Pompeii (3)
A tremendous BOOM! rocked our ears.
[Kyaaah!]
[Chit!]
Aqua and Mandu screamed and burrowed into my arms. I hugged them tight, patting their backs soothingly.
“It's okay. That was Terra.”
[Terra, not Pompeii?]
I nodded, gazing at Terra with newfound awe.
A spirit causing a dust explosion. Who'd have imagined such a fighting style?
“Terra's one smart spirit, huh.”
[Of course! Terra's brilliant!]
Aqua tilted her head at first, then beamed as if the praise were for her. When I stroked her cheek, she giggled and peeked over the earthen barrier.
The flower traces were gone, the blast crater overturned. Pompeii lay sprawled in the epicenter.
[Ugh…….]
Pompeii slowly pushed himself up. He bore almost no wounds. It was the blast's roar that had rattled him more than the explosion itself—he staggered like a man whose senses were scrambled.
Explosions don't hurt fire spirits much.
Terra had known that and used the dust explosion anyway.
[I can't lose like this……!]
Pompeii's eyes flashed as he regained his wits, regenerating his wings with spirit energy. The moment Aqua frowned at the sight, Terra flicked her hand.
Thud-thud-thud!
Tiny sand grains swarmed from all directions, shredding Pompeii's wings to ribbons once more.
The parched earth, drained by Aqua's water extraction and thick with dust from the prior blast, was now Terra's domain. And she'd openly arranged chunks of coal around Pompeii—a clear warning that any fire he'd breathe would trigger another explosion.
[Grr……!]
Pompeii ground his teeth. He was helpless.
I marveled at Terra once again.
Common wisdom says earth spirits are at a disadvantage against fire ones…… Never dreamed of a tactic like this.
Not just any earth spirit could pull it off. This was Terra's genius alone. Still, if spirit scholars learned of this fight, it'd turn their world upside down.
Maybe I've contracted with an even greater spirit than I realized.
A brainiac spirit. Unprecedented.
* * *
We stood before Pompeii. He bit his lip and murmured low.
[……Terra. I underestimated you badly.]
As Pompeii said, Terra had been the MVP.
Without her, we'd have lost.
This basin, bereft of water sources, was hell for a water spirit user like me or a water spirit like Aqua. Pompeii glared at Terra with bitter resentment.
[Why can't you see it? Teaming with humans brings only pain! You, who spent the most time in that death-adjacent cave, should know!]
Pompeii's plea dripped with raw sincerity, his usual dramatic flair forgotten.
Terra slowly raised a hand to her chest.
[I always hear them. The cries of spirits weeping in that cave.]
[Then why……?]
[The cave spirits suffer unto death, yet none wished to forget their contractors.]
Terra lowered her hand, her gaze steady.
[Pompeii. Bonds with the human world are a blessing to spirits.]
At “blessing,” Pompeii's face crumpled.
[……Not for me.]
Undeniable rage and hatred twisted his features.
[Humans stole my only family.]
[Your tragedy doesn't justify denying all spirits their chance.]
[You say that 'cause you haven't endured this pain!]
[Some spirits overcome it.]
[They have to, or they die! They can't just drown in grief!]
Pompeii snarled through clenched teeth.
[That's not healing! Their hearts warp around the scars! How do you adapt to this sorrow? They're all mad!]
Hot fury poured from Pompeii again. Terra raised her hand slowly—a threat that the next strike wouldn't hold back.
Pompeii glared at us, seething.
[Fine, you're the victors. Filthy power from human contracts!]
I shook my head at his venomous shout.
“No, you lost because Aqua and Terra got stronger? Wrong.”
Pompeii's eyes twisted in humiliated fury toward me.
“You lost because you're pathetic. Right now, you'd fall to Mandu.”
[Spout your nonsense, human. It's your only trophy!]
“Dead serious. Hell, duel Mandu one-on-one if you want.”
Everyone—even Mandu—stared at me in shock. I stroked Mandu's back to instill confidence.
“One more time.”
I met Pompeii's bewildered gaze.
“You can't even beat Mandu. If Mandu loses to you, I'll withdraw from the spirit world clean.”
Pompeii narrowed his eyes, suspicious of my intent. But he had no choice.
[……Fine.]
He staggered to his feet.
[I'll accept that humiliating duel.]
Terra looked up at me, brows furrowed—we've already won, why risk it?
[Trust Hyunwoo, Terra!]
Aqua nodded firmly.
[He has a plan!]
I petted Aqua and Terra, then turned to uncertain Mandu.
“Don't worry, Mandu. You're not alone.”
Mandu's eyes flicked behind me, then he chirped energetically, understanding.
[Chit!]
Mandu climbed down my body and planted his feet proudly on the ground. Pompeii scowled at the tiny salamander facing him. Accepting such an obvious mismatch wounded his pride deeply.
Crunch.
Footsteps approached from behind.
[Hm?]
Pompeii noticed too, his face twisting.
[……What is this?]
Terra finally turned.
[Oh…….]
A procession of salamanders trailed behind me. Every one that had gathered in worry for Pompeii now flocked to Mandu.
[Hmph!]
Aqua puffed her chest proudly, as if she'd foreseen it, glancing at me smugly.
Pompeii's face darkened as they assembled.
[What? Lending your power to that whelp? Ousting me to crown a king to your taste?!]
Hot rage erupted from Pompeii. Feeling his authority challenged, the spirit king ballooned in size.
[Fine! I'll go all out too!]
Pompeii shifted to dragon form in an instant. I nodded beside Mandu and the salamanders.
[Huuuuh—!]
Pompeii inhaled deeply. A breath attack.
Mandu's brows formed a fierce V as he drew in breath too.
Whoosh!
Pompeii unleashed first—a viscous inferno like molten lava, packed with his full might.
Fwoosh!
Mandu spat flames infused with firepower, hot but a droplet against a tsunami.
But Mandu wasn't alone.
[Shaaa…….]
An elder salamander stood by Mandu—the one he'd licked earlier.
[Shiiik!]
Salamanders lined up beside and behind Mandu. They breathed as one.
Roooar!
Dozens of breaths merged with Mandu's into a massive wave, slamming into Pompeii's.
BOOM!
The colliding flames shoved and consumed each other. Even a spirit king couldn't overwhelm united dozens.
Sizzle!
The ground reddened, rocks melted from the heat. It was neck-and-neck, but we were losing ground. Mandu's body trembled faintly. Equal firepower, but Pompeii's spirit power dwarfed ours.
Aqua and Terra looked up anxiously. I smiled softly, kneeling by Mandu and placing a hand on his quivering back. I opened the Spirit Shop and bought items.
◈ Flame gathered from salamanders.
◈ Infused with salamander will; doesn't burn objects or people.
Soft flames bobbed up, gentle and floating. One, two, three. Soon dozens encircled Mandu, his blaze surging fiercer in tandem.
Pompeii's brow twitched in disbelief.
These aren't ordinary flames.
“Infused with salamander will” wasn't mere flavor text. I recalled the “living water” from my dive with Aqua into the lake, and the will-o'-wisps trailing salamanders in the giant cave, absorbing spirit power.
Will-o'-the-wisps are pre-hatchling flames.
Yet they'd shared their power freely when Mandu hurt. Pure intent to aid kin.
Just like every salamander here.
United will of salamanders and wisps fueled Mandu.
Balance: 8,030 coins
Balance: 7,010 coins
Balance: 5,870 coins
Balance: 4,590 coins
I poured coins relentlessly. Hundreds of flames soon enveloped Mandu and the salamanders.
Will-o'-the-wisp is sold out.
Like fireflies, the wisps twinkled, urging the salamanders to unleash full power.
BOOM!
Flap!
Pompeii spread his wings wide, amplifying his breath. The flames clashed anew.
Then, something I hadn't foreseen happened.
Pop!
A baby salamander poked its head from a wisp.
[Ooooh!]
Aqua's eyes widened. Schlurp—it emerged like hatching from an egg.
Will-o'-wisps absorb spirit power to become spirits…… Got it.
The barrage of breaths from gathered fire spirits accelerated the births.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Wisps clustered and merged, hatching en masse. Dozens—no, hundreds—of baby salamanders emerged.
A sight as beautiful as blooming flowers, as mystical as butterflies breaking free.
[Ooooh……!]
[Ooh.]
Aqua and Terra gawked around.
The hatchlings flailed briefly on the ground, then stood, instinctively breathing tiny flames—at Pompeii.
Pompeii's breath faltered at the miracle.
That tipped the scales.
FWOOSH!
Mandu's blaze overpowered Pompeii's, cleaving through like an alligator slicing marsh or an icebreaker shattering glaciers.
I smiled at the scene.
“Time to stand down, Pompeii.”
Mandu's flames finally reached him. Pompeii's eyes bulged.
The inferno engulfed him instantly.
[……Huh?]
Bracing for agony, Pompeii instead narrowed his eyes in disbelief.
Mandu and the salamanders' breaths caressed him—gentle, warm.
[……!]
Pompeii's eyes widened huge.