Threads of the Soul

Chapter 327: Spitting Fire


Seth didn't spend too much time with Alfie, before marrying him off like a medieval princess to secure an alliance, so his lessons on controlling his gas organ were not extensive. But the main thing that Alfie had bestowed onto him, was the importance of pressure.

If he built up enough pressure, then the force of his gas stream would be more than enough to stop the fire from burning its way back to the source. Like when you used a can of hairspray and a lighter to create a flamethrower.

Seth focused on the new organs in his body, the organs that took him a step away from humanity. A gas sack that was rapidly expanding as it devoured the oxygen flooding into his system and mixed it with its own solution to make an explosive new gas. The valves in his throat, that he had to concentrate to keep close, as the pressure built up inside of him.

It was like the pressure you feel squeezing your lungs from the inside out when you hold your breath underwater. That pressure of air desperately wanting to escape from your body as you climb to the surface, knowing that if it releases too soon then it will spell your doom as you drown.

Or in this case, burn to death in a fiery inferno of his own creation.

When the pressure finally got too much, Seth created the rune in front of his face with his threads, which immediately set ablaze when he ran his mana through it, and then simply... released the pressure.

A roaring inferno engulfed the sky, painting the black clouds a vibrant orange, as a column of flames spewed forth from Seth's mouth.

The Lightbringer quickly looked over his shoulder as the sudden heat washed over him, just in time for his vision to be painted completely orange. Flames washed over him, lapping at his bare skin and latching onto his expensive clothing that was completely unsuitable for battle.

When the stream of fire died down, as the pressure reduced, the Lightbringer was left with patches of deep red skin. His clothes were in tatters, hanging off his body in scorched and smouldering ruins.

It wasn't enough to burn his iron skin, but even iron melted with enough heat.

Seth clamped his mouth shut before the fire could follow its way back to the source, but kept the fire rune burning while he focused on building the pressure again. While he did so, the lingering traces of noxious fumes in his mouth started to mix with his saliva, creating a disgusting liquid in his mouth.

Out of habit, he spat out the wretched taste, only for the globules of spittle to burst into vibrant flames as soon as they touched the rune.

Narrowing his eyes at that sight, Seth poured a bit more of the gas into his mouth and stirred it with his tongue, mixing it around with his saliva. Ignoring the wretched taste, he mixed the two together into his very own brand of liquid fire.

At his level, even his spit was like bullets, but it was a useless skill unless you were trying to douse a candle flame from across the room. Or... unless you could spit napalm.

A wet splat landed on the Lightbringers back as he flew, right between his beating wings. The viscous liquid splattered across his iron skin, causing him to turn up his nose in disgust, before he felt the heat it was generating.

His iron skin rapidly turned red underneath it, then started to sizzle and burn. Restrained grunts left the Lightbringers lips as he reached back, trying to wipe it off, only for the sticky liquid to spread to his fingers and across his back with the effort.

He folded his wings in, sending himself into a rapid corkscrew spin, sending the spit flying off of him after a few seconds. But just as he was slowing down, another flaming globule flew past his face, sailing off into the distance.

Whipping his head around, the Lightbringers face twisted in a mixture of rage and disgust as Seth spat out another glob of saliva, which ignited itself on contact with the floating rune and flew towards the Lightbringer like a flaming bullet.

A flap of the Lightbringers angelic wings sent him out of its path, but countless more were quick to follow. He dove and swerved in the sky, desperately trying to avoid the flaming spit, all while returning fire with a few blasts of searing light.

Seth kept going like a machine gun, until his mouth ran completely dry. But by that time, the pressure had increased again.

The Lightbringer had a mere moment to sigh in relief before he was engulfed in roaring flames once more. He crossed his arm over his face, shielding his eyes from the flaming tongues lapping at him. But he had little to fear from the normal fire, it didn't linger long enough to do any damage.

Seth knew that too, which was why he wasn't trying to burn him with it.

A pitch black, curved blade cleaved through the torrent of fire, the flames splitting apart in the blades wake as a Scythe flew through the air, swinging itself towards the Lightbringers head.

His eyes widened at the sight of it hurtling towards him and he desperately dodged to the side, diving into the ocean of flames. But he didn't get away unscathed.

An agonising cry left his lips as the curved blade cleanly cleaved off his ear, barely meeting any resistance as it cut through his iron skin like butter. It's swing continued from there, the black blade touching against the edge of his wings, before cutting through those too.

Angelic wings of pure light were sliced and severed by the black blood Scythe, turning the Lightbringers desperate dive into a spinning plummet as he dropped from the sky like an out of control airliner.

Seth cut off the stream of fire, dismissing the flaming rune and letting the lingering gas escape from his mouth as he watched the flaming meteor hurtle towards the ground and land with a thunderous boom. The ground around its landing point exploded into a deep crater.

Drifting down to the ground, Seth touched down in the middle of the crater to find the complete wreck that was the Lightbringer, a man who proclaimed himself a god and now looked more like a one winged angel discarded from heaven.

His clothes had burned away, revealing his flawless body, as his ragged hair hung down into his face. He was currently sat on his knees, hunched over and clutching his arm to his chest as blood trickled down his cheek from his severed ear.

"You might not know this... but I was always a fan of the east. Their medicine, their tradition... their books. It always interested me, it's simply amazing what you can do with natural ingredients. When I started it all of this, I was simply a man interested in alternative viewpoints and healing.

I wanted to help people... But then they started to praise me and worship me... And that felt so much better. Why help them for nothing? They should be worshipping me..."

The Lightbringer muttered and mumbled, laughing softly to himself. Although he wasn't facing Seth, as his back was to him showing off his one remaining wing of Light, Seth knew this little speech was for him.

But he didn't care. The shadows lengthened and darkened at his presence, snaking along the ground and lunging into the third dimension in the form of tendrils. They wrapped around the Lightbringers wrists, yanking his arms away from his chest and spreading them out to the side.

Another tendril lashed around his eyes, blind folding him, while yanking his head back. His hunch was forcibly straightened, as he was made to lean backwards and expose his throat while remaining on his knees.

"You're a con man Lucifer, you always have been. You don't deserve worship. You didn't then, and you definitely don't now."

"... Lucifer? Haha... Oh it's been a while since I've heard that name. You were one of mine then? A lost lamb from the flock... Oh! You were one of the children that ran away, weren't you? Let's see... ah yes, you must be little Sephtis, right? All grown up. Hehehe.

Are you still mad about what happened back then? You really shouldn't dwell on the past. You should be more worried about your sister dear boy."

"My sister? Please... If you're hoping your assassins are going to do something while I am here, think again Lucifer. We caught them weeks ago. Did you really think that I wouldn't notice people using fake money in my own city?

Not your best plan."

Seth pressed the blade of his Scythe against Lucifer's throat, getting the positioning of his swing right, before lifting it above his head like a trained executioner.

"Fake? Ah... the thief. Incompetent and truly useless. Hehe, but no... I wasn't talking about that traitorous sister. I was talking about the other one. I've been taking good care of little Avarice."

Seth's Scythe stopped mid swing at the mention of his sister's name, her real name. The terrible name that her mother had gave her, along with the rest of them. The Scythe in his arms trembled gently as the rage built up in him once again, tears welling up in his eyes as all sorts of horrible scenarios and images flashed through his mind.

He pulled the Scythe away and lunged forwards, latching his hand around Lucifer's throat as he leaned close.

"What did you do to Ava. Tell me, NOW!"

Seth's voice trembled with rage as he squeezed the Lightbringers throat, causing him to let out a wheezing laugh. A wicked smile spreading across his lips.

"It's amazing what you can do with all natural ingredients. Especially now."

A gentle clattering caught Seth's attention, his eyes whipping to the source of the sound as he frowned in confusion. A pneumatic injection gun lay on the ground next to the Lightbringer, a few droplets of a strange golden liquid still remaining in the empty vial of the gun.

But before Seth could demand any more answers, the Lightbringer flexed his arms as the chains of shadows snapped like simple string.

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