Chapter 96 - Scarlet Claws

Author note:

There were some formatting issues with the last chapter. Should be fixed now. Sorry about that. Patreon's text editor has been a pain in the ass to work with after their latest update screwed up importing chapters.

As an apology, here's an extra chapter, since that's what you guys are here for lol.

Vivi’s jump landed on the Death Tyrant’s rib. Each rib was as large as a human torso. She activated Thorn Sword and drove her sword, tip first, into the rib.

The sword pierced halfway into the bone before getting stuck. Cracks spread within the rib’s surface. Vivi’s sword did damage, crush runes taking effect.

But the damages were inconsequential. She didn’t even cut open one section of the ribs. Vivi held onto the handle of her sword, legs dangling over the fall below. She couldn't die from falling, but glancing down, Vivi still felt like she was looking into a dangerous abyss.

Flying skulls were approaching from above. She threw a claw-attack. The claws didn’t cut through bone, but the impact pushed the skull back and out of trajectory.

Vivi gritted her teeth. She placed a foot on the rib and attempted to pull on her sword. It was thoroughly stuck. Lucius still had one sword in spatial storage: the crystal mithril sword. But without a crush rune, the sword wouldn’t do much damage.

A sizzling sound came from beneath Vivi’s sword, from the broken rib. Ether escaped from the cracks. Vivi watched in concern as ether began concentrating in the area.

“It’s going to explode!” Lucius said. “Vivi, we need to—”

The explosion went off before he could finish his sentence. The rib destroyed itself, sending Vivi and her sword flying. Her vision went black for a second, and her sword flew somewhere she couldn’t see.

While still in the air, Lucius pushed more ether into her head, forcing her awake. “Watch the landing!” he shouted. “We collapse, we die!”

Vivi was flying straight to the middle of the skeleton-filled arena. Four skeletons had their fists loaded, ready to punch her the moment she landed. Vivi gritted her teeth and called her last runesword. She activated Thorn Sword, using every bit of strength she had.

Lucius pushed hundreds of ether into her body and her sword. Only a thousand wisps still had power. Everything else was dim.

But she still had enough power to cut two of the skeletons, giving Vivi a tiny landing spot.

Skeletons were all around her. She swung immediately, cutting one more. She growled, swinging like mad. There were so many skeletons, nowhere to run.

Vivi avoided attacks and killed skeletons for over ten seconds, fighting in a state of absolute concentration. Vivi surprised herself with her strength. She killed skeleton after skeleton, dodging attacks. Her practice culminated into a dance—a desperate one, a fight for survival—the last of Lucius’s ether surging within. Vivi kept hold, focusing on utilizing her last wisps to their fullest.

Her sword was one-runed, powered only by strength. With Thorn Sword active, the sword gained a slight increase to its damage; barely enough to kill the skeletons in one clear blow.

It was working. Her practice, it was all there. She was slowly clearing a space for herself.

Until something hit her in the back with the force of a thousand punches. A skeleton landed a clean hit. Lucius protected the spot with ether, but the impact was harsh.

Vivi was blown to the air with explosive force. It felt as if the sun had grazed her back, burning her skin. She collided with two skeletons. The skeletons fell by the impact, and Vivi tumbled over them, hitting two more skeletons before collapsing on the ground.

Her vision was a blur. She felt ether all around her. Skeletons ready to kill her. Where was her sword? She had to get up!

Lucius had less than fifty active wisps. She had nothing more to play with.

She saw the vague figure of a skeleton’s foot about to crush her head in.

“Vivi!” a voice growled.

The skeleton above was slashed in half. Aang and Lydi dashed to the scene. Vivi saw Skeleton Cutter’s blade pass as a flash of light around her. Aang fought five skeletons at the same time, barely holding on.

Lydi grabbed Vivi’s hand and pulled her up. Vivi coughed, nearly puking out blood. She was dizzy; her back felt as if it would collapse under its own weight. She wasn’t in any shape to fight anymore.

The group backed toward the edge of the room, while Aang defended against the hundreds of skeletons approaching their way. He was being pushed back, clearly running out of ether. Lydi desperately shot at the flying skulls above with her staff. A clean hit disintegrated the skulls in one hit, but there were dozens, far too many for Lydi to deal with.

This wasn’t working. They were destined for a slow death. Vivi glanced up at the Death Tyrant. It was raising its fist, preparing a final killing blow.

“Aang!” Lucius suddenly shouted, appearing out of Vivi’s core. “Give me your ether! Your inactive wisps!”

“Inactive wisps?” Aang asked, while still fighting.

“The dim ones!” Lucius shouted. The boss’s hand was crashing down at them. “Quick! I need at least ten thousand!”

Aang gritted his teeth, confused, but there was not time for questions. He began transferring ether. Lucius's reserves grew to six thousand, then seven thousand. Aang’s transfer happened quickly, pushing Lucius above thirteen thousand in seconds. All of the wisps were dimmed out, already spent.

As his reserves grew, Lucius’s core became increasingly unstable. Hundreds of ether were being wasted to air, escaping from Lucius’s hold. He flew back to Vivi’s core.

“Hug Vivi close!” Lucius shouted. “Stay behind her, and don’t move, or you’ll be cut!”

Then they ascended.

A surge of power suddenly flowed within Vivi. Her vision turned scarlet red. Her skin and her raincoat glowed, powered up by Lucius’s ascension. The concentration of power was different from regular ether. The surge of power was more volatile, more unstable and destructive.

Lucius was spending the dimmed out wisps, permanently destroying them, drawing the very life out of ether for power. Two thousand wisps were gone in an instant, more rapidly disappearing.

Claws grew on both of Vivi’s hands. Her fingers were filled with ungodly amounts of pressurized ether. Each scarlet claw grew to the size of a shortsword.

“All yours,” Lucius said before losing consciousness.

Vivi swiped at the grouping of skeletons, sending forth a ranged claw-attack.

A shockwave erupted as the attack reaped into existence. The scarlet claws crashed into the wave of skeletons. Four waves of skeletons were killed instantly, the claws cutting through. The fifth wave finally stopped the attack, but not before being crushed to bits.

She threw another swipe at the skeletons on her right. Her immediate surroundings were cleared. Tens of skeletons died, just like that.

Each attack cost Vivi over two thousand ether. Lucius’s reserves had already dwindled from thirteen thousand to eight thousand. Vivi only had a few more attacks remaining.

Above her, the Death Tyrant’s fist was crashing down. Vivi regarded it calmly. She could have dodged; her body was ascended and quick. But Aang and Lydi were behind her. Vivi had to protect them.

The power in her claws recharged. Vivi went into stance, using the fundamentals Rohan had taught, and charged an attack with both claws at once.

Moments before the boss’s fist landed, Vivi released the charged attack, hitting the Death Tyrant’s fist head-on. The claws collided with bone.

An explosion went off, locking Vivi’s ears. A cloud of bone dust enveloped her surroundings, blocking vision. Vivi swiped with her hand, but without releasing a ranged attack, to push the cloud out of the way.

The Death Tyrant’s hand was blown to bits. The boss roared in pain, shaking the whole cavern. The remaining bones of its right hand dangled lifelessly. One of its two hands was destroyed.

A wave of pain flashed inside Vivi’s core. She collapsed to one knee. The scarlet vision wavered. Lucius’s reserves had fallen to less than three thousand. Her claws struggled to recharge.

The boss was enraged with no sense of danger. It raised its remaining fist, and threw a straight punch directly at Vivi.

Immediately, she knew she wouldn’t be able to block it. “Run!” she shouted, prompting Aang and Lydi to run in different directions.

After they were gone, Vivi jumped to the side, dodging the attack.

The Death Tyrant’s fist landed on the wall behind her. She braced her feet for the shockwave.

Lucius’s powers wavered. His ether reserves dropped to under a thousand. Vivi was blown back, tumbling across the ground. She landed beside the edge of the platform, inches from the moat. She coughed blood. The scarlet powers were gone.

The arena was a blur. Vivi saw movement approaching her from a short way off. It looked vaguely humanoid.

A skeleton.

Vivi attempted to stand, but fell back by her own weight. Loose bricks fell from the ceiling. The whole arena was falling apart. Vivi’s heart pounded, body attempting to pump adrenaline, but her muscles were too worn. Her left shoulder didn’t move; it was likely dislocated. Her chest hurt from the effort to stand.

Lucius? she thought. Where’s my sword?

“Vivi?” Lucius’s voice was frail and weak. “Ether… Need ether…”

Vivi glanced at Lucius’s reserves. He still had a few hundred left, only three of which had any power remaining. Where was Aang and Lydi? Glancing around, Vivi couldn’t see them anywhere within the mess of skeletons.

Skeletons approached her. Dozens walking on the floor, heads flying in the air. The Death Tyrant turned its gaze toward Vivi. Its armless figure stared at her with lifeless eyes.

Vivi’s body totally gave up. She collapsed on the ground.

They failed. She had nothing to defend herself with.