254 Pure

It would have taken the Prince of Darkness just one blow to make the scant residue of life disappear from Helial's body. The boy couldn't afford to relax.

Certainly Alexander had done him a great favour, giving him two kinds of Mana he could use to avoid getting killed. But how could he use them?

Metamorphosis? No, Metamorphosis could not be affected by two different kinds of Mana. Creating Metamorphosis has already been exhausting, I would not be able to replicate it in now. I'd just end up killing myself. Alexander wanted to tell me something, but if he had been too explicit Iblis would have gone mad. Unfortunately, if I want the title of his disciple, that's how I have to earn it.

Being the disciple of the greatest monster of all time had its strengths and weaknesses and you had to be willing to accept them without remorse.

My only Abilities that have offensive potential are Mana Pistol, which de-evolved from Death Flame Pistol when I lost Flame of the Qilin. Besides, even Flame of the Qilin is gone and is therefore not to be taken into consideration. Helial kept thinking as fast as he could as the Prince of Darkness approached him, more and more menacing. Then we have Achilles's Flaming Throw, but I don't think there's anything to be done. While it is possible to make a spear with those two kinds of Mana, you might as well use Mana of Life and Destruction. Of course, the Mana of Blood and Lightning are pure, according to Alexander...

One second. Pure?

…

During a training session with Iblis

"So this new Skill you have developed takes Flame of the Qilin and uses it to create new Runes. Clever", Iblis commented, with slightly furrowed brows.

Helial knew that look. The Devil was thinking of some test or question to ask him to see how much progress he had made during his training.

Although he would never have shown it at such moments, Iblis was genuinely amazed by his disciple. Using the power of Flame of the Qilin was like trying to chain a hurricane, a storm, a tsunami and have it follow orders.

That Skill was a force of nature in its own right. Its owner too treated the creation of Flame of the Qilin as a miraculous event.

Dragons used their Mana to create the most terrifying flames ever seen. The Phoenixes possessed Flames that consumed the surrounding Mana to allow them to heal their wounds continuously. Many other creatures used Mana in different ways to fuel or control their flames.

But not the Qilin.

The Qilin since their birth had a Flame that no one could ever take away from them. Even just after birth, their control over this was greater than that of all other species. They had an innate connection with their own Flame and didn't even need Mana to activate it!

A Qilin needed just enough Mental Energy to create terrifying Skills.

Kirin had created a bloodline unable to pursue Destruction, a bloodline forever destined to protect and serve living creatures. And because of this, the Dragons had always treated the Qilin like beasts on a leash, making fun of them.

But the truth was that, although the Qilin had partially given up their freedom, what they had gained from this loss was a nearly indestructible body and a Flame more terrifying than anything their brothers could conjure up. Well, on the one hand the Dragons had the finest control over the Mana in the universe, on the other their brothers, the Qilin, possessed a Flame capable of annihilating anything.

Iblis pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Do you know why, when using Runic Control, you can only use Mana in a neutral way, without imbuing it with the Principles of Life and Destruction?"

Helial was taken aback by that question and thought about it immediately, aloud. "When I tried to insert Life and Destruction into the Runes, the two types of Mana destroyed all the Runes I had created; it seemed as if they were incapable of forming from two such powers. I suppose the affinity of Flame of the Qilin, perhaps its physical form and its missing links with Mana, are why it could work instead. Maybe Life and Destruction can't handle the stress that goes through the Runes. Flame of the Qilin also becomes unusable for 24 hours after the activation of Rune of the Qilin: I suppose it is because, I repeat, the stress..."

"Ok, stop. You said enough bullshit," Iblis said, running his palm over his face.

The child sighed and rose in mid-air, stopping three feet from Helial.

Skill Activated:

Runes of Destruction

Iblis's body was immediately covered in pitch-black Runes and his Aura, brought to the Late stage of the Second Phase, was amplified in a terrifying way, as if it could pierce the sky itself.

Helial gasped. Sometimes he forgot that learning the principles of the Skills that Helial had created with so much effort had to be a piece of cake for Iblis.

"As you see, Shit Head," Iblis said, annoyed, "it's not a problem due to Destruction Mana or, for what it's worth, Life."

Alexander appeared out of nowhere next to Iblis, inside the arena they were using to train.

"The problem is that the Mana you use is not pure enough and cannot condense into Runes. It's a weak version of the Mana of Life and Destruction, it's like it's an ineffective conductor. You are on a difficult Mana Path. You have chosen to pursue multiple kinds of Mana, and contrasting with each other. It will be difficult to achieve adequate purity. So, the Mana you use fails to transmit the energy, it gets blocked and explodes. Poof."

Iblis mimicked an explosion with his hands as the Runes began to disappear from his body.

…

During the fight

Pure.

The Mana of Blood and Lightning was pure, completely pure, without even a flaw.

Helial's body began to shake visibly in front of the Revenant, now a few meters from him.

The Prince of Darkness raised its fist, ready to pulverize him. He had made the fight long enough, continuing would have been useless. Although his position, within the territory of the Undead, was second only to that of the Immortals, he could not disobey the orders he had received.

Yes, the Prince of Darkness did not speak the language of living creatures, but he understood it perfectly, enough to elaborate a number of useful information to act in the most correct way and at the right time. Like this.

The Revenant would mark the end of Helial.

But that impossibly shaped monster knew that he was only acting as a perpetrator and that he was being exploited by the big shots craving for war. Tomorrow, once it reached Immortality, it would take care of all the people who were taking advantage of its weakness, but for now it couldn't help but lower its head and put an end to its fun.

Helial sensed that the threat this time was more real than before. He felt that the Prince of Darkness was ready to finish him. This was the moment, he had to act as soon as possible!

He first brought his arms close to his chest, while a scarlet light shone in his right palm, and an electric current was generated in his left.

"God. First try. It will hurt."

He forcefully extended his arms until he destroyed the air around him and created a frightening shock wave.

DOOOOONG!

Frankenstein, Snowflake, Vlad, Circe and all the others, even Lumia who was wrestling with Vetal and couldn't get distracted even for a second, turned to Helial. All they saw was a column of red light traversed by Lightning crashing against the barrier, damaging it so much that a web of cracks formed across its length.

All the Immortals present there, Goblins, Trolls or Undead as they were, looked at what was happening with wide eyes.

How could that energy crack the barrier, which was practically indestructible?

That was the second singular event in a very short time. Before it was Lumia's scythe that pierced the barrier as if nothing was had been there, now it was not an object but a strange energy, which covered the boy, to inflict damage on the dome that should be able to resist any type of attack!

Meanwhile, in the Soul of Helial, Iblis was very worried: he could not decide where to place the cutlery. He stood with his eyebrows furrowed, unsure whether to put the fork on the right with the knife on top of the napkin, or leave the fork on the right and knife on the left. Besides, how many forks should he have prepared? How many courses should he have cooked?

Alexander, on the other hand, was turned towards the void, where a huge image of Helial's fight levitated in mid-air on a kind of screen.

Bucephalus sat next to him and periodically put his hand in a huge pack of popcorn.

"That Mana is so pure that it could hardly be stopped by a stupid barrier, idiots", Bucephalus grumbled, "even if it were Mana belonging to someone in the First Phase, its purity infiltrates all the imperfections of the Mana used by those who have created the barrier. Such pure Mana is such a powerful weapon that it has few rivals."

"Few, yes. But it's still not up to Curse of the Demon, which someone has decided to take from him." Alexander's comment did not seem to disturb Iblis in the least. "You should explain to me why you insisted on giving him so many Malus. The thing about being stuck in the Second Phase was true, and in fact it was the same for Lumia. But the rest? Why do you have to invent all this bullshit?"

You should explain it to me. The Devil repeated these words in his mind.

Iblis stopped and stood still for a few seconds, then resumed moving the cutlery on the table. He did not know how he managed to control himself to avoid creating a conflict of unimaginable dimensions because of Alexander.

"Maybe I should," Iblis said, slowly turning to the huge screen suspended in midair. Then he saw a dazzling light completely covering Helial and blocking the view of all the people around him, who could not see beyond the cocoon of light.

The Devil folded his arms and kept watching.

"And now let's see how it goes."