A perfect combination of offense and defense, part 2

The oil-based paint burned easily. Canvases, wooden racks and frames, shelves—flame spread all over the storage room in seconds, filling it with heat and acrid smoke.

Mihara coughed and stepped back from the results of his own work, only to be grabbed by his collar by a feathered hand.

"Idiot! You absssolute idiot!" Iashkawa hissed. "Do you intend on burying usss both here, you cuckoo?!"

The demon wished it was just a bit faster—fast enough to stop Mihara in time.

The closer Iashkawa got to its running away Contractor, the faster it could slither over the floor—but the same connection between their souls let Mihara run faster, too.

And unlike Iashkawa, the human had legs, which Iashkawa had no time or strength to grow out.

All the demon could do was to follow the deranged human along the hallways, for some miracle avoiding or escaping rampaging Red Paintings and panicking cultists.

Now Iashkawa shook its Contractor in its hold until Mihara's teeth clicked together. The man's eyes were wide and crazy.

'You don't get it. We won! I'm going to be back soon! We just have to wait for everything to burn. Just like the story said!'

Frustrated, Iashkawa let go of Mihara's collar, only to grab his hand in a vice grip.

"Whatever. We are leaving thisss building, NOW. And I don't trussst you to pick a direction anymore."

Thankfully, Mihara didn't resist being pulled out of the room and towards the exit. But in the future, Iashkawa was going to try training him better.

***

When Shin and Tetsu stepped onto the first underground floor, they felt like they were stepping into the oven. The flames barely spread down, but here they were all around. If not for the stone walls of that place, it would've long ago fell on their heads. A shrill sound of fire alarm came from above.

Shin covered his mouth with a sleeve and squinted his tearing eyes. There was no way he would get through this place without burns unless he merged with Tetsu again. Demonic energy alone wasn't enough to protect his body here. And he also had a box of highly burnable books with him…

'I'm always happy to merge with you, my friend,' she replied to that breathily.

'Most demons wouldn't like to merge with someone as below them as they see humans,' Shin said, trying to not be weirded out by Tetsu again.

She huffed. 'Those demons are fools. They wouldn't see how worthy you are of a union like that even after you tore their hearts out of their chests. More worthy than any demon. But then, if they saw, they'd want to have you, too. Then I'd have to kill them…'

Shin didn't have the time to digest these words. With a sickening, but increasingly familiar feeling, his and Tetsu's bodies merged into one.

With half-demonic lungs, Shin immediately could breathe easier. The flames ahead didn't scare him anymore.

Steel armor moved around his face, protecting his head and hair.

Then, Shin broke into a run. He dove right into the flames, taking the straightest route forward. It was almost impossible to see through the thick smoke, but whenever an obstacle was in Shin's path, he simply shoved it away.

He blazed through the entire floor like a bullet, running up the stairs only a minute after he entered it.

Shin's clothes were smoking and singed, and his armor was black with soot. His skin, where it was visible, glistened with sweat—but was free from burns.

He didn't unmerge yet. The air on the upper floor was fresher, but fires were already spreading over the art gallery itself.

Shin kept running towards the exit, but after making a couple of turns, he almost crashed into a group of several cultists with fire extinguishers.

The demonic part of him felt gleeful.

'This will be a great dessert for the meal I just had. These souls are worth little, but it's just one more thing I'm going to steal from the horned motherfucker they worship!'

Shin didn't let the cultists gather themselves together. He dropped his box on the ground and jumped forward, using his clawed hands to spear through two cultists at once. He held still beating hands in his hands, and felt the souls trying to escape their bodies.

Shin's grip wasn't letting them. HE was not letting them escape.

Other cultists screamed in panic. They tried to run, but several bits of armor flew from Shin's body, piercing their legs and arms. The cultists screamed in pain and fell to the ground, writhing and helpless.

This made Shin feel even more gleeful. He was so swept in this feeling that only thought about something being wrong when his teeth sank into one of the stolen hearts.

The salty taste of blood filled his mouth, accompanied by a truly divine ambrosia that was a human soul. He never ate anything as delicious as this. Maybe if wines that cost $1600 per bottle were worth their price, they tasted like that. If orgasm could be a taste, it would be this.

But that was a human heart and soul. And Shin was still human.

But he was also a demon, at least right now.

He felt nauseous, but couldn't stop eating. Logic told Shin that there was nothing wrong with what he was doing, but the values ingrained in him by society protested. No amount of logic could destroy something like that in one day.

Shin ate both hearts in several greedy swallows and immediately threw up on the ground. The already disgusting sensation of bile going through his mouth and nose was doubled by the feeling of his body returning to its normal human form.

Tetsu emerged from him and rubbed his back.

"Shhh, my friend. That's alright… You will forget those stupid human taboos soon, and will be able to enjoy eating those souls with me. For now, I will just eat them myself. You just watch and rest, alright?"

Shin wiped his face with a sleeve and looked up into Tetsu's earnest face.

If eating souls felt so good… Suddenly, Shin felt immensely grateful that Tetsu wanted to share that feeling with him.

No one ever gave him anything that good.

Too bad the Shinkushio Art Gallery was still on fire.

"We don't have the time to rest," Shin said, straightening up. "Eat those cultists quickly and let's go, Tetsu."