Fire: Hot

Snizzle!

Snip-snap- whoosh!

The whole place got illuminated in a bright orange light. And heat was also racing this way.

'Oh fu-'

Hot!

Not just hot, but burning!

Apparently, the centipede could breathe fire and it could breathe fire good!

There was no place to run. No place to hide.

He just wasn't fast enough.

Theo covered his head with his arms and just settled down in a fetal position.

His suit blocked most of the heat and his increased stamina and spirit did wonders.

But the fact that fire was fire, still remained.

And fire was hot.

He could hear the sizzling sound of burning. The excruciating pain almost maimed him.

The pain- the suffocation- the despair, he wanted them all to end… he couldn't bear it anymore.

But it didn't end.

It just kept on going.

For seconds, then minutes.

Argh- he groaned and his consciousness wavered; he couldn't scream or even try to breathe in the air- as it would have surely burned his lungs. The pain was just too much… yet- strangely, he felt it less and less. It was almost as though the world was becoming more and more distant by the second.

And when the fiery rain stopped, Theo was left with a very not-so-in-one-piece suit and burns everywhere.

His body sizzled and let off steam. He was cooked alive.

He felt faint and his body started swaying; vision going black.

Thud…

He lay down on the ground, unable to move.

But he didn't lose consciousness. 'What is this- posion?'

Just like his left hand, he couldn't move the rest of his body- numb.

His head throbbed and he was losing his strength fast.

'Should I use turbo again?'

But what was the point? Even with increased stats, he couldn't do anything and now he was paralyzed and powerless. And on top of that, he already had the disadvantage of using it before.

And he was definitely not in the best condition to fight.

The world seemed dark- it was.

His night vision started failing but he could tell- there were plenty of bugs in the distance, just waiting.

This was pretty much the end.

[Suggested skill- Summon]

And yet, his system still found ways to encourage him- or was it just mocking him?

Theo chuckled. 'Well, I certainly don't want to die, that's for sure.' He didn't have the strength to speak.

'Summon.'

Nothing happened.

What did this skill do anyway?

Summon Skully from afar?

Was Skully even in the range of the skill?

He didn't know and he couldn't think about it either.

He still had his consciousness but his thoughts were all jumbled.

He didn't feel pain and he didn't feel anything.

It was almost as though it was all over.

Everything-

Was over.

'Guess, I'll just die.'

IT wasn't as dramatic as the last time.

Perhaps when he first received the licking system, he was way too desperate to survive, and perhaps at the time he used up all his will for survival.

Or perhaps- he was just too tired.

He just wanted a bit of sleep- a bit of peace.

"That look on thy face, my slave-" A voice came from above him as darkness oozed into the air. "Is that thing responsible for such?"

Swish!

Swish!

Air blades spread far.

Theo wasn't able to answer.

And he wasn't able to see anything either.

His eyes refused to register anything. He could only hear.

But- he did feel slightly glad. 'Took you long enough…'

***

Skully had arrived and it was not happy.

Just this morning it was promised a hidden meal. A good kind of meal. Skully valued trust over everything else. So, when Theo breached that trust and explained that he had no such thing, it was almost heartbroken.

It was again reminded of the fact that just some millennia ago, it- or rather he was betrayed just like this and sealed.

He was a saint- a prodigy and a living legend. He'd done many things for his country and for the people. He'd done a lot of the dirty work too. He was touted as the black saint as a result. But it didn't matter to him as long as he could do good and help others- or so he thought.

And yet- when the time came, when they didn't need him anymore, just like everyone else- he too was sealed away.

The Sahalla reasoned about world balance and all that but there was definitely another reason. A reason- no one wanted to admit- ever.

Fear.

And now, after millennia, he was finally free, and the person who freed him also betrayed him?

Yeah, he was not in a good mood.

But as Skully mindlessly wandered inside the forbidden halls of Roudia, it- or rather he, came to an understanding. Wasn't it, him, who assumed Theo had something special and not the other way around?

So, in theory, his trust was never breached, right?

Yes, he wanted to believe that.

He just didn't want to feel betrayed again and definitely not by his slave and benefactor.

But just when he was thinking of ways he would reconcile- he got a summons.

'Perfect timing!'

His grin knew no bounds.

He'd act all high and mighty and let Theo beg. And then forgive him like the merciful saint he was.

Perfect indeed.

But things hardly ever worked out in life as planned.

He used the shadows of teleportation.

And instead of a begging Theo, he found an incapacitated Theo, barely breathing.

Something did this to his slave and got in the way of his so carefully planned reconciliation?

Something dared to do so!

He fumed- or rather darkness just oozed around him and his glowing purple eyes just glimmered some more.

Everything was already pretty dark, yet, Skully's darkness was just darker.

He squeaked and started sucking in darkness to his mouth.

The Centipede screeched and started to prepare for another flame breath. Meanwhile, electricity streaked out of the ground and headed for Skully.

But Skully was just faster. He finished charging and once done- a small black ball slowly few towards the centipede, spinning violently.

The electricity did nothing.

Fire descended straight for Skully and Theo.

But Skully just stared ahead, at the black ball.

The black ball and the fire made contact, and in a second- the fire went out or rather got sucked into the ball. There wasn't even a trace of the heat- almost like it was never there. The ball continued heading straight for the centipede's head.

The centipede dodged the incoming black ball and was about to launch another attack- when it saw it coming from the back and tried to dodge.

But the black ball could track.

Crash!

It crashed into the back of the golden Centipede's skull and pulverized it.

Screech!

The centipede crumbled down to the ground, but it wasn't dead. Rather, just paralyzed. "Thou prefer paralyzing thy prey and savoring thy fruits of labor, correct?" Skully grinned. His flawless white teeth contrasted well with his not-so-white skull. But the grin gradually moved on to a more violent look as saliva oozed out of his teeth like a feral beast.

The flames of darkness. Skully roasted the centipede alive with intense but slow black flames…

Screech!

Screech!!

SCREECH!!!

Hot! Hot, it was.

He proceeded to devour the centipede whole- but near the head, he got a bit full. "A trophy for my slave, I suppose."

Blurp!