With his body being hurled away inside an Inférius, the serpent pursued him with uncontrollable rage. Slady, spreading all his arms, quickly braced himself against the ground and, just as Medusa's body was about to crash through the floor, a punch sent her flying into a wall. With one hand holding the cane, he ran toward her at a supernatural speed. He stomped the ground, raising a wall of magma, then leapt and struck with the cane, turning the wall into projectiles that pierced the destroyer.
She roared, saying that a new form would never stop her, that she would kill him and go after everyone he loved.
Several Renkai creatures rushed at him, trying to strike him in every possible way. The man's arms dismantled the beings in seconds. Even the largest were like insects before the strength Slady had attained.
The serpent rose and plunged through the Forest Inférius to hit him. The ground was destroyed with every appearance of the snake, sending Slady crashing into several corners, yet he never lost consciousness.
She screamed in frustration, forcing Slady to cover his ears with all his arms. Seeing some rock platforms floating in the air, he reached them to fight Medusa with greater priority.
With every emergence, Slady leapt to strike her, sometimes succeeding and other times failing.
This continued until both of them fell.
Now there was no demon left alive. It was simply one against one.
Medusa used her tail to lash out. Slady shredded it with his cane, slightly paralyzing her body. With a sequence of punches, he struck her while Medusa tried to hit him with her mouth and tongue.
Bracing himself against a wall, he grabbed some remaining pieces of rock and shaped them with his touch, creating weapons that were launched at the snake.
Others of the same species tried to wrap around him, but became whips in his hands. Spiked and venomous.
It was as if the spell had turned against the sorcerer.
Five arms used the snakes to whip the bestial destroyer, while the sixth and dominant one wielded the staff.
With a powerful slam of her body against his, he was thrown to the entrance of the Inférius. Then, with a great leap, Medusa tried to devour him, even tearing off his leg, but it regenerated in moments.
Then, with a movement of his staff, Medusa was subjected to enormous pressure over her body, forcing her to shrink.
Leaping toward her, he shouted, his hands shaping the snakes into a new alchemy.
Something similar to a bomb.
When he threw it at her and struck with the staff…
***
In Brazilovia, at sunrise, the people felt a smell that made them cough. Nothing that caused fainting, but it definitely caused a small commotion.
Now imagine, in an almost enclosed place, that smell focused on reaching a single being.
When he could finally see through the smoke, breathing it without any problem, he saw the effect he had created. The creature kilometers tall lay lifeless. The acid of the venom corroded her skin and the serpents fed on her flesh.
But, with something almost like a smile forming on his face, Slady commented:
"I will not let you die, not so easily."
***
Days passed... and nothing happened. There was no awakening of Elisa and Shaphira. Loren continued to take care of them, but the natives began to search for Slady, finding him neither in Brazilovia nor in Rykenzon.
But, deep within that island, with her eyes opening…
Medusa was free!... or was she? Upon realizing it, the colossal bestial destroyer had become just an ordinary snake trapped in a small transparent box. Slady, holding it on one of his many arms, showed her the vision of the Inférius that had once been merely an obstacle to his escape.
Now he intended to turn that place, almost devoid of life, into her true prison.
He threw her from an immeasurable height. Suddenly, her body grew, but only until it reached the limits of the dimension. She began to curse him in pure contempt, trying to escape, but simply, without his permission, it was impossible.
With a purely malicious smile, without a trace of the neutrality he once maintained, he said that now she would obey him, otherwise…
He raised another transparent box, saying that with a single touch of his cane she would fit inside that tiny object. Accepting her defeat, in a low tone, she asked why he kept her alive. After all, would it not be easier for everyone if she simply died?
And Slady fully agreed, explaining that he was not doing this in hope of a beautiful redemption, but that he would need her for some things. And if she were gentle, after using her, he could kill her quickly or make her a slave of Shaphira when she awakened.
She utterly hated the idea of being tamed by someone she judged to be a cursed yet talented Renkai creature, but death was a worse fate. So she agreed, shrinking back into her lair.
Crossing his six arms, Slady looked down through the portal, seeing the humiliating state of the one who had once enslaved him.
Without hesitation, he simply turned away, with no farewells. As he walked, seeing his physical state reflected in the Renkatas, he could not help feeling something akin to pride.
He had become a perfect individual, or almost perfect. A strength he had never reached before, more limbs than he desired, and an almost magical way of using his power. He never had a Mana Liberator, yet he had achieved more than anyone with knowledge alone.
But even so, he still felt inhuman. Perhaps, in the end, what he feared most had happened.
He could no longer be called human.
Nor demon.
Much less an angel.
He was nothing. Just the consequence of all his choices.
When he left the temple, he took a deep breath, feeling the oxygen flow incredibly well into his lungs. Even with the conclusion, he felt lighter, more physically willing, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
But, of course, there was something left to finish. Walking across the bridge that would take him to Brazilovia, he felt his heart beating a little faster, as if he were anxious, or afraid of that moment.
But it was not for himself, it was for them. He imagined rehearsing what he would say, asking them to leave that place and announce that they had completed that mission. Even if he never saw them again in life, he would feel finally satisfied. Slady thought about what he would do afterward. Would he continue pursuing his revenge? Or would he make it a secondary goal while trying to live a little better? Or simply give up and isolate himself, yet always be available to Elisa and Shaphira whenever they wished?
Before he could have an answer, he found himself before the place where they were, with a privileged view of the sunrise. As he entered silently…
She was already awake, Elisa.
Her body lay motionless on the bed, her eyes colorless, as if she were dead. When, in questioning, her name was called, she slowly turned her head toward the man before her.
She was not surprised, nor afraid. She was apathetic. Completely apathetic. Her lips parted slightly before she asked, not from lack of recognition, but from pure honesty.
Who was he?