Seth narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth as he stepped towards the metal wielding assassin, but he barely made it a few steps before a plume of fire descended upon him. The inferno immediately engulfed him, the stone beneath his feet rapidly heating up until it started to glow, with parts of it even starting to liquefy.

The flames swirled around Seth's figure, enshrouding him in a twirling vortex and blocking from view as the cloaked figured who had been simply filming previously was now holding out one hand, flames flickering on his fingertips and a cruel smile playing on his lips.

He was eager to hear the cocky demon worshipper scream, to watch him writhe as his body cooked. Burning wasn't as fun as cutting them up, the nerve endings seared too quickly and cut off the pain.

But as he gazed lovingly at the swirling vortex of flame, the assassin couldn't help but relish in the beautiful sight. Knives might be more effective, but they were nothing compared to the radiant beauty of a flame.

In the midst of these radiant flames, Seth was not putting on the show of tormented screams the assassin hoped to hear. He was not screaming, not burning or dying. He was barely warm, as a matter of fact. The only reason he could smell burning flesh was because of the corpse next to him.

He idly glanced at the flames twirling around him and constantly lapping at his body as if they were a mere annoyance. A viscous black liquid covered every inch of his body, including his new clawed arm, despite the overwhelming heat the liquid was cool to the touch against Seth's skin.

Within his cocoon of his own cursed black blood, Seth barely felt a wisp of the heat. It had even extended over his hair, and only left his nostrils and his eyes uncovered this time, as it covered his entire head like a bloody balaclava.

His eyes themselves were bloodshot, the blood coursing through them to keep them cool instead of covering them, so that he could still see. The flames couldn't harm him, although the same could not be said for his clothes, as they quickly ignited and billowed away into swirling ash as they rapidly burned under the intense heat.

Nudity was not the only issue, he also had to worry about breathing. The very air was burning, and so every breath he took threatened to scorch his lungs, that was if he didn't suffocate from the air supply rapidly dwindling.

Ethereal threads extended from Seth's fingertips, arranging themselves in the air into the form of a rune, the threads weaving together to form the individual parts of the rune. It was technically multiple different runes combined and layered together to form one, such was the logographic nature of this language.

The loosest translation for the rune was quite simple. [Absorb Fire]

Pouring mana into the rune, it lit up in the air as it's ethereal form became tangible and visible for all to see. The swirling Vortex of flames collapsed, their control ripped from the assassin as they drew into the rune, it's glow rapidly changing from a bright white to a dazzling, infernal red as if it was drawn from the depths of Hell itself.

In fact... That wasn't a bad idea. The black blood peeled away from his head like a mask, showing his unblemished face as he spoke in a dramatic tone.

"Behold! This is the power that the mighty demon... Omledeus has gifted to us! Witness a fraction of his power, the power that rivals your false god!"

He thrust his other hand towards Astra, forming another composite rune from his threads, which translated to [Convert and Project] and connecting it to the first rune. Fire poured through the ethereal thread, lighting up the second rune which quickly shifted back to a pale blue glow.

But it wasn't pure mana or soul energy.

Lightning crackled around the rune, before launching itself outwards. It coursed through the air, wanting to strike everywhere and everything wildly, but it was drawn to a singular point.

Astra's eyes lit up once more, regaining their electric glow as lightning struck the centre of her chest and raced through her entire body. Her ferrometal armour immediately poured out of its storage within her bracers and engulfing her body, giving her a look almost identical to Seth's own.

"Th-They are in leagues with the little demon! He's granting them abilities... but... but only our Divine Lord Lightbringer is supposed to be able to do that!"

The metal wielding assassin stepped back in fear once more, clutching his little amulet. Seth felt a fresh wave of power flow through him, and for a brief moment felt a surge of that strange energy he felt back at the Lightbringers cultish city. But it was gone before he could figure out exactly where it came from, although he had his hunches.

He glanced towards Astra, who nodded in response, as if to tell him that she had felt the same thing. God that woman really could read his mind with just a look, it was spooky.

He'd have to watch the looks he was giving her, especially since her lovely outfit had been torn in the scuffle and... Focus man! Seth glanced at her again, hoping that her mind reading 'powers' weren't working this time, but only received a sly and playful smirk in response.

Damn... she did hear that. Although... that wasn't exactly a bad response either.

Another [Absorb Fire] composite rune was quickly formed in the air and pulsed as mana was fed into it, just in time to be hit with another plume of fire blasted from the trembling hand of the cameraman.

With a wave of his hand, Seth dismissed the rune and let the absorbed energy dissipate into the air to join the ambient mana. He glanced at Astra out of the corner of his eye,

"I'll keep this one busy. You can go play with the other one. He seems to enjoy bondage, but I think he needs an in depth lesson on masochism instead."

Astra smirked, wanting to make a comment, but simply nodded her head and let Seth keep his moment. Her glowing eyes locked on the one who had dragged her through the air. The one that had stabbed into her wrists and drained her energy. The one who was going to hold her down as they tortured her.

The one that had ruined her outfit.

Lightning sparked around her form and with a flash of light, she moved like lightning itself. One moment she was in the midst of the crater, and in the blink of an eye, she was directly in front of the cloaked metal user with her leg already whipping out in a vicious kick.

The assassin barely had time to process what had happened, never mind dodge. He had no choice but to take the kick directly in the chest, the sound of ribs shattering into tiny little pieces was deafening in his ears before he was launched from his feet.

His back slammed against a tree, the wood exploding into splinters but still stopping his momentum. He landed on his feet, quickly bending over to cough up blood and tiny fragments of bones that had been shot into his lungs like a bullet.

There was a flash of light, and suddenly there was a pair of boots in his field of vision, standing atop his freshly spilled blood.

A fist crashed into his nose, lights exploding behind his eyes as his brain ricocheted around in his skull. His head snapped back, the force making him stand up straight before slumping back against the tree, which was bent over and half collapsed from his previous impact.

Next was his cheek, then his chin. His temple, his ribs, his stomach, his chin again, his kidney.

Over and over fists slammed into his body, each one bringing with it a jolt of electricity that turned his nervous system into a Christmas tree of agony. Thunder clapped every time Astra's fists struck against the assassins flesh.

She made extra special care not to give him too much of a jolt, keeping her energy output to just enough to give him a fresh wave of pain on top of the punches. She didn't want to electrocute him to death after all, in fact these jolts were more to keep him awake.

It would be a waste to simply pummel an unconscious body. So she kept bringing him back to consciousness, never letting him escape the beating he truly deserved.

Only when his body was completely broken, bloodied and swollen did she finally relent on her assault. Her ferro-liquid armour eagerly accepted the blood on her knuckles, as it drained the iron from it to empower itself.

But even after all of that, the worthless punching bag was still alive. He still had further uses.