[Skill-Eater 2] Chapter 101: Subzero Showdown (Patreon)

Edge had a hard time falling asleep that night, tossing and turning until he finally drifted off.

He awoke before dawn, tweaking his plans while waiting for the sky to lighten. Extraction would come off cooldown in the early afternoon, and he wanted to prepare himself and locate the hydra before that happened. He went over everything one last time while he made himself breakfast and got ready to head out.

This strategy had some overlap with how he’d battled the elite ape, but there were several key differences. The short of it was that he had to overcome the hydra’s Regeneration before Overdrive ran out, without getting himself killed in the process—let loose with everything he had and pray that the monster froze before his minute ran out. There wouldn’t be a chance to follow up this time, given the nature of his opponent, and he would die the second the exhaustion hit him.

Edge had to close the distance before the monster knew he was there and couldn’t afford to hedge his bets. Only a few of the tools in his kit could help him win this fight—most notably his Disruption grenade and potions.

His Pillar of Flame spellshots wouldn’t be useful against this enemy, and while the round he had stolen from Warren might work, he was hoping to save it for his battle with the dungeon’s boss—a monster even more dangerous than the elites roaming the Savage Garden.

Elemental Blade was coldest when it was in its iceblade form, so he would be leaving his polearm behind to increase his mobility. His chakram wouldn’t work either, so he sat it beside his naginata and his considerable pile of resources.

When he was done inspecting his gear and limbering up his body, Edge left his shelter and climbed to the highest point he could reach. Then he pulled out his spyglass and started scanning the surrounding terrain.

The fog wasn’t out today, but he didn’t need it for what he was planning and didn’t have time to wait. On the bright side, the Claws were still licking their wounds after their brawl with the bone slime, and he shouldn’t have to worry about being ambushed during a fight that would be over within a minute of when it began.

He eventually spotted the hydra sleeping in a pool of sunlight, and its presence had driven all other predators from the area. He carefully closed the distance, skating from island to island until he was only one isle away from the slumbering horror.

He spent the next half hour meticulously studying the terrain that would soon become a battlefield. That moment that Extraction came off cooldown, he got ready to make his move.

At this point, there was just one last thing that he needed to do before facing off against his second elite opponent. Edge willed his consciousness into his core, then had his skills gather round.

“I’m about to pick a fight with one of the strongest monsters in the dungeon, and I wanted to let you know what I’m planning before I engage it.” He outlined his strategy, then turned to the floating sword representing Elemental Blade, which looked badass with the runes texturing its surface.

“I’m relying on everyone, but you’re the MVP this time around. I know that there’s only so much you can do. But if you’re able to increase your output even a tiny bit beyond what I can manage on my own, it will boost our odds of walking away from this encounter instead of finding out what the inside of a monster’s stomach looks like.”

His skills offered Edge their encouragement, excited by the battle to come. Then he bid them farewell and stepped back into his own skin—ready to start the fight.

He crossed the river and set foot onto the island—relieved to see that the monster was still sleeping. It would wake the moment he started using skills, but this situation would help him close the distance without being torn limb from limb.

It doesn’t matter how much mana I burn on the approach, since I’ll activate Overdrive the second I come into range. He took one last look at the towering monster, savoring the thrill of the moment, before he was as ready as he could be.

All that was left was to see who had watched their last sunrise—Edge, or the seven-headed nightmare looming before him. He took a few deep breaths while visualizing his opening move, then sprang into motion.

First, he set down his pack, then downed the sky-blue potion to boost his Speed and Control. He conjured his iceblade, pressed the trigger on his Disruption grenade, then threw it in the highest arc he could manage.

Then, using the trick he’d learned while fighting the garax, Edge activated Elemental Blade again without dispelling the original manifestation, wielding a crystalline sword in each hand. The instant the second sword finished forming, he activated Shadow Step, and the world turned to smoke and gloom.

He turned to face the towering monster, then Leapt straight at the hydra, activating Overdrive the second his feet left the ground. The mysterious engine roared to life, pumping concentrated magic into his core until his reactor was shining like the sun.

It was his first time using the ability since reaching stage two, and while he wouldn’t have believed it possible until that moment, the endless river of energy flowing into his skills was even more potent than before.

Thanks to his evolution, in addition to lasting a full minute before the exhaustion kicked in, Overdrive now boosted his Amplification by a staggering 20 points—roughly doubling the output of every skill Edge had.

Powered by Overdrive and boosted by his Frostfury Medallion, both rune-covered iceblades were five feet long and as sharp as the reaper’s scythe. They were wreathed in a coruscating aura of glacial energy—so cold that a layer of frost spread along the ground and mist billowed into the air. He reversed his grip so the subzero swords were pointing down, jutting below his boots like a pair of fangs.

By the time that he’d closed half the distance, the hydra’s eyes snapped open, sensing the mana that was flowing out of his reactor in a torrent of incandescent might.

Its heads swiveled like an army of snakes, searching for the source of the powerful magic. Since Edge was in shadow form, it took the creature a moment to lock onto his position. His grenade landed half a heartbeat later, smacking into the hydra’s tail before detonating—far enough away that he wasn’t caught in the blast.

The device released a Disruption pulse then rolled away. It wasn’t strong enough to stop the creature’s skills, but weakening them to any extent would help with what he was planning.

Time seemed to slow as he descended toward the multiheaded horror, in what might well be the final act of his life. But he refused to let such thoughts distract him.

He opened his mouth and let out an Intimidating Roar, then kept right on Roaring as he landed between the hydra’s serpentine necks. The rank-one skill wasn’t powerful enough to disable the monster, even while enhanced by Overdrive. But it served as one hell of a distraction and knocked it off balance, keeping it from letting loose for a few, utterly critical seconds.

As his weight came down, Edge drove both iceblades into the monster’s body all the way up to the hilts. After running a few tests last night, he had learned that he could keep them manifested as long as they were touching his body. He braced their hilts between his knees, conjured another pair, and swung as hard as he could—the boost from his potion enhancing each motion.

Along the way, he activated Double Slash, hitting the hydra with four subzero swords at once while the pair planted beside his feet injected the monster with an infusion of frigid mana. The damage bonus from Big Game Hunter magnified the power of his attacks—his first time fighting something big enough to activate that part of the trait. Each dual-blade carved deep into the creature’s flesh, freezing the surrounding tissue solid.

A subzero wave expanded from each point of contact, spreading through the elite’s body. Edge only caught the periphery, but he would have died to his own attack if not for Regulate Temperature bolstered by Overdrive.

It was a promising start, but he wasn’t finished yet. The monster was massive, capable of high-speed Regeneration, and had energetic reserves as deep as the sea. If he couldn’t disable it before Skill-Eater’s ultimate ran out, it would recover and kill him within a matter of seconds. While part of its body was already frozen, there was a mountain of tissue to go.

By now, the monster had recovered from its surprise and begun its counterattack. Edge kept whaling away with Double Slash as flakes of frozen blood to fell to the ground like crimson snow.

All the while, he kept track the hydra’s heads. He had learned from observing its battle with the slime that only two of them could produce breath attacks, since the skills were bolstering a natural feature of its biology instead of creating them from scratch.

Whenever a breath-wielding head turned his way, he hit it with Repel Water, preventing it from orienting on his position. He struggled to stay out of their line of fire while the other five bit and struck him, Hardening his entire body to endure the ceaseless pummeling.

By now, half the monster’s necks were stiffened enough that they couldn’t turn to track him, and the tissue beneath his boots was hard as ice. However, the lower half of hydra’s torso was fully mobile, and its heart was still beating strong.

He had twenty seconds left on Overdrive, and in that moment, it looked like his best wasn’t going to be good enough. But while Edge had been hoping to kill the monster with cold, he hadn’t counted on Elemental Blade ending the fight alone. He just needed to weaken the creature enough that it was susceptible to his chains’ invasion.

He kept Double Slashing in a flurry as the hydra’s struggles grew weaker and its pulse began to slow. However, there wasn’t enough time to freeze it all the way.

Edge had to unleash his finishing move and pray that it was enough—play the ace that was hidden up his sleeve and see how the cards came down.