Okay, so allow me to share a little discovery.
After letting Voracity pilot my body for this long, I'd somehow managed to separate my consciousness from its own.
And that seemingly minor change made an enormous difference.
At last, I no longer felt like my thoughts were being influenced by a foreign force.
Instead, it was more like we acted as two separate beings - just housed within one body.
Thanks to that, I could think with a clear mind despite the raging battle outside.
That change occurred a little while ago, naturally; otherwise I wouldn't have had the presence of mind to mull over the exchange between Voracity and Vaynar.
But the thing is, I still sensed everything my body experienced - a double edged sword, basically.
Ain't that a stupid phrase, though? A solid pair of gauntlets and you're golden… Wait, what was I talking about?
Right. Shared senses.
Might seem great, to have some deity-level entity fight in my stead, but there was a glaring flaw to this arrangement:
The thing doesn't feel pain.Either that, or it simply doesn't care. But oh boy, do I feel the pain in its stead.
Voracity had opted to only dodge attacks which actually threatened my life - our life -, face tanking the rest as if they weren't worth even worrying about.
And sure, it was a good move on the surface.
After all, I have more than enough spare flesh to burn through, in the most literal sense.
My enormous bodywas wholly engulfed in flames, blazing flesh lighting up the surroundings like a ceremonial torch.
However, while the burns technically didn't inhibit movement or deal any substantial damage, they did hurt.
A lot. And of course they would - I'm effectively just an enormous heap of flammable matter.
The only saving grace was the fact that I'd detached myself before the pain became too severe to handle.
Amidst those thoughts, I suddenly felt a forceful tug on my consciousness. As a result, the sensations I'd painstakingly detached myself from intensified manyfold.
"Yo, Voracity. This your doing? Look, I know you might be impervious to pain, being some big shot Incarnation or whatever the fuck you really are, but do consider my feelings, won't ya?"
I grumbled at its attempt at pulling me back into reality through our mental link.
This whole situation was way above my pay grade, methinks.
"No..."
But it curtly refused, and proceeded to pull on my consciousness with even more vigor.
"You clearly don't understand, so let me put it plainly… I'm not a god like you. If my mind gets overwhelmed by the, quite frankly, ridiculous levels of pain that the body is going through, it will crumble; I'll fucking die, ya get me?"
I spoke with agitation. Total annihilation was a very real possibility here - and if I were to die, the stubborn idiot living rent free in my head would promptly follow.
Realizing that I wouldn't comply, Voracity finally released its grip, before stringing together an uncharacteristically long sentence:
"I cannot. Use. Full power… Without. You… We. Must fuse. Minds. Or… Strong human… Will win…"
Its words gave me pause.
You're telling me this isn't even the maximum power? How the hell did I end up with such a crazy bastard in my body..?
I ran over my options - there weren't many, truth be told.
So, either I die by the king's hand… Or I die from sheer pain? That it?
Still, the latter at least had a chance of working, however slim.
Outright death versus probable death; pretty easy decision, when I put it like that.
With those thoughts, I steeled myself, envisioning the motion of talking a deep breath-
-And finally allowed my senses to wholly merge with the physical body.
Of course, I also made sure to insult my unhinged deity of a cohabitant once last time, for good measure.
"You are absolutely deranged for making me do this… Heh, but perhaps I'm even worse. After all, I'm going along with it."
Oh well. Good luck to me, I suppose. I'll need it.
It didn't take long for Voracity to latch on, with my resistance all but gone.
At last, we became a single being.
It was reminiscent of the state I'd experienced upon first awakening Voracity.
That all encompassing hunger, and the sense of utter superiority, as if every being before me were nothing more than a bug to be squashed; it became a core part of me once more.
There was no longer any distinction between 'I' and 'Voracity' - we became two minds as one.
***
"Haahh, Haaahh, haaah!!"
Kaela sprinted out of the forest, wheezing in exhaustion.
The swarm tailing her was insurmountable in their numbers. The thousands of demonic beasts, all attracted by Ori's essence, had nobody else to feed on but Kaela - and so she ran.
Her destination was, of course, the battlefield where Ori and the king were having colossal clash.
***
Another comet sized fireball flew my way.
I stretched out a clump of tentacles, condensed into the shape of a shield, and just barely managed to redirect the strike.
An explosion rung out behind me; a stark reminder of just how powerful my opponent was.
Still, my flesh was singed, even if the fireball didn't connect directly.
"Aaaaarghhh!! That. Hurt!!! Hah. Ahahahahaha!!"
I howled in pain, only to break on in an eye watering laugher right after.
The feeling of fighting at full strength, entirely unrestrained, was exhilarating.
My mind threatened to shatter any second, yet I somehow held on. At least for now.
Vaynar leaped into the air, two steaming jets of white hot flames behind him - and then dove directly at me at a speed so fast that I could barely follow his silhouette, despite the hundreds of eyes tracking his every move.
Raising a bladed appendage into the air, I parried his kick, but not without getting hurled backwards a hundred meters from the sheers force of his attack.
After tumbling across the ground, I stood back up and eyed my insurmountable wall of a target.
He no longer looked like a mere insect before me - my frame had shrunk significantly and was growing smaller even now, his flames burning through my flesh rapidly.
It hurts so damn bad.
If hell did exist, then this is what it looked like, no doubt. My sight was engulfed in fire, and so were the surrounding.
The king of Nether, huh? Vaynar sure lives to his title.
Our fight never paused, even amidst my musings.
He burned me, tore my numerous limbs off, and landed punch after punch on my massive body.
I did my best to retaliate.
Didn't do shit, though.
If anything, It seemed like Vaynar could keep going for hours, whereas my strength was dwindling all too fast.
Even the combined power of Voracity and I couldn't hold a candle to a real powerhouse.
At the core of our weakness was my miserably low personal strength.
Only after fusing our minds into one with Voracity could I finally tell - the vessel, being my body, was utterly inadequate for displaying our full potential.
But I didn't care. I would see this fight through, regardless of how hopeless it looked.
With those thoughts, I flicked my grotesquely long tongue across my lips and crouched down, dying to take at least one bite out of Vaynar's delectable flesh.
I was starving, and this pathetic human had no right to get in the way of my feast.
However, just as I tensed my muscles to take the plunge ahead, a wave of demonic essence flooded the surroundings.
I froze for a second before jerking my eyes in the direction of the source.
Vaynar noticed the sudden shift in atmosphere too, as he halted his assault and turned to face the vile aura along with me, a frown forming on his face.
Wait… isn't that where Kaela is supposed to be?
Focusing on my hearing, I finally realized what caused the sudden change, and a huge smile crept across my lips.
"Just. On time… My dear. Friend."
Hundreds, no - thousands of footsteps sent deep rumbles through the surroundings.
"There… It is. My meal."
Along with those words, I turned to look at my opponent, who must've understood the implications behind the monster wave by now.
He returned the gaze, the air distorting around him in response to his anger.
"You… You planned this from the start?"
His voice was grim; my beaming grin, meanwhile, only widened.
"Sure did."
It's time for phase two, fucker. Let's see how you handle this.
Without giving him the chance to recoup, I dug my claws into the ground, coiling tentacles around my legs and arms.
…And dashed towards the thousands of demonic beasts, leaving Vaynar behind in a cloud of dust.
***
The chase felt infinitely long. Kaela had long since run out of breath, pushing on with sheer determination and adrenaline.
But eventually, even that resource was wrung dry.
As it stood right now, her goal was all but unreachable. So close, and yet those crucial last steps - she couldn't take.
It was only a matter of time before she faltered. That was something she understood all too well.
And now, that time had come. It truly was unfortunate.
After tumbling across the ground, she weakly pushed herself up and gave the swarm of demonic beasts, which drew ever closer, a deathly glare.
What's even the point of staring these mindless monsters down? Not like they'd get intimidated by a single human…
Feeling ridiculous, she raised her head up towards the sky, finally admitting defeat.
Yeah... This plan of ours was hopeless from the get go. Well, I should've known how things would end the moment I got jailed up in the Royal Detention. Who am, to think I could survive where so many others died?
Ori's determination, which bordered on insanity, seemed to have rubbed off on her, as she began fueling herself with hope.
But apparently, that wishful thinking was never meant to come to fruition.
As she lamented her fate, slowly resigning to the inevitable, the rumble drew closer.
One beast had reached her.
And more would follow.
"This is the end of the line for me, huh? How pathetic, though, to die without even putting up a fight. I hope you forgive me, boss, but I really don't have the strength to raise a finger at this point."
With a mad growl, the closest of the demons jumped at its immobile pray, biting into Kaela's shoulder.
Unable to shrug off even a single attacker anymore, she limply fell on her back.
"Argh!!"
Her shoulder hurt immensely.
Well, at least I made a friend in my final days. That's gotta count for something, right boss? You said I would never get close with anybody, what with my nasty personality, but look how's laughing now… Pheh, certainly not me.
Another beast went in for a bite.
And then one more.
Kaela's gaze never left the clouds, even amidst the suffering.
I will see you on the other side; boss, Malrik… Ori.
*Squelch*
Another beast lodged its maws, this time into her thigh.
Suddenly, an enormous figure obstructed her view of the sky, and just as swiftly vanished from sight.
The next moment, the crushing weight of the beasts tearing at her… Simply vanished.
As if they were never there in the first place.
Are the demons fighting over their food?
Though confused, she decided to at least give the beast, which must've started an inflight, one last look before it inevitably returned to finish her off.
And so, she pushed herself up.
"??!"
But, what she saw… Was utterly incomprehensible.
A gargantuan creature - so large that even Nether's architecture paled in comparison to it - ravaged the swarm, obliterating them into what could only be described as puddles of blood.
Though she could've simply written it off as a 'Titan' type beast, one detail proved that theory moot.
Because, despite the clearly inhuman appearance, something about its actions seemed familiar:
Is it… Merging with the demons? Hah. Hahahaha… Really now? What is this fairy tale nonsense?
Kaela felt an urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation - after all, there was only one creature she knew of that could morph with whom it killed.
The thing that showed up to wreak havoc in her stead was, without a doubt…
Ori…
Her knight in shining armor - if the grotesque abomination could even be called that - had shown up just on time.