Chapter 308: Spark Of Flames

Fire spewed from the presumed-dead monster's body, causing Aaron and Soul to look at it with increased interest. The woman rose, her clothes unscathed from the flames as a scream left her lungs. It sounded like a scream of pain and sorrow, but what did Aaron know? He wasn't a specialist in identifying screams. "Noctar!" Aaron yelled at the top of his lungs, grabbing the attention of Coranth's temporary guardian. "What?" He replied at an equal volume. "Bring over Coranth and a treehugger! We need them!" Aaron yelled out, the creature set aflame, shooting him an icy glare. If angry looks could kill, he'd be permanently dead. No way to revive from something like that. However, Aaron found it hilarious that her gaze was so cold even though she was on fire. Noctar grabbed Coranth's hand and the neck of a nearby treehugger, running towards Aaron's voice as the treehugger screeched. "Now, woman. I can already assume that you aren't a human, but you probably have some compassion for your family, right? You can hear its screams." Aaron asked, clicking his fingers with such a force that it extinguished the flames surrounding the monster's body.

Noctar appeared from the unharmed trees with Coranth and a treehugger in tow. "Throw the treehugger to me. Keep Coranth safe." Aaron commanded him, to which he obliged. Aaron caught the screeching treehugger in his left hand, unsheathing Tsuyukagiri with his right. "This is the thing you responded to, isn't it?" Soul asked the monster, causing her to jump back, grabbing blood from her palms. "I wouldn't do that," Soul told her, putting his clawed finger up to the treehugger's neck at the same time Aaron placed the tip of Tsuyukagiri's razor-sharp edge on its stomach. "I know that mothers love their kids, but would you be willing to throw down the life of a child that you responded to in an attempt to attack us in futility?" Soul asked the woman, looking at the resentment in her eyes. "If you want to threaten me..." She said under her breath before appearing behind Noctar, quickly kicking him in the shin and grabbing Coranth's hand. "You're going to have to make an equally monstrous deal." She told Aaron and Soul, pulling Coranth back to their position, taking less than a second.

"You give me my child back, and I give you this one back." The monster told them, causing Aaron and Soul to look at each other with a smirk, almost as if they were talking to each other telepathically. They then both burst out with laughter. Coranth looked at them in fear, unaware of what was going on. He tried to break free of the monster's grasp, but it was too strong. "Go ahead. Kill him. I bet you my life and power that you can't!" Aaron laughed, holding his chest as he laughed. "Yeah! I second that motion! I'll even give you new abilities that I don't have if you can!" Soul continued, much to the shocked look of Coranth. "What the hell are you doing, provoking a monster like this?!" Coranth yelled at them, causing a look of irritation to appear on the monster's face. "Fine then. You know what? I WILL kill him!" The creature screamed, gathering electricity in its hand, taking the form of a sword. She swung the blade at Coranth, who flinched back in fear, waiting for the deadly impact. However, when it didn't come, Coranth opened his eyes to see a skeletal hand grasping the blade with no problem.

"What...what are you, strange creature?" The monster asked, causing Aaron to smile. "Check to see who has vanished from the duo over there," Aaron instructed her, causing her to look over and see that the human dropped his sword with his clothes invisible, the other creature holding the treehugger. "You!" She yelled, releasing Coranth and letting fire enter the palm of her hand, slamming it into Aaron's body face. "That isn't going to do anything to me, woman. I'm a skeleton, after all." He taunted her, causing her to scoff. "A skeleton? I refuse to believe that you're such a weak creature." The monster responded, causing Aaron to laugh. "I'm just a skeleton that happens to be better than the other skeletons you'll find around, bitch." Aaron responded, quickly spinning around to throw the blade of lightning away while using the opportunity to deal a savage blow to the monster's ribs. Aaron angled his foot slightly down as he did it, ensuring that she went into the ground. Her body impacted against the dirt, splitting it so hard that she reached the bedrock layer beneath the soil, leaving a large crater in the forest.

Soul jumped down into the hole as Aaron returned to being a human while grabbing Tsuyukagiri from the ground. "So, this is what you'd call your kid, huh? Why would you force them to attack humans?" Soul asked, drawing an angry look from the monster. "They keep attacking us! It's our time to strike back!" She yelled back at Soul, receiving a quick backhand for her efforts. "Calm down. Who attacked first? Did the humans attack us first, or did you start this personal war by yourself?" Aaron asked, jumping down into the crater himself, sliding along the rocky surface while creating an area for him and Soul to stand without risking sliding. "They intruded on us, and we attacked them as they left." The woman responded, a disgusted look appearing on her face. "That's the problem. You attacked them as they left. They took that as aggression for an accidental intrusion. If they had attacked first, I'd say it was completely reasonable, but if they just left without doing anything, I'd say you're in the wrong here." Aaron explained to the monster.

"You know what? You're right." The monster responded, a relaxed smile on her face. "You're right fucking idiots!" She yelled, hundreds of her spawn appearing at the top of the crater and falling in, arms flailing as they planned to attack Soul and Aaron in an attempt to please the one they called mother.