Savage Awakening 476. The Great Ruse

She fired straight for Zane’s heart. No hesitation.

That arrow moved with the force that could’ve killed a minor god. It actually caught him a bit off guard.

The issue with his dodging was that he had to limit himself to Ascendant speeds. It was quite a hassle, twisting and jerking out of the way in time—he just barely managed it; the arrow ripped through his robes, exposing muscle.

“Hells, that’s fast—just the first shot, and Jack’s already on the ropes!”

The trouble was he’d presented himself as a strength specialist—not a speed specialist. And he wasn’t incredibly flexible either. Then there was the matter of his size.

By the time he turned back around, she’d already drawn the bow to full length. Her eyes gleamed—and a skill blazed at her fingertips, the air curving around it, drawing heat lines…

Zane was getting a little worried.

Virya howled like a wolf and let it loose.

He was ready this time. He made sure to get out of the way—but he didn’t need to dodge much, to his relief.

Then—a half-second before it struck—the arrow swerved.

Zane blinked.

It slammed between his fingers—right between the cracks of his clenched fist.

CRACK!

The audience gasped.

“Oh… my gods…” the announcer’s voice cracked. “Virya Deadeye just broke Jack’s ultimate weapon! She just cracked his Way of Rock!”

A cheer rang out—“Yesss!!” The old guy in her corner was jumping up and down—almost weirdly happy.

…Zane was realizing he might be in some trouble.

He had to focus. Think on his feet.

His entire run rested on this. There was no way he could win without his rock—that was his whole backstory.

If he messed this up, he blew his cover. It was all over.

The pressure was building. The audience holding its breath—the eyes of millions on him. The announcer staring, Virya too… but in that moment his mind was as still as a pond.

Zane calmly and deliberately bent over the ruins of his rock—split clean in two.

The crowd hushed.

“What’s he doing?!” gasped the announcer. You could see the moment it started to dawn on him. “No way…”

Zane picked up one half in one hand.

With the other hand… he picked up the other half.

“When you break a rock in two,” he informed Virya, “you make… two rocks.”

The audience looked stunned by this revelation.

“You just doubled my power.”

Silence.

“….Could it be?!”

Then Zane attacked.

He dashed straight at her—she leaped out of the way instantly, but—

“He really just got faster!” choked the announcer. “And look at those force lines—he got stronger too! His rocks really are giving him strength!”

***

Earthshatter almost blacked out then and there; he was so angry.
“None of that made any godsdamned freaking sense!” He could barely even get the words out. He pointed at Jack, fingers trembling—“Just—just shoot it again!”

Tutor Li glared at him. “I’ve had enough of you.”

“What?”

“You want him to quadruple his power? Is that it? You’ve done enough damage!”

It spoke to the state of Earthshatter’s mind that he—a man who spent the vast majority of his waking hours thinking about rocks—didn’t go for the dozens of rock-based counterarguments that sprang to mind.

Instead—“Where the hell are you getting quadruple from?!” he cried. “Does he have four hands?!”

“You were already wrong once,” snapped Tutor Li. “Clearly, you don’t know what he’s capable of. Sir—frankly, I’m beginning to doubt you know the first thing about rocks!”

“I—”

Earthshatter nearly burst out in tears.

***

Even as Virya ran, she attacked like a feral animal—but Zane closed the distance quite fast. So she drew her daggers, grinned, and slashed at him. A whirlwind of blades descended—an impressive sight, for the few seconds it lasted.

Then Jack swung one rock. It missed; Virya danced back.

Right into the path of his other rock.

CLANG!

She dropped.

Not a single person in the crowd looked like they knew what to make of what just happened. Then—

“Jack!” croaked the announcer. “He’s through to the finals!”

***

Up in the stands, Jun, Ryu, and Kira all clinked their drinks and cheered.

They’d had front-row seats to Jack this whole time. At this point, they’d all just learned to go with it.

Even higher, the Cloud Emperor’s mouth was still wide open—dripping wine, staining the clouds purple. Moke shook his head. “That man’s really about to fight Salazar. …With a rock.”

And far, far down—right near the edge of the arena—one Saint Earthshatter finally fainted.

Zane had a few days before the final round was set to go down.

The next day, he got a postcard from Evan—surprisingly fast, given his last one was just a few days ago.

Evan looked a bit shaken, shuffling his feet.

“I don’t know if I did the right thing…” Evan mumbled.

Zane’s brow furrowed. Evan told him what happened.

“The Sunflower King ended up terrorizing the whale kingdom,” said Evan. “He made this big mess! It was like a tornado passed through or something…”

He could see how guilty Evan felt. “But then—we made it all the way to the Whale King's castle! That was where the Whale King and the Sunflower King teamed up. But then, just when they beat the Whale King, Orin, Emily, and Ben got frozen in this big chunk of ice, and it was sinking really fast. And the Sunflower King looked like he was getting away again…”

Apparently, Orin told him to go after the Sunflower King. This time, Evan listened. He went after the Sunflower King bravely, took the fellow down, and rushed back just in time to help his friends. Or maybe just a little too late.

“I thought maybe Emily drowned…” said Evan miserably. “She woke up eventually, but…”

Evan was on the verge of tears.

“Hey.” Emily came in from off-screen and gave him a hug. “I’m alright though, aren’t I? You did the right thing! That’s what heroes do.”

“I guess…” Evan sniffled. He wiped his eyes.

He was going to be fine, Zane felt.

“I’m just gonna keep fighting!” Evan cried. He shook his head. “I just know something’s gone really wrong in this tower if all of the Delver King’s folks are being ruled by bad guys… I’m gonna give it my all. 'Cause that’s what it means to be a hero!”

Evan seemed a bit more heartened by that. He always seemed to have some simple hopeful sayings he could take comfort in.

Chomper barked.

Evan waved goodbye.

***

Zane was just making his way across the fountain, feeding some pigeons. A little grudgingly, granted. But after the birdman incident, he’d done some reflection and decided there were worse things. Birds couldn’t help but be birds. His grudge really was mostly against the cowardly ones. You had to be open-minded about these things.

Then he froze.

Was that…?

He blinked. Moved a little closer.

It really was—Jin. Blushing and chatting with some young mistress.

Small world, he supposed.

He stood there chewing on his fried dough stick, reminiscing for a bit.

He figured the kid would rise pretty high, given some time. Nice to see.

He thought about saying hello, but… he was Jack right now.

He’d have to catch up with the kid once this was all over.

Right now, he still couldn’t afford to blow his cover.

***

“Can you believe we’re in the semifinals already?!” said the announcer. “It’s all gone by so fast! Well—the finale’s looming… and this is a real clash of titans we’ve got on our hands!”

There was an air of nervous tension. Kira and Jun were holding hands—the two of them had been having a really good time, Ryu was happy to see.

Jun looked slightly frazzled. He'd been through quite an impactful few days. Ryu got the sense Kira had shown him a lot… he seemed pretty happy, though.

They were just here to see Jack through to the very end, hopefully. Jack looked calm as ever down there.

It was hard to tell how the Blood Demon Sage felt. The guy moved since he stepped foot in the arena.

***

“The Blood Demon Sage has been around since ancient times, it feels like. It’s been centuries since anyone’s even made him go all-out!” cried the announcer. “It’s said that he’s taken a demon inside of him and tamed it—ready to unleash at any moment… will we finally get to see it today?!”

Few really clapped for the guy. A smattering here and there.

“And now, for Jack! You all know who he is—he’s the guy going around, hitting people with rocks—and so far, no one’s been able to stop him!”

Jack looked like he didn’t know how to feel about that description.

“Give it up for Jack!”

The crowd did, with enthusiasm.

***

Zane inspected his enemy and nodded.

Seemed about right.

“Alright, folks… it’s time! Ready, fighters? …Begin!”

The Blood Demon Sage finally moved.

A shiver—a grating sound came from beneath that hooded cloak.

“What’s he doing?” said the announcer. “Is—is he chuckling? This is really something, folks—this is the first time he’s even made a sound!”

Then the Blood Demon clasped his hood and pulled it back, revealing the skeletal head rife with diseased skin. Red eyes pierced the arena. He looked like a man on his deathbed, stricken with some mysterious, terrible illness.

“Agh!” cried the announcer. “Alright, I see why you keep that hood on—put it back! Put it back, damn you—hells!”

As he spoke, though, his voice faded into the background.

A ward—nearly invisible—had sprung up just around the

arena, sealing them all in.

The Blood Demon Sage was still chuckling.

You can drop the act now… it hissed. No one can hear you anymore… or feel your aura. You are trapped. And when you perish, it will be as though you vanished without a trace… Zane Walker.

Zane blinked, shrugged.

“You got me.”

The Blood Demon Sage shrieked in pleasure.

I was right! It chuckled once more. You do not know me, Zane Walker…but I know you. Every Endbringer knows the juiciest prize humanity has to offer… but who would’ve thought poor old Vorlok would be the one to bring him back?

The Blood Demon Sage—Vorlok—hissed.

Passed over… over and over… past his prime, they said! So old he was destined for the chopping block—any century now, Lord Malzareth would take him to the ether… But wily old Vorlok just kept sticking around…

Vorlok chuckled hideously.

…He’s still got some tricks, after all!

Zane glanced around. “The last rune was in the arena,” he said, nodding. “Neat stuff.”

That’s just the start of it. You can’t possibly comprehend the intricacies… but ah! We’ve got time… why not? Vorlok seemed pleased with itself. Eight mountains, surrounding a ninth… nearly the perfect shape! Every one, making an eight-sided diagram… A rune on each. One great circle, making a ritual of impossible strength! But what could possibly power it?

“This place is built on a ley line. It goes straight to the heart of the galaxy.”

That’s right! shrieked Vorlok. And I’ve lured you to the heart of it, fool!

A pause. Vorlok squinted.

…How did you know?

“My girlfriend told me,” he informed Vorlok. “She figured it out from the first rune I showed her.”

Another pause.

Then why let yourself be trapped here?

“This bit was my idea,” said Zane. “An hour before our fight, I went out and smudged out some of your runes.”

“…”

“Just kept the ones meant to silence our fight.”

He nodded at the wards. “The rest—the ones meant to boost your powers to Empyrean. The ones that’d suppress me to Ascendant. All that’s gone. Though…”

He narrowed his eyes.

“I would’ve liked to see you try.”

He doubted that thing could’ve suppressed him—he quite liked the idea of fighting it off. “Reina thought it was a little too much unnecessary risk, though.”

…Fine. Vorlok gnashed its teeth. Fine! You’re still stuck in here with me, human—and the moment you break your cover, word will spread. By mouth, if not by aura—Malzareth will be here before the break of dawn!

“Unless I beat you,” said Zane. “With just this.”

He waved his brick.

Vorlok shrieked a laugh—hysterical.

Have you forgotten what I am?!

And his body began to swell.

Let me show you, Zane Walker!

///

Blooper ending:

That day, Saint Earthshatter left Cloud Atlas City. He was never heard from again.

A humble monk popped up two months later in a fishing village not far from Shen Long’s…