The three Elders regrouped, breathing hard, looked at each other and a silent, grim understanding passed between them.
It was a look Scott had seen only once before, years ago—the look of men who had accepted their end.
"We have no choice," Oldman Alistair said, his voice heavy with sorrow.
He looked back toward the barrier, his eyes finding Leo in the crowd. He smiled, a soft, sad expression. "Live well, my boy."
Then, he turned back to the beast. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
A visible shimmer, a wave of pure green energy, began to radiate from his old body.
"For the Heartwood!"
His white hair seemed to glow brighter, turning a deep, youthful black. The wrinkles on his face smoothed out and disappeared.
His stooped shoulders broadened, and his muscles swelled, ripping through his loose tunic.
In moments, he was no longer an old man. He looked as he did thirty years ago—a strong warrior.
He was burning his own Life Energy, a secret technique passed down through generations, trading his remaining years for a few moments of peak power.
One by one, the other two Elders did the same. The air around them crackled with green lightning, and the light they gave off became almost blinding.
"The Grave Horn Bull Gene..." Scott whispered, recognizing the transformation.
He was too familiar with it, as he was one of the few sporeborn in the camp who successfully managed to absorb the Bull's Frame gene.
It grants immense physical strength, when activated through burning Life energy, instantly improving all physical attributes by more than five times.
Now, fueled by their burning life force, that power was fully unleashed.
They one after another slammed into the tiger-headed zombie with the force of rockslides.
BOOM!
The impact knocked the giant creature back.
Their glowing spears moved so fast they were just streaks of light, leaving deep, sizzling wounds that didn't heal instantly.
For a moment, it seemed to work. The creature stumbled, roaring in pain and surprise.
But it wasn't enough.
The zombie shook its head, its eyes glowing brighter. It caught the old man Alister's spear mid-thrust and snapped the weapon in half.
With a furious swipe, it knocked the second Elder away, then grabbed the third by the leg and threw him against the base of the Heartwood Tree with a sickening crunch.
"Grandfather!" Leo screamed from behind the barrier, his voice raw with terror.
Scott stood frozen for a second. He saw the grim reality in the eyes of the old man, who scrambled to his feet, unarmed.
Scott looked back one final time.
He found Elara's eyes in the crowd.
She was standing at the edge of the barrier, her face pale, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She was shaking her head, silently begging him not to do it.
In that single glance, everything was said. His love. His duty. His apology.
Scott turned back to the fight.
He closed his eyes, reaching deep into his chest, past the fear, past the pain.
He found the core of his own Life Energy, the meyclial heart . It was a warm, vibrant fire, full of potential and years yet to be lived.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
With a silent cry that echoed only in his soul, he threw it all onto the blaze.
WHOOSH!
A shockwave of green light exploded from him.
Scott's power was a wild, untamed storm compared to the disciplined energy of the Elders.
The strong life energy pumped into his Foundational Bull Frame genes, as his muscles swelled, his skin tightened, and the air around him hissed.
He felt years of his life burning away in minutes, traded for a strength he had never felt before.
"Scott, no!" Elara's scream broke the air.
But he was already moving.
He joined the battle, a fourth point of blazing green light against the overwhelming darkness.
He was multiple times faster and stronger than the Elders now, a blur that darted under the monster's clumsy swings.
He drove his spear into the zombie's knee. This time, the supercharged weapon tore through flesh and bone with a loud crack.
The giant beast roared, its leg buckling.
"Now!" Scott shouted, his voice sounding like thunder.
Leo's grandfather was there, slamming his own broken spear shaft into the creature's arm to deflect a blow.
The four of them stood together, a desperate wall of fading light.
"PIN IT DOWN!"
With a final, unified push, they brought the beast down. It crashed to the earth with a ground-shaking thud.
The Elders leaped onto its limbs, driving their weapons through the thick muscle and deep into the soil, pinning it to the ground.
Scott vaulted onto its chest, driving his spear straight down through its shoulder, pinning its main claw.
The monster thrashed, its roars echoing into the night sky, filled with pain.
Slowly, its powerful voice dropped down, becoming a wet, rattling gurgle.
It went still.
The light around the three Elders faded instantly. Their borrowed strength vanished.
They collapsed, their bodies shrinking, withering back into frailty.
They lay gasping on the torn ground, their skin grey, their eyes dim.
They had burned almost everything.
Only Scott remained standing.
He leaned heavily on his spear, his chest heaving. His vision slightly blurred.
He felt a deep, aching cold spreading through his bones—the feeling of a life cut short.
"It's... over," he wheezed.
But just as a wave of relief washed over the watching villagers, the zombie's eyes snapped open.
The "dying" gurgle turned into a furious roar.
Its one free arm—the one not pinned by Scott's spear—shot out with impossible speed.
THWACK.
The massive hand wrapped around Scott's neck.
"Gah!" Scott choked, his feet kicking helplessly as he was lifted into the air.
The zombie grinned, a horrifying expression on its tiger face. It had been playing possum. It squeezed.
Scott felt his windpipe crushing. The world began to spin. Darkness encroached on the edges of his vision.
He couldn't breathe. He couldn't fight. His strength was gone.
'I failed,' he thought, his mind drifting. 'I couldn't protect them.'
Dangling in the monster's grip, Scott felt his consciousness slipping away.
It was then that the sky ripped open.
There was no thunder warning.
No gathering clouds.
Just a sudden, blinding tear in the night sky directly above the Heartwood Tree.
KRA-KOOM!
A powerful, blindingly white thunderbolt streaked across the sky. It didn't hit the tree. It hit Scott.
The raw, untamed energy of the storm surged through him.
For a split second, his body became a conduit of immense, divine power. His eyes glowed pure white.
The electricity didn't hurt him; it flowed through him, traveling down his body and discharging directly into the zombie that held him.
ZZZZZT!
There was a soundless flash that turned the night into day.
The zombie shrieked—a sound that was cut short instantly.
The peak First Order creature, with all its regeneration and strength, couldn't withstand the fury of the heavens.
In an instant, its flesh boiled and turned to dust.
The monstrous hand holding Scott's neck disintegrated into fine, black ash.
Scott fell.
He hit the ground softly, landing on the bed of ash that was all that remained of the tiger Zombie.
The forest fell silent. The wind died down.
The only sound was the distant rumble of the departing storm and the shocked, weeping gasps of the people of the Heartwood Tree.
Scott lay still, smoke rising gently from his armor. He was alive, but the fire inside him was dim, flickering like a candle in the wind.