Beth continued hammering the monster, digging her 'free' hand deeper into what was left of its armor as she obliterated its head and chest over and over. Funnily enough, while Sera's fire didn't hurt her, the other materials it heated up could slightly scald her, though it wasn't enough to really burn her. Her Mana Physique reinforced her against flame too much for anything but a truly unimaginable flame to ever burn her again, but she could feel that the superheated flesh of the creature was starting to slightly scald her skin.

Sera made a third pass, bathing them both in flame before transforming and attacking with her spear, managing little more than scraping at the monster's back. Beth renewed her assault in the midst of the new wash of flame, punching and kicking and kneeing the monster, every hit a cataclysmic blow infused with one of her skills. She called upon her Presence, the crown appearing on her head, the very air around her shattering and breaking at the force its entrance produced. Sera and Blood were driven back, unable to even stay close, watching as the monster went berserk, summoning a hundred vines as thick as Beth's torso to lash at and imprison her. The vines twisted around her, entirely subsuming her for a moment as the monster turned and tried to flee, ignoring Sera and Blood and Delonne, desperate to get away from the fire and pain.

It was not to be, however, as Beth burst from the vines, sending chunks of plant matter weighing hundreds of pounds hurtling thousands of feet away as she teleported right in front of the monster. She penned it in with her skills before she was able to get hold of it again, grabbing onto it and slamming into it again and again. Health bars be damned, she was quite sure it was genuinely hurt at this point, and that spurred her on further. She picked the beast up by its throat, or what would pass for its throat, and slammed it into the ground, cracking the earth around them for a thousand feet and burying the plant monster arms-deep in the ground, cracking the stone and rock under the dirt.

She twisted the creature through the ground and hoisted it up again, ignoring the thousand thorns that slammed into her, skittering off her armor and sinking into her flesh. She smashed the monster into the ground again, slamming it into the rock, crushing its torso and smashing apart its body. The plant monster flailed weakly, its struggles slowing a bit as the damage mounted, its body starting to crack apart from the insane amount of force Beth was using to pummel it into salad. She used Spatial Obliteration to crush it a dozen time, a hundred times, until it was just weakly flopping in her grasp, only feebly throwing a few branches at her to try to pierce her.

The other three still couldn't get near her, but she didn't need any other help, as she continued to quite literally pulverize the monster into bits and pieces. She didn't let up, knowing that the monster wasn't playing dead but still wasn't quite down for the count. Just as she had suspected, the creature tried a last desperate play, but she had been more than prepared. Just as a thousand vines appeared around them, making the very space tremble, she pulled in more power through her Presence, the eyes in her crown glowing extremely brightly as she annihilated the monster. She fired off Celestial Annihilation like a machine gun, her arms moving so fast they were blurs. She only stopped when she got a notification.

Level 330[16] Vine of Slaughter defeated.

Panting, she ripped her arms out of the remains of the monster, shaking off orange blood and bits of plant matter. She could feel most of her bones slowly pulling back together as she ran Lordly Reconstruction, trying to fix herself up as she pulled herself out of the crater in the ground. She was basically one giant bruise and worse, her bones all cracked and broken, her organs bruised or ripped, and her head feeling like it had just been put through the longest championship boxing session. She saw Sera and Blood in the distance, waiting for her to pull herself out of the pit she had managed to smash into the bedrock with the monster's body. Delonne was further off, not able to withstand the crazy violence of the encounter as well as the other two had been.

She was heaving herself over the rim of the pit when a massive force hit her from the side, several things happening all at once. Beth instinctively spun, even while airborne, firing out a series of attacks at the source, getting a brief glance of a towering shape before she slammed into and through a hillside, slamming her arms and legs into the ground afterward to stop her momentum. She looked up just as that towering shape appeared above her, bracing for an attack before the creature was surprised by a hit from the side. Delonne had come from nowhere, slamming into the thing and knocking it away with his shield, though the creature only staggered off a couple feet. It swung back at Delonne, the man barely keeping up as it smashed into his shield, planting his legs into the earth and shattering the ground around him for dozens of feet. And all of that was from a casual strike. Beth had taken that opportunity to quickly use FrostFlame Eye on the thing, having to filter out a bunch of nonsense, which already pointed to what she was looking at.

Level 990[44] Dread Beast of Slaughter

Well, that was bad.

Just as Beth lashed out again, the monster turned back to her, more focused on the one who defeated the other monster than the buzzing little flies. It was a real colossus of a thing, thirty feet tall and made of some kind of sleek, oozing, shimmering material that twisted and changed as she watched. It was almost like she could see through its skin to its organs, but it didn't really look like its organs, just weird lumps of flesh and pools of blood. Its squat, thick head sat directly upon its shoulders, no neck anywhere to speak of, and it had obscenely long arms that would drag on the ground if it let them hang loose. It opened a maw filled with hundreds of huge, jagged teeth and screamed a shrill, wrenching wail that set Beth's teeth on edge and took Delonne to his knees.

Beth fired off several attacks at it, but it was basically hopeless, as even her strongest skills bounced off the monster, doing little more than annoy it. It lifted its arm to smash down and flatten her but staggered to the side as attacks from Sera and Blood slammed into it, pushing it off balance. Delonne was still there, following up with dozens of sword slashes that all focused on the oddly mishappen thing's joints. It staggered slightly again, turning with a preternatural speed and weird flexibility to strike the man, denting his shield and sending him flying. Beth had lined up while the monster was slightly off-kilter and threw a dozen attacks against the monster's left knee, trying to knock if further off balance.

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The efforts proved largely unsuccessful, and the monster took a swing at her, forcing her to teleport away. It didn't get her much breathing room, as the monster was on top of her in an instant, hammering at her again. The difference in their stats was truly unreal, and Beth was still tired and heavily injured, so she wasn't putting up a great showing. She countered the first smash, the monster using its limb as a club more than an arm, trying to smash her with heavy overhand blows. Beth blocked with both arms, grunting in pain as her broken bones shifted and her organs did flips inside her. She spat blood and punched the monster with all her strength, summoning her Presence and putting everything she had into it. Her Presence and her power surprised the monster, the creature taking several steps back before sorting itself out.

It lashed out again, Beth dodging, but even with a teleport, she was caught in a moment, the monster's fist coming down on her. Once again, Delonne was there, blocking the blow, cursing as his shield was crushed and he was thrown back. Sera and Blood appeared the next instant, slashing and stabbing the thing's knees, but were knocked away with a quick slash of its massive arms before it tried to attack Beth again. She teleported away, having to teleport in rapid succession because the monster was always there, always swinging at her even though she was moving instantly. She had never felt this oppressed in a fight, especially since she had gotten and started using Spatial Step; the fact the monster could keep up with, even outclass, her teleports was terrifying and incredibly annoying.

She blocked another massive blow, feeling her guts churn and her bones scream in protest before Del was there again, sliding a hammering blow off his shield before a brutal kick crumpled the piece entirely, sending him flying through the air, limbs flopping as he cartwheeled uncontrollably. Beth used her full power, sending the monster staggering again, but it wasn't stopped for long at all. It was back to pursuing her through teleports, and just as it caught her again, it was sent flying. This time, the monster was overwhelmed, and Beth saw a different kind of colossus standing in front of her, one of adamant and gold.

"Sorry, girlie. We were pursuing some other leads for a minute," Baelvyr said, slinging his hammer over his shoulder. "We've got it, now."

"Fuckin' late," she snapped, plopping down on her ass.

In the distance, a tidal wave the size of a skyscraper appeared and smashed into the monster, covering it in dozens of feet of water. Beth could see Megoria in the water, darting around the monster and lashing out at it, slicing it apart with sword attacks and concentrated beams of pressurized water. The monster tried to counter, but it was far too slow, Beth realizing that the water, while a few dozen feet deep, was applying a crushing pressure greater than the bottom of the ocean. Despite its vast strength, the monster was overwhelmed by the force of the water, and couldn't even run or swing its arms quickly.

Megoria was on rebirth forty-nine while the monster was on rebirth forty-four, so Beth had expected something of a close fight. Considering how much more powerful monsters became as they leveled up, and their great durability and resistance, she expected the monster to be incredibly powerful. That wasn't the case, however, or else Megoria was just that strong, as Beth watched her dismantle the monster in just a few minutes. Several times, the high-level monster increased its power, the way the plant monster had done both times Beth fought it, but it made no difference. Even as it became stronger, or used more of its total strength, it was entirely overwhelmed by Megoria, unable to do anything but try to protect itself.

It wasn't exactly a quick kill, not compared to some of their other fights, but Megoria really didn't waste any time, either. Baelvyr was confident enough in her that he had his face shield open, though Beth doubted that really was a weakness that he needed to worry about against a foe so much weaker than him. Sera and Blood had circled up, and the three nodded to Baelvyr before going to find Delonne, tracing the path he had flown through the air to find him. Beth was concerned it was his body at first, but he was not only still alive but still conscious, if barely.

"Del, you with us?" Beth asked, kneeling down by him and gently touching his shoulder with two fingers.

"Yes…but…maybe not…for long…" he said, his breath coming out in ragged gasps.

"We've got medicine, just hang on," Beth said, pulling out potions from her necklace.

"Too…late…" he said, but Beth tried anyway, forcing a high-end potion down his throat.

"He ain't gonna make it, girlie," Baelvyr said, having walked over while Meg finished off the monster.

"Why not?!" Beth snapped, pulling out an ampule with a rapid regenerator serum inside.

"Save it…" Del said, slowly raising a hand and stopping her. "I'm too old…for this. My body can't…handle…any more of this. My healing skill can't put me…back together. If it's that bad, a little potion injection won't help."

"Sorry girlie, but he's right," Baelvyr said coldly. "Too old without hittin' the right power level. Shouldn't have gotten into such a fight like that."

"I'd do it again…for my world," he wheezed. "They were where everything had really…really gone wrong."

"Lotta people go their whole lives without findin' anythin' to live for, let alone somethin' to die for," Baelvyr said. "Glad ya were able to find that thing before ya had to move on."

"Don't just give up on him," Beth said angrily.

"Ain't my place and it ain't yer place, girlie," he said. "He's at the end of his Path and he knows it. Don't try and force him further down the Path that he's finished. Let him move on and try a new Path."

"Dammit," Beth said, collapsing onto the broken ground, Sera coming to stand behind her and lay a hand on her shoulder.

"I just…wish…I could see the sky…one last time," he gasped out.

"Don't worry, ya can," Baelvyr said. He moved off to the side, unlimbering his hammer and twirling it in one hand. Setting his feet apart, he pulled the hammer back, swinging it down low behind his left leg before taking a step forward and swinging the hammer up. The amount of force he generated shattered the ground under him, though he controlled the force, or it appeared so, causing only a small area around him to be affected by such a powerful strike. The swing was far more impressive than anything Beth had seen him do so far, and the force of the swing exploded upward in a cone. There must have been something else to it, but Beth wasn't able to tell what; all she was able to see was the reaction of the clouds, as they were literally blown away by the strike, opening a massive area of clear sky directly over them.

Beth looked down at Delonne, who was laying on his back in front of her. He was smiling, staring upward with his eyes wide as he gazed upon that clear dome overhead. Beth gently touched his shoulder as he took a deep, shuddering breath, his body giving a slight twitch.

"Ah, the sky," he said, staring unblinking as tears streamed from eyes. "It's blue. For the first time in a hundred years…so very blue."

He closed his eyes and sighed, laying his head back against the warm stone.

And there, under a sky of limitless blue, he died.

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