Chapter 2881: Merging Flames (part 1)
On top of that, Lith shared the same energy signature with his Demons, but all he had obtained by combining his strength with them were Thousand Flames. After countless hours of training in the Blood Desert, using the tower to protect his cracked life force, Solus had come up with a theory.
"Grandma and Leegaain can use Primordial Flames so it"s not something that can only be performed by more than one person. Also, the energy signature is irrelevant as well. Which leaves only one explanation: the secret of Primordial Flames lay in the life force of the users."
"Meaning?" Lith asked with a puzzled look.
"Origin Flames can"t be controlled by imbuing willpower in them, only by manipulating the willpower already present in the life force that ignites them. To produce Primordial Flames, you need either an exceptional life force like the Guardians do, or to combine multiple life forces together." Solus replied.
"Isn"t that what I always do with my Demons for the Thousand Flames?"
"No. You guys just pile up your life forces but the intent they carry is discordant. If I"m right, the difference between Thousand and Primordial Flames is that the latter doesn"t require just the will to destroy but to destroy the same thing in the same way.
"That"s why you never produced Primordial Flames with your Demons. They share your energy signature and target, but each one of them tries to accomplish the mission in their own way. When we were fused, instead, we were one.
"We shared the same life force and will. I wanted exactly what you wanted which made it easier for us to succeed. With Tista things are going to be harder because your personalities are very different." Solus had said and she was right.
Tista"s Flames were animated by her will like the knife of an a.s.sa.s.sin, aimed at the vital points of her target while trying to minimize casualties and collateral damage. Lith"s, instead, only cared for destruction.
His Flames aimed to annihilate his enemies while also cutting off every possible escape path. If someone or something were close to the point of impact, that was their problem.
Both had trusted Solus" judgment and worked to overcome the issue by using a mind link. They would project in the other"s mind how they wanted their respective Flames to work and then met halfway.
Until that moment, they had only obtained explosions of various degrees and only a few tongues of white flames. This time, however, they shared the same will and Life Maelstrom.
Valeron"s silver lightning was spread inside their life forces, raising their compatibility and smoothing the conflict between the two Origin Flames. "I"m going to rejoice when we succeed on our own without external help." Lith replied. "Let"s see what happens with Cursed Flames while we are at it."
Tista and Lith were the only two people capable of conjuring them on Mogar so they had no idea what applying the principle behind Primordial Flames would do. The only time they had come close to such a thing was against Night"s Chosen.
Back then, however, it had been a fluke caused by the Horseman"s interference and the interaction of three kinds of Flames. The result had been a powerful conflagration but how and why was still a mystery.
"Let"s go with True and Frozen Flames, then." Tista said.
She lacked Lith"s Abomination side and the only way a Hekate had to conjure Cursed Flames was in pairs. One element would be channeled through the lungs to the mouth while the other would go from the heart to the wings.
Lith nodded as he took a deep breath in unison with his sister. This time, they needed to agree on both the kind of destruction they wanted to cause and the epicenters of the different Cursed Flames.
Being a hopeless pessimist, Lith a.s.sumed that they would fail.
It wasn"t their first attempt to fuse two kinds of Flames at the same time but since even the "simple" Primordial Flames were beyond their reach without Valeron"s help, he was ready to bet that Cursed Flames would be more difficult.
"Let"s aim there and there." He telepathically marked two points very far away from their allies, where the explosion that he expected to take place would kill the most monsters.
"Okay." Tista breathed a burst of True Flames from her mouth and a twin jet stream of Frozen Flames from her wings just like Lith.
The True Flames were aimed at a large tribe of trolls since they were weak against fire while the Frozen Flames. .h.i.t Wormlings who due to their draconic lineage were likely to suffer cold.
"I hate being always right but this is too much!" The Cursed Flames had reached their respective targets, killing everyone on their path until they made contact.
At that point, they had just disappeared.
"I get no Primordial Flames, but no explosion either? At all?" Tista was flabbergasted. "Do we really suck that bad?"
"I suck that bad, you mean." Lith cursed. "I"m at the bright violet and with the Life Maelstrom empowering me, the worst that should have happened was my Flames overpowering yours and then detonating.
"How could I end up in a draw with a deep violet?"
"Thank you so much! You"re such a-" Tista choked on her own sarcasm when a red and a blue light seeped through the black ma.s.s of the monster tide.
They slowly expanded, revealing that the light sources elemental hemispheres coursing with silver lightning that were rapidly expanding. The True and Frozen Flames devoured the monsters in their path, becoming bigger with each victim they made.
"I stand corrected." Lith said. "We failed but not that badly. Our Flames are building up and the moment they reach the critical ma.s.s they are going to explode in-" The hemispheres consumed the ground as well and then the other half was visible as well.
The two spheres were concentrical, with a denser one at their core while the external one was lighter but crackling with lightning. Also, they seemed to have no intention to stop expanding.
"Why haven"t they exploded yet?" Tista asked.
Before Lith could shrug, the Cursed spheres roared. Colossal arms erupted from the external layer, soon followed by legs. Both sucked in more monsters, yet Lith could see with Life Vision that the act wasn"t consuming their strength.
It fueled them.
With the external layer gone, the two Divine Beasts could now see that the internal sphere was packed with monsters. It grew into a torso first and then a head sprouted on top of it.
Where the Cursed Flames had collided now stood two giants, each about 23 meters (76 feet) tall. One had its body comprised of roaring red flames while the other condensed the surrounding humidity and blood, resembling a red-veined crystal golem.
Aside from a single set of eyes s.h.i.+ning respectively with Zero and Cinder, their bodies were featureless. There was no trace of intelligence in them, only a crippling hunger.
The two elementals looked at the monsters surrounding them with unquenchable desire. The fallen creatures were rich of heat and fluids, the things that the starving t.i.tans needed to prolong their existence.
This material is rooted in n0vlbin★