Chapter 226 Battle to seize M town(8)

Colin quickly picked up his sword, which was badly damaged after the explosion, before Shuma crashed into the ground. Her entire body was covered in white bones as her skin was burned off by the explosion and she bore a similar appearance to Vergil, but not quite the same. Unlike Vergil, she wasn't bulky, but maintained a slim physique and she only had two rams horns on either sides of her head. She clutched her sword in her hand, which didn't look even the least bit damaged, which made Colin groan internally.

"Oh Vergil, I guess you weren't strong enough. I'll be sure to exact revenge for you, after I'm done with this one." Shuma said while looking at Vergil's body and Lily who was standing above it.

[Do you need any help?] Lily asked

[What do you think?!] Colin replied and Lily promptly vanished as Shuma charged forwards. Colin blocked her blade strike with his own, but his blade snapped from the force of the strike. Colin was sent flying deeper into the forest, and Shuma slowly walked after him. Lily tried and attack her from behind, but Shuma was easily able to grab her staff with her bony spine like tail.

"Wait your turn." Shuma said before throwing Lily away like a used rag, causing her to crash into a tree.

'Shit, she is way stronger than that other one and she can sense me when I use [Illusory Veil]. My affinity won't work on her and I'm almost out of DP. I guess I'll have to use [Overdrive] again, but let's leave that as a last resort.' Lily said before she disappeared once more

Shuma continued walking towards Colin's location, but soon stopped as she didn't see him on the ground.

*Boooom*

A loud explosion sounded as Colin appeared beside Shuma and punched her in the side of her head, causing the explosion. Colin quickly backed off waiting for the smoke to clear.

"Is that all you got?" Shuma asked and swung her tail, causing the cloud of smoke to clear. The side of her head where Colin's fist made contact was cracked and healing rapidly, causing Colin to start sweating in fear. It was obvious that Shuma's mastery of whatever trait she was using way more advanced than Vergil's. Soon, she was back in perfect condition, and what made it worse was that they were surrounded by dozens of dead, making it easy for her [Will of the Dead] skill to absorb plenty of energy. She suddenly disappeared and reappeared Infront of Colin, slashing him in his stomach and sending him flying once more. Thankfully, her sword wasn't super sharp, but the strike still left a huge slash in his stomach, and left him on the ground, unmoving.

He could feel his mind slipping into unconciousness, and his thoughts couldn't help but wonder back to his fight against the angels. He didn't like remembering that fight, not so much because of what he did to the Angels, but because of the lack of control he felt in that fight. It felt someone else was controling his body, and he was pretty sure that was the case, but he couldn't help but remember the power he had in that form. The abilities he had, and the mastery of his flames. He could feel it, underneath all that madness and rage, he could feel the mastery he had over his flames and demonic energy, the abilities that he could use due to that.

"Hellfire Affinity: Cursed Phoenix Flames." Colin mumbled and his entire body was engulfed in hellfire. This ability was a powerful ability, capable of bringing someone from the brink of death, healing them back to peak health, for a very large amount of demonic energy, an amount Colin didn't currently have, but he had that covered. Colin reached out with his mind and pulled the surrounding demon miasma into his body. He used the demon miasma to fuel his abilities, circumventing the cost for using his ability.

'Since when can he do that, and isn't that the same ability he used back when he fought the angels.' Lily thought as she watched all this happen.

"Well, it seems you still have a few tricks up your sleeve. Only makes it more delicious when I kill you." Shuma said as she watched Colin get back on his feet unsteadily, before taking a fighting stance.

"You think that's impressive, wait until you see this." Colin said as he conjured a fireball with small black wisps in his hand, but Shuma wasn't in the mood to entertain him. She sprinted towards him and stabbed him through the stomach with her sword, but Colin just smiled and the fireball exploded. Colin hopped out of the explosion while clutching his stomach, and Shuma walked out of the flames like nothing happened while being covered in wisps of flames.

"Was that it, you didn't even manage to break my armour this time." Shuma said, disappointed, but Colin continued to smile

"I'm not done. Hellfire Affinity: Curse of the Burning Soul." Colin said and all the flames of the explosion gathered on Shuma's body and she sensed that something was wrong, very wrong, but it was too late. Red lines spread all over her entire body, before her entire body burst into flames and she let out a bone chilling scream.