Vivi's jump landed on the death tyrant's rib. Each rib was as broad as a human torso.

The hammer collided with bone before getting stuck awkwardly between ribs. It left a slight crack in the bones. Her hammer did damage… but it was inconsequential. She didn't even cut open one section of the ribs. Vivi held onto the handle of her hammer, legs dangling over the fall below. She was afraid of glancing down, praying that her hammer held on.

Flying skulls approached from above. She slashed at them with a ranged claw attack. The claws didn't cut through them, but the impact pushed the skulls back and off course.

Vivi gritted her teeth. She pulled herself up, placed one foot on the rib, and tried to pull her hammer out of the bind. It was thoroughly stuck. The face and the back side were squeezed between the ribs. The hammer was her last weapon after the claws.

A sizzling sound came from the broken rib beneath Vivi's hammer. Wisps of ether rose from the cracks. She watched in concern as ether concentrated in the area.

"It's going to explode!" Lucius said. "Vivi, we need to—"

The explosion went off before he could finish his sentence. The rib destroyed itself, sending Vivi and her hammer flying. Her vision went black for a second, and the hammer flew somewhere she couldn't see.

Lucius pushed more ether into her head, forcing her awake. "Watch the landing!" he shouted. "We collapse, we die!"

Vivi flew straight to the middle of the skeleton-filled arena. Four skeletons had their fists loaded, ready to punch her the moment she landed. Vivi grimaced and called Lucius's claws for both hands.

Lucius pushed hundreds of ether into her body and claws. He had less than a thousand wisps with power remaining. Everything else was dim.

The wisps were enough to throw a heavy claw-swipe at one of the demons, giving her a good landing spot.

Skeletons were all around her. She slashed immediately, cutting one more ahead of her. She growled, swinging the claws around like mad. There were so many skeletons, nowhere to run.

She avoided attacks and killed skeletons for over ten seconds, fighting in a state of absolute concentration. The claws' strength surprised Vivi. She dealt damage, dodging attacks. Her ascension skill evolved her to a level where she could barely keep up; the last of Lucius's ether surged within. She focused on keeping as many wisps inside as possible.

It was working. She was slowly clearing a space for herself.

Until something hit her in the back with the force of a thousand punches. A skeleton landed a clean hit.

Vivi was blown to the air with explosive force. It felt as if the sun had grazed her back, burning her skin. She flew forward, colliding with two skeletons ahead, knocking both of them to the ground. She tumbled past them, hitting two more skeletons before collapsing.

Her vision was a total blur. She felt ether all around her. Skeletons ready to kill her. Where was her sword? She had to get up!

Lucius had less than fifty active wisps ready. He had spent a hundred more to protect Vivi's back just before impact. That ether had saved her life. But she had nothing more to play with.

She saw the vague figure of a skeleton's foot about to crush her head in.

"Vivi!" a voice growled.

The skeleton above was slashed in half. Aang dashed to the scene. Vivi saw Abyss Destroyer's blade pass as a flash of light around her. Aang fought five skeletons at the same time, barely holding on.

Vivi coughed, nearly puking out blood. She was dizzy; her back felt as if it would collapse under its own weight. She wasn't in any shape to fight anymore. But she managed to push herself to her feet.

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Skeletons pushed them toward the edge of the room, while Aang defended against the hundreds of skeletons approaching their way. He was being pushed back, clearly running out of ether.

This wasn't working—they were destined for a slow death. Vivi glanced up at the boss monster. It raised its fist, preparing a final killing blow.

"Union Leader!" Lucius suddenly shouted, appearing out of Vivi's core. "Give me your ether! Your inactive wisps!"

"Inactive wisps?" Aang asked, confused, while still fighting.

"The dim ones!" Lucius shouted. The boss's hand cast a shadow over them. "Quick! I need at least ten thousand!"

Aang gritted his teeth, but began transferring ether into Lucius's reserves. Vivi watched as his reserves grew to six thousand, then seven thousand. Aang's transfer happened quickly, pushing Lucius above thirteen thousand in seconds. All of the wisps were dimmed out, already spent.

As his reserves grew, Lucius's core became increasingly unstable. Hundreds of ether were wasted, escaping from Lucius's hold. He flew back to Vivi's core.

"Hug Vivi close!" Lucius shouted. "Stay behind her, and don't move, or you'll be cut!"

Then they ascended, Lucius revealing his full powers.

"I promised special powers, did I not?" Lucius said. "Take care, Vivi. This might put us in a coma for a bit."

A surge of power suddenly flowed within Vivi. Her vision turned scarlet red. Her skin and her raincoat gained a glow, powered up by Lucius's ascension. The surge of power was different from regular ether—more volatile, more unstable and destructive.

Lucius spent the dimmed-out wisps, permanently destroying them, drawing the very life out of every wisp of ether to power up his abilities. Two thousand wisps were gone in an instant, more rapidly turning to power.

Claws grew on both of Vivi's hands. Her fingers filled with ungodly amounts of pressurized ether. She felt as if her hands would explode. Each scarlet claw grew to the size of a shortsword.

"All yours," Lucius said before his consciousness wavered.

Vivi swiped at the grouping of skeletons, sending forth a ranged claw attack.

A shockwave erupted as the attack reaped into existence. The scarlet claws crashed into the wave of skeletons. Four waves of skeletons were killed instantly, the claws cutting through as cleanly as Vivi's runeswords. The fifth wave of skeletons finally stopped the attack, but not before being crushed to bits.

She threw another claw attack at the skeletons on her right. Her immediate surroundings were cleared, hundreds of skeletons dead, just like that.

Each attack cost Vivi over two thousand ether. Lucius's reserves had already dwindled from thirteen thousand to eight thousand. Vivi only had a few more attacks remaining.

Above, the death tyrant's fist crashed down. Vivi regarded it calmly. She could have dodged; her body was ascended and quick. But Aang was behind her. She had to protect him.

The power in her claws recharged. Vivi went into stance, using the same one she would with a sword, and charged an attack with both claws at once.

Vivi released the charged attack, hitting the death tyrant's fist head-on. The claws collided.

An explosion went off. A cloud of bone dust enveloped her surroundings, blocking her vision. Vivi swiped with a lightly empowered hand to push the cloud out of the way.

The death tyrant's hand had been blown to bits. The boss roared in pain, shaking the whole cavern. The remaining bones of its right hand dangled lifelessly. One of its two hands was destroyed.

A wave of pain flashed inside Vivi's core. She collapsed to one knee. The scarlet vision wavered. Lucius's reserves had fallen to less than three thousand. Her claws struggled to recharge.

The boss was enraged with no sense of danger. It raised its remaining fist and threw a straight punch directly at Vivi.

Immediately, she knew she wouldn't be able to block it. "Run!" she shouted, prompting Aang to dodge. She jumped to the opposite side just as the the death tyrant's fist landed on the wall behind her. She braced her feet for the shockwave.

Lucius's powers wavered. Their ether reserves dropped to under a thousand. Vivi was blown back, tumbling across the ground. She landed beside the edge of the platform, inches from the moat. Blood spurted from her mouth. Lucius's presence wavered. The scarlet powers were gone.

The arena was a blur. Vivi saw movement approaching her from a short way off. It looked vaguely humanoid.

A skeleton.

Vivi attempted to stand but fell back on her weight. Bricks fell off from the ceiling. The whole arena was falling apart. Vivi's heart pounded, body attempting to pump adrenaline, but her muscles were too worn. Her left shoulder didn't move; it was likely dislocated. Her chest hurt from standing.

Lucius? she thought. Where's my hammer?

"Vivi?" Lucius's voice was frail and weak. "Ether… Need ether…"

Vivi glanced at Lucius's reserves. He still had a few hundred left, but most of them were dimmed. He had a few wisps still remaining. Where was Aang? Glancing around, Vivi couldn't see him anywhere in the mess of skeletons.

Skeletons approached her. Dozens walking on the floor, heads flying in the air. The death tyrant slowly turned its gaze toward Vivi. Its armless figure stared at her with lifeless eyes. The blade of her sword poked out from underneath rubble.

Vivi's legs gave up. She fell on her back.

They failed. She was dead.

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