Refusing My God’s Advances

"Guess it's time to see if you're as tough as you look, or if you're just another pretty face," I quipped, the drill in my hand buzzing with anticipation. Vaedos, surprisingly, let out a low, rumbling laugh that echoed off the cave walls, lending a surreal quality to the impending showdown.

"Your humor is noted, but do not mistake my amusement for weakness," Vaedos warned his voice now a thunderous cascade that seemed to make the very air quiver.

"Wouldn't dream of it," I replied, my tone a mix of respect and cheekiness. "After all, it's not every day you get to drill through a divine-rated living crystal sculpture."

I barely got the last words out of my mouth before Vaedos raised his hands and fired a hailstorm of crystal shards at me. I tried to dodge them, but the shards followed me like homing missiles, so I turned to face them. I quickly switched the Drill Bit of Bore and created a shield to shatter the shards.

"No more jokes?"

I just barely dropped down and vaulted backward as a crystal fist passed through the space my head had been a fraction of a second ago. Then Vaedos rushed me again, the crystal shards circling me as he did. I didn't want to test out what would happen if Vaedos or any of his crystals touched me.

I switched back to the Drill Bit of Oblivion and stopped. I had been running for long enough now, and Vaedos wasted no time in rushing me. The moment that he was close enough, I activated Chrono Acceleration and Chrono Vortex, almost freezing Vaedos in place. I rushed forward and drilled directly into the glowing light of the crystal golem's chest.

All at once, I was blasted back and all my skills were canceled. I easily caught myself in the air and turned to see a large layer of crystal shatter off Vaedos to reveal a 7-foot-tall version of the last golem.

As I landed, dust and crystal shards settled around us, creating a surreal landscape that glittered under the cave's luminescent flora. The transformation of Vaedos from a colossal crystal titan into a more humanoid form didn't lessen the intensity of the atmosphere; if anything, it heightened it. This final form, standing at seven feet tall, radiated power and grace, an embodiment of the divine energy that coursed through its veins. The colors that once danced within its crystalline structure now pulsed beneath its smooth, gem-like skin, casting eerie shadows across the cave walls.

Vaedos, now in a form that seemed to be his true essence, stared at me with eyes that held the depth of centuries. The air between us crackled with anticipation, a silent acknowledgment of the final act of our battle.

"You have proven yourself more resourceful than I anticipated," Vaedos admitted, his voice echoing with a resonance that seemed to vibrate the very ground. "But do not think this is over. The true test begins now."

I nodded, gripping the Drill of the Abyss tighter. "I didn't come this far to back down now," I responded, my voice steady despite the adrenaline surging through me. "Let's see this through to the end."

Vaedos nodded, a gesture of respect among warriors, and with a swift motion, he summoned crystals from the ground, not as weapons, but as 5-foot-tall copies of himself. There were at least 20 of them, and to say I felt uneasy would be an understatement. But unease had never stopped me before, and it wasn't about to now. Each crystal copy of Vaedos shimmered with the same purple and blue hues, a small army of divine replicas ready to test my limits.

Then they all rushed me at once. There was no order, formation, or pattern. It was just like some zombie horror movie with crystal zombies instead of the flesh-eating kind. Rather than turning into a zombie, I would just get a very generous gift bag of negative status effects.

I felt like my Magic Power was still pretty high, and the crystal zombies were closing in. I really couldn't think of a better time to try this new skill out, so I raised my fist in the air.

"Stormbreaker Fury!" I roared out.

As the words left my mouth, the air above the cave crackled and roared to life. Dark clouds swirled into existence as if summoned from the void, spiraling into a furious tempest directly above us. The crystals in the cave vibrated, resonating with the impending cataclysm as the storm's full might began to manifest.

Lightning, thick and suffused with arcane energy, forked down in a spectacular display of raw power, striking the ground with precision and ferocity. Each bolt was a masterpiece of destruction, targeting the crystal copies of Vaedos with unerring accuracy. The ground shook with each impact, the air filled with the scent of ozone and the sound of shattering crystal.

The crystal zombies, despite their divine origin, stood no chance against the tempest's wrath. One by one, they were obliterated, reduced to glittering dust that was swept away by the storm's unforgiving winds. The light from the lightning illuminated the cave in stark flashes, casting dramatic shadows that danced wildly across the walls.

Vaedos himself watched a mixture of surprise and admiration evident in his stance. The storm did not discriminate, and bolts of lightning came dangerously close to him, yet he remained unscathed, protected by some unseen force or perhaps by his own divine nature.

As the final bolt struck, the storm began to abate, the clouds dissipating as quickly as they had formed. The cave fell silent, save for the faint echoes of the tempest's fury still ringing in the air. The ground where the crystal copies had stood was now bare, marked only by the scorch marks of divine lightning.

I stood amidst the devastation, breathing heavily, not from exertion but from the sheer adrenaline of unleashing such power. The Stormbreaker Fury had lived up to its name, and then some. Still, just like Mary had thought, the Magic Power required to use the ability was massive. I would be lucky if I had a third remaining at this point.