/ / Tyrannus \ \

 

“Now Gigas! Use Power Slam,” Tyrannus bellowed. The Lord of Dragons was lounging in his office watching a playback of his first-ever tournament win with Giga Mecharex on a vidsphere. Vidspheres were crystal orbs scribed with a recording rune facing the direction you wish to record, and a series of interlocking visual and sound runes, called a playback rune, on the opposite side so you could watch it later.

The half-a-century-younger Giga Mecharex was a sleek, silver machine, and just a tad smaller than he was now. Rocket thrusters erupted from his back in the vid playback and he shot forward towards his opponent, a massive Shadokracken, the final evolved form of the Shadopus. It wasn’t a form allowed in tournaments any longer. It was a level 55 evolution, and that could only be achieved by killing Dragons, and that was against Dragon law.

The Shadokracken, half the size of the Giga Mecharex, was thrown back and bounced twice across the ground from the force of the impact. There were displayed health bars for the audience, and it showed that the Kraken had suffered nearly half its health in damage. It retaliated with a barrage of lance-like shadow spines from the tip of every tentacle. The shots bounced and clinked against the armor of the Giga Mecharex, reducing its health by a measly sum in comparison.

“Rocket Barrage!” Tyrannus followed up his previous command, pointing at his opponent. “Finish it!”

Steel plates slid apart on the uppermost shoulders of the Giga Mecharex and along the spine, revealing a multitude of cylindrical canisters poised to fire. In a sudden, smoke-filled burst, each canister shot up and leveled out towards the Shadokracken. The air was filled with trails of smoke and sparks before explosions rocked the entire arena. The vidsphere panned to a shocked crowd, whispering amongst themselves. A multitude of Dragons of all shapes and sizes filled every ledge and seat.

The Shadokracken was hit with rocket after rocket, explosion after explosion. The crow roared! One of those explosions sounded incredibly realistic, Tyrannus thought, looking up from the crystal ball. He tapped it once to pause the playback rune just as the battle finished. He was sitting behind his desk, a large single-carved piece that he’d had for hundreds of years. Beside the crystal were some reports about potential rebel activity in the forbidden zone. He wasn’t concerned in the least. With a new Giga Mecharex, they wouldn’t stand a chance. He’d crush every errant monster on the continent with ease. 

In the last century, Tyrannus had managed to quell nearly all Dragon on Dragon violence. Capturing and battling with the other races was his most brilliant idea yet. They bred fast, were easily disposable, and not to mention tasty. Taking the Dragon’s inherent nature for violence and turning it into a battle game made him even richer and more powerful than ever. The system was set to benefit him the most. His hand-picked council controlled the production of monsters and the rules that governed them.  

There was a problem, though. Tyrannus glared out of the corner of his eye at the wall of monsters to his right. The rebellious ones. The Silverfangs were one thing - their natural predator. But every now and again a monster got the idea that it could escape captivity and live free. Some of them banded together and tried to fight back. None had been overly successful, but it was still a problem. They took precautions, making it so monsters could only understand Dragon language and disabling their marks if they did attack a Dragon. They had yet to devise a successful mind control rune that gave the Dragons full control of a monster while giving it enough autonomy to take care of itself on its own. 

His Giga Mecharex, sitting beside his desk on a large pet bed, perked up. There was another far-off explosion, then another. The beast staggered to its feet and slowly clamored closer to the noise. He was getting old and could barely get up off his bed. Rust marred his once sleek silver frame and each step caused the metal to groan and creak. 

“What is it, Gigas?” Tyrannus looked up from his thought and listened a little closer. It sounded like somebody was lighting off fireworks. A monster battle out of hand, perhaps?

The last explosion is what really set off an alarm bell. The entire building shuddered and the chandelier above flickered. 

“Draconeil!” Tyrannus called for his teal-colored attendant.

“Yes, boss?” A small panel on the top of the desk lit up and there was a voice on the other end. 

“What is going on out there?”

“Something on the cliffside, sir! Your monument suddenly split in half a fell!” 

Tyrannus was silent.  He took a deep breath and stood, towering over the desk and everything else in the room. Even the Giga Mecharex was only a little bigger than his foot. He leaned down and scratched the top of the head of the rex, who was listening intently to whatever was going on outside the wall. 

“Open the hatch,” Tyrannus called to the back and exited through the opening behind his desk. He had barely enough room to turn around, as it was designed when he was a size smaller. He squeezed through the doors and launched himself up through the doors and into the open air. 

Dust. Everywhere. The town was flooded with fog and dust and it was hard to see a damn thing! What he could see, flooded him with rage. His monument. His face! Split in two! It was too perfect. Too straight. The cliff was cut too cleanly to be an accident, Tyrannus thought. He dove towards the ground and saw that the monument had fallen on the Grand Observatory.

The destruction was great. His destroyed monumental face tore through the top of the dome, destroying the entire building and surrounding area. The Grand Magistra was dead, one of the few Great Dragons left over from the last war, and one of the only Dragons Tyrannus trusted completely. She had been in charge of finding, researching, and capturing new monsters for them to distribute. The Grand Magistra was also the overseer of rune research and development. 

Many of the Dragons had fled the area, as more debris dropped from the cliff, while others pulled themselves out from beneath the rubble. Tyrannus saw that the Worldscope, the device designed by the last Grand Magister to summon monsters from other worlds, was completely ruined. The lens was shattered. The runes were broken and mangled. There was no one to replace them. The last Magister had designed them and had met his demise at the hands of the very Angeknight Tyrannus had imprisoned in his tower.

Dragons with rune knowledge were harder and harder to come by. Nobody wanted to learn runes these days or work much-needed jobs. They just wanted to battle monsters and eat melonberry toast all day and not hone their own skills. But now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. 

Had the rebels planned the perfect assassination? Tyrannus’s mind was spinning in circles. There hadn't been serious rebel activity for fifty years. Part of him had hoped they'd meet their demise at the hands of the Silvercats in the forbidden zone.

What would this mean for the future of monster battling? No new monsters? The populace would be furious! They were already upset that new monsters took so long to release, and now to stop it completely? This was a devastating blow. Maybe they’d go in the direction of sealing monsters into cards and reveal an all-new way to battle with your monsters. That also wasn’t important at this moment, though.

The culprit had to be close. Tyrannus flew upward, straight up to the cliff where the monument had fallen from. He pierced the fresh air and breathed relief from the dust that was slowly settling below. As he suspected, the monument had a series of large craterous explosions down the center of the face, but no residue from crude explosive devices. It had to be from a magical source.

 He soared above, to the cliff that overlooked the capital city. The beautiful city was covered in a cascade of dust and debris. Above the cliff, he saw nothing.

Baboom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions tore Tyrannus’s eyes from the cliff and toward his brilliantly shining tower, glistening in the morning sun. The side wall exploded outward, sending debris and monsters flying out and hurdling toward the ground. His heart raced for the first time he could remember. Eyes wide, surprised, angry, and confused. Tyrannus focused his eyes, magnifying his focus to see what was falling.

An Elf, an Orc, and the two Metahumans were falling. The debris was a mix of glass and metal from the interior of the building. Another flurry of rockets hurdled through the air, following a fast-moving creature that Tyrannus could barely get a bead on. The blue blur caught the four falling monsters, a feat that should have been impossible in the presence of the Giga Mecharex and his Gravitational Surge skill. It took away flying and slowed all creatures in the area.

Tyrannus’s mind was flooded with thoughts of the impossible. It was undefeatable! Plus, he hadn’t gotten a notification of it being defeated. In fact, he brought up his menu and checked the status of his monster. It had only lost twelve percent of its health and was engaged in combat with an unknown Metahuman. He’d used his gravity move twice in the last few minutes, immobilizing nineteen different monsters. That was all of his prisoners. So how was this creature still able to avoid it? He’d never seen a skill or trait that could do that.

It didn’t matter. Gigas’s Battle Armor trait reduced damage from all physical sources by ninety percent, and his Anti-Magic Core trait reduced magical damage by fifty percent and prevented him from being affected by magical status effects. In addition to that, his Stable Core prevented him from being moved forcibly, and his Sheer Force trait made his Body Stat impossible to overcome. No monster, or group of monsters, could stand against him.

Tyrannus couldn’t do anything, either. The Gravitational Surge ability affected him, too. If he came from above, he risked crashing through the roof and the floors below, causing more harm than good. He’d have to believe in his Giga Mecharex and wait it out. In the meantime, he’d keep an eye on his battle logs and watch from afar.

/ / Valerie \ \

 

Shatter!

The Giga Mecharex swung his massive tail and my sword was obliterated into a thousand pieces. I stumbled backward from the sudden shock. My armor was in shambles, and my health had just recovered from the missiles. It was just me between him and the prisoners, many of which had been injured during the missile barrage that I’d used to release them. It sounded like a good idea at the time.

I looked back toward the group, the back toward the Giga Mecharex, “You’re not getting past me!”

Half the group was unconscious from the explosions, including Angeknight, Deviknight, the Dwarf, the two Metahumans, and many more were injured. There were more monsters than I’d seen last time, totaling nineteen in all. Most of them were bipedal humanoid types. One of the Elven females, Shamura, said she could use a Teleport skill to get everyone out. She just needed some time.

I admit that I hadn’t really thought this plan through. I thought I’d be able to rely on the abilities of the prisoners more. The other female Elf, Zaya, had skills that could buff me during the fight. She’d already extended my Final Form and given me Haste.

I shot forward, slamming my fist into the face of the Giga Mecharex. I followed up with another, but the damage wasn’t doing much even with Sheer Force. It had damage reduction on both physical and magical attacks too. I was faster, sure, but that didn’t help me now. Not when his damage and health were so high.

 

You deal 252 bludgeoning damage, plus 25 light damage (reduced by Battle Armor) to Giga Mecharex with Punch!

You deal 233 bludgeoning damage, plus 23 light damage (reduced by Battle Armor) to Giga Mecharex with Punch!

You take 944 slashing damage (reduced by Thick Skin) from Giga Mecharex’s Tail Slash!

You deal 720 magic damage (reduced by Anti-magic Core) to Giga Mecharex with Mana Beam!

 

In my Final Form, the increase in the damage of my Mana Beam was outpacing my physical skills, but I didn’t have as many of those to use. His magic defense wasn’t as good, but he seemed immune to Stun Web and Chaos Blossom. Luckily my Stable Core was preventing me from being affected by his gravity skill that robbed Angeknight, Deviknight, the Harpy, and the Elf of their flight abilities. 

One-half of the room was completely destroyed, both the inner and outer walls. For some reason, none of the Dragons had responded to the battle. I thought it was odd and a little ominous. The desk was still in one piece, moved out of place just a little. Behind me was the storeroom entrance, and to the other side was the main entrance to the office. 

The Giga Mecharex charged across the burned carpet toward me. I lunged forward and caught him by the front teeth. The hot breath on my face gave me pause, smelling like burnt oil and old cars. It reminded me of home. 

 

You take 1054 slashing damage (reduced by Thick Skin) from Giga Mecharex’s Tail Slash!

I flinched back, not expecting the strike, and was pushed for the first time since acquiring the Stable Core trait. The Giga Mecharex shoved me back and I hit the ground rolling, dodging two bites and a tail stab as he continued his charge forward. 

What was that about? I shouted into my internal dialogue.

 

“You have lost a Skill Clash,” the voice announced in the back of my mind. “When two skills of a similar nature clash, the stats and battle factors are levied and one skill will overcome the other.”

 

The Giga Mecharex roared triumphantly and I activated Akaline Armor,  my upgraded version of Rain Armor, to heal up a little bit from the last few tail swipes. I was at 1536 out of 3534 health and hadn’t needed to activate resilience yet. That might change soon because the upgraded healing armor had fewer charges than its previous version and didn't heal as much. The Giga Mecharex activated his gravity skill again to keep the effect active, then charged me.

 

You are unaffected by Gravitational Surge!

 

I summoned two clones and sent them in either direction and shot forward again, determined to stop the damn thing from trampling me and the others. I didn’t go for the face this time. No, that was stupid the first time anyway. I slid under, going where his tail, tiny arms, and bite couldn’t hit me. I pushed with all my might, flying straight into his chest. The Giga’s claws dug through the thick burning carpet, and the concrete-like stone floor below, holding his ground while I pushed with all my might.  

“Now!” I shouted, signaling the clones. They came from either side with physical attacks that did minimal damage. The Giga Mecharex didn’t even flinch. I had hoped for more.

The Giga Mecharex slapped one out of the air with his tail, but this shifted his balance with a loud groaning of metal on metal. His movement was slow and ungraceful. This time it was his Stable Core that buckled instead of mine!

 I lifted him up against his Gravitational Surge and his indomitable Sheer Force trait. It was my trait now. I was the strongest! I threw the Giga Mecharex back, straight into the wooden desk in the center of the room. It splintered into a billion pieces as he went through the middle, collapsing both sides in on itself and on top of him.

 

Giga Mecharex takes 998 Impact damage (Desk)!

Giga Mecharex takes 456 fall damage!

 

I turned and flew back to the Elven woman who was in the middle of using her Teleport skill. Purple runes etched themselves into the floor and a three-tiered magic circle formed in a large cylinder around her and the others. “How long?”

“Two minutes,” the second Elven woman replied.

“That’s a long time in combat rounds,” I said, turning back towards the desk. The Giga hadn’t moved yet. “How is everyone?”

“Recovering. If we make it out, they’ll live.”

BOOM!

The desk exploded. Half of it flew towards the ground but I caught it, throwing it straight back at the Giga Mecharex. His steel plates emanated with a red glow, giving him a more menacing look. I could feel the heat radiating this far, completely disabling my Vapor Sense trait. Another Rocket Barrage obliterated the half-a-desk I threw, with a few errant missiles hitting the floor in different spots, revealing more stone below the carpet.

“That’s his Final Form,” Zaya the Elf hissed, holding out her hand in a gesture. Two fingers raised and thumb fully extended like an L, she touched my forehead. “Lamassu!”

 

You have been granted Protective Spirit from Zaya! Do you accept? [Yes / No]

 

I mentally accepted the prompt and a golden light engulfed me, even as the Gigas roared and prepared to charge. A transparent golden aura formed around me, reconstructing the missing parts of my armor and adding incredibly large golden wings to either side of my back. They rivaled Angeknight’s in size.

I picked up a piece of rubble and examined it. It was a material called Stonepour, similar to concrete in my world. It only had a durability of 100 compared to the steelium at 800. I had a thought. The fall and impact damage had been pretty effective. My damage, not so much. If I could take out the floor, maybe I could end this once and for all. 

I charged before the Giga could. Startled, he immediately charged as well. I slammed the ground with both fists. The floor took over 3000 damage instantly. The stone rippled and cracked, the carpet was blown upward, and the Giga Mecharex faltered for the first time. That didn’t stop him from smacking my last clone out of existence as he continued his charge. Less durability, sure, but thick as hell.

I raised my fists to strike again, knee-deep in rubble, and a purple aura surrounded me. I felt something coursing through me. A strength I didn’t know if I could control.

 

You have been granted Devil Might by Deviknight. Do you accept? [Yes / No]

I mentally accepted the prompt and rage overwhelmed me. All the suffering. The pain. Channeled through a purple pulsing aura, enhancing my damage and damage resistance, but causing me to rampage. I could barely resist charging the giga instead of slamming the floor again.

When I hit the floor again it didn’t stand a chance. It shattered and caved instantly, causing the Giga Mecharex to lose his footing and fall through the floor. 

 

You deal 6984 damage to Stonepour Floor!

 

The Giga Mecharex unleashed a shockwave that reverberated through the broken stone and caused most of the debris to fly toward me. Automatically the wings extended to cocoon me from the debris. The chunks of stone battered and cracked the golden protection, but it held. 

Below was a chamber filled with gold and riches. Paintings, jewelry, weapons, armor, and all things expensive. I wasn’t stopping there. Nothing enticed me. All I cared about was vengeance. Maybe it was the rage. Maybe it was just me. I slammed into the floor with both fists before the Giga Mecharex hit the floor, rupturing the stone and causing the Giga Mecharex to fall through in a cascade of golden coins.

 

Gigamecha takes 1299 damage from Impact (Floor)!

Giga Mecharex takes 1002 damage from Impact (Floor)!

Giga Mecharex takes 1662 damage from Impact (Floor)!

 

After the third floor, the Giga Mecharex had enough momentum to crash through the floors by himself, but that wasn’t good enough. I slammed into him and pushed him down with all my strength, all my speed, overcoming his Stable Core because he was already falling, My Final Form enhanced my flight and gave me an advantage, too. When he hit the ground floor, there was nothing but scrap left in all directions, embedded into walls and littered across the floor. The Giga Mechrex literally exploded against the ground as did the golden protection that surrounded me.

 

Giga Mecharex takes 13662 fall damage!

You take 6498 fall damage (reduced by Protective Spirit)!

Resilience activated!

You have felled Giga Mecharex!

You have gained the Nemesis: Tyrannus trait! His ire for you is so strong it manifests magically in your being. He can sense when you are close.

You have gained the Vengeance Delivered trait. Your Spirit stat cannot be reduced by outside forces!

 

I punched the remains of the Giga Mecharex. I kicked it. I broke steel plates in half and rampaged around the first floor of the tower for a good minute before I realized what I was doing. The effect of the Devil Might had worn off and I could think straight again. I checked the notifications and shot upwards through the hole in the floor. My Final Form wore off and I felt sluggish without the extra speed. I was also almost dead. One charge of Alkaline Armor had recharged, and it brought me back up barely a thousand health. The new version was not as good as the old version, that was for sure. 

“Just in time,” Shamura told me as I landed beside her. The three-tiered, purple teleportation circle settled completely. “We’re ready. Step ins–”

Craaaaash!

Tyrannus slammed through the side of the building. He had flames in his eyes and his mouth was ablaze, ready to unleash.

“Yoooooouuuuuuuu!” He bellowed, looking straight at me. The fire blazed and he began to unleash the blaze straight at us. At me, specifically.

And then we were gone.