Savage Awakening 479. The Legendary Duel (III)

“It all rests on this. One. Moment!” roared the announcer. Then, for the first time that fight, even he quieted down. So did the audience—although you could almost hear their hearts beating faster, feel millions of breaths held at once—sense the arena was thick with anticipation.

“Shall we begin?” said Salazar, amused.

Then he slashed. Slashed again. Slashed like he was dancing, and every flick of the wrist produced not one but ten sword slashes—hovering mid-air…

He was charging something up.

Zane figured he should get going too. He took out his bottle of secret stuff from his back pocket—he’d made a trip back to Earth and gotten some superglue.

He dabbed some at the end of his rock. It took quite a bit to coat it. Then he picked out a normal rock and welded it on top. He had chosen this one for its particular shape—he’d gone through a few hundred in the park yesterday, actually, just to find one that’d work.

After he glued it together, he inspected it, one eye closed, against the sun—and nodded. He was quite proud of his handiwork.

This should do nicely.

“Ready?” said Salazar.

When Zane looked back, he saw a field of thousands of sword-lights—vertical slits, floating still in the air.

Each strong enough to mortally wound a minor God.

…He was actually a bit alarmed.

He had a guess what was about to happen next, based on how Salazar’s first strike worked.

That was quite some Destruction. Yet again he’d underestimated how powerful this guy really was—he wasn’t sure even he could’ve summoned that much at Ascendant.

…Actually—he probably could. But it’d take him some serious effort.

For the first time, he felt like he was fighting a man of the same caliber as himself.

…No wonder guys looked so terrified when they fought him. He kind of got it now, staring down all those sword-lights.

The only thing was—this Salazar was still an Ascendant. And Zane was a Minor God.

He might be right. He might be like Zane one day.

But today was not that day.

And today, the bigger man would take it.

Even that sword-field did not shake his confidence in that.

“On three,” said Zane. 

There was a playful look on Salazar’s face, up until the very moment he unleashed. That moment of ultimate stress when the fate of the duel hung on the line—a duel that would go down in the history books and merit six whole chapters in the Lives of Salazar. That excruciating moment.

Share a ring with a man, and you got to know him quite a bit. Zane knew now that when Salazar was trying his hardest, it looked the most effortless. Or maybe it was that effortlessness that made all that Destruction possible—hard to say.

It went quite the other way with Zane.

“Three,” breathed Salazar. “Two. One.”

And he made his sword dance.

Sword-light blitzed into Salazar’s blade. Condensing into such an extreme amount of Destruction that no one in the arena could see it clearly—no one but Zane, that was.

He let out a brilliant cry and slashed.

At the same time, Zane chucked his rock.

Then they had to contend with each other's blows.

“Rock block,” growled Zane. He held up his remaining rock.

And that single great strike—the product of thousands, come together—slammed in.

It blasted him halfway across the arena, drove him several feet into the ground—CRACK!

Zane blinked.

His rock—reinforced by Primordial Grade Steel—broke open.

The rest of that sword-light sliced straight into his chest.

And instantly every last layer of his Pagoda shattered.

He staggered, eyes widening.

“Salazar broke his rock!!” cried the announcer. “But… Jack. Just. Took it!”

None of them could see it. But deep in the fold of Zane’s shredded robes, there lay a thick gash.

And there, a single drop of blood.

…Granted. It was still less than 1% of his Health.

Still—for an Ascendant to draw blood on him…

Meanwhile, Salazar whirled out of the way.

Zane’s rock was quite fast. It took the guy a surprising amount of effort. But he managed it.

“I’m surprised you’re taking it so well,” said Salazar. “I’d thought even True Gods might have trouble with that.”

“They would,” Zane informed him. “You fought well.”

“I suppose we’ll have to go for round two,” mused the Sword Saint, eyes glinting.

“My attack’s not done yet.”

Salazar paused.

“Why do you think I used glue?”

Salazar frowned.

This was the kind of on-the-feet thinking you needed to win this kind of fight.

“Hidden Technique,” Zane informed him. “Rock boomerang.”

“What’s a boomerang?”

CLANG!

With that, Salazar the Sword Saint—apex talent of his generation, the first and only Ascendant to ever draw blood on a Minor God, Zane Walker—keeled over.

“And the winner—” the announcer could hardly choke it out. “Is JACK!”

***

The crowd’s explosion was muffled by the descent of one of the biggest status screens Zane had seen yet.

Winner of the Summit of the Ages…

‘Jack.’

A little rock icon popped up beneath, which he felt was a nice touch.

But there was a little note underneath, scrawled in handwriting—

Nicely done, old friend.

Zane had to smile at that.

Reward earned!

It floated out before him in a halo of gold light.

Key to the Lost Library of Al’Dun [???]

It was a metal key about as big as his arm, inscribed with runes that gave off at least an Empyrean aura. He knew it had to be Divine Profound-quality steel. Quite a big chunk of it, too.

…His body had the vague desire to eat it.

He ignored that desire.

The curious thing about this treasure was that the bulk of it existed in the astral plane. Its physical form was just a staging ground.

Grants entry to the Lost Library of Al’Dun, which contains the preserved memories and treasured knowledge of the greatest of the First Ones. Inscribed by the Scribe of Lost Ages; preserved for all time by the System. Total time allocated: 50 years.

Enter the Lost Library?

He'd hold off for now. He'd get there soon enough. Still, though—he had a feeling it’d be a long journey.

He had some business to take care of first.

***

In that moment—the most legendary moment of the first era—the sole defeat of Salazar by the legend known only as ‘Jack’—in the moment he achieved the peak of his powers, of his legend…

He vanished.

Leaving only behind his accomplishments and the impressions he made on the great figures present that day.

Jack was never seen again.

Except for one instance—just a week or so after the Summit.

Jin was eating noodles at a store in Cloud Atlas City, feeling melancholy. The War Phoenix Sect airship was set to take off the next day.

Then a big figure with a wide-brimmed straw hat sat down across from him.

Jin did a double-take. Gasped—then he started to well up. “…Master Zane!”

“Hey, kid,” said Zane. He smiled. “What’ve you been up to?”

***

“…Boomerang,” said Noughtfire. “Fascinating.”

Zane nodded. “It’s worth looking into.”

“I'll make a note of that. Well, then,” he said. He seemed amused by Zane’s telling—it seemed to happen pretty often with him and Reina both, come to think of it. “I suppose you’ll want to know what comes next. That key of yours grants access to the memories of the First Ones… They remain among the strongest Empyreans of all time. For your Red Giant, you’ll want to seek out the Titan known as Lakos—one of the progenitors of mankind.”

“Got it.”

“It’s not clear to me,” continued Noughtfire, “if he practiced Stormfire, or a predecessor of it. It is possible to reach the same peak with a different route. Regardless—what is clear is that he brought the powers of the stars to mankind. And there, unlocked the secret of Fusion. With Solar Flare, you studied the surface of the sun. But the true key to that explosive might lies in the power that makes its core… that is where I recommend you begin.”

“Will do.”

“Do let me know how the story goes. You’ll be looking into ancient memories of his… he was the architect of the very first Great Civilization, Dara—some scholars still believe it to be among the pinnacle achievements of mankind. It’s been an eras-long mystery how it fell. It never has been solved, though there are rumors… I’m rather curious, actually.”

Zane nodded. “Sure, I can look into it.”

They both took a sip of tea.

“You been up to anything lately?” said Zane.

Noughtfire shrugged. “The petunias are flowering late this year. I’ve been tending to them in the afternoons. What else… my last batch of Jade Oolong has gone bad, I’m sorry to say. I’ve been struggling to find an importer. Ah—there is also the matter of Destruction.”

“What matter?”

He set down his teacup.

“Are you aware of the caliber of man you’ve just defeated?”

He was pretty sure.

“It so happens that Salazar never lost a fight after he lost to you.”

“That doesn't surprise me.”

A ghost of a smile. “In fact, I scoured the archives and pulled some old duels of his after you started your journey. There’s quite an illuminating recording of the Battle of the Shattered Dungeon. He slew six of Malzareth’s Prime Endbringers, each with a single blow… it was among the most grisly battles mankind’s ever had. It’s granted me some key insights, actually.”

“Huh.” Beating the guy who was inspiring Noughtfire…

Astra really did make things strange.

“I may be on the brink of coalescing a slab of Destruction, a pleasant surprise. I expect it’ll come in handy during the War.”

He blinked. “Slab of Destruction?” He’d never heard that one before. He assumed it had something to do with the shards.

“All in due time, disciple.”