CHAPTER 73: TAMING THE SHINING TITAN... HIS NEXT SLAVE?

The battle between Johnquis and the crystallized Abnormal Tanker was far from over.

The beast threw everything at him—swipes, punches, rubble torn straight from the floor but Johnquis kept leaping, dodging, weaving through it all with the help of his chains. A blur of motion.

It became a brutal loop. Attack. Evade. Repeat.

But Johnquis was watching.

"That armor’s too thick. Chains won’t hold. Hell’s Snare didn’t even last a second... so don’t fight it head-on."

Time dragged. The thing kept swinging. Then, Johnquis saw it.

A faint line. A scratch. A dent.

Its rocky skin, once pristine and gleaming, was chipped. Small shards flaked off as it moved. The beast lunged again—a massive fist flying for his face.

He ducked. The punch slammed into a stone heap.

CRACK.

Johnquis saw it clearly now. That hit? It had cost the monster something. Its outer layer was starting to split. Fragmented pieces trickled to the ground.

He rolled his neck, flexed his fingers, eyes scanning fast.

"You’re tough... but not invincible. Everything breaks. You just need to hit it the right way."

Then his eyes flicked upward, to the fractured ceiling, the broken pillars, the glowing crystal growths pulsing faint blue along the chamber walls.

And then he saw it.

A tall shard cluster, right above the beast’s right side. Cracked. Leaning. Barely holding on by a twisted bundle of roots and stone.

He smirked. "Let’s fight dirty."

He sprinted.

The Tanker reacted instantly. Its massive arm came sweeping in a wide arc to intercept.

Johnquis didn’t slow.

CRRRRSHHHHH!!!

The swing barely missed. The wind force hit like a furnace blast—hot and thick, but this time he was ready.

He leapt forward mid-run, chain already in motion.

"Let’s try a different dance, big guy."

He lashed the chain upward, hooking the pillar near the damaged crystal root. The end locked tight around it with a clank. Then he pulled.

"Not trying to tie you down. I just need some leverage."

He kicked off the ground—swung sideways in an arc as the Tanker’s arm slammed into where he’d been milliseconds ago. Johnquis flew across the chamber, chain groaning, and released mid-air—

He landed in a roll just beside the shard cluster’s base.

The Tanker turned to face him, already winding up another punch.

"Come on, pretty boy," Johnquis hissed. "Let’s test the ol’ saying..."

He lashed the chain again. This time snapping it around one of the fractured radiant crystals sticking out near the wall. Then again. And again.

Three shards. Different sizes. Each one sharp, heavy, and already loose from the earlier chaos.

He yanked hard.

The crystals snapped free—

SHINK—SHINK—SHHRRRRRK!!

And hurled like shrapnel toward the Tanker, spinning in the air like glowing buzz saws.

The first caught the Tanker’s shoulder. Sparks exploded as it bounced off.

The second struck its ribs, embedding slightly before being knocked loose by the beast’s movement.

The third hit true.

KRSSHHH!!

The crystal slammed into the Tanker’s side and shattered on impact but cut deep. Right between two overlapping plates of stone and ore. The violet light beneath flared, and black ichor sprayed.

Johnquis grinned. "Bingo."

The Tanker roared. Spun.

But Johnquis was already moving, diving behind another broken archway, chain dragging behind him.

"Yeah, didn’t like that, did you?" he muttered, catching his breath as dust settled around him.

He flexed his fingers again. "Lesson one, slab-face... if I want to break you—"

His eyes narrowed at the pulsing crystal veins above. "—I’ll need to make you eat your own medicine."

He cracked a half-grin. "Diamond cuts diamond."

He kept moving, chaining more crystals as he went. Hurling them from unpredictable angles—using walls, loose roots, even shattered pillars like a slingshot.

Each one hit harder. Smarter.

The next crystal whipped low across the chamber, catching the Tanker’s ankle.

CRACK!!

It staggered. Just a little. But it staggered.

Johnquis watched it flinch. "You’re bleeding. That means I can break you."

The beast thundered toward him again. Wounded now. Angry.

It lunged with both fists, aiming to flatten everything in front of it.

Johnquis didn’t dodge backward—he dove forward, under the attack, sliding across wet stone and lashing upward with the chain.

WHHHHRRRRAAAAAAMMM!!

The double strike demolished the ground behind him—exploding a crater and sending fragments flying.

Johnquis popped up mid-slide, flinging the chain high. It wrapped around the roots overhead—pulling them tight. He pulled.

"Time to drop the ceiling on you."

THHRRRRUUMM—KRAAASSSHH!!!

The entire crystal cluster gave way.

A rain of radiant shards and glowing roots crashed down onto the Tanker, hammering it from above. Sharp points stabbed into its shoulders. Jagged ore shattered against its head.

The Tanker roared again, arms flailing.

And Johnquis saw it.

The damage.

Not just cracks but separation. The armor was peeling slightly near its right side. Its inner frame exposed. Black muscle. Sinew fused with heatstone and glowing marrow.

A weak point.

"Finally, let’s see if you like this one..."

He coiled his chain, ran hard toward the Tanker. Straight toward the exposed side.

The beast tried to turn.

Too slow.

Johnquis leapt.

Chain whipping behind him, he wrapped it around a long spear-like crystal sticking up from the ground and used it to slingshot himself into the air.

As he flew past the Tanker’s wounded flank, he snapped the chain forward like a whip.

CRRRAKKK!!!

The weighted end of the chain drove a crystal spike directly into the exposed wound.

The Tanker screamed, a terrible, grinding bellow that echoed across the dome. Violet light pulsed from its ribs, spasming with feedback.

Johnquis hit the ground in a crouch and skidded backward, coughing blood, but watching. Always watching.

Its movements were slower now.

Jerky.

Limping.

He stood, chain dangling from one hand, trembling from exertion.

"...I can work with this."

The Tanker let out a broken snarl—part pain, part rage.

Johnquis stared it down, chest heaving. "You’re not used to this, are you? Pain."

He chuckled. "Sorry to break it to you but if you won’t be restrained, I gotta wear you down the hard way."

The creature staggered, still refusing to fall.

"Oh, you’re still standing? Good."

He rolled his shoulder, spit blood to the side. "Let’s go, then. You better not quit now. I don’t keep company with the kind that breaks easy."