Chapter 33: Dark Emerges

Zoom turned back as he saw Zach walk past him. 

They were both supposed to stay away from this guy as they fought. Why was this man closing in instead? Had he lost his mind after seeing the boy heal?

"What ar-" Zoom screamed in annoyance, but his mouth opened slightly as he saw what was transpiring. 

His startled expressions rapidly shifted to a smile.

"That's right. Why was I worrying?" he cackled at the sight that made him pleased. 

He could see Zach standing before him, with his right hand raised towards Lucifer. 

He has created a storm of flame that took Lucifer in its embrace, burning his body slowly. 

"Every ability is worthless when you're ash," Perfecto murmured in the distance as he saw what Zach was trying to do.

They didn't understand what Lucifer's ability was to make him heal or what its limitation was. But what they knew was that no healing could work when one was ash. 

That's what Zach was using his powers for. He wanted to burn Lucifer to ash right away.

This had gone on for too long. Even though they were here to catch Lucifer, what they saw only made them realize that it was safer to kill the kid than it was to catch him. The strange abilities of Lucifer only strengthened their conviction. 

An intense firestorm surrounded Lucifer. There seemed to be so much flame that not even the silhouette of Lucifer was visible inside. 

Lucifer was surrounded by the most intense flame. His skin was burning, but it was healing even faster. In fact, after all this time, even his right eye was healed.

"He should have been turned to ash by now," Perfecto told Zach after a while. "You should stop now."

Zach nodded his head as he clenched his fist and lowered his head. 

"He was more dangerous than we anticipated. His speed is almost as fast as Zoom's speed. What a strange Variant..." Zach muttered as he gazed at the storm that had started dying down.

"Not a normal Variant... A Warlock," Enforcer corrected Zach.

Coincidentally that happened to be the time when the flames of the storm went down to reveal the result. 

And what it divulged was something that no one predicted.

They saw a person standing tall on the spot where a raging firestorm was until a moment ago. 

The boy's clothes had burned in their entirety, leaving nothing to cover him, but he didn't seem to care. 

Instead, his eyes remained on Zach, who was standing close to him. 

"H-he is still fine?!" Enforcer exclaimed with a horrified look on his face. "Just what is this guy? Somebody, please tell me I'm dreaming."

"Not unless we're both having the same dream," Perfecto grumbled as he shook his head, not knowing what actually to feel at this point. 

"He has impossible healing? But to survive even that? He shouldn't be invincible, right? Is he a god or something?" Enforcer inquired, sounding perfectly serious. 

"I sure hope not," Perfecto let out as he smiled wryly. 

"Because if that's true, then we just messed with a god... Or a devil," he added.

"What am I even thinking? He's only a Warlock. And we all know that every ability has a limitation that we never tell others. Mine has one and yours too. His healing should have a limitation too!" Enforcer added.

Zach was staring in the deep eyes of Lucifer, feeling like he was looking in the deep abyss.

He had a feeling like he was lost. What was he supposed to do? It was at that point that he heard about the limitation.

"I get it! Why didn't I think about it! No ability is truly without flaws," Zach let out as his eyes lit up. 

He hastily commanded Perfecto, "Shoot every part of his body. There must be a weakness in his body. Maybe a part that his healing doesn't cover? Or a limited amount of healing?" 

As he said this, he once again created the storm of fire to keep Lucifer engaged. 

That wasn't where he stopped with his commands, though. He also commanded Enforcer.

"Enforcer, call the higher-ups! Tell them the condition here. We can't handle him alone."

Perfecto followed the commands and aimed his gun at Lucifer as he started firing. 

Even though he didn't have any more prototype bullets, the bullets he had should be effective as well if he managed to find Lucifer's weak spot that wasn't covered by his ability. In any case, it was going to force Lucifer to use more healing. Maybe that was going to make him run out. 

He didn't target only one part of Lucifer's body but targeted all parts at least once, including the elbow, knee, chest, stomach, head, and more. 

To ensure that Perfecto could see Lucifer, Zach intentionally kept his flames a bit less intense to not make Lucifer imperceptible inside the fire like last time. 

Lucifer didn't dodge any bullets and let all the bullets hit his body, but the wounds healed instantly. Regular bullets were useless. Moreover, there was more to him taking the attacks.

He had noticed that the more damage he took, the faster he healed. It was as if his healing ability was improving with damage. That was why he was allowing himself to be hit even more. If it was a way to get even stronger healing, then it was worth it. 

He also started walking towards Zach, who kept stepping back to keep his distance. 

"Come on! Run out of that annoying healing!" Zach thundered in rage. 

Soon, he stepped out of the house as he kept stepping back. Lucifer also stepped out of the house, following him, but he didn't seem like he was in a hurry. 

It was as if there was some part of him that was enjoying it. He was taking his sweet time as if he was trying to mentally torment them all at their helplessness.

There was just a different kind of satisfaction in seeing these expressions on the faces of the one that thought their life was worth more. The ones that thought they could kill anyone. It was intriguing. 

... To be continued.

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