Velik’s first thought was a simple, Why is he in that form?

His second thought was, Oh shit, he’s moving really fast!

Then there was no time to think. His body reacted to danger the same way it had a thousand times before, by moving and fighting back. It was a process so ingrained that he was already twenty feet into the air before Tesir landed. His spear came down on the back of the tiger’s skull, but even with all Velik’s new strength behind it, it still slipped sideways off the tiger’s fur instead of biting into flesh and muscle.

Tesir wasn’t holding back this time. Lightning crackled up and down his body, striking Velik repeatedly even though they made contact for less time than it took to blink. Only the massive investiture into physical kept Velik from being cooked from the inside. He was flung to the side, where he crashed through another tree, toppling it over even as he pulled on [Inevitable] to stabilize himself midair.

The massive tiger pivoted off the ground so quickly a casual observer wouldn’t have seen him even touch it. Velik met him in the air, both their bodies twisting impossibly to avoid hits from the other, only succeeding half the time. Blood flew freely, but injuries healed just as quick.

Velik took the time to tell his LPS to change the essence configuration on [Flame Ward] to help him resist Tesir’s lightning, something he should have done before he’d ever even met the divine beast again if he’d been thinking. He’d had good reason to keep [Flame Ward], though, and beating himself up over that decision wasn’t helpful.

It took about ten seconds for the skill to reset, during which time Velik and Tesir flattened everything in a two-hundred-foot radius. Trees crumbled over, monsters were incinerated on the spot or fled just ahead of the incoming destruction, and great furrows were plowed across the earth as the combatants tossed each other about.

The lightning only got more intense, shocking Velik multiple times a second despite him using [Inevitable] to dance between the bolts. Without the skill, he was sure he’d have been in a state of unrelenting paralytic agony, but magic didn’t obey the laws of physics. He slipped between them where he could, endured them where he had to, and overcame his muscles attempting to lock in place through pure contrary stubbornness.

[Completed modifications to configuration: Flame Ward.]

[Saving new configuration: Sky Ward.]

[Integrating new configuration.]

[Congratulations! Your new configuration is ready for use.]

The change was immediate. Where lightning had coursed through his body before, now bolts jumped across his limbs, crackling around him in a corona of blue light. Every time he touched the ground, some of it discharged, but never did it hold him back.

Velik’s speed magnified, and now he was the faster of the pair. Tesir tried to match him, but his claws caught only empty air, and his teeth clamped down where Velik’s flesh used to be. After a few attempts, he let out a furious roar that shook the trees and rattled Velik’s teeth. It wasn’t until Tesir’s fangs sunk into his shoulder that Velik realized the roar was an attack.

Contact went both ways, however, and Velik slapped a hand onto the tiger’s head, then released a [Dread Lance]. The explosion threw them both away, and it was hard to say who was hurt worse. Huge chunks of meat and bone were missing from Velik’s shoulder, but half of Tesir’s skull was exposed to open air, and what flesh was left on his face hung loose to reveal blackened muscle and burnished golden blood.

The pain was intense—maybe not the worst he’d ever felt, but it wasn’t far from it. He could feel every beat of his heart pumping, each ba-thump sending a new spike of agony through him. The wound would close with some time, but until then, Velik had no choice but to endure, and to fight.

He formed a new spear in his left hand, then rushed forward to attack.

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* * *

She wouldn’t have believed it if she wasn’t watching it. That boy, that child, a human-born experiment that had ascended to power through sheer happenstance, was actually fighting at Tesir’s level. No one but Reisha could match Tesir in an open fight, and even then Tesir only lost because he lacked the magical powers Reisha brought to bear.

The whole paradigm was shifting before her eyes. Tesir might actually lose. That future was by no means set in stone, but she couldn’t deny the possibility. It looked like it was going to be a close fight, though, one so close that a third party interfering could tip the balance one way or another.

She could be there in thirty seconds. Even if the experiment broke her spell again, it wouldn’t be hard to find them. Their battle was anything but subtle. Essentially, she was in a position to decide the future of the world, one where the divine beasts continued to rule unchallenged, or one where, perhaps, she sat on that throne alone.

But only if the weapon I’m wielding doesn’t turn on me in the end.

I could kill it, the Other whispered to her. Just let loose the chains.

That was pure ego talking, and she knew it. The Other couldn’t kill Reisha, and she was relying on the experiment to do away with him. But maybe, if she could figure out how the wolf pup still had system access, she could change that. That had to be how he was stealing essence from his kills. Duplicating that would let her claim her own harvest. Raw power with millennia of experience would make her untouchable.

And every scrap of essence he collects for me will be mine in the end.

But the plan only worked if she could copy his essence harvesting technique. Was that worth Tesir’s life to find out? No one could blame her for his death. They’d all agreed that his screw up had broken the Compact, and that his fate was no one’s fault but his own.

Still undecided, she shifted into her crane form and spread her wings to fly to the battle.

* * *

Essence was shifting around inside Tesir, visible like silken threads of light running through his body. Velik wasn’t an expert at identifying the patterns, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he was starting to pick up a few things. The divine beast was empowering his regeneration, something Velik could have seen even without [The Wanderer’s Path] just by watching new flesh grow over muscles that no longer drooped.

Technically, Velik could do that too. Or rather, he could assign the LPS to make the changes. The problem was that it would burn through his essence reserves, and he couldn’t afford to run out mid-fight. Besides, his own regeneration was already regrowing the lost muscle and bone in his shoulder. In less than a minute, he’d be back in perfect condition.

Neither was willing to let the fact that they were injured stop them from attempting to kill the other. No words were exchanged and no quarter given. It was just two savage monsters shedding golden blood like rain as they clashed.

Velik lost himself in the fight. There was no time to think, no time for anything but reacting to the next attack. He met it, overcame it, and ripped into the monster in front of him. It ceased to be a person and just became the next obstacle. When his spear broke, he made a new one. Then another, then two at a time.

He wielded them with his magic, the lost remnants of [Phalanx] bubbling up to the surface as he struck at the great glowing beast in front of him. A thousand times, he drew blood and roars of angry pain from the monster. A thousand times, it returned the insult to its flesh in kind.

They destroyed everything around them in a running battle, laying waste to mile after mile of the caldera. Several times, monsters that he would have classified as approaching level 150 attempted to kill him or the tiger. None of them managed anything more than being turned into a spray of blood and meat to coat the corpses of once-proud trees.

The contest felt like it could go on forever, like maybe it should. There was meaning in the struggle for supremacy, but the two were so perfectly balanced that no amount of subtle shifting or clever feints could grant the other an advantage. They’d fallen into a chaotic, destructive equilibrium that seemed like it couldn’t possibly last another second, only to go on and on.

The sky darkened in a sudden storm, one that a sliver of Velik’s mind recognized as unnatural. It filed that fact away only because he knew his prey could control the lightning the storm might release. The black clouds massing overhead could be a prelude to a surprise attack. If so, he’d be ready.

Wild wind whipped around him, blinding him with flung debris and trying to force him back. Velik pushed through it, but found the screaming of the air so deafening that even with his senses, he couldn’t pick out the tiger’s position.

Relying on nothing but instinct to guide him to exactly where he would have ambushed his prey from if the position had been reversed, Velik thrust his spear behind him and unloaded a [Dread Lance] blindly. A roar of pain briefly tickled his ears before the wind ripped it away, and Velik allowed himself a grim smile in response.

He turned to face the tiger, but it was gone. In its place stood the man, Tesir, a monster in human skin. Glowering angrily at the sky, he raised a fist and roared again. Velik followed his gaze and finally saw it, the shadow of a great bird flying overhead, visible more from the stars whose light it blocked out than anything else.

Eslaka, his mind supplied. Come to help finish me off? We’ll see if you can!