'I missed.'
Zarek realized this the moment he slammed his palm down. No, it was a brief instant before. But in that same instant, he pivoted, more than ready.
He activated three layers of \\[Sudden Drop] at once, quickly activating \\[Angel Wing Flash] in the same moment.
BOOM!
Chi. Chi. Chi.
Zarek accelerated back, the explosion suffocated beneath the sudden vacuum. However, this wasn't an explosion of pure fire. While he could limit the combustion-like aftereffects, he couldn't stop the explosion itself.
But he didn't need to, he just needed to slip out of its range.
A wall of heated air suddenly hit Zarek's face as the effects of \\[Sudden Drop] crumbled. His hair was blasted back, his skin deforming beneath the heft.
He used three more \\[Angel Wing Flashes] in that instant, plus three \\[Sudden Drops]. He only had four of the first and seven of the latter left. It would be hard to do that again.
'One more shot.'
Zarek slammed a foot down before the explosion was even finished, surging back in.
He activated \\[Wind Shield] thrice, layering them on top of one another until a raging cyclone of rotating winds formed around him.
The Godsfall, which had already found itself acting oddly in the void formed around, was thrown into more chaos, clashing with wind.
'Come on.'
Zarek weathered the storm, appearing before the Hub again, his eyes flashing with an almost bloody determination.
'Dammit.'
Zarek leaned all the way back, his palms catching him before his head hit the ground as an arrow passed through right where he had just been.
No, it wasn't an arrow, it was too long.
'A javelin.'
The javelin came from Indyana. For some reason, he seemed insistent on not letting Zarek slam another palm out.
If they let Zarek do the attempts, then they could just gang up on him after and fight over what treasures were left. But it seemed that after watching Zarek's movement abilities and his various Skills, they no longer felt comfortable giving him all the cards.
Indyana's palm glowed, and the javelin flashed before it hit the ground, appearing back in his palm.
Zarek almost laughed. What kind of broken treasure was this? He hadn't ever seen something capable of that before.
It had explosive strength, was instantly retrievable, and it tapped into one of the rarest Godsfall Intents…
Space.
It seemed that the Demons weren't the only people to pay attention to. Those that had participated in these Hero Trials on purpose obviously had their own strengths. Assuming anything else would get him killed.
Indyana took a strong step forward, his torso twisting with shocking flexibility before he launched his javelin out again.
As Zarek flipped back to his feet, a small distance away from the Hub, he felt Jakob's gaze locked onto his back at the same time.
'It seems I'll have to deal with these two first. Fine. That javelin looks like a nice weapon.'
Zarek wasn't just aiming for any victory. He wanted a dominant one—one that would make the others hesitate before stepping forward.
There was a flash in his eyes as they began to blaze.
The lance extended from one hand, pulled from his back once more, as his free hand flickered out, manifesting a quill.
Zarek faced off against the flying javelin. It felt like if he blinked, it would already be there, but he had drawn \\[Unholy Beacon] so many times it practically stamped into existence all on its own.
He used up another \\[Angel Wing Flash], leaving him with just three, but the javelin shot right through the ancient scroll just like he wanted it to.
A staff suddenly swung at Zarek from the back. It seemed that Jakob was waiting for exactly this moment. His staff not only extended, but its heft increased severalfold. Zarek could practically see the space bending and warping around it, though it was nothing more than an illusion of flickering afterimages.
However, Zarek didn't seem to see it. Instead, he grinned.
A Matrix lit up on Indyana's wrist, recalling the javelin. But when he grasped out at the air in a maneuver he had done countless times before, he clenched nothing but the wind.
Indyana's eyes widened when he realized his precious javelin was actually in Zarek's hands now. He didn't even have time to understand what had just happened when Zarek suddenly twisted, Lurker's Godsfall leaking from his palms as he grasped onto the javelin.
He spun in place, and just as the staff was about to hit him, he used \\[Angel Wing Flash] again, leaving him with just two attempts.
BOOM!
The staff landed, but Zarek had appeared 12 meters to the side, the spinning momentum of the javelin suddenly gaining a boost of vicious winds.
This time, Zarek didn't control it well on purpose, turning his momentum into the spinning force of his pivot.
BANG!
The javelin rocketed out of his hands. Or, rather, the Lurker's Godsfall he spun it from—the elasticity erupting with potential.
It moved so fast across the air that it appeared in a flash. Everything was somehow happening even faster than that, though, so much so that Indyana still hadn't had the time to register just what the hell was happening.
Jakob was still in the middle of his swing. He had focused everything on his attack, too used to his armor giving him all the protection he needed.
He didn't even have time to look up before his head had a nice, round hole in it. And then…
BANG!
The remaining energy made it look as though Zarek had planted a bomb in his head. The man shook once, and then his headless corpse fell to the ground, blood painting the pure white snow crimson.
Zarek's momentum came to a steady stop. Then, he almost slowly walked to the long staff that had once been in Jakob's control, picking it up.
He examined the long thing for a moment until he understood. With a slight adjustment, it rapidly shrank.
'B Class. Still not as good as the lance, but useful in its own way in the right situation.'
Zarek tilted his head back toward Indyana. "Go on. Call it back again."
Indyana was still frozen in place. His biggest challenger here had been Jakob, and yet Zarek killed him using Indyana's own weapon as though he was casually slaughtering a chicken.
Then he thought about how Zarek had escaped out of the range of that lethal explosion as though it was nothing.
He felt like he had been too hasty starting this battle, but was it even still possible to…This chapter was originally posted on M^VLEMPYR.
Indyana's jaw steeled, the Matrix on his hand lighting up again. There was no way Zarek could do that more than once. He couldn't allow himself to get psyched out like this.
He grabbed at the air, this time with much less confidence. But this time, he successfully grabbed it.
His eyes lit up with fierceness. This man had his limits. If he insisted on this battle, then Indyana would just have to show him his—
Indyana froze.
Zarek stood a far distance from him, just slowly pointing down to the ground. Shaken, Indyana couldn't help but look, but there was nothing beneath him but snow and his own shadow.
That was the last thing he saw.
BANG!
It looked as though a huge creature had taken a bite out of Indyana's side, wisps of burning ash flickering out into the wind like burnt pieces of paper.
Zarek walked forward, the lance strapped to his back and the rod resting on a shoulder.
He squatted by Indyana's corpse, picking up the glove he had worn on his hand and the javelin. A nice haul indeed.
Unfortunately for Indyana, Zarek countered him too well. When \\[Unholy Beacon] was attached to the javelin, Zarek could sense it during its teleportation and pull on it. His Time Godsfall Intent affinity had a suffocating synergy with Space Godsfall Intent, but that wasn't what he used this time.
Instead, he just relied on \\[Unholy Beacon], attaching it to him. At that point, the teleportation failed—or, rather, was diverted.
As for Indyana's death, that was even simpler. Zarek just covered the javelin with Ash. The whole looking-down thing had little to do with it. But it did give him the idea of hiding his Ashen Souls in the shadows of others.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do it this time with the teleportations going on. So, instead, he had hidden his Ashen Soul under the cover of his Lurker's Godsfall. It provided the darkness it needed to thrive and survive the teleportation.
At that point, it was just a matter of detonating the Ashen Soul.
A single battle, two swift kills. As simple as could be.
Zarek made it a point not to look very rushed. After slipping the glove on, he nodded to himself. These treasures had survived the explosion of flames just fine.
Now, it was time to give that Hub another shot. This time, he had a new approach.
His perception was lacking, but his speed was also a problem. He couldn't slap down fast enough.
He'd need a different approach.