Universe's End

"Are you sure you are prepared to do this alone?"

"I am," Zoey answered, pacing back and forth. "Besides, you're still finishing up with that crystal."

"And when I do, I shall be on the cusp of tier eight."

"Yeah, but I don't want to wait that long. It's time for me to deal with this," Zoey said as she flashed the back of her hand to the serpent coiled around the large crystal.

She was, of course, referring to her literal black mark on her record —the reckoning that if she fell in her next battle against her Bane, it would be lights out; there would be no redemption in Tier Eight, no second chances, and it would kill her. Had she not utterly fucked up in the tier six bracket against her Bane, she wouldn't be in such dire straits. Still, the past was the past, no changing how blockheaded she had been back then, charging in and flailing mindlessly as she attempted to out-durability her Bane, which was explicitly meant to counter that.

I can do this.

It wasn't just victory she was after, no. What Zoey wanted was an overwhelming victory.

I'm not who I once was.

Compared to her younger years, her skill, literal skill, as a fighter had increased leaps and bounds, an inevitability of having spent the better part of six or seven decades as a tier seven. In contrast, tier six had been a measly eight or so years.

Then there were the changes to her. The two big ones were the evolution of crystal skin into Sword-Steel Skin and the assimilation of golem steel moss into her body. Between the two of them, she felt reasonably confident that she could fully invert her durability and still be significantly more durable than the average person.

Meanwhile, her Bane had only had two adaptations since she'd last fought it. The second adaptation would likely be irrelevant for their fight, as it centered around how Rory had thoroughly trounced it with lightning magic, however many decades ago that had been.

If I could use lightning magic, it would be more of a concern. However, my skill with magic is still far from being usable against anything but the weakest tier sevens.

No, the bigger worry was the adaptation it had inevitably gained to her counter skill, the way in which she'd managed to claim victory against it during their first tier seven confrontation.

But it won't matter, because I don't plan on ever needing it.

Steeling herself, Zoey shook her head.

Now isn't the time to waver.

She was on the cusp of tier eight. If she didn't face her Bane now, the minute she ascended to tier eight, it would likely appear and face her with its full power of a high-tier-eight, and not just a base-tier-eight.

Got to win here and now.

As for how she would ensure it made its appearance?

Sorry, Rory. I'm going to steal a page from your book.

"How does he make this look so easy?" Zoey sighed, rubbing her brow as she looked down at her handiwork. She was quite some distance from their volcanic home, as she'd wanted a battlefield where nothing would get in the way.

As for what her handiwork was?

Carved into the ground was a large circle, with a collection of runes painstakingly inscribed into the hard stone.

You don't spend decades around someone and never learn any of their tricks.

It had taken her nearly three hours to make sure everything was as she wanted, a rather embarrassing timeframe given Rory could have probably projected a magic circle with the same runes with but a minute of prep time.

Yeah, but can he get beaten up by a tier eight alpha variant monster for several minutes straight and not be red paste? I thought not. Therefore, I win.

The bound circle was essentially a summoning circle, meant to 'open' the pathway between herself and her Bane. The concept was a little… iffy. If Zoey were honest with herself, she simply didn't have Rory's understanding of these sorts of things. Still, intent could carry power just as much as any magic rune.

Alright, no more procrastinating.

"Let's do this, you scaly fuck!" Zoey said as she spread her arms and infused a speck of pneuma into the circle, which absorbed the rest from her surroundings. In an instant, the circle glowed, power swirling as space shimmered and shook. Then, all at once, she was forced back a step as the circle exploded, fragments like broken glass splintering out of reality as an all too familiar beast ripped through space like a pane of glass.

It was exactly as she remembered, an ugly cross between a praying mantis and an ankylosaurus.

Well, almost the same.

There was a notable rubbery substance woven into its scales compared to last time.

I take it that would be the lightning adaptation.

There was no time for banter or witticism, not that it mattered against her Bane. Charging her head on, a frenzy in its eyes, Zoey made no attempt to avoid or play defense. Inverting, she matched the beast, its mantis-scythe arms swinging down at her, only to be caught by a pair of bucklers on each arm. Grinning, her flesh took on the appearance of metal.

"Time for a lesson, big guys."

Maybe time for one witticism.

The pain was unlike anything most could imagine. But 'most' didn't count Zoey.

Having already prepared herself and acclimated long ago, Zoey was ready for the pain. Besides, even if she hadn't been, the sheer adrenaline pumping through her veins at the thought of crushing her damned lousy Bane was more than enough to push her through.

Having caught the downward strike of its arms on her small bucklers, Zoey squared her center of balance on her left leg, lifting her right foot a single inch before striking. Like a scene from a fictional Shaolin martial arts movie, she twisted and spun her body as her right leg swung through the air like the falling blade of an executioner. Having been performed with such speed and ferocity, her Bane was unable to react as the axe kick from hell smashed into its face like she was doing a spinning soccer kick.

Stolen story; please report.

So heavy and powerful was the impact that the head of her Bane was instantly slammed into the ground, as the force formed a crater over a dozen meters across in every direction.

Stepping back, Zoey felt her confidence flare.

"Get up,"

The smart thing was to continue pummeling it while it was down, never even giving it a chance to turn the tables. But that wasn't what Zoey wanted.

She wanted total domination.

Staggering to its feet, the monster was covered in the red sheen, informing her of its berserk ability activating. With every bit of damage that it suffered from here on out, it would grow faster and stronger.

Good.

Her Bane attempted a simple raking strike in the direction of her head. Avoiding the attack entirely, she dipped underneath the strike as she launched a massive uppercut into its midsection, knocking it back a step. She was wearing extra-thick gauntlets just for this situation, the thick metal absorbing the force of the hit. Technically, Rory hadn't given her permission to nab them. Still, as the saying went, his workshop was her workshop, so really it was his fault for having left stuff behind instead of putting them away when they had entered the Deep Chambers so many decades ago.

Continuing her assault, the Bane found itself at its wits' end. Her Sword-Steel Skin and golem steel moss infusion meant she was able to fight with forward aggression in her inverted state that she had never dared to risk before.

The flow of battle was intoxicating, being so in control, more than any other battle she'd been in before. Unbidden, for a single moment, she thought of her younger sister, but it was gone in a flash.

She probably would have liked this world.

Focus turned back to the 'battle,' Zoey measured her Bane's speed as it began to catch up to her, no longer being so mindlessly thrashed about.

You know, this would be a perfect opportunity.

Rory loved to invent new magic and attacks on the fly.

So why can't I?

Between her excitement with the battle, and the almost trancelike flow state Zoey found herself in, when the Bane swung its clubbed tail at her, an attack that usually ripped through her durability and armor like a mother fucker, Zoey only saw an opportunity.

Durability versus… anti-durability.

Zoey was already second-to-none when it came to manipulating her attributes, so when the club came and Zoey launched her own fist forward, for a moment, it was as if she could visualize all that durability concentrated within her fist.

Colliding, it was closer in sound to the ringing of a gong than a human hand colliding against the bone and scale club of a monster. The sheer force of the two opposing sides colliding tossed Zoey back, being the lightest element in the equation, as she found herself frowning.

Tsk. Not good enough.

Distantly, Zoey could sense that whatever she'd just done had been recognized as a skill by E.O.N., but she wasn't done yet.

I can do better.

The red aura clinging to her Bane had reached an eye-watering intensity, as red arcs of energy began to crackle off from its body.

Almost like-

Eyes widening, Zoey was too slow to react as arcs of red lightning ripped out from its body, tearing into the earth and ripping apart stone as easily as if it were soggy cardboard. One such whip of red lightning struck her, as agony pierced her body, her entire body feeling as if it were being lit up like a tree on Christmas day.

It hurt like a mother fucker, and yet, Zoey found herself gritting her teeth in a predatory smile.

Hah, give me that inspiration!

Whatever the red lightning was, it wasn't really lightning; the fact that it hadn't struck her instantly was more than enough proof. More like it was a bastardization or some weird variant of lightning, somehow gained in part as its adaptation to lightning.

But it won't be enough.

Overcoming the pain, Zoey shot forward, darting between arcs of red lightning.

Is it stationary during this attack?

For whatever reason, the Bane made no attempt to move, which fit Zoey just fine. Appearing in front of the monster, she grabbed it in what could have been approximated to a shoulder throw, before flipping it. Transitioning from one movement into the next, her leg snapped upward, launching the monster, which must have weighed at least one or two tons, skyward. Even through the gauntlets, her hands were burning furiously, that same burn crawling throughout her body.

That red quasi-lightning field also permeates its body, and it directly damages you. Good to know.

Watching the monster fall, Zoey cocked her arm back once more, taking in the feeling of her durability concentrated within her fist, a point of near indestructibility.

More.

Her body was metal, her fist a hammer of destruction.

No, that's not the image I need.

It wasn't a hammer, it was a-

A what?

Her Bane had managed to turn its downward fall into a controlled movement, like a spinning flail. Taking a hit from that tail, aided by the speed of its spinning fall, would be dangerous, even with her regular durability. Her best choice would be to simply sidestep.

Not a hammer. My body is metal. I am unmovable, like the mountains. No, no, I can do better!

Her mind felt as if it were on the verge of something; she just needed that right image for it all to click into place.

Even the mountains will fall. My fist is stronger than even that. Harder, denser. My body is metal….

Moments from bringing its tail down upon her, Zoey's eyes widened before her lips pulled back in savage delight.

My body is metal, and my fist is core.

Her fist wasn't just the convergence of her durability; it was the core under continental pressure, a material harder than anything known. It wasn't just hard.

It was seismic.

Launching her fist forward, words spoken that could not be heard, her fist struck the spinning hammer club of her Bane's tail.

And even with all the force it brought down upon her, it wasn't her fist that failed first.

It was its tail.

The agonized roar that erupted from her pain only made sense, as its most potent weapon was destroyed. Made of scale and bone meant to match her own durability, it simply didn't matter as the club tail shattered, as her fist, looking as if it were cast from a pure black metal, smashed through.

Hah! I did it!

Once more, she could tell whatever she'd done had been recognized by E.O.N. as a skill, and likely a skill evolution at that.

Gleeful, Zoey was only taken aback when it was as if a massive headache erupted in her brain, her center of balance thrown off.

Oh, fuck.

For someone who had never drawn upon much pneuma, it was a novel experience, entirely foreign to her. But if Rory had been there, he would have recognized it instantly.

Pneuma-wracked.

Fuck, alright, no more playing around.

Gritting her teeth against the sudden additional mental pain that seemed to bypass her standard pain insulation and the intense bout of vertigo, Zoey shot forward drunkenly.

The good news was that you couldn't just lose a core part of your body, as the Bane had, and walk it off; the already battered and beaten monster wobbled just as much as she was.

Spinning midair into another snapping axe kick, Zoey slammed the monster face-first back into the ground. Rather than let it gather itself as she had before, she began to rain down blow after blow. She'd gained enough already from this fight, and she still wanted it to be a one-sided beatdown in the end, and wasting any more time would only make that less likely.

Pummeling it, each hit tore into it, even as the tough promethium gauntlets began to wear down and tear apart. The sheer ferocity of being used as the weapon of choice to beat down a monster as durable as her Bane meant that it was inevitable.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Zoey brought her fists together, ignoring the fact that her gauntlets had been ripped into shrapnel at this point. Her hands weren't much better, but it didn't stop her as she swung down the combined hammer blow into the monster's face, its head exploding after already suffering a barrage of prior ferocious blows.

Following the explosion of its head, the entire Bane exploded in a shower of thankfully light-based confetti as orange sparks shot off in every direction.

"Phew,"

There was no mistaking the Bane exploding into orange light as anything other than the obvious indication of her victory. Satisfied after a hard-fought battle that she'd managed to be in the driver's seat for the entirety of, Zoey dropped onto her butt, examining her hands in front of her face.

"Why always the hands?"

The answer was actually fairly obvious: having fought the entire battle in her durability-inverted state, the only layer of 'protection' they had aside from the armored gauntlets was her own sword-steel body and spongy, quasi-metal, golem steel flesh.

Her hands, looking like lumps of roadkill after a hot Arizona day, weren't the best, admittedly, with chunks of bone and other bits that a doctor would probably inform her were meant to be inside her body, clearly on display.

"Ehh," Zoey finally said after a moment of examining her ruined hands. "They'll heal."

Grinning, Zoey shook her head, already putting aside thoughts of her hands.

"Besides, Momma's got a new skill that needs investigating."