Too Stubborn to Die

Zero wiped blood from his mouth and spat. He hadn’t expected the Beast King to be a pushover, but the fight was going better than expected, even if he had a few wounds building up.

“Something bothering you?” He taunted.

The Beast King just snarled and launched into another attack. But Zero knew what was up. It was the corrupted aether.

Like him, he had a feeling the Beast King hadn’t experienced the sapping power of the aether. But he had. He had been fighting alongside his master for some time now. Zero wasn’t sure if he had simply built up a natural resistance, or if it was a product of the healing Aaron had given him, but he wasn’t suffering anywhere near as much from the aether as the Beast King was.

It wasn’t just that the Beast King was getting weaker, either. The suffocating aura was dimming, too. And while he still felt heavy when clashing against the Beast King, it was getting easier the longer they fought.

“RAAAGH!” The Beast King roared and slammed his golden blade down, sending a golden explosion blasting outward that split the ground in two and sent a powerful shockwave shooting outward.

Zero dodged, but the attack was extremely powerful, and the radiating energy from it burned straight through his fur, hurtling into the ground.

“Die!”

The Beast King was upon him instantly, swinging down with his blade, but Zero locked eyes with the moon above and drew on its energy, using it to boost himself, and in a flash of silver light, dodging the attack by a hair.

“My turn!”

It was a deadly combination, but the Beast King had drawn on significant energy to do it, and was too slow to avoid a crisscross counter from Zero that opened two wounds before he bounced back out of range.

He was confident of it now. The Beast King was slowing. Still, he had to remain sharp. The lion was incredibly powerful, and much higher level than Zero. He was only one screw-up away from being killed, and needed to land many more times to do similar damage.

“You!” The Beast King growled. “You are strong. I’ll give you that. But you are not my equal! Be smart. Surrender while I’m still willing to accept it!”

Zero raised his blade, ready to clash again.

“Haha! Seriously? You think you can beat me? Idiot! Join me, and I’ll make you a beast lord. You can be my second in command. This is our chance to rise! When the humanoids kill each other, it will be we beasts who will charge in and claim the World Core for ourselves. Don’t be stupid and throw away such an opportunity. You’ll never be more than a beast in their eyes. But amongst us? You can be anything.”

“Now, when you’re covered in wounds, you offer such rewards? Pathetic. You are strong. I am not sure I can even defeat you. But you’re not worthy of being my master. My master would cut you down without breaking a sweat. If he were here, you’d already be dead.”

“Fool! I am the Beast King!”

The Beast King’s eyes flashed with a ferrous shade of red, and he shot toward Zero faster than before, his huge golden blades swinging around as it tried to keep up with the silver trail Zero left behind as he dodged.

There!

As dozens of blows flew through the air, Zero’s eyes caught a silver seam across the lion’s chest, and in a flash, he swung his blade for it, splitting through all of the lion’s defenses and tearing another gnarly wound open that spurted blood.

But despite the wound’s depth, the Beast King didn’t slow for a second; instead, he seemed to speed up, and golden light wrapped around him as he cut Zero off.

But he was still too slow, and Zero avoided the massive sword—

“Argh!”

Zero coughed blood as a clawed hand stabbed through his chest. He had avoided the sword, but put himself in range of a clawed attack in the process.

“Now die!”

Zero’s rapier whipped back and forth, opening several shallow wounds and forcing the Beast King to release his grip on him before he could level his powerful blade down against him, and in an instant, Zero had separated and created a good deal of distance, flashing away.

Zero gritted his teeth. He had landed well, but had taken a good deal of damage in the process.

To make matters worse, the Beast King was right on his tail, swinging wildly as his fury grew more intense with each passing second. But there was something else Zero spotted. This was costing the Beast King, and he could see that it was draining his power as he forced himself forward.

Zero kept dodging, desperately trying to stay out of range, and while the Beast King still had a lot of fight left in him, it was undeniable that his aura was getting weaker by the second.

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“Frustrating! Fight like a beast, you damn coward! Stay still and face me!”

Of course, Zero wasn’t going to do that. Instead, he flashed around, drawing out attacks and feinting as he tried to push the Beast King to waste more of his power, and after several seconds, he struck.

Flashing back and forth, he found an opening, quickly attacking from behind, and slicing a new wound across his back before retreating back out of range, and following up with several quick moonbeams that the Beast King blocked with his sword.

“I will split you in two!”

The Beast King’s eyes glowed bright red, and he pulsed with more and more power as he went into a blind rage.

He was faster than before, and every time he swung his massive sword, it split the earth and sent explosions rippling outward. But that was just what Zero wanted, and he shot several more moonbeams at the Beast King as he tried to infuriate him even further.

Claws and the Beast King’s sword swung out at him, and the explosions blasted out so far that they collided with the nearby barriers that the beast armies were hiding behind.

It was a tremendous outpouring of power, and it wasn’t slowing for a second. It wasn’t just comparable to Aaron; it might have been more raw power, but unlike Aaron, the Beast King wasn’t feeding himself or recovering in any way, and he could feel the damage being done to his already wavering aura.

As they clashed again, Zero did his best to avoid direct confrontation, but it was a gambit, and as they clashed, he earned another deep wound across his arm.

The more he enraged the Beast King, the stronger and faster he got, but he was paying a hefty price, and soon his fur was turning gray.

Zero had expected such a thing from the rampaging beast, but now it confirmed that he was indeed burning lifeforce to push himself beyond his limits.

But how long could he keep that up for?

“Is that all you’ve got? And you call yourself the Beast King?

The lion roared again and brought the battle to him, but Zero was fully concentrated on evasion now, flashing back and forth.

They clashed again, and Zero almost lost an arm, just barely managing to avoid the blade enough to save it, but in the following seconds, as they crossed the battlefield several times, more wounds were opened across the lion’s body.

In his rage, he was barely defending himself, and while Zero’s attacks were nowhere near as powerful, they were starting to build up.

But the Beast King didn’t seem to notice or care, and his attacks came with the same ferocity even as he slowed and his aura waned, resulting in more and more cuts from Zero’s blade.

When they clashed again, it was starting to become painfully obvious, and a single exchange ended with over a dozen strikes landing across the Beast King, who hopelessly slashed at the air in response.

But just as his confidence was rising, the Beast King tanked over a dozen strikes just to get within range, and found his opening, swinging his massive blade down and splitting Zero’s shoulder. That wasn’t all, though; golden light filled the leftover wound and burned like hell.

Spitting blood, Zero slashed the Beast King again, and shot out of range just in time to avoid a likely fatal blow.

Despite having outlanded the Beast King several times over, he wasn’t sure who was ahead, as the wounds he had taken were beyond serious.

I don’t care! It doesn’t matter how many wounds I take; I cannot fail master Aaron.

Zero panted and coughed up blood between exchanges. He wasn’t in a good state, and his healing certainly wasn’t keeping up. But neither was the Beast King, who was absolutely covered in wounds and getting weaker by the second.

If he could just hold on a little longer, he could end this fight. He just knew it, and his brow bent angrily as they clashed again.

Swords clashed, and Zero felt his body aching. It was taking its toll, and even he could feel the aether seeping into his bones now as the fight dragged on.

And it almost seemed like the sturdy Beast King didn’t care about any of it, but as they fought, golden explosions and shockwaves blasted off every swing of the Beast King’s sword; the lion spat blood. Then, the mighty swing of its sword ended pitifully, barely any more shooting out of it.

Now was his chance, and Zero bit down as he shot into range, ignoring his wounds as he wildly slashed at the weakened beast, never staying still for even a fraction of a second as he zapped around it, drawing blood with each strike.

The other beasts hidden behind their barriers were agog, watching with fixed stares as their king ate strike after strike. But surprisingly, none moved to do anything about it.

It couldn’t have been fear holding them back. There was no better time to strike. Zero himself was down to the last ounces of energy, barely hanging on, and covered with wounds. If they wanted to attack, now was their chance, but instead, they watched with bated breath.

After another wild exchange, Beast King staggered backward and coughed blood as a new deep wound covered its chest.

He only needed to go just a bit further. The Beast King had little left. He could do this. He could actually defeat the Beast King alone.

At that moment, Zero howled and embraced the moonlight filtering down through the blanket of aether as he pushed himself harder, drawing in its mighty energy, and dancing around the Beast King as he shot an array of deadly moonbeams at him.

The Beast King tried to swat away at the moonbeams, finally giving in and defending himself. But enough of them were getting through, and each one that did left a new wound on the already badly hurt lion.

It was undeniable now. Momentum had swung in his direction, and despite his ragged state, Zero knew that this was his chance, and rushed forward with silver light encapsulating him as he looked for an opportunity to end it.

Seams were split open, and gore gushed out as he found his targets, time and time again, pushing the Beast King down to his knees.

“Had enough yet?” Zero howled as he continued to rain down attacks, never pausing for even an instant. “I can’t hear you! Is this all the mighty Beast King has?”

It was strange, though. Zero was beaten and bloodied himself, nearing death’s door. But with each strike he landed, he felt empowered. Like he was getting stronger.

Meanwhile, the beast armies within range continued to watch. The outcome of the fight would literally determine their future, and yet, none jumped into the fray. None attempted to save their king. No, they just watched from afar.

“Come on, let me hear you, Beast King!” Zero roared again, his blade a blur of silver light as it continuously struck into the lion’s flesh, seemingly getting faster with each second.

The Beast King looked too heavy to move, let alone fight back, while Zero seemed to be getting stronger and stronger as the semblance of an aura began to radiate off of him.