraki continued to butcher the titanic amalgamation of flesh. Many of them were injured as the creature thrashed around, crushing them against the ground. However, the general tone of the battle was a positive one.
Jonathan sped forwards towards the comparatively slower Shard of Slothari, his fists blazing with light. His body was like a machine of war, girded by his various titles and buffs. Pure elemental energy surrounded him like a cloak of purple, and golden power crackled across his skin and armor. He was a god, if only in name. It was time he started to look like one as well.
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His fist crashed into the Shard’s torso, sending the creature flying backwards. Where he struck, his armor began to bubble and pulse, but it was of little consequence. A quick infusion of the Void put an end to the corruption. The Shard skipped along the ground, accelerated to immense speed. However, it seemed to have had enough of Jonathan’s physical domination.
Green energy played across its form, and its muscles bulged. The creature expanded many times over in the blink of an eye, and suddenly was the size of a small building. Its sudden increase in mass carried it to the ground with a resounding thud, and it glared at Jonathan.
Muscles twitched as the creature erupted from the ground like a cannonball out of a cannon, its speed immensely increased. Jonathan dodged, but he was forced to rely on the Third Eye of Exal’drin to do so.
One of the Shard’s fists, now the size of a wheelbarrow, hissed through the air. The firmament ignited as it tore the air molecules out of the way, speeding forwards at thousands of miles per hour. Jonathan cocked back his fist and empowered it to the utmost, before returning the blow. The two attacks canceled one another out, a wave of energy racing across the ground, slicing straight through the stone below.
Both punched again, creating a similar effect. For now, they seemed equally matched. Jonathan began to draw upon his runic expertise, his Divinity humming through his body to empower his runes. The Rune of Hatred blossomed on both fists, and he slammed them together, red energy sparking through the air. Then he punched forwards with both of his arms, bringing them crashing down upon the Shard.
The monster, bloated to immense proportions, simply scoffed, as if it could rely solely on its stats to get by. It raised its arms, and prepared to block. It seemed that it was judging by the potency of Jonathan’s previous attacks. This time through, twinned detonations of scarlet energy added extra potency to his strike, finally making a difference.
Blood sprayed as the monster was blasted off its feet, flesh tearing as Jonathan overcame its defenses. His own bones crunched within his gauntlets as they broke against the monster’s durability. However, at this point in his journey, such injuries were nothing. He blitzed towards the falling figure of the Shard, his Domain rippling out, empowering his next attack. A devastating hammerfist came hurtling down, straight into the monster’s abdomen. A shockwave erupted through its body, and drove it into the ground, the hard packed earth below shattering into a million pieces.
The Shard bounced back up, straight into another strike. This one slammed into the center of the creature’s already weakened stomach, and broke through. A spray of blood painted Jonathan’s armor as the monster broke open, its flesh too weak to survive. With its mutation, it had gained a massive amount of strength, but had invested significantly less in its durability. Right now, that was showing.
The monster roared in rage and slammed one mighty fist down onto the ground below. Energy sparked around it, and the stone began to melt, shifting into a new form. A spike of molten rock seared through the air, aiming for Jonathan’s neck. He flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the strike. In that brief moment, the Shard rose to its feet, and let out a pulsating howl, drawing in oceans of elemental energy. Its wounds healed over, and its skin turned to diamond hard scales, far more difficult to break than before.