Devil Ash Days (Devil Ash Saga) (25 page)

“Well, thanks. I’ll be on my way now,” Apsat said.

“Oh, wait!” said Ash. “Did you find what you were looking for?” The boy tried to stall the thief long enough for Aura to show up.

“Uh, no. I didn’t,” Apsat responded quickly, eager to leave.

“What’s that in your pocket?” Ash asked, pointing to the golden chain.

Apsat quickly tucked the chain back into his pocket and answered, “
N-nothing.”

Now Ash was getting somewhere. Apsat
grew more suspicious, and looking around didn’t see anyone else there but the two of them. Even someone of his intellect could figure out what was going on.

“Where is
your demo crew?” Apsat asked.

“Why
don’t you show me your wings?”

With that, Apsat realized exactly what was going on. He backed off,
now fearful. “Who are you?!”

“It’s over Apsat,” Ash
said. “I’d rather not hurt you, so just hand over God’s Blessing and surrender.”

“The Royal Guards sent you!” he
said, backing away slowly.

“Don’t run,” Ash
said. It was no use, as Apsat turned and made a mad dash for the exit. With little effort, Ash jumped for him and tackled the thief to the ground. “I told you not to run!” Ash said, flipping him over and pinning him to the ground. “Now, I take it that gold chain in your pocket is ‘God’s Blessing’, am I right?” he asked.

“Damn you! Get off of me!” Apsat
cried. “I didn’t even get it to work yet!” He struggled and thrashed as violently as his tiny body could, but it was no use. For once in his life, Ash was the larger man and easily able to hold the thief down.

“Alright, let’s just see what’s going on in here,” Ash said, grabbing the chain from Apsat’s pocket. “Ah ha!” he
said happily when a large jewel embedded in a golden pendant emerged attached to the chain. It looked exactly like the drawing he had seen earlier, but more beautiful and shiny.

“Very nice!” Ash said, hopping up and releasing Apsat. Quickly,
the little man climbed to his feet as well. Without saying a word, he lunged at the golden pendant swinging by the chain clutched in Ash’s hand. The boy side-stepped, making Apsat nearly trip over his own feet. This went on for several attempts, each time ending with Ash either side-stepping or pushing him away with his free hand, all the while examining the pendant.

Finally, Apsat gave it a rest as he realized
he couldn’t take it back by force.

“Well, this has been a lot of fun,
Crap
sat,” Ash said, swinging the chain around his finger, “but I think it’s time to get out of here.” In his confidence, he accidentally swung the chain too wildly and it flew off his finger. Apsat took advantage of the situation and dove for it. Ash leapt as well. The two of them landed on the floor, arms outstretched, with both of their hands gripping God’s Blessing.

The pendant emitted a bright white blast of holy light, and
then everything changed.

Chapter Twenty-One: All Fired Up

If anyone had been in the room with the boy and the thief, they wouldn’t have been able to see what was happening. The room was completely bathed in white light as God’s Blessing activated, awakening Ash’s soul power. The only problem was the unintended effect of Apsat also clinging to the item. While Ash’s true soul power was able to flow freely now, it also began channeling into Apsat. Soul power, being a very potent substance, could have easily destroyed Apsat’s body. But Ash was a good person, and his soul power was positively charged. Had his soul been tainted and negative, it would have destroyed Apsat.

Instead, it healed
and enhanced Apsat’s body more than possible by natural means. His muscles stretched and grew, becoming large enough to house the enormous amount of soul power he was being fed. He more than tripled in size and continued to grow. His muscles inflated as if someone were blowing him up like a balloon and disgusting, throbbing veins covered him head to toe. His clothes and cloak, which were already baggy on him, stretched almost to the point of tearing. When they were skin-tight, he flexed his arms and unintentionally ripped the clothing at the seams. His skin turned a sickly pale color, or perhaps it was always that color, but now more noticeable since he was so much larger. The transformation didn’t cause him any pain; on the contrary, it felt
amazing.

Barely conscious, Ash
didn’t understand what was happening. Shouldn’t this transformation be happening to him? And if it did, would
he
look that ugly? Did he manage to activate it, only to have Apsat steal its effect? So many questions ran through his mind, but the boy was losing consciousness. He hoped that Apsat wouldn’t kill him while he was out cold.

This is fantastic!
Apsat thought, climbing to his feet.
I’ve never felt power like this before! I must be the strongest devil in all of Hell now!
He flexed his giant bicep just to make sure it was real. He couldn’t help but smile at the revolting rock-hard muscle mass. He hung the pendant around his neck to free up his hands and looked down on Ash.

Is that guy dead?
he wondered. Ash showed no signs of consciousness. The giant thief reached out and poked the boy on the shoulder. Ash didn’t even flinch.
Must be dead,
Apsat concluded. He turned his attention to the window. Outside, he could see the peak of one of the castle’s towers in the distance. A wicked grin spread across his face, and a new idea entered his power-corrupted mind.

I’m the strongest
devil now; I should be the King of Hell!
Picking up one of the nearby weapon-crafting contraptions was easy with his strength. He didn’t even struggle; he simply tore it from the ground as if it were a pebble on a beach. Apsat hurled the contraption at the nearby wall, which went right through it as if the wall were made of paper. The resulting hole was still too small for him to fit through, but he had no problem tearing the hole to a big enough size for himself. He stole one final glance back at the unmoving Ash before exiting through the side of the factory.

Outside, the full brunt of the evening sun shined down on him. With plenty of space to stretch out, he spread his enormous wings. For the first time in years, they formed a perfect pair. His wing repaired by the power of the pendant,
he could finally fly again.
It’s time to have some fun,
he thought.

From a crouching position, Apsat leapt nearly ten feet off the ground and beat his powerful wings,
launching himself into the air. It had been a long time since he enjoyed a nice flight. He climbed up high enough to see the entirety of the kingdom before him, with the castle off in the distance. From his perspective, he saw all of Hell laid out before him like a tiny replica that he could easily crush.
I could go straight for the castle, but what would be the fun in that?
he asked himself. From his high vantage point, he scouted the area below him.

The citizens of
South Hell went about their business below, unaware of the devil with devious intentions flying high above. A few Royal Guards passed by below and he felt the rage build up inside him. How many times had his thefts and robberies been foiled by the Royal Guard? How many nights had he spent inside the holding cells in the castle? All because of them! If he attempted to storm the castle, he’d have to deal with them all anyway. Better to take out as many as he could first!

Apsat swooped down with the ferocity of a hawk, taking
a Royal Guard by complete surprise and smashing into him. The guard went soaring and crashed into a nearby building. He wasn’t getting back up, not for a long time. The other two guards nearby took a defensive stance, confused as to who (or
what
) their giant attacker was. Apsat stood before them, all smiles from how it felt to finally get some revenge on the Royal Guards. And his revenge was just beginning.

“What are you doing?!” one
of the guards shouted. “Attacking the Royal Guard is punishable by death!”

“Then come kill me!” Apsat
said in his new, deeper voice. The guard who was doing the talking sized him up. Apsat now appeared as a monster before this average-sized man, with bulging muscles to boot. He resembled The Incredible Hulk, if The Incredible Hulk took steroids and had giant bat wings. The guard then understandably had a change of mind, and instead pushed his companion. “Go get him!” he said. The less-fortunate soldier hesitated, clearly afraid and unsure. Even still, he raised his spear and charged at Apsat, screaming a convincing battle cry.

Apsat grabbed the end of the spear and snapped it like a twig. The soldier doubled backwards, almost falling over. He threw
his broken spear to the ground and charged forward with only his fists. It was a brave and foolish move on his part. As easily as he had grabbed the spear, Apsat reached forward and grabbed the man’s fist. With the attack halted, Apsat used his free hand and delivered several punches to the guard’s face. After four hits, the man bled from his nose and mouth. Apsat wrapped things up with a kick to the man’s gut, sending him flying backwards as well. That guard disappeared down a side-alley and wasn’t heard from again.

The guard that had been too afraid to fight earlier made a smart decision and called for backup. “Captain! Get the Captain!” he shouted as loudly as he could manage
, fumbling with his whistle. Apsat didn’t mind him calling for more guards; in fact he wanted to have more fun playing with them. It was when the guard tried to run that Apsat quickly grabbed him by the arm, twisting it to the point of breaking it. The soldier fell to the ground screaming in pain. Apsat roared with laughter.

“I’m the strongest! No one can beat me!”

By now, a sizeable crowd had gathered around the scene. The citizens were gawking in amazement and fear at the man-thing stupid enough to attack the Royal Guard. Apsat stared around at his crowd, looking for anyone that had insulted or looked down on him in the past. He realized that applied to just about everyone in Hell, though.

“Anybody else want some?”
the monster thief asked the crowd, still chuckling to himself like a giddy child. The crowd gave worried gasps and he heard a shuffling sound behind him. He turned around to see the guard whose arm he had just broken attempting to get up and flee again. “Somebody…somebody call the Captain!” he screamed at the crowd, who finally realized the gravity of the situation and retreated in fear.

Delighted at the sight of the manic crowd, Apsat reveled in what he had started. For the first time in his life, people were actually
afraid
of him. He grabbed the soldier before the man could get any further and lifted him above his head. Deciding to test exactly how strong he had become, Apsat launched the man skyward with all of his might. The poor guard actually came so close to the sun that he got burnt a little. Luckily for him, he was able to bring out his wings and land safely, far away from all the chaos. He quickly went about spreading word of the terrible demon that was causing destruction in the Southern section of the Kingdom.

Apparently, someone in the crowd had actually managed to inform some more Royal Guard of the situation, and soon several more
men arrived on the scene. Things quickly turned chaotic as people ran for cover, knowing that when the Royal Guard was called in, things were about to get ugly. As the crowds scattered, Apsat laughed some more at the joy of his terrible dream finally coming true. It wasn’t hard for the arriving guards to identify what the problem was, as Apsat wasn’t exactly trying to be inconspicuous. Several spearmen charged at him first, but Apsat easily picked up a nearby vendor wagon and hurled it at them. With the frontline of spearmen taken out, the next wave of soldiers with swords and some unarmed men charged in.

This time
Apsat let lose a tremendous blast of flame, spraying the soldiers like a wild flamethrower. They hit the ground, rolling around to put the flames out. Apsat let lose another hideous cackle, as he had never been the best flame user.

Unaware of
all the commotion outside, Aura stepped out of a nearby pub. The death toucher was a little tipsy, and in his usual fashion had his arms wrapped around two women. The trio laughed to themselves as they strolled into the street. The women instantly recognized the chaotic situation, but Aura was less aware of his surroundings. Only after the two women let out a fearful squeak and hid behind him did he even realize there was danger to be aware of. Apsat recognized Aura at once. The metal gauntlet on his hand helped to confirm it. 

“Death toucher Aura!” Apsat
said, excited at his luck.

“Yes?” Aura responded with disinte
rest, put-off by the repulsive muscular beast that stood before him.

“You don’t rec
ognize me, do you?” Apsat asked.

Aura squinted, focusing on the impossibly-strong looking man before him. “
Ash
?”

“Who? No!” Apsat replied. “It’s me, Apsat Glumb!”

It took another moment for Aura mind to recognize him. The body was all wrong, but the man’s face is what gave it away. Suddenly Aura realized he was staring into the face of his target, and around his neck hung the precious artifact his team was supposed to retrieve.

“Oh, Apsat!” Aura
said in astonishment.
Things must have gone badly for Ash then…

“That’s right!” Apsat replied. “I’m living large
now that I got this little baby,” he said, pointing to God’s Blessing.

Crap! I should have been there for Ash!
Aura felt guilty for having ditched his teammate for the girls. He swore he would make it up to Ash…
if
he were still alive.
Apsat must not know I’m supposed to be hunting him down,
Aura thought.
Maybe I can use that against him.
“Apsat, buddy!” the boy said, acting friendly. “Now that you’re clearly on top, we should work out some kind of partnership!” He edged a bit closer, keeping his eyes on God’s Blessing. Apsat saw the boy’s eyes focused on the artifact and decided on a better idea.

“You know,”
Apsat said, “I think I’ll just rule Hell on my own. And I’ll start my legacy by eliminating the famous death toucher!” He lunged for Aura, who narrowly dodged, attempting to counter with a punch from his metal gauntlet-hand. Apsat, proving to be more of a challenge, easily grabbed Aura’s metal-clad fist. When Aura pulled away, Apsat didn’t loosen his grip and actually pulled Aura’s gauntlet off. With his death touching hand exposed, the extra Royal Guard that had showed up felt some reassurance.

“Isn’t that death toucher Aura?” a Royal Guard
asked.

“He’s part of Lady Shiva’s team! See that symbol?” said another, drawing attention to his flame-wing pin.

“We’re called ‘Aura and the Death Touchers’!” Aura told them, even though the information he supplied wasn’t technically correct.

“He’ll handle this for us!” someone else
said. The crowd collectively backed off to a more safe distance.

Great, lot of help they are,
Aura thought.

“So
that’s the famous death touching hand,” Apsat said. “I’m disappointed. I thought it’d be more impressive.” 

“Why don'
t you look a little closer then!” Aura said, dashing in. Apsat stood his ground; ready to take him on head-to-head, but Aura pulled a fast one on him and instead stopped dead in his tracks while launching a fireball. Apsat easily swatted the ball of flames away, but in the ensuing smoke of the blast Aura changed direction and came at him from the side. This time, he attempted a jump-kick aimed straight at Apsat’s head. Like last time, Apsat was too quick for him and easily snatched his leg out of the air before it connected. With a minimum amount of effort, Apsat tossed Aura into a nearby building. The boy collided with enough force to create a dent in the wall and dropped to the ground below. He was in a world of hurt unlike any he had ever felt before.

“Looks like the famous death toucher doesn’t live up to his reputation!” Apsat
said, tossing Aura’s gauntlet aside. Aura struggled to get up onto his feet with Apsat slowly moving in for the kill. It didn’t look like he was going to make it up, as Apsat stood above him, fist held high, ready for the killing blow. While Aura was in pain, he felt he had it in him to attempt one last dodge. He didn’t need to, as luck would have it. A lone fireball blasted forward and hit Apsat in the head. It came from the sidelines, where Shiva stood gasping for breath.