It Is Time
In the black sky, Tony returned to his normal form, suspended in the air by large wings of fire burning from his back.
"It's been a while, huh…" he murmured, drawing his sword — a blazing mix of fire and lightning.
"Let's end this quickly. Corilus. Incineration and death."
He shot through the sky like a bolt of lightning, so fast that nothing remained of him but a glowing red dot. At the same time, he slashed his blade repeatedly toward the large tent. On the roof, clean cuts appeared, slicing through the fabric like burning paper.
The vice-chief, mid-speech, was sliced in half and incinerated instantly.
"Run! We have to get out of here!" someone screamed.
But one by one, they were struck by invisible blades, then set ablaze within seconds. None of them had time to understand what happened.
"This isn't an execution," Tony said, floating in the air. "It's a requiem. I hope you reincarnate in a better time. Not in a world where you have to kill… and eat each other to survive."
Suddenly, trees burst violently from the ground, and a man leapt toward Tony. It was the one who had fought Lucien and Simone.
"Why?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, HUH?! ANSWER ME, YOU BASTARD!" he screamed.
Tony looked at him, expressionless. A thin trickle of blood ran from his nose — he had pushed his powers too far. But despite that, he responded in a cold voice:
"Don't pretend you care about them. I can see it on your face — their deaths mean nothing to you. And… stop drooling when you look at their corpses. It's disturbing."
The man trembled, his eyes filled with madness.
"Don't worry about that. I'll start with you."
He raised his staff, now thickened like a tree trunk. But just above his head, a massive lightning bolt appeared and hovered.
"Tell me, dear cannibal… my comrades… are they still alive? Or… are they already inside your stomach?" Tony asked in a gentle voice, heavy with meaning.
The man, crushed by the pressure, suddenly burst out laughing.
"They're still alive… somewhere between life and death. Like you, apparently."
Blood poured from Tony's eyes, nose, and mouth.
"Looks like… I'm still too weak to abuse body-switching. But that won't stop me from killing you."
The lightning vanished.
The man charged with his staff, aiming for Tony's head. Tony took a stance and fired several blades of fire toward him.
"You think you can take me down that easily?!" the man shouted.
"Oh… I forgot to mention. This sword is called the Sword of Fire and Lightning. And as I can see… you're holding a wooden staff… while standing literally on a tree."
The flaming blades suddenly turned into lightning, striking both the tree and the staff. The man screamed in pain, electrocuted. The shock was so intense he urinated and defecated himself.
But it wasn't over.
The blades hit him. They didn't pierce… they slowly ate away at his body. Tony's fire could reach over 500 degrees. The man tried to scream, but no sound came out. His throat had been burned. He touched his mouth — his fingers burned too.
He couldn't even feel the pain anymore. But he knew. He knew his body was being devoured by flames. And there was nothing he could do. He was going to die — slowly, horribly.
"Too bad you don't feel anything anymore. It's time to die."
Tony decapitated him with a swift, clean motion.
In that stormy sky lit by lightning, a head fell.
The fight over, Tony dove toward the ground. But he was losing consciousness. A hundred meters from the earth, he completely passed out.
Just before hitting the ground, a black circle appeared. Tony vanished into it.
"You really almost died this time," said Dina, catching him by the shoulder.
Half-conscious, Tony asked in a faint voice:
"Did any of the cannibals escape the tent?"
"Don't worry… I took care of them," Dina replied, stepping out of the circle.
"Weird… seems like nothing's left… except the smell of burnt flesh," Tony muttered sarcastically, eyes half-closed.
"Do you really think this is the time for riddles?!" Dina snapped, exasperated.
"You'd better shut up… until we've rejoined the others," she added, helping him to walk.