The Vein Tumor stumbled to its feet and grinned grossly upon hearing Zareth's valiant proclamation.
"Vuhuhuhu... that hurt like hell, Priest."
With unsettling deliberation, it raised a hand to its face and began kneading the damaged flesh as if moulding clay. The sight was enough to turn even the strongest stomach.
Its eyes darted to the captured bartender, suspended in a web of throbbing veins, before settling back on Zareth.
"Aren't you going to save him before you try to… exorcise me? Isn't that how you Priests operate?"
Zareth's expression remained impassive, but internally, was different.
'Interesting. This creature has been studying us, learning our methods. It's far more intelligent than the average Tumor. This could be problematic.'
Without acknowledging the Tumor's questions, Zareth reached into his vestment and pulled out a cigarette. He patted his pockets, searching for matches, only to find the box empty. With a resigned sigh, he looked up at the Tumor.
"You don't happen to have a light, do you?"
"…"
The question was absurd in its normalcy amidst the chaos. The Tumor stood stock-still in a mask of confusion. It had encountered many Priests in its existence, but none quite like this. Zareth's nonchalance in the face of such horror was... unsettling.
"Tsk! Grr…"
Rage bubbled up within the Tumor until it boiled over into a frenzied attack. It lunged at Zareth while whipping its veins ahead like angry serpents.
"What kind of Priest are you?!" it shrieked. "Do you truly believe in God? Answer me!"
Whoosh!
Zareth vaulted over the bar counter to avoid the Tumor's grasp. In the process, his unlit cigarette slipped from his fingers onto the floor. A flicker of annoyance crossed his face as he watched it roll away.
Blind with fury, the Tumor stomped after him. Its foot came down on the fallen cigarette and crushed it into the floorboards.
"Hmm…"
Zareth's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight. He was more perturbed by this small act of destruction than by the monstrous creature bearing down on him.
As the Tumor advanced with its grotesque form looming over the bar, Zareth's hand drifted towards his boot. His fingers brushed against something hidden there, something that might just turn the tide of this bizarre confrontation.
"Answer me, Priest! Do you believe in God?!"
The Tumor's hysteria reached a fever pitch. Behind it, the bartender's agonized cries could be heard.
"Father Zareth… help!"
"Shut up!"
The creature's patience snapped like a frayed thread. In a horrific display of power, the veins constricted around the bartender's midsection. A sickening crunch echoed through the bar.
Seizing the moment of distraction, Zareth's hands flew to the nearest bottles of liquor. He hurled them at the Tumor. Glass shattered against its twisted form and doused it in alcohol.
The Tumor scoffed, unimpressed. "Is that the best you can do, Priest?"
In response, tendrils of veins erupted from the Tumor's body and in the next moment, they reduced the bar counter to splinters. However, Zareth was already diving behind a nearby table.
"Damn you!"
Boom! Boom!
The Tumor lashed out at Zareth's cover. But the retired Priest was nimbly rolling from table to table like a rabbit evading a predator.
As he manoeuvred through the chaos, Zareth thought to himself, 'The Tumor's influence... it has a range. Five meters, give or take.'
His gaze fell on a woman beside him, choking on a bottle but not as severely affected as the others. 'I could save her, but dealing with this Tumor is troublesome enough. Hmm?'
A glint caught his eye - a lighter peeking out of the woman's pocket. Without hesitation, Zareth snatched it up.
"I'm done playing hide and seek, Priest! Get out here!"
Veins lashed out and began overturning every remaining table until Zareth's position was exposed.
The Tumor's face twisted into a cruel smile. "It's over, Priest. Time to send you to meet your God."
"Maybe some other time."
Whoosh!
Zareth flicked the lighter and tossed it at the alcohol-soaked Tumor. Immediately, flames erupted and engulfed the creature.
"This was my aim from the start."
Zareth explained coolly as he watched the inferno from a safe distance. "Those bottles earlier were just to soak you. Fire is one of your kind's greatest weaknesses, isn't it?"
Zareth allowed himself a sigh of relief, but his respite was short-lived. In a shocking turn of events, the Tumor's veins shot out towards the possessed victims and dragged them overhead. He wrung their bodies like cloth until blood rained down heavily, eventually, the flames were extinguished
'Clever move.'
Zareth praised the Tumor's resourcefulness. He would have to dig deeper into his arsenal of skills to overcome this unusually cunning foe.
Thud! Thud!
The Tumor discarded the blood-drenched bodies like trash. "That's much better. Now then…"
Emboldened by its gruesome act, the creature lunged at Zareth with startling speed and pinned him against the wall with inhuman strength. Its hands wrapped around Zareth's throat to constrict his airway.
"You're mine."
The Tumor's eyes spun wildly in their sockets before locking onto Zareth's face. "Do you believe in God?"
Despite the crushing pressure on his windpipe, Zareth managed to utter, "That's gotta be the sixth time you've asked me that question... and here is my answer… Pons De Flamontz!"
"Huh!??"
The Tumor's attention was suddenly drawn downward as something clattered to the floor. The mouthpiece of Zareth's boot had fallen away, revealing his toes or more specifically, his toenails, which burst into flames.
Before the Tumor could react, Zareth's foot connected with its abdomen. The kick sent the creature tumbling backwards, followed by a deafening explosion that tore a massive hole in the Tumor's torso.
Sprawled on the ground, the Tumor's grotesque features contorted in shock and pain. "You… also possess a cursed… Gospel...?"
As it lay there, struggling to regenerate, the Tumor thought, 'This isn't like the last Priest I devoured. That one was ordinary, powerless. But this one... this seemingly old human…'
The creature's internal monologue continued to reveal crucial information about the world it inhabited.
'A Gospel - a rare gift that allows humans to weaponize parts of their own body or conjured spiritual gifts. It's what separates the truly powerful from the masses. And for us Tumors, consuming a Priest with a Gospel ... it's the key to ascending to new heights of power in Sarx.'
It burned with renewed hunger as it licked its lips and stared at Zareth. 'If I could devour him, absorb his Gospel... my rank among my kind would skyrocket. I'd be unstoppable.'
The Tumor's flesh began to knit itself back together. It was driven by an insatiable desire for the power that stood before it. This battle had suddenly become much more than a simple hunt, it was now a chance at evolution.
Standing up, fully renewed, the creature's mangled lips peeled back in a predatory grin.
"You intrigue me, Priest. A Gospel user... and a powerful one at that. Consuming you will elevate me beyond my current form. I will become..." It paused, savouring the anticipation, "...transcendent."
Just as the Tumor coiled its vein-like appendages to strike, a voice, calm and measured, cut through the tense silence.
"Pons De Flamontz: Flash Ongle."
The Tumor's grin faltered. In the blink of an eye, Zareth had vanished from his spot across the room and appeared beside it. Then, a searing pain erupted in its chest.
Five toenails, burning with orange and azure flame, protruded from its torso. Before the Tumor could even register what had happened, they detonated.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosion ripped through the creature and scattered its fragmented form across the bar. Chunks of flesh and veins splattered against the walls and floor. For a moment, silence descended. Zareth, who was breathing heavily, allowed himself a sigh of relief.
"Finally, It's over."
But his relief was short-lived. A chilling cackle resonated through the ravaged bar.
"Vuhuhuhu!"
The scattered fragments of the Tumor began to writhe. They snaked across the floor towards the centre of the room.
"Did you really think it would be that easy, Priest?"
The Tumor's voice, now a chorus of whispers emanating from the coalescing mass, mocked him. "I am a Vein Tumor. My connection to Sarx runs deeper than you can possibly imagine!"
The veins were no longer just appendages. They began to merge with the very structure of the bar. They burrowed into the wooden floorboards, snaked up the walls, and intertwined with the shattered remnants of the bar counter. The entire building was taken over.
"This entire bar... is now my body!"
The Tumor proclaimed triumphantly.
Suddenly, chairs and tables ripped from the floor, hurled through the air by unseen forces. Bottles of liquor flew from the shelves, shattering against the walls or exploding in mid-air, showering Zareth with shards of glass and stinging alcohol.
"Tsk!"
Zareth, cursed under his breath while dodging the projectiles. He flicked his ankles and sent forth flaming toenails hurtling towards the airborne bottles. They exploded in fiery bursts, momentarily clearing a path through the chaotic barrage.
'I need a new strategy, and fast. This Tumor has effectively become the bar itself, now drawing strength from its very structure.'
He couldn't simply burn away the veins anymore; he'd have to destroy the entire building and hopefully, its core.
His eyes scanned the room, searching for a weak point; the place where the core could be sheltering, a focal point for his attack. He needed to locate this first before bringing the entire structure down.
His gaze fell on the main support beam, a thick, wooden pillar that ran from floor to ceiling. It had a suspiciously glowing bulge. Maybe it's the core? If he could destroy that...
Without thinking further, he charged forward through the onslaught of flying debris. Veins erupted from the floor, attempting to ensnare him, but he danced around them adroitly. He was a whirlwind of fire and fury, leaving scorching toenail trails in the air.
He reached the support beam and, with a grunt of exertion, sliced through the thick network of veins that encased the glowing bulge.
"Pons De Flamontz: Infernal Ongle!"
He slammed his foot into the support beam, then his elongating toenails burrowed deep into the earth. The floorboards buckled and groaned as five massive toenails, burning with an inferno-like intensity, erupted from the ground. They tore through the bar, ripping through the floor, the walls, and the ceiling.
Seconds later, a deafening explosion occurred. Zareth was thrown backwards through a nearby window. He landed on the dirt hill outside in a slight daze.
Behind him, the burning bar began to collapse in on itself, followed by the dreadful scream of the Vein Tumor. It was growing fainter with each passing moment.
"GYAAH! DAMN YOU… PRIEST!"
After the screams died completely, Zareth pushed himself up from the ground. His toenails had regrown to their normal size and instead of burning, they were smoking.
His boots were ashes, and the lower parts of his pants were no more. However, the Tumor was gone, consumed by the hellish flames he had unleashed.
"Good grief, my body is in pain. Releasing my Gospel is a double-edged sword. And… about that bartender…"
Sighing, the weight of his actions settled upon him. Everyone inside the bar, innocent and possessed alike, was gone. But there were no witnesses, no one to question his methods. He had done what he had to do, what he had always done - protect the world from the horrors of Sarx.
He turned and walked away from the crumbling wreckage while reaching into his pocket for his remaining cigarette.
"Ah, at least this thing survived."