Threads of the Soul

Chapter 501 - 501: Outclassed

A casual wave of the trident caused a torrent of water of water to gush forwards, manifesting seemingly out of thin air, before it collided with the tsunami of lava. The two liquids hissed as they clashed, creating a blinding cloud of hot, scolding steam as the lava rapidly cooled into Volcanic stone."You waste your time old man. This is inevitable. The more you resist, the more pain you will have to endure for the same result."

Neptune muttered with a bored, irritated tone. Clumps of glowing magma burst through the veil of steam, heading straight towards his head. But a few more lazy swings batted them away before he simply caught the final one.

The clump of magma immediately cooled in his hand, before he tossed the cannon ball sized rock back to where it came from, with the speed and power of an actual cannon.

Zero slammed against the wall hard enough to dent it, spewing out a mouthful of blood as struggled to breathe. He was sure that at least three of his ribs were broken, just from a simple toss of a ball, but he didn't just lie there and take it.

He pulled himself from the wall and darted through the steam, enduring the pain as it sizzled against his skin and stung his eyes.

HIs arms shifted into another pair of magma geysers, as he spewed them directly upwards before swinging his arms down. If this man wanted to keep cooling his lava, then Zero was going to engulf the man in volcanic stone of his own creation, and turn this facility into his tomb.

Neptune glanced up at the sheet of lava raining down on him and let out a deep sigh. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion for him, as that was simply the difference in their power.

He could have easily moved out of the way of this feeble attack, but from the very start of this 'battle' Neptune had not moved a step, and he was not going to start now. As the lava crawled through the air in slow motion, Neptune casually lifted his Trident at a normal pace, before slamming it down against the ground.

A shockwave blasted outwards, throwing the descending lava away from him and splattering it against the walls.

Zero launched himself through the shockwave, his hands growing in size as he poured more magma into them, before he clamped both of his enlarged hands around the strangers head. They immediately cooled and turned to stone, entombing the mans head and cutting off his breathing. All he had to do now was wait and-

Crraack!

Neptune let go of his Trident standing tall beside him, not panicking in the slightly about his inability to breathe, as he raised his hands -one of them withered and one of them healthy -hand on Zero's hardened arms. With a simple squeeze, both of the arms shattered into a pile of black pebbles that crumbled to the ground.

Zero let out a cry of pain that was quickly silenced when Neptune's withered hand latched around his throat, making him unable to make any sound more than a strained gargle.

With a mere flick, Neptune broke the stone surrounding his head, simply because it was bothersome to him, as he regarded the choking man in front of him with the same bored, disgusted eyes.

"I told you that this was inevitable. But you just had to fight your betters. Worry not though mortal... I will not kill you. Not yet at least. Pain on the other hand..."

He muttered, gliding a hand down Zero's chest with curiosity before finding his ribs. He pressed his thumb against one of the still in tact ribs, and swiftly changed that with a slight push. A muffled crack came from his chest that forced Zero to let out a choked cry of pain.

"Pain is how you will learn from this mistake. Perhaps you will repent before you are killed, and I will keep you around as a plaything. Until then... the master has needs of you."

Neptune lowered his arm, keeping Zero in his steel-like grip as he snatched his Trident up and strolled out of the room. No matter how much Zero squirmed, struggled and kicked he couldn't budge so much as a finger on this mans grip as he was dragged alongside him like nothing more than a worthless rag doll.

Thankfully, the overpowering man's utter disinterest worked in Zero's favour. As he watched the sealed tunnel entrance shrink in his vision, a smile danced across his lips as he still strained to breathe.

However it was a joy that was short lived, as they had barely made it out of the room before a cloud of gas exploded around Neptune's head.

Zero's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the gas cloud as he twisted his body as much as he could to look down the corridor, having to strain his eyes to the very edge just to see Alfie charging towards them.

Young Alfie pulled two more flower buds from his armour, launching them across the corridor and letting them explode on contact with Neptune, who had stopped in his stride at the first explosion.

As Alfie drew closer, Zero struggled more in Neptune's grasp. Even more than he had done when trying to save his own life, as this was even more important. His teeth dug into the withered hand, but they only broke on contact. He tried to scream, to yell out a warning, but he could only managed wheezing gasps.

He couldn't even wave his arms, as they had been reduced to stone covered stumps.

Alfie leapt into the air, swinging a glaive downwards towards Neptune's neck, but a blur of gold lunged towards him. Alfie stopped dead in the air, his eyes widening in confusion and shock behind his mask, as a trio of golden prongs burst through his back.

A torrent of blood poured from his mouth, and from the three fresh wounds on his chest, as Neptune's Trident had tore through him with barely a hint of resistance.

The gas cleared, showing Neptune's bored face, before he flicked the Trident to the side, forcing Alfie's body to fly off of it like an unwanted piece of meat. His body bounced a few times, splattering blood with each bounce, before eventually coming to a halt and staying there.

Even as he retreated in Zero's vision, as he was once more dragged away, Young Alfie remained on the floor with three gaping wounds in his chest.