Seven hours had passed since Rafael entered Stygai. And the group inside the Tower of Distortion continued steadfast in their task of reinforcing his soul through the connection with his clone. But even after so much time, the clone had not yet regained consciousness. Laura was holding Jack's hand as he sweated constantly. On the floor below them, Rafael's clone's body remained motionless with no sign of movement.
"How much longer can you hold on?" She asked, looking at Jack worriedly.
"I can hold on for another half hour..."
Laura then looked to the side and saw a still pale Jhon, and his brother, who seemed to have improved a little.
"Let's end it here, Jack, I don't want to push you to your limit, we'll need to keep this ritual going for the rest of the night until Natasha arrives..."
"Are you sure he's okay?" The faceless man asked as he stood up and let Yuri take his place.
"Yes, I can still feel a faint soul connection in the clone, but he was seriously injured, and he was alone there… With his soul so severely injured, even a small evil soul could be fatal. That's why we need to keep the protection ritual going…"
Laura said these words, but kept some details to herself, because she knew that this kind of damage had even more serious consequences than just the fragility she mentioned…
***
As the eight Stalkers approached Rafael, the shadow of his fallen body expanded enormously, and from it, Vulcan found himself free again after a long time…
His serpentine body circled Rafael without touching him, robotic voices sounded inside his head, but Vulcan ignored them all. His serpentine yellow eyes turned to the eight monsters who were now frozen in place as they saw the gigantic Firewyrm* appear out of nowhere, either due to weak Dragon Fear, or because they thought they wouldn't be seen if they didn't move…
A cruel smile formed in Vulcan's mouth full of draconic teeth as he swallowed one of the green monsters in a single bite with his body serpentine.
"Kirhh"
"Kirhh"
The other seven monsters finally managed to shake off their fear and fled in various directions, screaming, but it was all in vain.
In less than a minute, they had all been killed in extremely cruel ways. Some were devoured, others burned alive by his fiery breath, and others crushed into pulp by his giant body.
But Vulcan didn't stop there, still ignoring the voices in his head, he left Rafael's body lying in the same place, and his eyes turned to the entrance of Corpse City. Several Shadow Souls that had chased Rafael were still watching his body from inside the city. And they became the second target of the cruel Firewyrm.
Vulcan entered Stygai, still lost in his bloodlust. His physical attacks were useless against the Shadow Souls, but he soon began to burn them all. But little by little, his mind and body began to feel the effects of the many ocular curses of Stygai's Reaper, while his bestial instincts warned him of some great danger approaching him.
Just as the abomination that had wounded Rafael was about to reach and attack Vulcan, the little sunlight that had entered Stygai faded, announcing that the safe time had ended…
On the roof of the Central Tower, the Reaper leapt from the domed ceiling, finally becoming free again. He flew so fast that only a black blur holding a huge scythe was visible…
With the two monsters coming towards him, the young Firewyrm felt true fear for the first time since he was born, and fled to the outside of the city. But not before stopping outside and roaring a few times when he realized that the enemies had not followed him…
Seeing that there was nothing more interesting there for him, Vulcan finally listened to the voices in his head, and using his mouth, he picked up Rafael, throwing him on his back and heading in a random direction of the Shadowlands…
But it seemed that Vulcan's last scare was not enough to make him give up looking for trouble… The Firewyrm moved through the fields of ghost grass openly and boldly… Every enemy he encountered became his prey, and every suspicious shadow was struck by powerful flames. For the first time in his life since he was born, he was free and having fun without anyone giving him orders…
It was not long before his loud and flashy presence attracted the attention of one of the greatest predators of the Shadowlands: a true dragon…
"ROOAAR!"
The first thing Vulcan heard was a roar, and when he looked for the source, he saw a giant blue dragon descending from the sky while icy breath fell on its body, chilling its back and tail to the point where it was hard for it to move. He also felt through their bond that Rafael had also been injured by the dragon's breath.
"ROAR!"
Vulcan roared back at the ice dragon, but didn't think twice about fleeing… The ice dragon flew high again, preparing to launch a new attack, but soon the Firewyrm reached a cave system on the sides of the Shadow Mountains and burrowed into them…
As it passed through one of the tunnels, a stone relief on the ceiling dropped Rafael's unconscious body, and Vulcan continued, still frightened, leaving his master behind. Another thing Vulcan noticed was that the further he got from Rafael, the weaker the voice in his head became…
Soon, the Firewyrm's instincts made him forget about his owner and his fear, being drawn to the scent of new prey in the cave system…
Meanwhile, Rafael, who remained unconscious due to the damage to his soul, now also had one of his arms completely frozen… He was once again completely at the mercy of the dangers of the Shadowlands…
"step-step"
"step-step"
The sound of footsteps echoed in the darkness, and slowly, a shadow approached Rafael's body. The shadow had a human shape and wore a dirty cloak, so old that it was falling apart. The only visible part of the figure was the hands, which seemed to have been boiled in hot oil, leaving the skin completely deformed.
The burned hand moved to Rafael's waist, taking his Tree Pouch. When the shadow realized that Rafael was still breathing, it pulled out a knife and advanced towards his neck, ready to kill him.
But when it reached a few inches from his throat, it stopped, hesitating as it noticed something. The knife changed direction, making a cut in his cloak, revealing the necklace that Rafael was wearing... After being indecisive for a while, the figure put away the dagger and grabbed his body by one of his shins and began to drag him into the depths of the cave system...
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Leery Falcon, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magical Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, and 704Corleon!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley and Avacus!