Elsewhere, the battle inside the castle had reached a fever pitch. Thanks to the healing ability granted by the electrum compound, Bane had actually survived Chato fighting at full power.
Actually, "survived" was the wrong word. That was a description for the weak.
And right now, Bane clearly held the upper hand.
Clutching two chunks of concrete he had torn from the wall, he kept hurling them at Chato, who could only fend them off with violent bursts of flame. But concrete chunks were everywhere. Bane only had to reach out to grab a weapon.
Chato's flames excelled at clearing out crowds over a wide area, but when he had to face a formidable enemy one-on-one, his weak single-target explosive power became painfully apparent. Especially when his flames could not breach his opponent's defenses, the once nuclear-grade weapon of mass destruction was reduced to a little snap firecracker.
With the concrete shielding him, the heat's lethality against Bane was greatly diminished. Even when the skin on his chest was occasionally charred by the heat, it returned to normal in an extremely short time.
Meanwhile, inside his mind, Diablo continued communicating with Chato through his consciousness, constantly tempting him to pull out the Nail sealing him.
We need greater power to fight the enemy-
Greater power, angrier flames-
Stronger-
The demon's whispers lingered in his ears, tempting Chato into reaching for the Nail.
But the instant he gripped it, Chato recoiled from the searing, heart-piercing pain it sent through him.
Ever since Diablo had possessed him, he had gone a long time without experiencing heat or burns. Now, however, his hands were red and swollen, with rolling blisters surging beneath the distended skin.
At the same time, Diablo, who was fighting Bane in the outside world, was forcibly disconnected from the