Chapter 642 - Storm of the Abyss (XV) (Patreon)

Though I was tempted to pull out little Naǒ immediately, I held back. It's been some time since I saw Long Tao fight fight, so I wanted to give him an opportunity to stretch his legs. This is in no way, shape, or form me being petty and torturing him unnecessarily.

Nope.

Just a good Master letting his Disciple spread his wings.

Speaking of--the man fluttered backwards as flames surged behind him, fanning out into a pair of infernal wings. They didn't stay stationary, curving in opposite direction, one up and one down, to form a halo-like circle behind him. Liquid fire began to pour out, turning molten and then petrified, forming sharply-pointed stumps of stone that were unceremoniously hurled at Long Tao.

The latter danced between them, occasionally slashing out with the sword but only to deflect them rather than break them. Each of those massive stumps, the smallest of which was at least good twenty feet long, were embedded directly into the stone below, most at a steep angle. They didn't stay that way for long, however. Perhaps a second or two after they were lodged into the ground, they began to dissolve like wood into ash, dripping down like sand and collapsing.

In the meantime, the two resumed their little dance. Fire burst out in spews, some arched and some flat, whipping about the open space haphazardly. Within it, flashes of Sword Qi emerged, untangling the small figure from the ever-engulfing deluge of flames.

Long Tao's sword moved at a speed I couldn't actually follow. Best I could make out were the afterimages he left behind as he weaved between the abruptly erupting pillars of flame that emerged from where those stumps had burnt away. They were at first thin, bulging out as the seconds ticked away until they had formed a cage-like structure that used the four pillars in the room as a base. The man stood on the outside and Long Tao stood within, looking at up at the figure floating.

The man's lips were curved into a taunting smile, his countenance relaxed and unwavering, as if every bit was under his control. On the other hand, Long Tao appeared haggard and worse for wear, his robes singed at more than a few spots, a few traces of crimson visible on them.

If I didn't know that old monster, I'd say that he was struggling mightily--but even if he did declare that it would be a struggle, I knew him better than that.

The cage began to close up as torrential flames fell like bullets. Long Tao deflected and dodged, letting a few hit him. It got to the point where even the kids' relaxed expressions tightened. Well, there was one exception besides me--Shufen. Whether that was because she didn't care if he lived or died either way, or because she knew him, I didn't know.

"Be proud," the voice bellowed out soon enough as it looked like the cage of fire was about to consume the small boy. "You've endured for longer than most have. Be proud indeed, boy."

Right now. I felt it. It was the first time the man's guard was truly down. And, as if having waited for it, a rumble burst out like a boom of thunder--an array of Qi so thick it was practically a freakin' wall tore through the cage of flames and destroyed it without so much as slowing down, shooting onwards towards the man whose relaxed expression immediately distorted and turned ugly.

Flames billowed out from him as he wrapped himself in them just in time for the collision to occur. I immediately used my understanding of space to isolate us the best I could, and just in time, too. One second later, the collision let to an explosion so destructive that it obliterated the entire hall, stone and rock flying every which direction as four pillars crumbled. At least it didn't lead to the collapse of the ceiling, namely because the top was blown off so completely that, if someone had been looking from the outside in, it would have looked just like a volcanic eruption.

Dust blew out, stinging the eyes, while raging fires dissolved in every which direction, setting even dry, cracked, ashen stone on fire. Smoke and dust married into a disruptive domain, one so thick with bursts of Qi that I couldn't actually use my Divine Sense to gaze inside until it slowly cleared up.

In the distance, I saw Long Tao standing, his clothes largely torn and scrambled, figure blasted with red. There were quite a few telltale signs of him having used Surging Spirit Art rather than having avoided the explosion. Though worse for wear, he was still leagues better than the man--he was kneeling some forty yards from Long Tao, his entire left arm shredded to a stump, half his face burnt and degloved like a certain someone, blood spewing out from seemingly every orifice.

But, he was alive.

And his teeth were clattering in a demonic grin, gums bleeding and spilling over his lips. One eye stuck out, having lost the concealment of the skin, hanging on by a literal thread, while the other spewed venom at Long Tao, unhinged beyond anything I'd seen.

"He, he he, he he he, HA HA HA HA HA!!!" he began to cackle and laugh madly, his voice blasting through the still-rumbling dissolution of the entire hall. "Haah," breath fading out, he slowly stood up, revealing the full brunt of his injuries.

And, yeah, he did look like someone who, by some miracle, survived a bomb being detonated right in their face.

"It seems I'll have to request a far larger payment," he said as air began to sizzle. "I was told I'd have to kill some stray animals, lesser pups with no potential. But you're no stray animal nor a pup, are you?"

"Hm," Long Tao hummed lowly, suddenly glancing at me. "Master, I might need some help." the man's attention was suddenly shifted to me, his eyes practically trying to tear me apart to see what was inside.

"If someone like you calls another a Master, it seems I truly have made a blunder," the man said, taking another deep breath. Each time he exhaled, I could feel the temperature rising a few... dozen degrees, at least. "So, Master, do you think you have what it takes to endure the flames?"

Every particle of air seemed to have suddenly caught on fire, the haze momentous. Each breath was like taking a lungful of molten lava, my lungs burning from within. And I already had some immunity to it through my traits, but the kids had none. Most began to cough and spew blood within seconds, their faces paling.

I was just about to call her, but she emerged before I could. A pipsqueak-looking thing--oh, hell no!! Who the fuck is that eagle-sized thing that flapped its way out?! That's not Naǒ!

She cried out, and the air that was just burning my lungs became chilly. The haze began to dissolve as the man's face distorted further and further with each passing second. By the end, I couldn't make out much of anything besides rage. He extended his remaining arm and snapped his finger; like a call, a roar blew out from behind him as a vortex of flames appeared and began spewing out literal tens of thousands of dragons. They flew out like arrows, and it looked like he no longer cared for anything, wanting to bury us.

... alas.

Just as they emerged, they whimpered into extinction, swallowed.

"W-what... what just happened?!!" the man shouted in confusion. The feeling wasn't exclusive to him, as our new friends, as well as Shufen, shared it.

"It's my youngest disciple," I said. "Meet little Naǒ. A Phoenix."

"..."

"..."

"YOU HAVE A FUCKING PHOENIX?!!" Shufen ripped directly into my ear from about a foot of distance. She actually, literally deafened me. I had to use Surging Spirit Art to quickly fix it, and blood still trickled out of my ear.

... who needs enemies when I have disciples like these, eh?