C7 Anima Vermis
I was high in spirit for a few seconds until I saw Zadkiel make a much MUCH bigger, and much hotter, pilar of Hellfire. Which he promptly flung my way…
---
My shield lasted about five seconds and in ten more seconds, I was dead…
It did not feel good, but luckily or unluckily I was already used to that level of pain, so I was ready to counter-attack when I "respawned".
Which I found out was also instantaneous since I could still see some of the previous Hellfire at the same spot as before.
'This time I will go on the offensive.'
I used half of my power to turn myself into a rocket-propelled drill, and the other half I gave to my Hellfire Engine for defense.
I only gave it a quarter last time.
I then blasted towards the center and just as I was going to hit him the Hellfire cleared from the tip of the drill so I wouldn't burn him and only cause "physical" soul damage.
I did scratch him, but not much more than that. Since we have the same quality of soul I will only be able to do damage if I repeatedly strike the same area.
He then swatted me away with a torrent of flames, as the only reason I got close to him is that he thought I was dead.
After that, we pretty much just played cat and mouse. I would get a few lucky strikes in and then he would either burn me to nothing or swat me away, sometimes eating through my shield.
I wasn't going full throttle so that my Engine could get real experience and improve its defense more, as getting closer to him held no meaning unless I could get close and stay close for at least a minute.
So right now, I just look like a demonic flaming hairball with a bunch of thrusters on it, flying around in circles trying to avoid the heat.
After what I think was two or three day's worth of playing tag, my Engine had finally gotten good enough to make a shield that can let me stay next to the center for about two minutes.
The only reason it learned so fast was that it had already spent years learning the theory and was now able to test it.
So I shot straight to the bastard, got right up next to him, and much suction-cupped myself to the surface.
I preceded to make a hammer drill about a tenth my size and drove it down as hard as possible while making the fucker spin faster than a… something that spins really fast.
'Finally some headway!'
Each minute would let me drill about twenty feet, which was enough for me because I had a plan.
I started to drill multiple holes about 200ft in-depth and then I would leave around 1% of my fuel in them each time.
Zadkiel, probably due to his insanity or the sapphire pieces interfering, wasn't able to figure out why and didn't seem to care since I wasn't absorbing anything.
I managed to make 27 holes, all spread out a few hundred feet from each other, the last one was dead center and when it was finished I put as much fuel as possible inside.
I then flew away because I wanted to see what would happen when I blew my load…
[A/N: Fuck! That was so gay.]
*Cough*
Once I was far enough away I triggered the explosion, and it was glorious!
In just a few seconds about 10% of the centerpiece was knocked off into multiple different chunks.
"I'm a genius! … Who's about to get roasted."
It's just that if Zadkiel wasn't mad by this point then he was now.
I could have sworn the soulscape turned slightly red, and I could see the orbit of all the rubies slow down a bit because he was drawing out so much energy.
What I saw next was the biggest mass of Hellfire I have ever seen.
It was the same size as the newly chiseled centerpiece and dwarfed all the other flames he used before.
And it was heading straight for me.
[A/N: Wouldn't this make a good cliffhanger?]
---
"Fuck!"
'I haven't been left alone for a single damn second since I blew him up, and that was months ago.'
I can't even get within 1000ft of the center.
'I guess whatever interference the sapphire pieces were able to pull doesn't work anymore.'
I never expected it to be that easy in the first place anyway.
The only upside to this is that my Engine has made a good improvement in total power output and control.
If it were before I blew him up I could stay by him for about four minutes, and if I were to use all my energy to make Hellfire my battle power would multiply 17-18x instead of the standard 10x.
The sad part is that I could probably kill Zadkiel now, it would be very hard though, but if I do that I can't increase my strength.
"And consuming him will triple my strength."
Because of the increased power of the Engine, I have been able to go back to eating, but I can only eat a small piece at a time since I can only divert my attention for so long.
---
"It's one or two years since the explosion."
And I basically turned myself into a vacuum...
There are only a couple dozen skyscraper-sized pieces, the sapphires, and what I blew up before left.
At first, it was hard to do anything, but after a few more months, the Engine improved enough to let me eat without having to run around all the time.
And after another year we were pretty much at a standstill as long as I didn't get too close to Zadkiel.
If Zadkiel is a high-level master at using Hellfire then I am now a mid-level expert.
"I know I can kill him since I don't have to worry about permanent injury, but it still isn't enough if I want to consume him."
*Sigh*
---
"I think the explosion was five years ago… or six?"
'The time doesn't really matter though.'
The centerpiece and sapphires are all that's left now.
I was able to consume all the orbiters, and once my control got better I was able to stay close to Zadkiel long enough to drag the debris out of his most effective range.
'I think the reason the centerpiece can't move is that the whole "arena" is relative to his location.'
"So if he moves, everything moves. Including me."
My mastery over Hellfire has improved another notch in this time, and the multiplier has also increased a bit, but it seems to be capped a 20x for now.
Right now I could stay next to Zadkiel for probably twenty seconds.
Since that isn't enough time to do much I decided to both practice my Hellfire and tick him off at the same time so he will waste more energy.
Mostly by carpet-bombing him with my fuel and fleeing while trying to defend.
It's kinda fun actually, especially when he starts screaming like an insane person.
'Oh wait… he is'
"Sucks to be you."
"AARGH!!"
That's all he can do. Apparently, he forgot how to talk or just can't anymore…
'It wouldn't surprise me if Mephisto did something too.'
Having a Hell Lord's personal attention for thousands of years is not fun.
---
"Hahahahaha!!!"
"Take this, you big red bastard!!!"
It's been at least seven years since the explosion and now I am currently in the middle of the centerpiece.
Yes! I was able to drill my way in like a worm in an apple.
A while back, since I was at a bottleneck in improving my Hellfire control, I decided to look through my closet and see if anything could help.
Most if not all the knowledge is auxiliary or foundational.
As per my wish, as long as it is something to do with souls, and it is possible, then I can figure out how to do it with that foundational knowledge.
I just have to put in the elbow grease and enough time.
What I found, while not increasing my skill or anything, did allow me to use my Hellfire against Zadkiel without burning his soul.
Actually, it is better to just call it by its other name, Soulfire, since I was able to remove the "Hell" part.
Yep. I can turn off the whole "torture" or "burn" part.
I can also turn off the "seek and destroy sin" mode that Zadkiel's version has.
Of course, this is only if they're being used by me, I can't do that to other people's flames.
Because of this, I was able to completely overpower Zadkiel with my pure Soulfire of awesomeness, and drill my way to the center of the centerpiece where things are going to get a little "explosive".
"ARE YOU READY?!!!"
"AArRGGhH!!!"
"LET'S GET READY TO RUUUMMBLLLLE!!!"
*BOoOoOM*
*CRACK*
*SNAPPLE*
*POP*
…
"Fuck YEaAHh!!'
'That was awesome!'
But damn! That was way harder than it looked, and the hardest part has yet to come.
Those pieces I got from the centerpiece before were WAY more fucked up than the orbiters.
And I was barely able to stay in the third person when I absorbed them due to their intensity.
"Shit... let the feast begin!"
//Note//
The next chapter should wrap up all the soul business and then he can actually figure out what the hell is going on out in the real world.