Zarek took shallow breaths. He would have taken deeper ones if he could get away with it, but it was hard to do that when breaths like that would almost certainly come with scorched lungs and burning organs.
There wasn't much that he had left at all.
There was this sword in his hands. His Talents, which were quite useless in battle. He had the Skills that he had gained from the seven men he was linked to thanks to his Hero Candidate Role. And finally, there was what remained of the Elixir still sloshing around in a ball of Lurker's Godsfall in his stomach.
It was safe to say that there was hardly any use to any of them at all.
The sword in his hands at this point was practically dead weight. He couldn't get close to Crux in the first place, and the sword certainly wasn't helping that. It only made it worse that it was essentially a big hunk of conductive metal.
After spending so long in this scorching heat, it was practically burning its own holes through Zarek's hands. Or, rather, hand… since his right one was still balled into a tight fist after Belladoll had shattered it.
Then there were his Talents. There was almost no application here where they would be useful. The durability of the items he created was too low, and he was burning through all of his Godsfall just trying to keep what remained of the layers of his skin.
Spending upward of 10% or more of what he had left on items that wouldn't last a few exchanges would have been the pinnacle of foolishness.
The Skills he had from Zade and the others were too gross for Zarek to even look at. Most of them were just useless slop, and his Mastery of them was far too limited to just break out in battle like this.
It was clear none of them knew anything about optimizing Skill Slots or being more selective, and now Zarek was strapped with their ignorant decisions.
Certainly didn't help that casting them would also cost Godsfall he couldn't afford to waste.
And then there was what remained of the Elixir. Even if it was useful here, there wasn't much of it remaining after Belladoll's sudden interruption. And worse yet, even if there was a chance to use it as it was intended, and the quantity was enough, would it even be able to accomplish its function before it was burned away by the heat?
What good would it even be if it succeeded? At this point, it was better that he stay in pain. At least then his Charisma might accelerate in growth enough to trigger some change in him that was worthwhile.
It looked as though every road he might take, all the cards that rested in his hands, were quite useless. It would have been more than natural for even someone like him to simply give up, to turn themselves in to despair.
It made sense.
But Zarek had been through too much. He had suffered too much, experienced too much, been knocked down too much and forced to pick himself back up too much.
So, he smiled.
"I'm glad that you're still in the mood to smile—"
BANG!
A fireball slammed into Zarek's back again, sending him to his knee once more and already setting up another volley.
"—But if you think that's going to be enough to throw me off—as creepy as it looks through that gooey black Godsfall—you've got another thing coming."
"You're overestimating yourself a bit too much," Zarek said, coughing again. "I'm not smiling because of you. I'm smiling because it's been so many hours and Belladoll hasn't thought to come near here and tell me about Priya's death. What do you think that means?"
Crux frowned. "Enough of the games. It's beneath you, I would hope. Die with some dignity."
BANG!
Zarek coughed again, slowly pulling himself up after being knocked down, as though it was only natural that he continue his constant steps toward a hope of survival.
"It means two things, actually, not just one. Apologies for not being clear enough.
"It means that, one, my sexy girlfriend managed to figure out how to protect her life and avoid capture. Otherwise, wouldn't you all be screaming from the rooftops that you had, in some vain attempt to shake my mental state instead?"
There was a flash in Crux's eyes, but he didn't reply. That wasn't his job. His role here was to kill Zarek, and that would be enough.
"Do you know what the second thing is? Don't worry, I'll tell you—"
BANG!
Zarek was thrown across the ground, his body nearly colliding with a pillar of fire that churned like a blender. He had tried damn hard to avoid getting close to these things despite knowing the Matrices controlling them were near here.
What good was knowing the Matrices were here if even sticking his hand out would lose him his arm? Plus it was so damn hot.
"Your temper isn't the best. You should work on that. Trust me, I would know."
Zarek's body shook, and he almost slumped down to the ground again. But luckily, he had managed to tie the great sword to his hand and used it as a prop to stand up again.
"It means that her mental state is so shaken right now that she's not even sharp enough to think of something so simple."
"You…"
Zarek suddenly laughed. "Look at you, so easily rattled. I'm kidding. Sona is probably still by her side and she would never allow Belladoll to come so close to the 'danger.' That being me, of course. But you actually believed me for a second."
Crux's jaw clenched.
"Oh, don't look mad. At least the first one is probably true even if there's no easy way to confirm it. But do you want to know something else that's true?" Zarek blinked almost innocently, but his words were laced with a deathly cold intent.
"I've figured out how to kill you."