CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.19 'SCREAM AIM FIRE'

"You lost... 'cause you pissed us both off!"

Andrei... or what he had become, was breathing heavy, ragged gasps. He clenched his clawed hands, which just like the rest of his flesh had become as black as the night overhead, though his whole body, every limb, every crevice, was outlined by a malevolent crimson-red. Twitching, the two monsters stepped forward, and only now Andrei noticed his allies, each of them scattered across the ground as his molten gold eyes scanned the battlefield.

His steps progressed into a jog, and the world around him seemed to move in slow motion, and a tunnel grew in the corners of his eyes as he homed in on Scavver. The larger beast, who seemed to have been fully consumed by his Chimera nature, began to run too now. Andrei pulled back his right hand, drawing his colossal sword. Scavver pulled back his two same-sided arms, ready to unleash a pair of simultaneously crippling blows. Unlike the streak of crimson-red which now drew closer though, he could not yell provocations. Not that Andrei needed them as he embraced the dragon, Ra.

Ripping his sword from the sheath, Andrei swung it forward with inhuman speed, something even faster than he was able to do before. He felt his blood pumping now, and as he cut through the air, he felt the blade grinding against the wind like the pick of a guitar on steely, ear-grating strings. As it flew forward, the sword too began to glow red, the black energy spreading up the hilt and to the blade, heating the metal and lighting ablaze with an inferno of otherworldly black fire.

Those who could fled the scene as both of the half-Chimera met with their clash. Scavver's first hand grabbed hold of the burning black blade, and Andrei pushed the defense harder, cutting through flesh and eliciting a response of genuine pain from the empowered demon before him. No longer was the dragon in his head the monster. His inward reflection seemed to shift in that moment, and so too did his sword. He pushed it further, and began to burn through the joints in Scavver's hand. Seething, he yelled out, yellow light erupting from his mouth as he did so. "BREAKER...!"

The second arm, free of the assault by blade, punched low, claws trained on Andrei's gut. Driving the attack home, neither of the superhuman monsters budged as the single strike drove itself clear through Andrei's flesh, splitting his gut in half and spraying boiling-hot blood onto Scavver. "Hrk... Bastard..." Andrei muttered.

Scavver grabbed hold of the chain which now burned Andrei's own intestines, and ripped his hand back out as he tightened his grip of the inferno-engulfed black blade. Energy began to erupt from the sword like a solar flare as the chimera bone-steel chipped, and the metal twisted. Andrei was pulled in close to his opponent, but he had released his blade with one hand. Holding it low, he let it split the air, exploding into a ball of molten fire. His vocal chords, which had been enveloped by the yellow light in his body, shredded themselves as he roared his casting phrase. "I don't need you... FLARE!"

A shockwave rippled through Scavver's body as the punch connected, and his grip on the sword loosened. Three star-like flashes appeared in a triangular shape around the point of connection, bright enough for even Saionji to see behind the monster that had taken the blow. Energy ran its course on Scavver's nervous system, burning him from the inside out before reaching a focal point on his back, exploding outwards and sending him flying into the air.

In the air, the beast still lived. Writhing in agony, Scavver screamed with bestial power, and electricity in a similar vein of energy to Andrei's fire conducted itself around him, down his arms and into his claws. As he recovered in the sky, Scavver saw Andrei crouching in preparation to jump, and began to focus power into his shredded hand, which now oozed excess energy en masse. His quartet of blood-red eyes shone with a new menace unseen before as he began to fight as though his monstrous side meant it.