Chapter 47: The Phoenix Demon
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So it's not a real phoenix.
This high from the surface, there were clouds all around us. Because we were high above the landscape below, the volcanic mountain peak was shrouded in a thick layer of snow. Black rocks and dark, hardened lava had solidified into a stark and foreboding presence over the summit.
Jagged peaks rose into the air, while smoke and ash rose in plumes from the crater below. The cold, windy atmosphere with hot flowing lava was a stark contrast to the snow that covered the mountain, yet both elements were united in their harsh and uncompromising beauty.
Mem-Cho, Mai, Akane, and I were hiding behind a large boulder. We were peeking at the scene ahead, where four devils carried an intricate luxurious coffin that probably cost more than a city's net worth.
"What is he doing- whoa." Akane gasped in a low voice when she watched the blonde-haired middle-aged man jump into the volcano.
"He will be fine," I reassured her. Being a normal human, her hearing wasn't good enough to eavesdrop, but I did hear what they were saying.
I thought there was a phoenix in that coffin. Now that I'm closer, I noticed that it's not a real phoenix, but a devil with phoenix blood. The devil inside the coffin has enough phoenix blood to be considered a proper phoenix, so maybe it's wrong of me to say she's not a real phoenix.
Hmmm... What do I do now?
"What should we do, Aqua?" Mem-Cho asked the exact thing I was thinking.
"I'm wondering," I chewed on my lips.
I distinctly heard them say [Fire Stone], it's a very rare item. It can help cultivate fire energy, help make a Magic Wand that can use fire magic multiple circles above the user's limit, and so many more. It's usually found in places with immense fire energy. If my Path used Fire Qi, that would have been a great benefit to me. But neither me, nor Ruby, nor anyone in my Sect rely heavily on fire energy. So should I really pick a fight with them for a stone that's not useful to me?
Well, obviously.
I grinned. A Fire Stone would be of great use for many things, like making a hyper-powerful artifact. Letting an ultra-rare item like this be robbed away right in front of me wasn't acceptable.
It's a little problematic, though. There are three devils, with one inside the volcano. They aren't weak, either. If I compare them to, let's say Jaguar Warrior, these four are equal to two Jaguar Warriors. Given I only defeated that bastard by going above and beyond my current limits and therefore damaging my cultivation, this would be hard.
More so, they seem to be from the Phenex Clan. They have regeneration. Currently, I don't have any power that can help me stop regeneration. As far as I know, their healing doesn't have a weakness, destroying their heads won't stop them. So even if I manage to defeat them by suffering injuries, they can just regenerate and attack it.
Hah. Fuck.
"Aqua?" Mai asked, seeing my expression.
The rank, [Underlord]. I need a few proper minutes to advance. If I reach that level, these no-names shouldn't be an issue.
"Let's leave this area," I said. I could only hope they wouldn't find the stone in the few minutes it'd take me to advance.
The girls exchanged glances and nodded. We turned around and began to walk away slowly, careful to not make any sounds, just when Akane stepped on a round slippery rock and fell.
"__!" To her credit, she clasped her mouth in time to not yell. That was praiseworthy.
To not her credit though, the sound of her falling to her butt was sound enough.
"Who is there?!" A yell came from one of the three old men, as I cursed under my breath.
"Mai, grab Mem and run. Mem, don't fly, they might shoot waves of fire. Akane you stay behind me, don't increase the distance from me, for the same reason." I ordered as I got ready.
One of the old men was rushing at me, it wasn't the old man who was talking to the middle-aged man before, it was another one. His feet exploded with fire as he rushed at us, just as Mai nodded and lifted Mem-Cho, kicking the ground and shooting off. As I had expected, one of the other devil men rushed after them. Mai and Mem together might be able to handle them, that's why I kept Akane to myself, I can protect her.
"Stay near me," I advised Akane and called forth my Qi.
I did say the four of these old men were compared to two Jaguar Warriors. Meaning each of them individually was just half of him. My [Gold] power level was enough for this. The other two old men were looking at this, but they didn't intervene, they didn't think they'd need to step in to help against a young man.
Their loss.
The old man rushed at me, his fist coated in fire, and about to punch me. He wasn't going for a killing blow, he most likely wanted to capture me and question me. But sadly for him, I didn't have anything to ask him.
My fist swung forward, clashing with his.
[Wrath of the Roaring Sky]
Fire burned the spot it connected with, but lightning traveled to the entire body the moment it touched. My Qi raged and burst forward in the form of lightning, coating the man in a devastating wave, as his body went charred and red. He fell to the ground, but his body was healing immediately. As in, in a matter of seconds, he'll be up again.
Lightning messed with the cell, so his regeneration was a bit slower, otherwise he'd have been up already.
The only thing I could do to stop him now was to raise my feet and kick him in the stomach, sending him flying into the volcano.
"No, brother!" The only other old man in the area, the one near the coffin, the one who was talking to the middle-aged man before, yelled out. He seemed strong.
"[Fire Fist]!" He yelled, swinging his fist forward as a pillar of heat unleashed an intense burst of flame, rushing towards me.
"A-aqua! Dodge!" Akane yelled, but how could I dodge when she was behind me? She will be incinerated.
Also, where is the copyright policy when you need it?
I waved my hand in a circle and half a bubble of water, a crescent moon of water Qi, formed in front of me.
[The Water Bubble Technique]
The fist of superheated fire collided with it and vapor burst outwards. The techniques canceled each other, as the old man glared.
He wasn't leaving the coffin, and I wasn't leaving Akane. We're having a long-distance fight, and that was disadvantageous for me. I trusted Mai and Mem would be fine against the devil that went after them, but what if they weren't? What if the middle-aged devil returned and gave the stone to the coffin? If the being in the coffin awakens...
"Forgive me, mother." Suddenly, the old man manipulated the Wind Aura that was holding the coffin in the air to toss it into the volcano.
What?
Did he just kill the woman? His mother?
I had to stop thinking when the old man rushed at me, his gaze filled with annoyance as fire wrapped around his forearms like gauntlets and he leaped at me. He was going for hand-to-hand combat, thinking he'd be able to overpower a human mage with ease with his sheer experience.
Too bad.
Who the fuck does this guy think I am? My hand moved in accordance to his, blocking and redirecting his attacks to the side, as I had my own forearms coated in lightning. It wasn't even any real technique, I was simply combining my Gold Sign with the manipulation of lightning Qi.
The fire from his hand licked my own, but it was nothing compared to the damage I've done. Lightning Qi infiltrated his body and fried his nerves. If I was at [Underlord] I could have burned him so bad he would take days to heal.
He was quick to catch, in just under two seconds, he realized something was wrong, that I was too good at hand-to-hand. But it was too late. He couldn't even run if he wanted to. His own body betrayed him as he couldn't move his right hand. In that single moment I flipped him onto the ground. His back smashed into the ground, bones cracking.
I smiled and dropped my knee on his solar plexus.
"Keugh-!"
The old devil spat out air, and I channeled my Gold Sign into him, burning his flesh and destroying him from within. I planned to scramble his brain around a bit so he'd be out for a while, so I grabbed his face with my hand.
[Wrath of the Roaring-]
Right before I could finish my technique, the world shook. Under just a millisecond, something big happened. The volcano burst in a singular line towards the sky, spilling lava everywhere as I retreated from the old man, and hugged Akane.
I used [The Water Bubble Technique] in its full form, as a circular bubble of water wrapped around us, and the lava spilled all over. I poured Qi into the bubble enough that no lava was able to penetrate it and hurt us.
The same couldn't be said for the devil though, as lava spilled all over his body and left him in holes. He began to heal, but there was a bigger problem I had to deal with before he could trouble me again.
Both Akane and my eyes locked on the figure in the sky, the being who was the cause of the small eruption. It was a blonde woman with a voluptuous figure, who stood in the air, wearing a pristine and unharmed white bridal outfit even when her body was soaked in magma. Lava spilled from her and into the volcano, and I managed to notice the last shimmer of a hexagon stone merge into her chest.
Shit.
When the old man threw the coffin inside, she had automatically drawn the stone to herself. The [Fire Stone] has been absorbed.
The woman stood in the air, her lips thin and her eyes wide, as she took in the world around her. She was still dazed. That would have been a perfect time for an attack if not for the fact that I could tell none of my attacks would affect her at all.
She wore a bridal dress for some reason, and her blonde hair was in a bridal style as well. Was this some sort of cultural thing? Her dress was white, with red in the chest area, with a pristine bridal veil flowing on her back. Her red eyes looked around the world, twinkling just like the stars.
[Image Here]
I immediately knew I was no match for her currently. I was used to Gods and stuff, and although this woman was a devil and had no divinity, she was no different from a God. That right there was a Demon God.
As if things weren't bad enough already, two figures clad in lava began to rise from the volcano. The middle-aged devil was the first, followed by the one I had kicked later.
Instead of focusing on me again, they got to the land and kneeled before the woman. The woman stayed in that position for a bit longer. Just when I turned around and flew through, to come back later after I advanced, she regained her senses.
"Huh," her voice boomed across the sky as I grabbed Akane and took a step to run. "We have a rat among us, it seems. Perish."
Her voice was calm as she raised a finger and a phoenix made of flames rushed out of it. The phoenix rushed at me, at the speed of a jet plane, but it was slow for me, she had underestimated me.
Or maybe she hadn't... I couldn't run when I had Akane to keep safe. I held her tightly, she was looking at the incoming attack with wide eyes from my shoulder, so I pushed her down to my chest.
"A-aqua, run!" She yelled for me to flee, but how could a man do that? I promised her I'd keep her face, and whatever the Venerable One may be, he didn't break his promise.
I called forth multiple barriers of water, dozens of bubbles, as the phoenix simply barged through. Vapor rose as the phoenix hit me on the back, trying to go through me and incinerate Akane, but I held on as it continued burning my back. My passive aura reacted, but it couldn't extinguish the fire. It pushed me off the mountain, and still went on, making me fly down.
My body was shot from the peak of the mountain, and down to the forest below, the phoenix burning my back, my flesh melted as only bones remained. The flame phoenix touched the forest, vanishing and leaving a forest fire, and I rolled in the air to land on my flesh-less back, to keep Akane safe from the impact.
Akane grabbed my face. She began to yell with a worried look and teary eyes. From this position, kilometers below, I saw the sky split as it showed another dimension on the other side. The devils thought I died, but am I that easy? They jumped into the portal one by one, and I counted four devils in total, with the woman counted. That meant the one that went after Mai and Mem was dead. Naturally, Time Manipulation could stop healing, so I suppose they succeeded.
Good.
"Heuha..." a soft laughter escaped my lips.
Give me half an hour. Just that. And I'll show that little phoenix what it means to anger the Void Devouring White Tiger of the Western Cosmos.
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