Fox Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 1)

~~ SIXTY NINE ~~

Brace yourselves

Power beyond my comprehension surged sharp and bright at the forefront of my mind. Whorls and jagged lightning coated my skin as the flames condensed, the vibrant fox form sinking into my skin. I snapped my teeth, flames sparking away with the snap!

Blood assailed my nose and I could taste the metallic tang in the back of my throat. I noted the strain my attack had caused him written across his features, the tension in his shoulders. My ears trained on every sound, every breath, the beating of the demon's heart across from me.

I heard her gentle, desperate voice. It brought me back to earth. I threw a glance at Elizabeth and Meliodas. She was reaching out to the Captain, who lay face down on the ground. I remembered the first day I'd met them. A runaway princess and a perverted bar-owner. Elizabeth's outlandish mission to unite criminals against an entire kingdom. The fights, the terror, the pain, the reunions, the joy, the laughter. Hawk, Diane, Ban, King, Gowther, Leraj.

The anger, the heartache, the need - palpable like the mana throbbing through me. The emotions burned as strong as my flames. No one else was going to die!

I cut my ties to the human inside of me, the primal fox instinct blotting out everyone and everything else except the man I'd named my prey.

I reached him before he could react, slamming my fist into his chest with all my rage. Bone cracked under pressure, skin splitting open and drowning my hands in black blood. He stopped rolling ten feet away, mangled torso, bones protruding through his ashen skin.

"I am going to tear you limb from limb. Burn your pathetic body into nothing but ash. " The violent words made me giddy. I strode towards him, my boots burnt to scraps, bare feet leaving fires in my wake.

He threw himself at me, a blur of speed my eyes could follow this time. I dodged his attacks, slipping around and past him with all the ease of a fox. Sparks glittered in the sky in my wake as the power - my power - crackled in my ears. He lunged close and I saw his triumphant smirk at having finally caught me.

I grabbed his forearm. His eyes widened. "By the time I'm done with you, you won't even have the strength to beg for mercy!" The sparks around our heads grew bright.

The chain explosion travelled up and he shot skywards.

He came free from the smoke, righting himself. "Hellblaze!" Purple and black fire dancing up and down his arms. He flew down at me.

I flexed my fingers, the fire fox surging to life around me. Behind that fist was enough demonic power to send me six feet under but I was unperturbed. That wouldn't make a dent. Nine tails enclosed me like petals of a flower. He hit the shield with a boom. I allowed him half a second to attempt to break through before flicking the tails outwards.

It sent him careening with a discharge of fire that raised a massive plume of black smoke into the heavens.

I cocked my head and the tails disappeared.

"How on earth do you even have that much power?" He cradled his hands to his chest, fingers smoking where my flames had whipped through his.

I bared my teeth and raised my hands, clawing them in his direction. Fire snaked around my wrists and over my hands, forming solid, three-inch claws at the end of each finger. He activated his Hellblaze in response.

We clashed, my anger driving my speed until the world around us was nothing but a blur, the only sound the air howling past my ears. I slashed, punched, scratched and kicked; bones cracked, muscles tore, claws rendered skin to strips of flesh. Our blood soaked the ground.