Chapter 214 - Advent Of The Strongest

Still feeling the effects of the fog that had infiltrated his lungs, Sora's senses jumped as he recognized the mana signature, soon noticing the gathering of clouds in the sunless sky. 

That's Sirius' great magic!...It's the same one he used against me--wait, no. It's two...No, four times more powerful! He thought. 

Standing himself up to witness the divine sight, Sora forced a shaky smile across his lips as he held onto his limp arm. It was absolutely vexing for him nonetheless, feeling powerless as the fog infiltrated his body, seizing his functions as he fought against its hold. 

It's not just my muscles it's seizing...My damn mana feels like it's going haywire. Just what the hell did I breathe?

From the vacant center within the grouping of spiraling clouds, a light began to form, expanding its embrace throughout the rest of the clouds as just for a moment, it seemed as if daylight had returned to the forest. 

The divine mass of mana manifested continued to spiral, gathering its full force before finally, a massive array of energy shot down from the opening in the eventful skies. It was nearly impossible to discern the origin of the spell in its speed and massive quantities of magical energy, holding a shapeless form that traveled down directly towards Sloth. 

"Just...kidding…"

"...Huh?!"

At the last millisecond before impact, he heard it clearly, an almost mocking tone came from the bellowing vocal cords of the beast as it turned back, holding a wicked smile as it shook, presenting a harrowing laugh. 

Before he could discover the meaning of Sloth's abnormal reaction, the mass of light crashed down on their position, filling the territory with a blinding radiance that sent a tremor throughout the soil as if a fault line had acted up. 

What the hell was that about?--"Just kidding"...Worrying, he thought. 

As the radiance endless in its grandeur finally allowed the regular shade to fade back into the forest, the thick, almost claustrophobic section of the tree-filled territory had been obliterated by the spell. At that moment, he didn't even register in his mind what had been done to the forest, only looking around for his enemy. 

To his eyes, the form of the sable-skinned creature came into view; his mouth falling agape for a moment, it was because Sloth stood there, completely unharmed. In fact, it seemed rather than being hurt, the magical energy radiating from the creature had amplified massively. 

"How?!"

Did it regenerate already?...No, not even it is that fast! He thought. 

"Thank...you…"

It was the only response he received, enigmatic in nature as the creature embraced itself, its skin boiling up once more, splitting and spewing liquid from its newly-formed tears. 

It's just like before...It's undergoing a metamorphosis! He thought. 

"I won't let you!"

Snapping his fingers, the lightning bolt he threw at its chest tore away at its already dissolving flesh but had no real effect on it. It was a completely different sensation, that impact, and feeling it sent a chill through his body--a real, disheartening shiver for the first time throughout this encounter. 

This time, the black gunk seemed to take on the nature of acid, melting away the creature's hide as it simply stood there hugging itself, not letting out so much as a groan as the crimson circles on its head looked as if they were watching the human. 

I failed. I failed to recognize the severity of the situation--the severity of this creature itself. "Beasts of Sin" are considered to be some of the most dangerous entities in this world. I thought after knocking it around a bit, those were just overblown rumors. This is the strength of "Sloth", an ever-growing creature, thriving off of loss--and I've continued to feed it. Shit...I have to tell Sora, I have to save him! Sirius thought. 

While Sloth was busy undergoing its transformation, Sirius shot himself into the air, kicking off of the winds as if it were a platform as he traveled like a desperate bolt across the skies. It didn't take long for him to find his companion, hunched over against a tree. 

Crashing down, Sora looked at him with a smile before fading into a worried look as he saw the expression plastered on Sirius' own. 

"Not going well?"

Sirius simply shook his head in response, "I underestimated it."

Clenching his gloves tightly, the aching, harrowing feeling in his beating heart couldn't be shaken away. Slowly, droplets of rain began to fall from the sky, trickling down on his gray uniform as it became damp. 

"Go on ahead."

"Huh?!"

Sora's surprised response is exactly what he expected. The vermilion-haired companion of his was a man of confidence and more importantly, bravery. 

"This battle is going to take longer than I initially thought, and Lucas is still out there."

"You can't just expect me…"

"Sora, please."

Giving the man the only smile he could muster, Sirius' words seemed to get through to some spot in the man's heart. 

"I won't lie...I can't exactly be of much help if this thing is really strong enough to trouble you. I can hardly feel the left side of my body right now…"

"No offense, but you're right. Honestly, it would probably kill you within a minute."

Being told this, Sora couldn't help but chuckle, both out of fear and the absurdity of it all, running his hand through his vermilion locks as the rain helped slick it back a bit. 

"I've always trusted your judgment...I won't stop now. Just, don't die or else I'll kill you myself, you got that?"

"Yeah."

Nodding his head, Sirius held his small smile as Sora laid his hand on his shoulder, looking at his eyes for a moment before hurrying off in his speed-amplifying armor. Now with that weight off of his mind, Sirius took in a deep breath before he brought himself back into the daunting forest, feeling a massive buildup of mana surge. 

"Just you and me now, big guy."

Listening to the now showers of rain pelt against the ceiling of leaves above his head, his boots traversed the mud as he could see it in the near distance now; the new metamorphosis that the monster was undergoing. It was something else entirely from what he had first witnessed, the simply shedding of its old skin it was not. 

From its massive tail it used to traverse the surface, mounds of flesh protruded, extending and contorting until the rough shape of legs were made, being refined into muscular, humanoid legs that allowed it to stand upright. Due to no longer using its enormous tail appendage to stand, its height took a decline, still dwarfing Sirius all the same. 

The acidic, black ooze it generated from its pores had completely melted away its hide, leaving only its blood-soaked, exposed muscles before strands of a new armor began to be produced. Extending from each section of its shown flesh, the lines of black, organic material weaved into one another, etching itself into his body like a sewing out of hell. 

Raising its hand, the creature watched as the new layer of flesh wrapped itself around the exposed bones that were its fingers, clenching its fist once completely formed. 

"Ah, amazing. It's been far too long since I've reached this point."

Looking up towards the moon, Sloth spoke, cracking its neck side to side as a couple of loud pops followed. There were no longer any oddities to its speaking, a fact which unsettled Sirius even further. 

"I must thank you for aiding me in my evolution. I am most grateful, Sirius."

"...I don't care about your gratitude. What the hell did you do?"

Tightening his gloves over his wrists, Sirius kept his eyes keenly on the creature as he spoke, watching for any subtle changes in its form. Instead of the sea of bumps that previously ran over its skin, its protective hide was now smooth and without blemish; streaks of crimson ran over its sleek, stygian complexion, letting off a slight, subtle glow. 

"Hm? Oh, you mean with that spell of yours. You see, it is by the structure of my own body that I am able to absorb spells and convert them into original mana for myself."

"Then why didn't you…"

"Do it before? Simply put, you were far too fast. I must preemptively set my body up to take in a spell, but your attacks launched much too quickly for me. However, that last spell, while moving fast, was stagnant in its aim."

Explaining this, Sloth held up one of its long, bony fingers that ended in a sharp, obsidian nail. 

"I feel as if I should reintroduce myself; Beast of Sin, number five, Sloth. Until now, I was simply a feeble caterpillar, awaiting nutrients to awaken to my true form." 

It was as if what was standing before him was a completely different entity to that of a few minutes ago, speaking with an eloquence unheard of previously. 

"...You already know my name, as I said, burn it into your memory, Sloth. I won't repeat it again."