Chapter 6 — The Devouring
‘Faster! I need to hurry!’
“ORAAAAA!”
Screaming his heart out, Sebas expended even more Origin Energy as he finally broke through Yurei’s range of consequence and proceeded to teleport through the sky.
‘Is this why all Fourteen Monarchs exercised caution!? Because that is his Concept!?’
Fear welling up in his heart, he thought back to the charred body of Yurei on Wrath’s back and bit his lip.
“…”
‘Yurei...’
“…s”
“eh?”
“Sebas!”
Focusing his worn gaze in the distance, Sebas could vaguely make out a blur of black and pink flickering towards him. His mind in a haze, he barely registered what happened when he was abruptly embraced by the figure. Feeling the cool sensation of Spirit Energy trickling into him, he fell into a trance as two mounds pressed against his head.
“Sebas! Sebas!! What happened!? Why are you in this form!?”
Her shout breaking him out of his dazed state, Sebas looked up to see Sofi’s distressed gaze on him. Remembering his orders, Sebas hurriedly grasped at her and yelled with all his might.
“Take me to the Monarchs!”
“Eh?”
“Don’t ask! Just Hurry Up And TAKE ME!! I’ll tell you on the way!!!”
Seeing Sebas’ face that seemed to break down into tears, Sofi didn’t ask anymore and rushed back. All the while she steadily provided Sebas a stream of Spirit Energy, his ragged teenage body regaining its stability.
Least to say, she was shocked when she saw Sebas teleporting so chaotically and rushed to intercept him. When she finally saw him, she was all the more bewildered.
‘Just what happened during their spar?’
Her hold around Sebas tightened as she felt his small arms wrap around her neck. The last time she recalled this form of his was decades ago when they were both young Spirits striving to work for the Monarchs.
Feeling the amount of Spirit Energy he drained slowly come to a halt, Sofi looked down to meet Sebas in the eye and calmly asked, “Can you tell me happened?”
Hearing her question, Sebas shivered slightly before he felt Sofi’s arms tighten around him. Calming down within her embrace, Sebas then began to slowly recount everything that transpired over the course of a few hours.
*boom*
“Alright then, since we haven’t got much time, both of ya, come at me together!”
Taunting them, Wrath wantonly released his Fighting Intent, ethereal white flames billowing around him as a massive grin formed on his face.
Sebas and Yurei also proceeded to release their Fighting Intent. Golden-brown flames swirled around the former while black hazy flames rippled across the latter. Right as they were about to set into motion, Sebas thought back to what Wrath told him before they left.
<<Sebas>>
<<Yes milord?>>
<<The purpose of this fight is to make Yu relax>>
<<‘Relax’ milord?>>
<<Only Ri and I noticed cuz’ he has Concepts resembling us, but he’s in tatters. His energies are a mess. He’s been avoiding everyone lately as well right? Especially Ri?>>
<<Y-yes milord>>
<<He himself knows he’s at his limits and will lash out but still thinks he’s fine>>
<<So what will we do milord?>>
<<Make him understand that he isn’t. You know how strong he is Sebas?>>
<<Around my and Sofi’s level milord>>
<<Ha! That’s cuz he ain't thinking straight. A well rested Yu would even make me get slightly serious ya know>>
<<eh? Really?>>
<<It’s true I tell ya. And it’s all the more why we need to stop him->>
*BOOM*
The three became a blur as they released a sliver of their Existential Pressure. The ground beneath them exploded as white rushed to meet gold and black, their collision sending shockwaves across the entire zone.
With a tacit understanding, all three of them fought solely with their limbs, their Fighting Intents itself leaving chaos and devastation in their wake.
“Hahahaha! Is that all ya got ya overgrown kittens!”
Sebas, already in the know, kept his cool after hearing Wrath’s extremely insulting taunt yet the same was not true for Yurei. His strikes became sharper as the flames around him seemed to dissolve everything. Not losing out in the slightest, Sebas also increased his momentum so as to not arouse Yurei’s suspicions.
* * *
“Oh come on ya shits! This is barely a warm-up! Ya two’ve gone weak haven’t you!?”
Receiving a kick from the front, Yurei skidded back to see Sebas suffer the same as he sank into the ground.
Sebas, using this chance, decided to hurriedly excuse himself from this affront, “I’m… sorry milord… haa.”
“Looks like you know you’ve been pushing y’erself. Good. What about ya Yu?”
His grin still wolfish, he turned his gaze away from Sebas towards Yurei.
“I̵͖̾ ̷̘̓c̵̨̑ȧ̵̞n̵̜͆ ̵̼͗s̵͇͝t̵̺̍i̷̭̔l̵̝̐l̶̗͑ ̷̜̐f̵͉̒ỉ̷̼g̸̠̎ḫ̷͊ẗ̵̮.̴̙̈́”
His voice actually cracking, Yurei rushed forward with a telegraphed punch only to feel his arm being yanked in a vice grip as Wrath’s smile changed into one of disdain.
“Really no~w. A while back ya would’ve dodged this wouldn’t ya?”
His Killing Intent flaring up in Wrath’s face, Yurei escaped his grasp before his knee-kick could deal any damage.
Chasing after him, Wrath was now on the offensive as he launched strike after deadly strike, each jab, thrust and kick sharply connecting with Yurei time and time again. With every hit, his Killing Intent grew more eerie as he felt hatred surge within him.
Jeering at his flimsy emotions, Wrath continued toying with him, his smile growing colder with every moment longer Yurei struggled.
À̵̺L̴̡̥̜̫̆̇̔̓-̸̧̗̊͝͝M̷̜̬̳̄̅Ò̵̞̒S̴͉͔̗̫͝Ṯ̸̛̳̃͒̐͜-̶̧͖͓̇̓̌!̸̟̃?̸͓̹̯̱̓̀
His thoughts obvious in Wrath’s eyes, before Yurei knew it, Wrath had pulverised his chest with a straight, a fist sized hole revealing the barren landscape behind him.
Feeling the metaphorical air knocked out of his lungs as he was sent flying, Yurei felt his leg being grabbed before being slammed into solid earth.
“Umm, milord? Don’t you think that’s enough?”
“It isn’t” Wrath replied with a growl, his white flames burning away at the lingering black wisps around Yurei.
“He still thinks he can put up a damned fight,” he said as he stood over him when he heard Sebas’ shout.
“Milord don’t-!!”
With anger getting to his head, Wrath didn’t understand what Sebas meant before it was too late.
‘Shit!’
White flames made of Mana hurriedly rushed out of Wrath, engulfing Sebas before he could know it.
Raising himself from the ground, Sebas held his head as he blankly stared around before an eerie coldness washed over him.
The Intent was much too malevolent to be described as Bloodlust yet too impulsive to be described as Killing Intent.
Feeling chilled as if his existence itself left his body, he vaguely recalled the continuation of Wrath’s words from back then.
<< A well rested Yu would make me get slightly serious ya know>>
<<eh? Really?>>
<<It’s true I tell ya. And it’s all the more why we need to stop him.
Before he gets Devoured by his Concept>>
<<D-Devoured?>>
<<Yup. Just like us Monarchs before we gained Sentience, his mind’ll slowly erode as his Concept takes over his tired self. That’s how many Concept Wielders meet their demise. They’re devoured cuz their Concepts deemed them too weak>>
<<Umm...>>
<<Hahahaha. Don’t worry. It won’t happen to you or Sofi. We can easily suppress yours through Resonance>>
‘The Devouring-’
“FUCKING DRAGON BALLS!”
“!!! MILORD!”
Desperately resisting the drain, Sebas lifted his head to see a black dome a fair distance away. Stumbling forward, he found out that his body had reverted to his teenage days, the amount of energy being forcefully ripped out of him reaching dangerously high levels before an even larger super-massive white barrier enclosed the black dome.
Making an effort to look past the flaming-white barrier, what Sebas saw shocked him to the core. In Yurei’s book, what Sebas saw could only be described as an Ifrit, a fire asura, as Wrath’s entire body was a white inferno with only his eyes a deep dark red. Yet even those malignant flames were being sucked into Yurei’s body, burning him to a crisp as Wrath’s body slowly shrank in size.
* * *
Seeing as Yurei lost control, Wrath could only try to seal him before taking him to the rest of the Monarchs before it was too late.
Having decided so, the barrier around them compressed, clashing against Yurei’s before incinerating it as it enveloped him.
Wrath, now out of the barrier, slowly regained his usual shape and features before he put Yurei on his back and sprinted out of the magma pit.
Seeing his liege move, Sebas scrambled to rush to them despite the constantly intensifying strain on his mind.
“STAY BACK SEBAS!”
“But milord! At this rate you’ll-”
‘Fucking Dragon shit! At this rate-’
“Sebastian! Use everything you got! Just rush ahead and inform the rest! And Don’t You Dare Be Late or I’ll Fucking Rip Your Soul Apart!”
“!!? Yes milord!”
‘There’s no way I’m letting you die cuz of Yu, Sebas! And ain’t no way on my life as a Conceptual am I letting you die Yu!’
With these thoughts in mind, Wrath continued to carry Yurei as he watched Sebas’ battered adolescent form rush past him, hearing a grin-inducing roar from him a beat later as he broke past the circumference inside of which Yurei continued to absorb energy.
“The Devouring,” Sofi whispered as she listened to Sebas finish his take on what happened.
“It’s okay Sofi.”
“Huh?”
“Milord said that we won’t be Devoured, because unlike the Prince, we only have a single Concept. The Monarchs can easily stop us should we lose control as what we’ve been granted is only a part of their Concepts,” Sebas said this with such gravity that Sofi couldn’t help but break out into a giggle as she took in his serious complexion in his current form.
“Hehe, you’re right Sebas. For now, all we have to do is inform milady and the rest.”
“Unn.” *yawn*
Looking at him desperately hiding his exhaustion, Sofi appreciatively whispered, “Why don’t you take a nap for now and restore your lost energies? I’ll wake you up when we arrive~”
“Al~right~ Mmn.”
Burying his face in Sofi’s chest, he quickly fell asleep under her spell, unaware of the internal struggle Sofi just went through, her tail subconsciously coiling around his.
Soon after, sensing that as Sebas’ energies had slowed down to a satisfactory level, Sofi began to teleport across the sky, promptly entering the estate.
* * * * *
Needless to say, when Sofi arrived with Sebas sleeping in her arms, the Monarchs were shocked, yet after hearing her retelling of what came to pass, they all had pensive expressions on their faces before evidently reaching a verdict through their gazes.
“Thank you for your hard work Sofi, you can rest now.”
Unlike usual, “Yes. Please allow me to indulge in your generosity, milady,” Sofi was too stressed out after seeing Sebas in such a state which was why she immediately accepted Pride’s offer of respite.
Watching from her seat with Sebas on her lap, Sofi witnessed the marvel of Thirteen Monarchs releasing their Mana simultaneously in all its splendour.
Normally, the Mana of distinct individuals would clash due to an inconstancy in quality, yet here, Sofi saw as the Mana of her liege seamlessly weaved into the swirling torrent to form a barrier enclosing the entire resort.
With Pride pinpointing the location of Wrath and Yurei, Greed and Charity teleported the entire resort across the [Spirit World] with their proficiency in Space Magic.
Slowly closing the distance, Gluttony and Temperance prepared themselves to protect the rest from the Drain while Lust, Sloth, Diligence and Chastity integrated their energies and debated on how to rouse Yurei’s mind without any severe repercussions.
With all of them rushing into motion, Envy, Kindness, Patience and Humility argued from time to time as they prepared a few constructs to stabilize Yurei’s body and soul when they would arrive.
Looking at this scene, with all of the Monarchs actively working towards a single goal, Sofi strangely enough, felt a warm sentiment spread throughout her chest as she hugged Sebas, relief washing through her as she firmly believed that everything would turn out to be fine.
...Yet, that was the day that everything changed.
