Beside him, he felt Rhinos squaring up. He raised a fist in the air. His hammers caught fire.

  “CHARGE!” roared Zane.

  And together they thundered into a Stampede.

  He felt the heat coming, pumping through him with each heartbeat. In his new Titan’s Body, every movement felt explosive.

  He hurtled into an Annihilation Charge.

  He bounded once. Thud. Bounded again, and this step opened craters beneath his feet. THUD. A third, and a terrible momentum took over. THUD!

  By the time his fourth step landed, his foes couldn’t stand up straight. Their world was wobbling on its axis.

  A crop of Spider-Monsters lay up ahead, Minor Gods one and all. They spewed hissing webbing at him. But he barreled right through them, shattering them, leaving broken burning lines in his wake.

  Five steps in, and his hammers flew.

  They bore the full brunt of that Charge.

  His hammer hit an unfortunate mid-Minor God Spider Monster in the face—and in that split second, it compressed the beast like a tin can. Eight warning-red eyes bulged. Its exoskeleton crumpled.

  Then the force grew too much for it; it simply popped. Limbs streaked to space.

  It was the first time Zane had one-banged a Minor God.

  But that blow wasn’t done. His hammer sailed through and struck the spiders behind.

  Three peak Minor Gods went flying, limbs blown off, shrieking as they went, spewing web uselessly.

  He grinned, found another clump, and barreled straight in with a Charge.

  Boom-BOOM!

  Each blast made a mushroom cloud. And Gods went flying beneath his fist.

  He was surprised how weak these Minor God Monsters felt to him. Even the peak Minor God ones could barely offer any resistance. He only felt it when a horde of them hit him all at once.

  Like these flying monkeys, raining exploding rotten fruit-attacks on him from the cloud layer, sneering, hissing laughter as they did.

  Zane frowned and charged.

  Three stomps built up power.

  The fourth shot him like a rocket.

  Then he was among the beasts, and their sneers turned to gapes.

  Monkeys fell from the Heavens.

  He landed in a crouch, pounded his chest, and roared, a big grin on his face.

  There was something to be said about the pure joy of simple, raw destruction.

  With his new powers, Zane felt unkillable on this battlefield. He could impose his will, at will.

  He did so with great satisfaction.

  ***

  A ways off, Old Nog was getting up to full speed too. A wave of angry steel wrestled against a dark wintry forest—and shouldered it aside.

  The Hyena King’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.

  It tried to leap out of the way, but Nog would not be denied. Half the Hyena King’s world had been swallowed up by the old Rhino’s, and when Nog roared, he seemed to swell to a greater size than he already was.

  A fighting spirit was rearing its proud head, a spirit as fiery as any on the battlefield.

  That great body shone, and gravity soared.

  The Hyena King clawed at the air. An avalanche flowed from its claws, running skyward, trying to bear it away. But the great Titan Rhino had it in its gravity. Exactly where it wanted.

  Nog skewered it on his horn, right in the soft underbelly. Waves of force went through the beast—tsunamis of force—shattering bones all along its body; they didn’t even spare the ears.

  The Hyena howled, wheezed out a mouthful of black blood, and flew.

  Nog let out a bellow—a buffing Skill. And every Rhino there felt a boiling in the blood.

  The Titan’s Roar powered them all.

  To Nog’s left, Ronk blasted a true God hyena into space. To his right, the Barbarian Sage laughed as he tore between the hydra’s heads; they craned and spewed, shot a scythe of wind his way, but though they came close, they couldn’t touch him. He was far too wily.

  Then the Sage launched out a spear and skewered a head.

  In the moment of contact, the spear tip gained the heft of a Neutron Star.

  The explosion went so fast it wasn’t visible to the naked eye. One moment the spear was there. The next, the head was gone, as though the bulk of it had simply been deleted from existence.

  Deep in the Outskirts, bone-dust and evaporated blood splattered a random iceberg.

  The Sage roared with laughter.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  ***

  Besides, Zane Mook barreled into a clump of imp-like tar fiends, blasting the lot of them skyward. Every Rhino fought their heart out—even those not in the Horn. It gave Zane a strange pride.

  Near the front of the pack, Shaman Guri whacked Monsters over the head with a giant flaming stick. It was surprisingly effective.

  But most of the attention was on Zane.

  Three hellhounds leaped on his back, sinking claws an inch deep, raking bloody gashes. A scorpion speared his head. A club-tail caught him in the cheek. Surface wounds and little gashes. Small bone breaks.

  He shrugged it all off and fed them his fists. A few good blasts had them rolling; then his hammers swerved over and finished them.

  No time to rest. Velociraptor Monsters were already charging him. They barely got two poisoned swipes off before he rammed in two Annihilation Steps, then slammed them with his hammers—and there was that signature moment of impact. The compression in their forms as all Annihilation’s force unloaded into them at once, holding them still, as though the rest of physics took a moment to catch up.

  Then they went flying.

  Zane roared his triumph.

  He knew in that moment how he looked to them. The Monsters sent their most vicious, cruelest beasts at him, and he pounded them.

  He sensed their fear—like they were going up against a force of nature. A god of war who could not be stopped.

  Good.

  His Radiation already weakened them—that fear weakened them more. It was no wonder he was running through them.

  He didn’t lose himself fully to the feeling. It was still good to keep sharp. But as he got into the throes of things, grinning bloodily, sending whole packs soaring with each blast—he felt very much like a force of nature.

  He wasn’t sure how many Monsters he’d killed so far. Maybe a dozen. He’d wounded triple that, and he wasn’t anywhere close to done.

  Warning!

  Health under 75%

  Mostly blood loss and shallow wounds. He barely felt it.

  Up ahead, a dozen beasts descended on two Rhinos. Zane growled—he was swerving already, loading another charge, bounding once, twice, and before he knew it, he was five steps deep, six steps, right on top of the beasts. A chimp with vampire teeth chittered as it sank greedy teeth into Rhino hide.

  His hammer whacked it right in the face, bearing the full brunt of Annihilation Charge.

  It didn’t even have time to shriek. First came the crunch—the teeth exploding like grenades—then he saw the chain reaction of bones exploding up its face, saw force transfer to force, and find all the hard links of its body too soft to hold up against Zane’s power.

  Until there was nowhere else for force to go, and that gruesome head rocketed off the body.

  Then both head and body exploded in Solar Flare.

  By then even some of the True Gods were looking over—although Ronk roared and charged, and did a good job keeping them busy.

  It felt like a good quarter of the horde was focused just on stopping him. Maybe more.

  Fear warred with rage in the Monsters. Then a big rolly-polly-looking Monster made a glass-shattering sound—a command. And a huge swathe of the horde diverted, charged him at once.

  A dozen up front. Another swarmed him from the back. Zane was happy to take them. He charged, and charged, relentless, smashing each line to bits, and Annihilation Charge and Solar Flare Smash both made their marks on the battlefield.

  The more they threw at him, the more fed his Asura—getting him closer and closer to his limit….

  Now the damage was piling on. Spears of pain dotting his back, his thighs—still it wasn’t enough to slow him. He threw them off him like a grizzly shrugging off feral hounds.

  Then he came across one of their strongest. A peak Minor God with hundred-thousand-year Bones—as strong as a Scourge Prince. A Cyclops with silver rings around its fists, rings that reverberated at rest.

  They exchanged blows.

  It slammed Zane in the face—his head snapped back. He felt vibrations shudder into his face, into his bones—felt his nose crack. But he just grinned bloodily and went right back at it.

  He crushed the God to the ribs, pounding nuclear explosions into its guts, and felt the Cyclops’ ribs shatter like straw. It seemed shocked by the force. Its mouth opened; no sound came out, just a high wheeze.

  Then his hammer met its face and it went down. Two more finished it off.

  More and more piled on. Ogres up left. Gargoyles from the back. Even an oozing elephant-Monster.

  He turned on them, and wrecked them.

  ***

  Meanwhile, hidden in a swathe of shadow on a high bluff, a stretch removed from the fight…

  I see why the Master sent all of us… gurgled an oily voice.

  Another voice—The Dead Sea King’s spirit did not lie… he is like ten men—a hundred!

  A third, deeper still—Do not make him more than he is. He bleeds like any other beast, it hissed, dismissive. You were chosen because you resist his greatest strengths! The Great One does not make mistakes. Follow the plan, and Zane will fall.

  ***

  In total thirty-odd Minor Gods had rushed at Zane in that wave. Half-mid-Minor Gods, half-Peak.

  He was the only one left standing.

  He was bleeding from a thousand cuts. But his heart beat a war drum in his ears, and he never lost his grin.

  He’d quite enjoyed that last brawl.

  It’d gotten him below 50% Health; but with his new Second Form’s regeneration that was shoring up fast. Those cuts were burning with white flames, cauterizing; his body did the rest. Still nothing had really challenged him. Nothing had gotten him to his limit.

  Now he put his hopes on the strongest of the bunch. The half-step True God.

  A Lion with a mane of rippling black lightning. And it was some lightning—it managed to get through Rhino hide, even. Mook was trying his best, giving it the good fight. But sturdy as he was, Mook couldn’t break through the Distortion Field.

  Mook stood there shuddering, as though being slowly electrocuted—the Titan Rhino couldn’t seem to move. The Lion’s eyes were smirking crescents. Mook roared and roared, but though he was a strong Minor God, there was a vast gulf between peak and half-step.

  Then Zane came out of nowhere with an Annihilation charge and nearly brained the beast.

  Solar Flare Smash soared by. Some cat’s sense, some lightning reflex, saved the beast—it leaped away just in time.

  “Don’t pick on my friend,” growled Zane.

  It stared back at him, eyes narrowed, and growled too. Slowly they circled each other, and its Distortion Field cracked through him.

  Shock rippled down his musculature. It wasn’t just that—every move Zane made overshot, every step too far. Even his thoughts felt more jittery than usual.

  He had to work to bring his body under control. And even then, he only managed it because he’d gotten up to 250% Asura.

  The beast leveled a cruel gaze on him; it was looking to make him shudder, and spasm. Bring him to his knees.

  Its eyes narrowed as it realized it couldn’t.

  They circled each other, both breathing heavily.

  Then—as one—they leaped for each other’s throats.

  The Lion sank two fistfuls of claws into his chest. Each claw felt like jumper cables in his chest.

  Fighting through the spasms, Zane smashed a hammer for its back. It jerked away just in time; he struck it with his hammer’s side and heard a meaty crunch. The Lion yowled—but it wasn’t a crippling blow.

  They tore at each other again, and again—and each time the Lion got the worst of it. Each time Zane felt his heart beat faster.

  Against the weak, he couldn’t get himself amped up very fast. But this…

  The Lion grew desperate. It emptied the tank on him. A silly amount of black lightning burst out of its fangs and struck Zane in the chest.

  For a second his whole body locked out and he stood there shuddering; his Health dipped near 25%—and the Monster gave a crow of victory.

  Then Zane groaned, and the runes on his body went bloody. His pupils changed color. The scent of iron and salt filled the air; blood washed the world.

  Ethereal chains shattered over his body.

  The Lion had just about enough time to look over, eyes widening, and realize just what a mistake it’d made.

  Then Zane’s fist broke half the bones in its face.

  Another hit it in the belly and broke half the bones there.

  A third struck the same spot and finished the job.

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