Utterly dry burning heat filled the air, and dark storm clouds rumbled with lightning that filled the surroundings with flashes of blinding light.

As Shizu screamed, her form was filled with more fiery almost demonic essence and I frowned as with my enhanced senses I could feel Shizu's own presence diminishing as Ifrit took over her body.

I raised a hand and as Shizu was swallowed by dark flames Ifrits demonic flame-covered form stepped out of the flames. I sent a lance of solid flames into the monster that exploded sending the demon flying backwards away from the adventurers who had visited us yesterday.

As Ifrit staggered back to its feet, I raised an eyebrow as across Ifrits muscular bare chest was a bleeding hole a good fingertip deep in its chest where my spear had landed. I pulled at my essence and then I spoke into the soul of the spirit of fire the most 'Provoking' words imaginable for an elemental. "S̸o̸ ̷m̷u̸c̵h̵ ̶f̸o̷r̸ ̶t̵h̸e̸ ̷s̷p̴i̶r̸i̵t̷ ̴o̵f̴ ̷f̷l̷a̶m̴e̸s̷!" 

There was a pregnant silence and then Ifrit's glowing eyes thinned on my form and it screamed a cry of such utter hatred and mind-bending intent of murder that the three human adventurers couldn't help but backstep.

And instead of showing fear. I further provoked the elemental and I could feel the Provoker potion I drank being digested as I verbally and otherwise attacked its mind. "W̶h̷y̴ ̶i̴s̴ ̵a̴ ̴b̴e̸i̷n̶g̷ ̸o̷f̷ ̸f̶l̴a̷m̵e̴s̶.̴.̶.̵ ̸B̸e̶i̵n̵g̷ ̸h̷a̷r̵m̴e̴d̵ ̷b̵y̴ ̶a̸ ̶m̷o̴r̴t̴a̷l̵'̴s̷ ̴f̶l̸a̴m̸e̵s̵?̸ ̴D̸i̵d̷ ̸y̸o̴u̶ ̸g̵e̷t̵ ̸c̶h̷o̷k̷e̴d̶ ̴o̷u̶t̶ ̶b̴y̴ ̷b̴e̸i̷n̸g̶ ̴c̶h̸a̶i̵n̷e̵d̶ ̶b̴y̸ ̴a̵ ̴l̵i̵t̸t̴l̸e̸ ̸g̵i̵r̵l̸ ̸f̴o̴r̵ ̸a̶ ̵c̸e̶n̵t̸u̸r̵y̶?̷"

Ifirit abandoned all thoughts and with only murder on its mind, it dashed towards me with flame-covered fingers held in claws that attempted to carve me open and in response I used the trap I had been laying for the last minute as I had been taunting the monster.

While I was taunting the monster I had been engraving a rune in the ground with my shoe and although the rune wasn't that potent due to the poor medium and my shoe being what drew it, that still didn't change the fact that a high-pressure blast of water being shot upwards had the power to blow Ifrit up into the air allowing me to form two more spears of my Yatagarasu's flames to throw them into the spirit of flames making it scream in fury and agony.

Then another pillar of water smashed into Ifrit with the flame spirit being slammed out of the air and into the ground as Rimuru joined the fight. "Jake are you alright?! You are on fire?" Rimuru yelled and I raised an eyebrow before my lips twitched as I realized most of my clothes had been burnt off by Ifrits flames and my own.

"Yeah, I am immune to flames. Even its own." I said frowning before shaking my head and speaking up. "Rimuru, we need to weaken the fire spirit, use more water skills or better yet ice ones if you have any!" I called out as I sent a wave of flames to push back the pillar of flames it sent at me and Rimuru and I couldn't help but grimace as I had to output much more flames than it was seeming to.

'Ifrit has a lot more magical power than I do and a much higher output of flames... My flames are a completely higher tier though.' I thought as I took a breath and following the memories of fire bending in Avatar I stomped forward and pushed out a fist with a column of flames pushing hard into the spirit flames. The pressure built up, it was so great that my black and purple flames formed a likewise pillar running alongside the spirit's dark red flames with his flames running past my side where Rimuru was previously standing.

"Icicle spear!" Eren yelled and her ice spear took out one of Ifrits summoned little flame demons I had been ignoring due to their flames and physical forms not being a danger to me. 

I took note of that and Rimuru quickly called out. "Jake, keep Ifrit busy! I need to learn the ice spell!" 

As Rimuru ate one of the icicle spells I grimaced as Ifrit had seemingly cleared its mind of the primal fury I had polluted its mind with and hearing that Rimuru was going to start using ice spells its natural weakness it quickly flew towards the slime... Which I couldn't allow obviously.

Knowing the fight wouldn't need to be long, and that Rimuru had this in the bag once they had the ice spell. I pulled hard at my Yatagarasu's flames and the fist-sized gem on my chest glowed with baleful light as I punched outwards the the very air screamed as my black and purple flames created a three-story tall pillar of flames that rammed into Ifrit and sent its form skidding across the surroundings as my flames had formed a hand construct that dragged the spirit of flames across the ground. 

Feeling the overwhelming strain of the construct, I mentally detonated the black flames sending Rimuru and the human adventurers screaming as they had to hold onto the ground in order to not get blown back by the explosion. While I couldn't help but stagger at the hollow feeling of running so low on magical energy akin to when I named Demeter, Karna, and the others.

As my black flames disappeared Ifrits... Burned form staggered to its feet and there was no disguising the utter hate that it aimed at me. I mean think about how funny it was for a spirit of fire to be burned. It was like a mermaid drowning.

"I got it now Jake! Icicle shotgun!" Rimuru yelled and dozens of ice spears were shot from all directions from magical glyphs and I took a breath as I watched Rimuru go about the normal pace of suppressing Ifrit until Rimuru just glomped the monster and ate it with its devouring skill. 'Now the asshole is Veldora's problem.' I thought with some amusement at how the Storm dragon was going to beat the fire spirit like the unwanted red-headed step-child it truly was.

And right below Rimuru was the unconscious form of Shizu and I could feel how hollowed out she was currently. And seeing the utter pit of lifeforce she was... I realized that interfering with a girl who wanted to just die and would get to reunite with her mother's soul in the afterlife wasn't the right move. 

'Let Rimuru have their time with their destined one... I won't interfere.' I thought with a sad smile crossing my face as I helped Rimuru carry Shizu into one of the unburnt buildings so the female mage Eren could change her nude form into some clothes to rest.

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