Compared with when he had helped Nagini a few months earlier, Tris's Samadhi True Fire had not improved in the slightest.
He had only been able to use Samadhi True Fire because the Upper Elixir Field Lord Fire commanded the middle and lower elixir fields, and even that had been a struggle. His training over this period had merely brought that wildly unbalanced state a little closer to equilibrium. He was still a long way from making any real progress.
Even so, bullying a soul fragment sealed inside a Horcrux was still easy and enjoyable.
The Samadhi True Fire merely brushed against the Diary for an instant without even burning into it, yet Tris could feel the dark power within it shudder violently.
"Please, don't!"
"My lord, please take that terrible fire away!"
"No, please! I know I was wrong!"
The Tom Riddle inside the Diary showed none of the Dark Lord's dignity or composure, nor the bearing he had possessed even back when he was already a prominent figure among his fellow students.
That terrifying fire was simply too devastating to him in his soul form. As a conscious being capable of perception, even the slightest contact caused him unbearable agony. It did not even need to touch him; merely drawing close was enough.
"Behaving yourself now? Done acting aloof?" Tris withdrew his finger and the fire with a cold smile.
"I'm sorry, my lord. I was so afraid of your power that I didn't dare show myself. Please forgive my cowardice." Tris did not even have to write in the Diary for it to obediently respond.
"So you can perceive sound as well as writing and souls. You've got a few tricks, haven't you?" Tris looked at the Diary before him with a genial smile.
"Yes, my lord,"