The Alchemy Stanza

“You can’t even face a dying man, and you call yourself a Hero? Clearly your ambition is not as great as mine” the masked man asked and I just wanted to kill that man.

Even with all the mobility of Nikolay, it was hard to damage the man. He didn’t move like a human. And he suffered with each attack I made, but somehow, it didn’t show any signs of slowing him down.

“Stop playing! Why aren’t you using your Undying Flame?” asked Elvira from her stone bed.

“Should I remind you that I literally burned to death? My powers are keeping me alive me alive. And I don’t need the Undying Flame to kill these children.”

“You only know how to talk nonsense?” I asked.

“My powers make perfect sense. Maybe Elvira is a better user of the Alchemy Stanza than I am, but with the addition of the Fire Stanza… I think there is no person in this world with more ambition than I!”

This was always a theme of discussion of the Alchemy Stanza users. Who was the most ambitions of them all, like that would make any difference. After that, the masked man started to recite the Alchemy Stanza.

I – MATTER

To reach gold.

To reach life.

To achieve everything I want.

Each thing is made from atoms.

And I will disassemble it, piece by piece.

I will only stop when

II – REACTION

Solid, liquid, hot and cold.

Sulfur, mercury and salt.

Mix them until something new is found.

Every discovery starts with experimentation.

Using heat, pressure or acids.

And I will only stop when

III – MAGNUM OPUS

Keep working.

Failed?

Great. That’s the path.

Just try again.

Changing matter.

Changing lives.

Change the entire world.

I will never stop.

“I know the words!” I said ready to finish it all.

“So, show me if your ambition is close to mine!”

He put both of his hands together and a purple flame formed, but I was not going to give a chance to him.

I was faster than him and with a precise strike, my dagger pierced his heart. He fell to the ground, and I was ready to finish my mission.

“Elvira, I have to stop now, and you will die if I do this,” said Dr. Fritzroy noticing it was over for them.

“She will die either way!” I answered.

“You shouldn’t underestimate that man. His ambition even brought him back from beyond the grave,” said Elvira and the surgery continued.

Before I could attack, I felt my whole body burning and once again I had to roll on the ground, but this time I was really hurt.

“Hiyoku!” Nikolay teleported behind me and took me outside the Altar.

His grey clothes were bloodied and there was still a hole in his chest, but the masked man got up again.

“Interesting signature, don’t you think?” he started saying “I already had the Undying Flame, but immortality is really nice as well. Of course, I only discovered this power the first time I died a few weeks ago.”

“Immortality! You are monsters!” protested Nikolay and I could only agree with him.

“Monsters? Maybe. A long time ago I was part of a cult, those guys were real monsters. Do you remember, Elvira?”

“A cult? Do you mean…” I said, fearing what I was going to hear.

“Oh yes, I created the Elemental Demons. It took a long time to reunite all the Original Poems back then, and to think that most of them were lost again after that… But yeah, I was one of the few who survived.”

“Because you ran with the Original Poem of Fire, leaving all the others behind,” said Elvira bitter about it.

“Are you still mad about that? I know both your parents died that day, but you survived and look at you now! You were so little back then but now you are almost one with the Purple Demon!”

The laughter of the man was unhinged, and I would never say it out loud, but I was starting to fear the situation.

“Hiyoku, I think we have to retreat. Let’s help the other and when Ember’s group arrive we…” but I didn’t let him finish.

“We can’t leave Elvira to get this power. Also, I need to know something about this man.”

Everything he was saying… knowing how to summon the Elemental Demons, having the Original Poem of Fire, and dying a few weeks ago… if I were right…

“You were the one who summoned the Red Demon in Hilston, right?”

“Yes! Oh, I thought I knew the right way to do it back then. But alas, I was so wrong that my body is covered in burn scars. At least Elvira learned the way to control this thing. I guess it’s true that everyone needs help, right Elvie?”

“He summoned the Demon in Hilston?” Nikolay asked, starting to understand the same thing I was.

But before I could say what I discovered, Elvira screamed at her masked ally.

“Why are you talking so much? Kill those kids!”

“I am doing an ancient technique called: stall for time. Fritz, how long until the surgery is completed?”

“About three minutes,” he said and my heart started to race. I was ready to give orders, but this time the masked man surprised me with his speed, and a fire vortex came my way.

I was saved, but it actually came from the worse possible person. The cosmic-like bubbles appeared and absorbed the entire attack. In front of us was it was a smiling Nina.

“No fear, Nina Nune is here!”

And I could only think about what would happen when she discovered what was happening.

(…)

My apprentices had gotten stronger. Agnes could hit the Green Demon with strong lightning strikes, Helia summoned more than 20 of her creatures, trying to overwhelm the creature, and Rita was connecting all of them making them fight in perfect synchrony.

But even with all that, the Green Demon was still strong, summoning an entire forest to attack them. Noticing my worry, Foraz smiled at me.

“I guess you didn’t know this, but Elemental Demons controlled by humans are way stronger than the wild ones. If they were just raging around, your apprentices might have a chance, but the way things are now they will be destroyed.”

I watched as the Green Demon slapped Agnes out of the sky.

“Agnes!”

I never felt so powerless. My stone arms got stronger the more I noticed how the three of them needed my help, but it was like Foraz’s strength and speed always matched mine.

“Do you like the upgrade to my signature?” he asked and the way he seemed to be having fun just made me angrier.

With a kick he shattered one of my stone arms and then blocked a punch from another.

“So, with Elvira being not a Hero anymore and Fardos being dead, you are the strongest Hero in the land, right? Somehow, I’m sad that it’s being that easy.”

He smelled something in the air and jumped back right when an enormous pillar of fire came from the sky. I knew those flames anywhere.

“Ember!”

“Markus!”

She fell into my arms, and I was so happy to see her.

“Takai got Agnes; she is alive, and Nina went to help the others on the Altar.”

“You have to help the girls against the Green Demon!” I told her, still worried about them.

“Have more faith in your apprentices. Together, we can finish this guy quickly.”

Foraz, having dodged the pillar of fire, stared at us angrily.

“This doesn’t change much! The hunt just became more fun!”

Ember and I joined our hands, preparing the final attack.

“Nothing in this world can stop the power of love,” we said together.

Gigantic hands of stone came from the ground, quickly heating up, becoming magma, and hitting Foraz directly.

I hugged my girlfriend, but we were ready to destroy the Green Demon. At least according to what Foraz said, they would become weaker now that no one was controlling them.

To my surprise I heard Foraz’s dying voice in the middle of the magma. He was holding a floating green orb and appeared to be giving his Stanza to it.

“I might die, but my final hunt will be legendary!”

The orb glowed more and the Green Demon did the same. Their body started to grow until it reached double their original size. Their horns got bigger and they stayed with all four limbs on the ground.