3 Prologue: Act 3 - Vengeance of Hellflames

He stood before his daughter, eye in hand and knelt down. Her body still released an endless torrent of flame, however it had been weakened greatly by the various runes that had been placed around her by the various retainers of his household. He stepped forward at last and held the eye in front of her.

"Daughter, eat this."

With one look his daughter shook her head, and turned away. The look of disgust in her eyes said more than enough.

"If you do not the pain will not end." he whispered. He could only hope she understood just how dire this situation really was. He moved his hand in front of her face again.

~

She continued to look away. At least that was until the pain coursing through out her body became worse. It was as though she was being stabbed by hundreds of needles, within each of her veins. It continued to grow worse with each second that passed after that point. Her head began to throb violently, her neck itched and scratched, her arms felt as though they were being broken repeatedly, her lungs could barely hold any air, and it continued on until she relented.

She grasped forth pulling the eye from her father's hand, grimaced, and bit down. It was as though she had bit into gelatin for a fraction of a second. She quickly swallowed the two halves of the eye and held her mouth. She was trying her hardest not to gag at what she had just done. Her body convulsed, trying to reject the essence contained within the eye, yet it could not. And with that the flames that had been rushing out of her stopped. Her body no longer ached, and the pain had faded away, if only for a second.

~

"Rath, now is the time to kill the boy." he commanded the distant Rath.

His gaze returned to his daughter as she curled up into a fetal position. His eyes darkened as he noticed her body shaking violently. 'NO, YOU MUSN'T REJECT IT' his mind roared. At that moment he felt Rath's connection to him begin to fade. His eyes darted about wildly. 'Impossible.' his thoughts whispered.

He looked back at his daughter only to see a strange light begin to envelope her. He could wager a guess as to what it was, he smiled lightly at it before turning his attention to the dying Rath. He forcibly began to will himself to the young Ifrit.

~

Rath's could no longer see. His body had given up no longer complying with his demands. He could feel more and more blood slowly pour out of the wound. As his senses began to fade signalling his death was at hand a voice rocked through his mind.

"You, will not die here Rath." a voice echoed out reassuringly.

~

"My ..." the words made it through the gurgling throat of the dying Ifrit.

He looked down at the broken and shattered body of Rath. He quickly went about securing Rath, healing what he could, it would be enough to stabilize the young Ifrit. With no other words he sent Rath through a portal returning him to the palace.

With the first problem dealt with his attention turned to the smell of Rath's blood. It had been carried a good distance away from the site of the battle. He roared at the top of his lungs, and set out to kill whoever had wounded Rath.

~

"RAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Thousands of birds scattered into the sky as the roar rang out through the whole forest. Chace looked back startled. His eyes darted to the compass finding it to be rapidly spinning about.

"What. The. Hell. Is. Today?" he said each between breaths as he continued to run. He needed to put as much distance between himself and the site. He could already tell by the sheer killing intent in the air that it was looking for him.

He could already hear distant footfalls closing in on him. Whatever was coming would be upon him in a minute or two at most.

"Sorry kid. I might not be able to save you." he muttered to himself as he turned about to face the oncoming threat. He quickly placed the child in some nearby bushes, and readied his weapons.

"But, I'll be damned if I don't fight for the weak who are behind me." he roared as a large red body crashed through the trees. It's arm already extending out into a full force punch.

Chace reacted, just fast enough to not have his body ripped apart in a single blow. Where he had been just a second prior had been reduced to a foot deep, scorched crater. His feet scraped against the ground just as the next attack came. He pushed off the ground with all his might in hopes of avoiding it. Only for it to slam into his stomach. He could feel his internal organs rupture as the force slammed into him, his body rocketing backwards into a tree trunk.

Blood flowed freely from his mouth as he stood up. He could barely feel the pain coursing through his body. His eyes finally landed on his opponent as it stood still, looking down on him.

"Magus." the demon spoke softly, yet the word still echoed in the forest.

~

He recognized what this man was. A Magus, someone who had a natural affinity for spell craft. Yet, he found himself surprised to see someone like this acting as a Hunter. Humans would normally hoard all those with any talent towards the magic arts religiously. To let even one enter the Hunter's organization would be the height of folly and yet here one was.

He prepared to slam his fist through the man's skull when his body slowed. He had reached his limit. He could no longer fight at his fullest. He grimaced realizing that he was now in a slightly dangerous position.

~

Chace felt the deathly pressure emanating from the red giant abate. He smiled slightly, even as he coughed out blood. He had a chance now, even if it was so infinitesimally small he at least had one. He readied his weapons knowing he and the boy would both die if he couldn't hold out.

"Shrike Blade: A single strike to impale a thousand foes, tear away the flesh and call to the sky." he finished the incantation and readied his sword. However, neither one made their move, the two opponents found themselves in a staring contest. The Ifrit spoke after some time.

"Hmph, you will not strike first." as it said that its body bolted forward. Chace moved his sword swiftly, his blade touching it for a moment, in that moment he felt it bounce back unable to break through the Ifrit's skin. The next moment he felt the grasp it had on his head. It had moved almost imperceptibly fast even though its magical might had been diminished.

"Fool, I am not so reliant upon magic. My body is like a fortress." it muttered to Chace as it tightened its grip on his head.

Chace's movements quickened as he dropped his hammer and grabbed for a set of throwing dagger on his side. His hand latched onto one and in a fluid movement he had stabbed it towards the hand that held him. Unlike his sword the small dagger found purchase in the Ifrit's arm muscles.

It howled out in surprise, but didn't loosen its grip, in fact it tightened it trying to crush his skull. However, it wouldn't get the chance as the dagger lit up in a torrent of ice and lightning. A second later the dagger exploded, tearing apart the Ifrit's arm, and in the same moment Chace pulled himself free and caught the falling hammer.

"Strike Hammer: A single blow to shatter the mountains, a second to sweep away the dust." Chace roared out as he swept the hammer into the Ifrit's side.

As the hammer moved so did the damaged arm of the Ifrit, it had been engulfed in flame and by the time the hammer neared the Ifrit's side it had been stopped by the previously damaged arm.

A wicked smile appeared on the Ifrit's face. One that mocked Chace's efforts.

"A strong weapon, it could only have been made by an artificer of sufficient talent. But, that is far from enough to truly harm me." its tone oozed with superiority.

Chace gritted his teeth and dropped his sword. He swiftly kicked it at the Ifrit's body while grabbing the rest of the daggers with the freed hand.

It swatted the blade away like it was nothing and took a step forward.

Chace threw the daggers with all his might. They flew forth and embedded themselves just an inch inside of the Ifrit's massive chest. The magic inside each of them quickly activated causing each of them to explode violently as various magics were unleashed.

As the dust from the multitude of blasts cleared he could see his opponent still standing. Not a single mark had been left on its body.

It took another step forward, then another and another. It slowly cleared the gap between them.

As it did Chace looked at his hammer. He had one last chance at this point. He began to channel as much energy as he could through the hammer, as he did its shape began to change, its hilt breaking into multiple segments and its head shifting into a blade and a spike. His hammer turned whip drooped towards the ground.

The Ifrit's eyes changed upon seeing that. Its pace quickened as it rushed Chace.

"The wind blows upon the fields, calm as the wind the blade harvests away, swift and silent as the end, behold the silence of death, Wind Reaper!" he roared at the top of his lungs. His whip weaving forward almost on its own.

At the same time the Ifrit had coated itself in flames. They were the black flames of Hell.

The two forces met just in front of Chace. His whip weaving around the Ifrit's arm and reaching towards its head, while the Ifrit's hand impacted against Chace's chest. In the next moment a brilliant flame spire erupted. The body of the Ifrit slowly began to breakdown, its once proud features having been ravaged by the Wind Reaper, however, that didn't stop it from smiling as it disappeared back into the Abyss.

The flames died down slowly, and after a few minutes they had completely dispersed, leaving Chace there battered and bloody. His body wouldn't be able to hold up for more than an hour at this point, he had spent nearly every ounce of mana he had trying to defeat the Ifrit. He grimaced as he thought about the demon more, it was completely unlike the Ifrits that had been recorded. They had all been described as demons standing roughly two meters in height, that thing stood a full meter above and more importantly the black flames of Hell had never been seen in use by Ifrits.

He shook his head as he walked towards the young boy he had placed into the nearby bushes. Surprisingly enough the place had been left untouched during the fight. He grinned as he picked the child up and began to sprint towards Lucet.

.....

He arrived in a hell storm at the interior of his throne room. His body ached from the damage he had received, yet he smiled, in fact he couldn't hold back his excitement and began to laugh aloud.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha, splendid." he roared out for all to hear.

"My liege!" one of the many lesser Ifrit said while gasping after seeing their King's condition.

"This is a day to rejoice." he bellowed out oblivious to his subjects worries.

"My liege, you are heavily wounded, what happened in the Human Realm?" another asked concerned for his seemingly mad laughter.

"I have done it, I have slain an Arch Magus this day." he bellowed out the pride dripping from his words.

The lesser Ifrits all dropped to their knees upon hearing his statement. Their eyes glowing with excitement. To kill a magus was a difficult task for most young Ifrit and even a lesser Ifrit who had lived for twenty years might still find it difficult. However, to kill an Arch Magus was something that no demons had managed to do in the past seven hundred years, not even the greatest of Demon Emperors of old dared to go near one after all an Arch Magus could easily rival their power. Yet, here and now their King claimed to have succeeded where many had failed.

It was indeed a time to rejoice, in fact doubly so for the King's daughter had evolved beyond the Ifrit. That much they could tell by the end of her shaking.

"My liege, your daughter requires your attention." an Ifrit that had just pushed open the door to the throne room yelled out.

"Ah, yes she has changed has she not." he muttered as he broke out into a brisk walk. It was the best he could muster at this point, the Wind Reaper would likely stop him from fully healing for ten years. But, it was a worthwhile price for the glory he would receive. Thinking about it more he looked at his arm, it was had been reduced to little more than a flame. There was no longer a physical component to it and no matter how hard the flame burned it refused to heal. He shrugged it off, knowing that none would dare to harm him for at least a two decades.

As he stepped into the chamber his daughter and been contained in since the unnatural flames had first sprung up, he could feel the shift in the air. His eyes found her small figure sitting on the floor, and he found himself blinking in astonishment.

His daughter had changed in an unprecedented fashion. She no longer bore any resemblance to an Ifrit, instead she looked almost human, the only thing giving away her true heritage being the pair of crimson horns that sprouted from her head still. Her hair which had once been made of flames had turned to simple strands of black hair with a slight crimson underlay.

He took a step forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. Her body shuddered at his touch before she realized who it was.

"Father!" she shouted with joy before jumping at him.

He hugged her tightly while silently thanking himself for the idea of placing the hellfire bomb within the Arch Mage. Seeing how much she had changed made him shudder to think about what kind of monster that child could become.

A moment passed with his daughter in his arms, and then he felt the hellfire bomb detonate at last. He sighed upon feeling it go off, and gasped when he felt the raw energy burning through his body. The sheer amount of mana that began pouring into him from his victory surprised him. He smiled as he realized that he likely would only need a year to recover at this point from the Reaper's Mark.