Everyone can make mistakes, but how many can keep making them with a smile and never brake down? Well, Mac believed he was the best at that, and for some incomprehensible reason, he thought that was a good thing.
Mac had to keep pressing his muscles to force his bones into place, which, in turn, made his left arm's movement stilt and awkward, and as a side effect of this technique, he would completely cripple his left arm. And unless Mac received treatment that only the cultivation world could provide, he would have to amputate, or the shattered bones would tear his arm open from the inside out in insane convulsions. But since he could punch more now, everything was all fine and dandy to him.
"Amazing! To treat your failed arm to this state with a few touches," Poor Ira had no idea what Mac had done. "As expected of someone with infinite experience."
"Yep." Mac enjoyed the praise.
"And so, I shall respond in kind." Ira lifted her hands to her sides, and the temperature increased exponentially. "Mac Key Kast, I hope you will not confuse my flames with Hai's. Unlike hers, mine will not push you away. Instead, they will welcome you, cuddle you, burn you to the ashes, and then into nothing. You will not have a second chance if they hit you. I recommend you to jump into the Crimson Coast to save yourself."
As arrogant as ever, Ira's threats only worked to amuse him. "Is this what they call gap moe?" He joked to himself.
Silently and respectfully, two members of the tribe came closer to take Miss Florinda away. They did not dare to intervene in a fight of a level they could not comprehend but could definitively fear.
"It is a shame, then." The realization that there was no other path to follow stained Ira's stern face. "That our companionship may end in tragedy and pain... I hope when all is past and done, you will not take me or Hai with a grudge. And that you may continue to be her friend."
Without the heart to hear Mac speak, Ira took her hands fist-closed to her front. Her soft-looking hands looked so delicate that one would be fearful the wind to take them away, and yet, Mac felt a foreboding danger stored in those bronzy palms.
"Shapeless and chainless eternal fire to never betray, from the beyond to me, burn the space and time away." And with the chant, Ira opened her hands, and hellfire broke loose, and Mac only saw red and went deaf.
Fast! Quick! Instantaneous! It didn't matter how sharp-minded Mac fancied himself, for he lacked the mental capacities to analyze the attack. There wasn't even time for him to have his life flashing before his eyes.
Luckily for him, whenever his rationality faltered, his instinct shined. With no announcement or preparation, Mac bent his spine forward, dropped his knees, and punched the ground with his fist parallel to each other.
Suddenly, yellow-white filled his red vision, and then thousand of minuscule shards of crystal flew through Mac's body.
The crystal flakes stagnated on his clothes and hair. Mac was momentarily mesmerized by the glimpse of lights reflected by the shards before he took conscience to himself and his surroundings again. This whole ordeal took a little less than half a second.
"What the actual fuck!!!" Mac's breath was erratic as he used the next second and a half to process what happened as quickly as possible. "A wall of fire! Yes, that was that move! Oh, my Hevi, that shit was so big. Bigger than a house even! It was like a tsunami. And there was no way in hell I could have dodged that! I have seen bullet trains going slower! But why did I stop hearing too? And how did I even dodge that?" His rationality had not caught up with his instinct yet.
His brain worked so fast with information so brief that Mac barely had the gray matter to deal with his pain and the residual scalding heat. Either way, his sweat was, in its entirety, icy.
"You avoided it..." Ira's incredulity absolutely did not register in Mac's mind. "How is that possible? And why do you look so good and shiny?"
"Huh... What?" Mac stopped to look at himself. Somehow Ira's compliment had reached him despite being in intense concentration.
The glittering on and around his body, he wondered where it came from until it finally hit him. "That is how I survived!" Mac realized. "I punched the ground to raise a wall of sand to crash with Ira's firewall, and these shards must be the melted sand." He laughed proudly. "Not only did I avoid that hell on earth, but I also ended up brilliant by the end. I am a genius!"
Mac couldn't help but brag in and out, even though Ira was there, probably able to conjure the same attack again while he was distracted. He was lucky Ira was not the brightest herself.
"I still don't know why I couldn't hear anything, but oh well..." But then his other senses caught up with him, and so did a critical realization: The recently-molten shards of glass were really hot, and they were all spattered around his whole being, providing the glow.
Without hesitation, Mac launched himself into the sand while screaming. The sparkles were like a drop of burning lava each, roasting his body and whatever was left of his tattered clothes. He rolled frenetically as the burning reached his raw meat.
"Oh, no!" Ira said. "Are you ok!? Quick, jump into the sea!" She was unironically trying to help. Seeing Mac suffering caused her to forget why they were fighting for starters.
Mac naturally ignored her innocent advice and continued rolling around until he was satisfied. "AH! Sum entred mah moth!" He bit a mouthful of sand and immediately spit it out. "Urgh. I hope the people from this tribe jump over this part when they sing my tales."
The burning sensation was still there and hurting, but he would survive. Now, Mac finally had the decency to care for the actual pressing matter: The juggernaut that was Ira and her flames.
"That power is on another level!" He accepted the reality with ease. "It could... No. Forget about dealing with the invaders herself. Ira could probably dilacerate each of my Hevies if she caught them unprepared." Mac's thoughts were not the most positive ones. "I can't even face it directly as I did with Hai's. I can cause pressure on the air with my punches, but I doubt I will do much that way."
With his two feet planted firmly on the sand, Mac faced Ira with a different endeavor. His situation was dry, mayhaps worse than his fight against the cultivator. But where anyone else would lack the will and power to continue, he could not help but face it with an exciting smile.
"Very good. Very good indeed." He dramatically ran his hand through his scalp, immediately regretting it due to the pain. "You may actually prove to be a challenge, Ira. So, therefore-" Mac dropped the act and jumped head first to his behind. "Arani!" He screamed, and a web of silk shot from his hair in a straight direction and traveled a short distance before it reached its target: Mac's warhammer.
With a pull from his right hand and a kick from his left foot, Mac and his trusty weapon reunited. He wasted no time and, with a few swift motions, activated the runes on the head of his warhammer with the glowing powder inside his pocket.
A purple, muddy light now emanated from his hybrid weapon. It was not the most attractive of colors, but Mac felt secure and proud either way. The secret power of his warhammer had not failed him before with the invader cultivator, and he doubted it would fail him now with Ira. That was his only hope to deal with Ira's flame efficiently.
"Huh? Hm?" Ira stagnated, watching Mac get hold of his warhammer so quickly. Her flames were clearly faster than her. "You got your weapon back, but... Didn't you say that you were not going to use it?"
"Oi. Go screw yourself, Ira!" He flipped her off. Mac was legitly frustrated with Ira's commentary. "I did not know there would be a secret second phase when I said that. You can kiss my ass!"
It seemed Mac did not even need a weapon to actually hurt Ira since his words worked well on her, even without the use of Hidden Will. "I-i am sorry, Mac." Her lips trembled as she backed away. "I did not mean to offend you."
"How could he!" A whisper came to Mac.
"Such disgraceful behavior for a hero!" Another followed
"Does the outsider not know how to treat a goodness!?" And they just kept coming.
Those and many more commentaries from the offended members of the Sun Grow Tribe that retreated to the woods reached the already distressed Mac. Their words did not affect him much save some annoyance, but seeing Ira's heartbroken face did shake him a little. It was a feeling similar to accidentally stepping on a kitten's tail.
"No... eh. I am sorry for saying that." Mac did not feel comfortable continuing the fight with Ira in that state, even if that could give him an advantage. "I like to run my mouth when bantering with a friend, but I should have asked for your permission beforehand. My bad." He went the extra mile for damage control.
Ira's demeanor suddenly changed as she looked at him with different eyes. "You... you consider me your friend?" She asked.
"Yeah. For sure." Mac gave what he considered the best answer.
The fiery fairy smiled fondly. "You have a kind soul, Mac Key Kast," Ira said some of the craziest lies Mac had ever heard. "To consider someone like me your friend, despite our unfortunate circumstances. I should also apologize for misinterpreting your intentions."
"Hm. Alright." Mac was feeling awkward. Especially considering the applauses he now heard from the tribe people.
"So just as I answered your will to fight, I shall answer your exquisite friendship in kind." Ira held her fists closed in front of her just like before, which left Mac alerted. The difference was that Ira seemed to have something stuck in her mouth as if she could not speak. Mac feared she was preparing an even bigger chant, but then he realized that was not the case. Not even close, in fact.
"S-screw you too!!!" Ira showed Mac her middle fingers. He would have thought that was one of the cutest things ever, but unfortunately, he could not since two trails of fire formed from Ira's hands and shot toward him at high speed.
"Uh-oh." Lord knows Mac could have prepared more, but he now needed to face Ira's "surprise" attack either way. The jats of fire were surprisingly slower than Ira's previous firewall and weirdly reminiscent of Hai's moves, although he did feel the deadly heat. Mac got out of the way of one of the trails without much effort, and now standing right in front of the other fire trail, he answered by thrusting his warhammer towards it.
It was like striking a balloon with a needle. The fire immediately dispersed as the weapon went through without resistance. Mac let a sigh of relief as he watched the other jat also disappearing not long after he dodged it. "I can do this after all." He turned to look at Ira with his confidence rekindled.
"You did it again!" Ira was bewildered. "But how? My fire should have enveloped and bypassed your weapon to reach you."
"Hehehe, even if I explained, it might be a bit convoluted for you to understand the power of the runes infused into the head of my warhammer." Mac raised his nose proudly. "But to put it simply, let's just say that I have my friends to thank."
"It is only natural that a charismatic hero such as yourself would also have friendship with the amazing." She said with a kind smile as if she was not the one that tried to burn Mac into ashes, twice.
"Hohohoh, naturally." It was as if his nose grew with the tone of his voice. "Either way, this charismatic hero is about to beat the living shit out of you... wait-" Mac was enjoying the irony between his titles and actions when he realized something important.
How was he supposed to reach Ira, who faithfully floated above the Crimson Coast, far from the reach of his arms and weapons?