God of Destruction: Living Among Mortals

The Vorynth looked back at Zane, who blurred past it, and grabbed the Adventurer, as the beast had retracted its snout, focusing on Zane. The Vorynth's eyes had target locked onto Zane, the black pits of nothingness that seemed to have absorbed the very light of the tunnel had made Zane shiver.

Zane had left faint sound-echoes behind him. The Vorynth's head snapped toward the phantoms, giving Zane the split second he needed. He darted forward, weaving through the serpent's colossal body as if he were surfing through a huge tide.

A blue core was within reach, so Zane grabbed it, throwing it with all his strength at the serpent's jaw. It exploded against the skin of the serpent, sending shards of dense rock flying, but the Vorynth barely flinched.

The phantom echoes of Zane's movements pulled its attention in multiple directions, but the serpent's fangs and tail swung with terrifying speed. Zane rolled out of the way just in time, catching a shard of rock to his shoulder. Pain shot through him, but he swallowed it down. He couldn't afford a distraction; it only made them.

He realized that he dropped the Adventurer on accident, so he reached for the Adventurer and scooped him up, tucking him under one arm. The unconscious man was heavy, heavier than before he felt, but his adrenaline at the moment was making him feel nearly weightless.

The Vorynth's gaze followed them relentlessly, its scales illuminating in the dark, like mini blackholes. Zane's lungs were burning through his fuel fast, and even singing bits of his lungs in the process, as he zigzagged down the narrow tunnels to avoid the creature's sweeping attacks.

The serpent struck again. Its tail slammed the tunnel wall, sending a shockwave that threw Zane against the opposite side. Rocks fell, and dust acted like a smoke bomb.

Still, he forced himself to move. He had to keep both of them alive, or at least one of them. But he removed that thought and went back to keeping them both alive.

He grabbed purple and blue cores from the walls. He tested their densities, and hurled one after another straight into the serpent's side. The Vorynth reared back in pain, thrashing violently.

Zane took the opportunity to dart along its sides, striking at the shimmering cracks along its spine with another artillery of cores. The serpent yelped on contact, a sound that shook through the entire trial.

Many Adventurers, who were ignorant of the battle, were wondering what was happening, as more monsters and beasts from the depths of the tunnel lured closer to the center of the tunnels.

The Vorynth lunged, its jaws snapping, fangs like blackened spears aimed straight at him. Zane ducked, rolling under its massive head and scrambling to the side. He planted another batch of cores along its neck, watching it sizzle against the dense scales.

For a moment, the monster had staggered. Zane pressed his advantage, striking with a flurry of punches, kicks, and cores, each blow targeted at the weak points he had memorized from his past encounter.

But the serpent was far from finished, its massive body coiled around the tunnel, its tail smashing rocks in its path. Zane jumped over the rubble, feeling the vibration of the tunnel in his bones.

One miscalculation and he would be crushed. Another swipe from the tail and his side exploded in pain from the impact, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through.

I can't give in to fear. Not here. Not now. I need to survive, for my sake, at least. Using his ability, he left another batch of phantom images behind him, darting left, right, up along the tunnel walls, trying to confuse the Vorynth.

Each time the serpent attacked a phantom, Zane had a moment to reposition himself. The Adventurer groaned in his arms, barely conscious, and Zane's grip tightened. He couldn't let him fall. At one point during the battle, he had even forgotten about the person tucked in his arms.

He ran toward a narrow section of the tunnel, baiting the Vorynth to follow. The massive, insistently lunging, too large to turn quickly, slammed into the walls. It got covered in debris as dust floated in the air.

The creature snarled, thrashing violently like an angry gamer losing ten ranked games in a row, because of his retarded teammates, planting a dense purple core in the creature's crack near its shoulder.

The serpent thrashed violently again and dislodged stones that pummeled Zane. He shielded the Adventurer with his own body, as if he were his kin. Pain was flaring through his back, his arms, and his legs, but he felt a sense of relief, envisioning the unconscious Adventurer now as his teammate, someone that he had to protect.

The Vorynth twisted violently, sending a tail swipe toward him. Zane barely rolled under it, feeling the wind push him into the wall. A shard of stone grazed his cheek. Blood ran down, but he clenched his jaw and focused.

Each strike of the cores forced the serpent back slightly, revealing cracks and even more weak points. The monster may be stronger and faster than anything he had ever faced, but everything had a limit. He had to find them and destroy them.

The Vorynth lunged again, this one more direct. The creature's head snapped toward him faster than he could react. Zane felt his stomach drop as its fangs were only inches apart.

But at the last second, he blurred to the side, leaving multiple phantom echoes behind. The serpent struck the phantoms instead, smashing the wall and sending dust flying in a big bunch again.

Zane seized the opening, running along the serpent's side, punching cores into every crack and fissure he could reach. The Vorynth staggered, snarling under the assault. Zane felt a glimmer of hope. If he could just push a little further.

The serpent made a final desperate move. It twisted its body like a whip, tail smashing into the wall and floor, dislodging massive chunks of rock. Zane barely rolled away, scraping his elbow and knee, but he kept the Adventurer protected.

His arms trembled with fatigue, but he grabbed one last dense core. He ran up the serpent's side, planting the core into the largest glowing crack along its back.

The impact detonated with an explosion, the light illuminating the overwhelming darkness. The beast shriked, convulsing violently. Its massive body crashed against the tunnel walls.

Zane shielded the Adventurer, bracing himself against the tumbling rocks. The monster's struggles weakened until, finally, with one final stutter, it collapsed, its colossal form hitting the tunnel floor with a magnitude ten earthquake.