"Tribulation?!"
I was dumbfounded. Forgot I was on the edge of death. I stared at the swirling ink-black clouds that defied logic. My worldview was crumbling.
"This is a Zombie Apocalypse, right? Why are there Xianxia (Cultivation) settings? Zombies need to undergo Tribulation to evolve?"
"Shut up! Use your walnut-sized brain!"
Shadow's urgent voice exploded in my head, anxious and frustrated. "This isn't cultivation! This is Conservation of Energy! The energy inside that monster exceeds the limit its flesh can hold. It is forcibly stripping free electrons from the environment. That massive energy field disturbance naturally triggers a thunderstorm!"
KA-BOOM!!!
As if to prove Shadow right, a purple electric snake slithered through the clouds. The thunder resonated in my chest, making my heart skip a beat.
I looked at the Rock-Armored Tyrant.
It sensed the threat above too. It stopped chasing us. Threw its head back and roared at the sky provocatively.
"ROAAAARRR!!!"
As it roared, its rocky skin turned crimson. Scalding steam jetted from the cracks like an erupting volcano. The air warped from the heat. Gravel on the ground floated up eerily, affected by the magnetic field.
"If it survives this lightning strike and completes energy reorganization..." Shadow's voice trembled. "It will be the King of this city. We won't even be enough for a snack."
"Then what do we do?!"
I looked at the monster charging up to fight the sky. I felt hopeless. We couldn't even scratch its skin. How do we stop it?
"Only one way."
Shadow snapped his head around. Golden pupils burning with mad fire in the dark. Staring dead at the black Tang Dao on my back.
"Your sword."
"My sword?" I touched the hilt instinctively.
"That blade is System-made. Special material. I checked it—its conductivity is a hundred times that of normal metal!" Shadow spoke fast, desperate. "When the lightning falls, the monster's defense will drop to zero to resist the strike. That's when its energy is most chaotic. Most vulnerable."
"You want me to..."
I guessed his insane plan. I didn't want to believe it. It was suicide.
"Correct."
Shadow grinned. A wolf's grin. "I want you to climb up there. Stab the sword into its weak point—the reverse scale on the back of its neck! Channel the lightning into its body! Blow it up from the inside!"
"Channel lightning?!"
My voice cracked, high-pitched. "Are you crazy?! That's lightning! Nature's lightning! You'll kill me! I'll be fried into charcoal!"
"You have Magazine Armor! It's paper! Insulator!"
"It's paper! Can paper insulate against hundreds of millions of volts?! My physics teacher is going to jump out of his coffin and beat you!"
"Then gamble!" Shadow roared, voice drowning out the thunder. "Win, and 500 Energy is yours! C-Rank Core is yours! We buy god-tier gear and walk sideways in this apocalypse! Lose... we can't run anyway. Dead is dead!"
"Look!"
Shadow pointed a claw.
CRAACK!
The first bolt struck. Like a sharp sword, precise hit on the Tyrant's back.
"GRAAAH!!!"
The Tyrant howled in pain. A massive bone spike on its back shattered, blackened, smoking. But it didn't fall. It became more berserk. Pounded the ground with fists, smashing craters in the concrete. Gravel flew like bullets.
It was using pain to stimulate potential!
The violent airwaves pushed us back. We were in its range. No escape.
"Screw it!"
I spat a mouthful of bloody saliva. Gripped the Tang Dao. The cold handle cooled my fevered brain slightly.
This wasn't gambling. This was a suicide bombing!
But looking at the battle fire in Shadow's eyes, looking at the arrogant monster... the suppressed madness in my heart ignited too.
I'm not even afraid of death anymore. Am I afraid of electricity?
"I'm... in!"
I looked at Shadow. Expression savage. A smile uglier than crying. "Create an opening! It's too tall, I can't jump that high! I only have one shot!"
"Don't worry."
Shadow took a deep breath. His fur puffed up again. Some hairs snapped from the energy overload in his body. Wind elements converged on his tail, screaming like a turbine engine about to blow.
"This Lord is risking his old life today too!"
"Ready—"
In the sky, the vortex center. The second, strongest bolt was brewing. Purple light turned the alley ghostly white.
"NOW!"
Shadow shrieked. Turned into a blur. Shot straight for the Tyrant's face.
He held nothing back. All energy. All stamina. Condensed in his mouth.
"Overload · Wind Cannon!"
BOOM!
A visible ball of compressed air, ringed with white shockwaves, slammed into the Tyrant's glowing eye.
BANG!
Bullseye!
This was Shadow's full power. Like an RPG round.
"OWWW—!"
The Tyrant recoiled. The eye didn't burst, but it was hurt bad. Instinctively, it raised hands to cover its eyes. The massive body leaned back, stumbling, off balance.
As it leaned back, the nape of its neck—usually protected by layers of bone spikes—was finally exposed.
There was a patch of lighter skin, heaving violently with breath. Its only weak point. The central nervous connection between brain and spine.
Chance!
Fleeting!
"NOW! BAI SHI!" Shadow collapsed on the ground, drained, screaming at me.
I timed it. Sprint.
Every step crushed bricks.
A flipped car ahead. I stomped on the hood. Used the spring to launch high.
Not high enough!
The Tyrant was three meters tall. I only reached its waist.
"Get up there!"
I twisted in mid-air. Stabbed the Tang Dao into a crack in the rock skin on its back. Used it as a foothold. Vaulted again.
Hiss!
The heat from the Tyrant's body melted my shoe soles instantly. Burning sensation shot up my feet.
Didn't care.
Like a flea, I grabbed the jagged bone spikes, climbing hand over foot.
Spikes were sharp as knives. Cut my palms. Blood flowed. Heat roasted my skin. Eyebrows and hair singed.
The Tyrant felt me. It thrashed wildly, trying to shake me off.
I was a small boat in a storm. Could be smashed to pieces any second.
"Not letting go!"
I clamped my left hand onto a spike. Fingernails broke. Bleeding.
Finally. Shoulder level.
That soft meat. Right there. Within reach!
Above, the thundercloud rolled. The charged bolt finally dropped.
KA-BOOM!!!
The world changed color.
I adjusted in mid-air. Two hands reverse-grip on the Tang Dao. Point down. Hovering like a nail over the Tyrant's neck.
Time slowed.
I saw the Tyrant turn its head in panic, fear in its one eye. I saw Shadow paralyzed in the distance, my reflection in his golden eyes. I saw the silver dragon tearing the darkness, diving with apocalyptic power, aiming for the Tyrant—and me.
This is betting your life.
I have to be faster than lightning! And let the lightning catch me!
"DIE... DAMMIT!!!"
I let out a soul-tearing roar. Put all my weight, all my hate, all my will to live into the blade.
SHUNK!
This time, no metallic clang.
At the moment the Tyrant's defense was lowest, fully focused on the sky, the black Tang Dao pierced the soft flesh perfectly.
Cut skin. Severed muscle. Jammed into the spine. Hilt deep!
At the same time.
The Lightning arrived.
BOOM!!!
Attracted by the perfect lightning rod that was the Tang Dao. Like a silver waterfall. It flowed down my arm. Into the blade. And then... violently injected into the Tyrant's body.
In that instant, the world turned blinding white.
I saw nothing. Heard nothing.
I only felt an indescribable, massive power piercing my body.
Not numbness. Destruction.
The thick magazine armor on my arms caught fire instantly. Burned to ash and blew away.
My skin, muscles, bones... trembling, screaming, disintegrating under the violent force of nature.
A million red-hot needles swimming in my veins. Every muscle cramping. Every nerve snapping. Organs felt like they were in a blender. Blood boiling.
Pain!
Pain that ripped the soul out! Pain that made me want to die instantly!
"AHHHHHHH!!!"
I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came. Vocal cords paralyzed.
But I didn't let go.
My hands felt fused to the hilt. I held on tight. Turned myself into a conductor. Nailed this arrogant monster to the ground.
Electricity ravaged the Tyrant's insides.
Organs cooked. Bones shattered. Even the hard rock shell cracked open, spewing black smoke and blue arcs.
Its single eye exploded in the lightning. Two black holes remained.
The Tyrant convulsed in the lightning for three full seconds.
Those three seconds were three centuries to me.
Then.
THUD!
Its massive body lost support. Like a collapsing mountain. Crashed down. Dust rose.
And I was blasted away by the shockwave and residual current.
I flew in a parabola. Smashed into the ground. Rolled. Hit a wall. Stopped.
Cough...
I spat out black smoke. Felt cooked. Well-done.
Silence.
Only the smell of burnt meat. And my uncontrolled, reflexive twitching.
Vision blurred. Darkness closing in.
Last thing I saw... Shadow limping toward me, shouting something.
But I couldn't hear.
So tired. Want to sleep.
This gamble...
Did I... win?