The scientist burst into laughter, the sound high-pitched and manic, echoing through the bunker like the cackling of a hyena. He was clearly delighted by the dismayed look on Jelo's face, his eyes gleaming with twisted satisfaction as he watched his final creation prepare to finish what the others had started.

Mira, where she was bound up in the dampening net, was trying desperately to escape. She had tried several things earlier, back before the scientist had brought her into the bunker. Some of the things she had tried included cutting the net with her knife, sawing at the energy-infused fibers with the blade's edge, but the material had resisted every attempt. She'd tried to snap it with her raw strength, pulling and twisting with everything she had, but the net was designed to hold ability users far stronger than her. It wouldn't budge. It wouldn't give.

So now she continued to wrestle with the net, her fingers working frantically at the edges, searching for any weakness, any flaw in its construction. She wanted to get out. She needed to get out so that she could help Jelo. She could see how badly he was hurt, could see the exhaustion in his movements, the way his shoulders sagged between breaths. He was running on empty, and there was nothing she could do but watch.

The scientist continued laughing, slapping his knee theatrically. "Oh, this is magnificent! Absolutely magnificent! The look on your face, boy! Priceless! You thought you'd won, didn't you? You thought defeating two of my children meant victory?" He gestured wildly toward the transformed Bonewarden. "But this one? This one is special. The pinnacle of my research! The ultimate fusion of human resilience and Dabba evolution!"

Jelo felt the urge to snap at the scientist to stop laughing so hard, to shut his mouth and stop acting like this was all some grand performance. But he decided he had bigger fish to fry. The scientist could wait. The Bonewarden couldn't.

The creature growled again, the sound deeper and more menacing than before, resonating from somewhere deep within its chest. Then it attacked.

The fight began brutally.

Bonewarden charged forward with terrifying speed, faster than Jelo had anticipated. The transformation hadn't just added defensive spikes—it had enhanced the creature's mobility somehow, removing whatever sluggishness had held it back before. The first blow came in fast and hard, a massive spiked fist that caught Jelo square in the chest.

The impact sent Jelo crashing across the ground like a discarded doll, his body tumbling end over end before slamming into a stack of metal crates. Pain exploded through his torso. He could taste copper in his mouth. Blood. He barely had time to activate Skilled Guard before another impact slammed into his ribs, the creature having closed the distance impossibly fast.

The hardened skin saved him from breaking, absorbing the worst of the force, but it didn't save him from the pain. The blow drove the air from his lungs and sent fresh agony radiating through his chest. Jelo gasped, trying to breathe, but his body refused to cooperate.

Bonewarden pressed the advantage mercilessly. The creature grabbed Jelo with both hands, its spiked fingers digging into his shoulders and arms. Jelo felt the sharp points pierce through his clothing and bite into his flesh. Then the Bonewarden lifted him off the ground effortlessly, raising him high above its head like a trophy.

For a brief, terrifying moment, Jelo was suspended in the air, helpless.

Then the Bonewarden hurled him into the wall with tremendous force.

Jelo's body hit the metal surface with a sickening crash. The impact drove every thought from his mind, replaced only by white-hot pain. He slid down the wall and crumpled to the floor, his vision swimming, dark spots dancing across his sight. His ears rang. His entire body felt like it had been shattered and reassembled wrong.

Dazed, breath burning in his chest like fire, Jelo struggled to rise. His arms shook as he tried to push himself up. His legs felt like they belonged to someone else, weak and unresponsive. For a moment, weakness threatened to pull him under. It would be so easy to just stay down, to let the darkness take him, to give up.

Then he remembered Xeno.

He remembered all his bullies who had tormented him for years, who had beaten him down again and again, who had made him feel small and worthless and powerless. He remembered the promise he had made to himself, standing in the rain with blood on his face and hatred in his heart.

Never to be powerless again. Never to be thrown aside so easily. Never to let anyone make him feel like he was nothing.

That memory burned through the pain and exhaustion, cutting through the fog in his mind like a blade. Jelo clenched his fists, his fingers digging into the metal floor beneath him. His jaw tightened. His eyes hardened.

He stood.

His body screamed in protest, every muscle crying out for rest, but Jelo ignored it all. He pushed himself to his feet, swaying slightly but standing firm. He faced the Bonewarden, his expression set with grim determination.

"Not… done yet," he muttered through gritted teeth.

As Bonewarden struck again, charging forward with another devastating blow, Jelo vanished in a Wing Burst. The creature's spiked fist slammed into empty air, and Jelo reappeared at its flank, already moving. A Dragon Claw tore through the air, the energy projection glowing with intense heat as it sliced across Bonewarden's defenses.

The attack connected solidly, cracking one of the bony protrusions on the creature's shoulder and sending fragments of bone scattering across the floor. The Bonewarden roared in pain and fury, the sound echoing through the bunker, and swung wildly in Jelo's direction.

But Jelo was faster now. Something had clicked inside him, some deeper reserve of strength and focus that he hadn't known was there. He moved with renewed precision, chaining bursts of movement with precise attacks. Wing Burst carried him out of range of the Bonewarden's wild swings, and Dragon Claw struck again and again, each hit carefully aimed at the creature's weak points.

He targeted the joints. The gaps between the bony armor. The places where the spikes hadn't fully covered the flesh beneath.

Each clash hardened Jelo's resolve. He could feel his body breaking down, could feel his energy reserves dwindling to nothing, but he refused to stop. He couldn't stop. Not when Mira was watching. Not when the scientist was laughing. Not when everything depended on him staying on his feet.

The Bonewarden charged again, putting all its mass and strength behind one final, desperate assault. This was it. The creature's last real attempt to finish the fight.

Jelo timed his guard perfectly. He activated Skilled Guard just as the impact came, the hardened skin absorbing the blow. The force still drove him back, his boots scraping against the floor, but he held his ground. He planted his feet and refused to give another inch.

Then, with every last bit of fire energy he had left, Jelo drove a focused Dragon Claw straight through Bonewarden's core.

It punched through the creature's chest, tearing through bone and flesh and whatever passed for vital organs in these twisted experiments.

The Bonewarden's roar cut off abruptly. Its body went rigid, the spikes trembling and then going still. The hollow glow in its eyes flickered and died.

The creature collapsed forward, its massive weight crashing to the floor with a thunderous impact. The spikes fell lifelessly, no longer menacing, just dead weight attached to a corpse.

Jelo stood there, panting, barely able to stay upright. His vision blurred. His legs threatened to give out.

Then the system sent him a message, the translucent panel appearing in his vision:

<[ENEMY DEFEATED]>

<[+40 XP]>

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