109 Refueling

The world shifts around me, and the scenery soon changes to a very familiar wasteland. I glance at my hands, I'm wearing my golden armor, and I sometimes flicker. But Hisako is the one who has changed the most. Her suit of armor looks sturdier and very ornate. Her clothes looked like well-maintained rags before, but now they are adorned with gems and are made with the finest materials.

The Phoenix made of thick blue ice which is tethered to Hisako's torso while flying above her head is also a new addition.

"W-What is this place?" the woman says while scanning the area.

I don't answer her, and shoot her with my patented soul shard of doom.

The woman cannot react in time, but her phoenix can. The creature screeches and blocks the shot with its body, causing huge shockwaves and releasing large amounts of mana.

I grit my teeth as the sudden burst makes me take a few steps back. Hisako cracks her neck and points her sword towards me while snarling.

"I don't know why we are here, but I'm not going to waste the opportunity!" she says before dashing towards me. Her figure turns into a blur, and she is right in front of me in the next moment.

"Now die!" she screams as she shoves her blade into my stomach.

"We HaVe To Do SoMeThInG!" the voice screams.

No shit, the sword going through my stomach wasn't a pleasant experience, and I feel 'emptier' once she removes her blade.

The streaks of golden energy fusing with the tip of her sword might be related, but I try to not think about it.

If we are speaking about souls, then I believe that I have the upper hand in raw strength and quantity even if I account for my diminished state compared to what I had during the battle against the Oracle. But I am still instinctively repulsed by the blade Hisako is holding.

It possesses qualities that are not present in the real world, so I can only wonder about its true origin. It's blatantly obvious that the Clans did not produce it, so maybe it's from the external kingdoms?

I shake my head; I have no time to waste. The weapons produced by the Order are more than good enough to destroy everything we come across. Well, everything except one person. But I sincerely doubt the Oracle would be harmed by that sword, not to mention that I would never be able to reach her with a traditional bladed weapon.

Furthermore, fighting someone who can easily strike from the other side of the planet with a sword is beyond idiotic.

"Just die already!" Hisako shouts before firing a massive beam from her sword. I narrowly teleport out of the way; this was way bigger than what she did before!

I take a glance at my opponent and realize that the ropes between the phoenix and her is covering more and more of her body with a thin sheet of ice.

I thought that Hisako would be defenseless in a Soul World, but I couldn't have been more wrong. However, the brilliant strategy of using your own soul as ammunition is only viable if you have a nearly infinite supply.

Sadly, Hisako doesn't have that luxury.

Her body is already dimming and, from the looks of things, it wouldn't take long before she disappears completely.

The icy phoenix attached to Hisako might become a problem if she dies since it isn't turning transparent like the bestial warrior, instead it seems to be growing stronger as time goes on.

If I had to guess, then this creature is probably siphoning Hisako's soul. The idea of having an unknown soul-eating beast roaming freely in my Soul World is not that appealing, so I better take care of them now before they turn into a bigger problem.

I teleport in front of the woman, who immediately strikes with her blade.

"Die!" she screeches, and I try to avoid the deadly weapon in vain. I grit my teeth, and the world goes backward just before the sword pierces me.

Hisako looks puzzled by the sudden change, but I don't give her the time she needs to process the situation and teleport again.

This time, she barely moves as a bullet goes through her heart. She falls on her knees and glares at me one last time before I absorb her soul.

Hisako's soul barely fills my reserves, so-

My thoughts are interrupted by the phoenix that somehow didn't disappear when I consumed my opponent's soul. The creature creates an icicle above its head, and the projectile goes through my chest in an instant. The gaping hole it leaves behind is closed instantly, but that brief moment was one of the worst experience I had to live through.

It felt like my very core was being ripped apart.

I take a few moments to calm my ragged breath and Rewind; a vain attempt to regain was I just lost. What I used was mostly restored by a Rewind, but it takes another one, so I have to be extra careful. I could easily be killed if I don't pay attention and fail to Rewind enough times, or if the creature has yet to reveal its most powerful attack.

My gun spits bullets at a frightening rate, but the phoenix can dodge most of them. The few projectiles that hit barely do any damage, and I'm pretty sure that the mythical bird is somehow absorbing the soul shards I'm firing.

This situation has to EnD nOw!

I Rewind and check my belt for a certain something. A smirk creeps on my face when I finally find what I'm looking for. The laser pointer beeps as soon as I press the button, and a familiar portal appears in the cloudless sky.

The sudden power drain forces me on my knees. It looks like the Hammer uses quite a bit of soul strength, so I have to be careful when using it.

The massive bird made of ice flies towards the portal like a moth attracted to a flame and the soul-eating creature doesn't know what will hit it as a penetrator materializes out of the portal. My opponent opens its mouth to eat the shell, but the projectile is too fast to allow that to happen.

A burst of energy appears when the artillery shell releases its deadly payload. The phoenix screams in pain as it is wiped from existence, its futile attempts to absorb the deluge of power generated by the shell only prolong its agony even further. It takes a few seconds before the noises stop.

I sigh, I hoped that I would be able to absorb the phoenix. But maybe it's for the best, approaching the beast would be too risky since it could have consumed me.

The world shifts around me, and I'm back to reality. It looks like a couple of seconds passed, and I glance at Hisako's lifeless body. The soulless husk stares back at me, and-

Its hand suddenly rises and grabs my neck.

"Well played, young one." The body says with a deep and ancient voice that definitely doesn't belong to the original owner of this body.

"The hatred that the youngling had for you was quite remarkable." It calmly says as it lifts me off the ground. I struggle to get free, the lack of air doesn't bother me thanks to my regeneration, but the situation is critical. If I had to guess, the phoenix was the one who invaded Hisako's body.

I thought that I destroyed it, but I was very wrong.

Hisako's armor shifts and something wriggle under her skin as her body cracks.

"This youngling was not particularly strong, but I can see why she hates you. After all, I do bear quite a grudge towards you too. You displaced me from my home and sent me into a hostile environment." The invader says as it tightens its grip on my neck.

I remember now. If the creature inhabiting Hisako's body tells the truth, then it's very likely that it's the Spirit from the mountains that I teleported into Hisako's village.

"A-Are you a Spirit?" I ask.

The creature nods, "It's what those people call me. But tell me, young one. What are you? You're unlike anything I've seen before."

I grit my teeth; my instincts tell me that this thing is bad news.

"Not answering? I suppose it doesn't matter; you already helped me tremendously. The previous owner of this body destroyed my original shell, but I infused my soul into the parts she kept to make her crude armor. From there, I slowly influenced her and corroded her will. She wanted power, and I was happy to provide. She thought I was a mere lifeless artifact, but you can see how false it was. You only sped up the process. I would have taken over in a few moments anyway." The invading Spirit continues.

"I'll have to say, absorbing the soul of another being is something that only a few of us can do, but I am certain that you are not one of us." It says as its eyes roll into their sockets a few times until a cloud of black mist forms inside. The two charcoal-like orbs stare at me with a mix of wonder and hatred.

"Browsing the memories of the youngling tells me that your name is Prometheus. I would like to tell you my name, but I'm afraid that this mouth is unable to speak a proper language. So just call me One-Who-Rests-On-Ice." The invading Spirit says. My translator made a weird static noise when the creature spoke, so I have to assume that it can barely handle the complexity of the language used by the beast. I'm going to refer to it as Phoenix from now on, just to save me from frying my translator.

The mana around Hisako keeps getting stronger. At this rate it's going to reach levels where the Shield Glove will trigger. My attention shifts towards my men, who are still shooting Hisako's soldiers.

"I see that you brought companions," Phoenix says. "Those artifacts of yours are impressive; they are truly unique. I wouldn't mind researching them once I take them from the corpses of your friends!"

"EnOuGh!" I shout and fire a round into the arm that holds me.

The creature barely moves, but the projectile still penetrates the limb.

"How fascinating! I almost shuddered!" the creature says as it raises an eyebrow. "But this isn't going to be enough to-"

I shove as many fingers as I can into the wound, and the mass of wriggling tendrils immediately assault my hand.

A fatal mistake.

My armor is airtight, so the assaults are ineffective. I pull what's covering my fingers, and the Spirit immediately pierces my flesh.

I can't help but grin despite the unpleasant sensation.

Let's see how you handle being DeLeTeD from reality!

"You fool!" the creature, assured of its victory, smirks. But it doesn't take long before it realizes that something is amiss.

"Wait, what are you-" Phoenix is interrupted when the arm holding me falls off. I take a step back and remove the hollow limb from my neck before aiming at the creature.

"Maybe you should have looked more into Hisako's memory; then you would have understood why she feared me more than she hated me," I say as I fire a continuous volley of bullets.

The stunned Phoenix doesn't have the time to react as its insides are replaced by expanding metal. It attempts to remove the projectiles from its body, but for every bullet it removes I add a dozen more.

Hisako's army, which is now attempting to flee, is wiped out by the machineguns just as Phoenix finally falls.

I fire a couple of bullets into the lifeless body to make sure that it doesn't come back later. I can't be too sure with this creature, leaving it alive would be a disaster so I have to be careful.

My attention shifts from the exploding body as I focus on my Legionaries. I hear that we haven't suffered any losses, and the fortifications are intact save from a few scratches that are slowly repairing themselves.

"Good job everyone, now let's move and meet the off-world team!" I shout. The silvery wall wobbles and turns back into a liquid that I sucked into the boxes of the few Legionaries at the forefront. The gunners strap the machineguns on their back and pick up their rifles. In hindsight, I should have issued a bag for the heavy weapons. It shouldn't matter for this mission, but lessening the burden my soldiers have to carry is always a good idea.

I lead the group towards the open gate of the village; a guard sneaks a peek above the wall and yelps before going back into hiding. I look in the distance, the remaining members of Hisako's army have abandoned the assault and are now fleeing through the plains.

There's no point in chasing them, so I instead head towards the vault. The entrance of the cavern is littered with blood and limbs, a sign of the fierce battle that took place here. I recognize the figure of the village chief; he looks at us with haggard eyes.

I can't blame him. Today must have been a very eventful day for the poor bastard.

We step into the main corridor, and I shout, "We are here to save you!"

It wouldn't be funny if we end up being shot after all this.

"Prometheus is here!" a voice echoes, and it's soon followed by the relieved sigh of the entire off-world team.

We step towards the hasty fortifications that my men have erected, and I finally see the Starmetal.

The Fabricators weren't kidding when they said that the situation was critical.

Energy seeps out of the Starmetal, which is pulsing with a dangerous light. It reminds me of my failed prototypes that exploded in my hands.

That wasn't a fun time by any mean, so I shudder to think what would happen if this stockpile exploded. It would probably wipe out a good chunk of the continent.

Ironically, our pillaging probably saved this world and its people.

I'm not proud of what we had to do, but I had no other choice. These people have no use for the Starmetal, and taking it with us will save them from certain doom. Furthermore, fighting the Enforcers and the Oracle is more important to me than this tribe in the middle of nowhere.

"Alright, we need to set a perimeter in case someone else tries to stop us! The Fabricators should come soon to pick up the Starmetal, so stay alert!" I say before turning towards the leader of the off-world team. "You and your men can rest; you've earned it."

I then look at the ceiling of the cave.

I hope that the Fabricators made the containers, or we are going to have a problem very soon.