Scorched Twilight

Chapter 29: Whistling Fire

Pride: Come out Y/n! Didn't you want to kill me?! Come and kill me!

Y/n moved out of his hiding spot and shot half his rounds at him as he moved to another spot. But the bullets only served as a minor inconvenience to Pride as the heat around him was enough to melt the bullets before any could touch his body.

He would shoot again, Pride melting them as usual but leaving one to puncture the torso or his borrowed body. The pain could be felt even from him, but the trade-off was the information he could get watching Y/n hesitate to fire another shot after witnessing the hit.

Pride: You want this girl alive, don't you?

Y/n: Shit! He figured it out.

Pride: I'll take that silence as a yes! Unfortunately for you, Talulah here is already long gone! It was so easy taking over when I killed that senile old man that was her father!

Y/n: So what?! I made a deal to bring her back, and I intent to keep it!

With his ranged attacks compromised by Pride using Talulah's Arts, Y/n only had one option. He jumped out of his spot and began going for Pride at full sprint, using white Phosphorus to temporarily blind Pride as it ignited with the heat coming from him and getting behind him in that moment. Knowing that he's already done this once, Shards from Sathariel's Sankta wings was combined to make a shield to block Pride's awaiting flame attacks as he expected Y/n to do this strategy again.

Now with nothing between them but hot air, Y/n drew out another sword made from concrete, clashing with Pride's with a quick whip of his sword.

Pride: A deal you say? The same one that you failed to keep? What was it, "I'll save the world, even if it kills me." What a load of horseshit that was!!

Y/n's eyes felt dry and his eyebrows caught fire. His entire face felt like it was being cooked in an oven. There was an unspoken limit to how much he could resist before he had to move back. Those last words struck a certain chord in the male, his expression turning dark as unwanted memories pulled him back into the depths of his mind.

Pride: You still remember, don't you? That day when the sky collapsed on your world. You might have defeated my Lord, but you failed to stop the seven of us either way, saving that broad's life cost you millions in exchange!

He gritted his teeth, chewed his lips, thought of happy thoughts, doing anything to keep his emotions at bay. Letting his anger out would only guarantee in Y/n's lost, he couldn't afford another one.

Pride: Remember that teacher of yours, the one who tried to convince you to run away? He worked for me, so your family was doomed the moment your father killed him. Boo hoo, if only you had accepted your teacher's request earlier!

Y/n: Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

Y/n leapt into the fiery pits where Pride stood, spontaneously attacking regardless of his own condition. Pride saw this drastic change in tactics and smiled, he fell for it, again.

Pride: He always performs a thrust to the torso after I deflect his blade. Yes, I am certain, this will be your end, Y/n!

Pride used both hands to deflect his next with a fiery arc upwards, using the flames to position himself out of Y/n's thrust.

Y/n: Haah... Perfect.

From the wall of flames came Y/n, as if pushing away the fire with his own body as he slashed instead of thrusting, the move falling out of Pride's expectations.

Y/n: AS IF I'D FALL THAT TRICK AGAIN!!

His blade connected with Pride's torso, sending him to stumble back a few steps clutching the wounded part. When he lifted his hand to check, he was surprised to not see blood.