The Inner Odyssey

In response to the Flame Giant's warbled war cry, the assassin leader and their subordinate consumed more pills and expelled more poison. Alistair wondered how their constitutions could handle such venom - what did they have to go through in order to withstand that?

Uncaring for his musing, the two poisonous killers instructed the malignant mist to merge, just like they had done when they formed the venomous eagle apparition. Only, this time, instead of one, three shot out at him.

Idly, Alistair appreciated the fine control his opponents displayed over their powers. Doubtless, they had excellent mana manipulation.

…Just like him.

The Guildmaster was unbothered, though.

As the three purple eagles raced towards him, threatening to unleash a billowing mass of sickly poison, the Flame Giant struck. Its incandescent sword carved through the air, slicing one of the avian shapes completely in two. In the same movement, with its right hand, it snatched another eagle out of the air and crushed it.

Purple dots appeared on the Flame Giant's fiery hand, blooming like poisonous buds. Orange flame sizzled, waging resistance. Eventually, the fire won, but just then, the last purple bird appeared within inches of the flame construct's face.

Before the towering colossus could react, it exploded, releasing an undulating wave of venomous mist. It seemed like the Flame Giant would drown under the nocuous tide, staggering back. However, at the last moment, it opened its fiery mouth and bit down on the poisonous wave, engulfing it.

As a result, purple proliferated rapidly down its fiery frame. More accurately, it invaded its insides.

Its once bright flame dimmed, growing weak and feeble.

Alistair sensed the crowd hold their breath, anxious to know the fate of his construct. He supplied the Flame Giant with more mana as its body began to emit a loud sizzle. Soon after, the poison infesting its insides evaporated, and eventually, the colossus was venom free.

Not wasting any time, the Expert Mage commanded it strike.

The Flame Giant moved with deceptive speed - at first, it seemed like its movements were slow and languid, as if it was wading through a thick, invisible quagmire. However, before the assassins knew it, the fiery behemoth was already upon them, sword sailing through the air to cut them down.

The assassin leader and subordinate scrambled.

They weren't really caught off-guard - they were still Experts at the end of the day, but the speed of the Flame Giant did take them slightly by surprise. Using that to his advantage, Alistair dashed after his construct, hoping to end the clash.

It had gone on for too long.

Elara chased after him, a half-step behind.

Unfortunately for the husband and wife, just then, the subordinate's figure rippled, morphing into a dark mirror. Almost instantly, the Flame Giant paused, inches away from severing an assassin in two. The flames flickering on its towering body shrank slightly, absorbed by the dark vortex.

Alistair cursed.

'What an annoying Magic Class.'

The more fire the assassin sucked, the weaker and smaller his construct became.

Already, there was a noticeable change to its height, the ferocity of its flame dwindling, like the embers of a dying bonfire. To make matters worse, the other assassin - the leader - blasted the Flame Giant with a magical palm of poison. This chapter is from the collection at M-VL-EM-PYR.

It struck the fiery behemoth right in the chest, infecting its upper body.

A hive of poison spread amidst the sea of fire, tainting it, weakening it, slowing it. If Alistair didn't do something very soon, his Flame Giant would turn into a far cry of its imposing self, becoming a small blazing wisp, flickering weakly as the assassins robbed it of its essence.

Alistair could not let that continue.

Before he could make a move, though, Elara beat him to it. It took him a split-second to understand her intent, before he smiled slightly beneath his helm. Alistair shifted his attention to the assassin leader, furious flames burning hungrily in the slit of his helm.

He shot off, appearing right in front of the sinister combatant, sledgehammer already barreling towards their lithe frame. Meanwhile, the Flame Giant continued its arduous struggle. It released a warbled, crackling roar, straining to expel the poison as well as resist the sucking force.

Elara arrived to its rescue, hurling a wave of white flame in the direction of the mirror-like assassin, serving two purposes.

First, it would help distract the enemy, giving the Flame Giant a chance to free itself from the nefarious clutches of the dark figure. Secondly, the assassin had to be storing the flames somewhere, so by adding her own, Elara would increase the likelihood of her opponent reaching their maximum capacity much faster, resulting in them being unable to absorb any more flame.

There was another reason, as well.

…One, that was extremely ironic.

It was that Elara's Magic Class allowed her to subtly alter the properties of her flame. For example, she could make them a bit more destructive… or in this case, more healing oriented. Her Contract with her Sponsor also increased the potency of this effect.

Imbued with a hint of the light attribute, her flames would be akin to poison for the assassin who seemed to be one with the darkness.

Of course, they didn't know that. They just assumed she possessed normal flames that didn't have any special properties, so when they absorbed it without a second thought, the assassin shuddered and a crack seemed to seep imperceptibly into the dark mirror-like vortex.

Immediately, the pulling force lessened, and the quantity of flame they siphoned from the Flame Giant also reduced. This allowed the latter to finally break free from its restraints and send a devastating attack towards its hateful enemy.

The assassin scrambled, trying to freeze it in place with the suction force, to no avail.

Elara suddenly appeared behind them, dagger poised strike.

With no way out, the subordinate was swiftly eliminated.

Alistair mentally praised his wife's keen intellect as he dodged a retaliatory blow from the assassin leader. The Guildmaster swung again, this time fashioning a fiery chain and hurling at his enemy, hoping to trick them into the trap.

Unfortunately, they evaded that, too.

Just as he was debating on his next move, Alistair suddenly sensed a change in the battle between Nara and her opponent to his left. As the wind blew away the poisonous cloud, the Sunbrawler's kneeling form was revealed, gasping for breath.

Her foe lay on the ground beside her, unconscious.

With two assassins defeated, only one remained.

Alistair, Elara and the now smaller Flame Giant converged on them.

The assassin leader paused for a moment, as if contemplating a drastic choice, before a starry light suddenly enveloped their figure. It pierced the darkness; the nebulous light illuminated the entire arena.

A heartbeat later, a devastating pressure swept forth, causing Elara and Alistair to stagger, and the flames on the colossus to flicker, as if a ghostly wind had just pierced it.

When the starry light dimmed, the shadow of an enormous scorpion blotted out the sky.

In the next moment, a notification appeared in the corner of Alistair's vision:

[The Shroud of Bane has descended to the Lower Realm].

…His expression immediately turned very grim.