My ability to regenerate wounds was still present, something I was extremely grateful for as I would likely have died a few times over were it not. The biggest problem was that Gabriel could fly and the superior mobility it granted her made it difficult for me to track both her and Alcrem as she could attack from nearly any angle she pleased. To make matters worse, my consumption of the black liquid that had once been a part of me was not progressing how I would have liked. It was definitely doing something, but I wasn't sure if it was good as I had several times been forced to go completely defensive as pain wracked my body. While there was a small part of me that was glad that I was no longer filled with pleasure from pain, the majority of my thoughts was that Masochism was a stupidly powerful Skill that I had taken for granted.
The ability to not just ignore pain, but to enjoy it was both dangerous and beneficial in combat, but as my constitution made up for the danger it was only a good thing to have. No matter what kind of creature one was, pain was not pleasant and one had to have a great amount of control to not allow their instincts to react when pain is inflicted, but Masochism bypassed all of that and simply let one fight unhindered by the natural reactions of the body.
This was the crux of my current weakness, as up until this point, my fighting style had been one of reckless abandon as I was confident in my ability to survive, but now my situation was different and I could no longer fight as I had, but trying to figure out a new fighting style in the midst of battle wasn't simple, and none of my mistakes went unpunished by Alcrem or Gabriel as they slowly, but surely forced me closer and closer to the barrier that would rob me of most of my Skills and strength.
I was growing desperate as I was forced closer and closer until the ground shook, causing both Alcrem and I to become unsteady. However, unlike Alcrem, I was able to dig my carapaced feet into the ground and stabilize extremely quickly, allowing me a small window that I used to leap past him to the other side of the land bridge. This maneuver was done in vain however, as not long after another less intense shake hit, but rather than extremely widespread like the first, this was very concentrated as a split formed in the cavern right through where the barrier was, and though I couldn't see it, Gabriel's reaction made me think that it had been broken.
With the threat of losing my Skills and combat strength gone I was more confident in retreating, but it seemed that the surprises were not yet over as the large skeleton that had been inside the barrier flared with bright violet flames as they suddenly began to shift before rocketing towards me like meteors. I was slightly panicked as I attempted to dodge out of the way, but the lack of room caused me to have no chance as first the skull, but then the rest of the bones that were left slammed into my body.
There wasn't actually an impact though as they were immediately absorbed by my own Yinfire and reinforced all my Phoenix abilities, while granting me a few new ones, one of which was just the thing I needed in this situation. With a bit of focus and a fair bit of pain, bony carapace shot out from my back, near the shoulder blades, forming into a black skeletal pair of wings. My purple-black Yinfire shot along the wings and filled the gaps forming a pair of flaming Phoenix wings that spread out and flapped, lifting me into the air.
The vexed expression on Gabriel's and Alcrem's faces made me smile as I got a feel for how to fly with my new set of wings. My smile only widened when I heard a harsh female voice in my head.
"Vell!" Steria's voice resounded almost too loudly in my head. "Where are you? I think your father is up to something, but we haven't been able to find him or you."
"I'm confronting Alcrem right now, though I'm at a disadvantage since my sister Gabriel is here and apparently an Avatar for the Archangel that threatened me. As for my location, I have no idea. All I know is that I'm in a cavern of some kind, likely deep underground." I responded, as I deflected Gabriel's blade and used the momentum to fly towards the door.
While I wasn't exactly a fan of endangering the girls, I also knew that at the current moment in time it was only a matter of time before I lost and was restrained. If they had another one of those spikes this process would start all over again. What I really wanted was my possessions, as the Communication Jewelry had a method to find the location of others, but since I didn't have mine, the others couldn't use it to find me.
I practically crashed through the door to see a curving staircase, one too narrow for my wings, leaving me no choice but to retract them as I began sprinting up them. Alcrem and Gabriel were hot on my tail, their footfalls echoing close behind me. Continuing to sprint I focused on my thread manipulating limbs, bringing the four spidery limbs into the physical world and using them to speed my ascent, the footfalls of Gabriel and Alcrem fading.
The staircase was far longer than I had thought it would be, but I eventually managed to reach the exit, which led me out a cellar door and into what could only be described as a hellscape. Switching my spider limbs for wings I flew into the sky, to see the cityscape of Phoenicia burning, the voice of Steria suddenly ringing in my head.
"The city just came under attack. Some unknown group who claim they are here to slay the Demon Lord and her heretical worshipers. They're burning the city to smoke you out, and I'm worried for the people's safety. Arya and I going to save as many as we ca-"
"Where are you?" I said, cutting her off. "I've made it out of the cavern, though I doubt Alcrem and Gabriel are going to be too far behind. For now, tell everyone that I said to work on saving the citizens, if this group has killed any innocents, don't let a single one live."
It took Steria some time to respond and when she did her voice was clearly filled with gratitude as she thanked me. It was not out of the kindness of my heart that I desired to save the people, but rather a strategy to win them over. I may look the part of a Demon Lord, and I might have the cold and uncaring heart required to let innocents die, but I didn't doubt for a second that, despite her appearance as a holy being, Gabriel cared just as little, if not even less, about the people on this prison world as I did.
Even if they would be scared of me at first, in a confrontation between me and her, it would be better to have the citizens on my side to prevent any kind of interference, you never knew if a powerful retired Adventurer lived close by. Even if one could sense the morality of me and her, I firmly believed that such a person would side with the one who saved them over the one who planned to let them die.
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