With no time to think, Solaris watched as two shots were fired simultaneously, a bullet made of bone and a beam of condensed fire, both shot at one another with devastating speed.
As the beam collided with the tower, the bullet was mere inches away from him. Within moments of collision, a spark flashed across all of his body, and the bullet passed through his head, as it turned to fire.
Within a moment, it was back to normal.
"That's just not even fair."
Solaris grumbled to himself.
As he stood watching the beams and bullets get fired one after another, Solaris realized he was being useless.
Taking a quick breath, Solaris contracted his muscles and leaped from his standing point to the four shards.
Shifting his vision to the cut-up tower, he willed them to move, keeping the shield in front of him. He dashed forward.
"Ember!"
Solaris shouted, throwing his hand out.
As he did, Ember called forth the bone sword and threw it over towards Solaris.
This time, he caught it with one hand and willed the shards to line it instantly, which made his flight much more contained and faster; however, it removed his defense.
As he flew at the tower, he saw a beam of light attack it once more, yet the retaliation bullet didn't follow.
Solaris' eyes widened, and he immediately contorted his body using the sword to move it in an almost unnatural way.
As he did, a bullet at least the size of his head flew past him, barely missing him.
"Holy shit!"
This had been the first time he'd seen the bullet up close and had just now realized the true size of the projectile.
Yet he had no time to ponder the weapon such a round could leave from.
He was nearing the tower and had a simple plan: capture the assailant. He had hopes that it was a human one that simply had a massive gun, as he neared, he was forced to dodge once again.
Upon reaching the tower, he shot through the opening all around the top of the building and stopped his momentum as best he could. With what was left, he struck with the sword, and the blade made contact with the first thing he saw.
A massive barrel that of a gun, or possibly a tank, due to the shards amplifying the sword, it was bisected without any trouble before continuing to slice through a massive arm. Feeling his speed diminishing, he began to drag the blade towards him, willing the shards to split off half going down and half going up.
Pulling with all his might, the blade pulled out and forced Solaris to slide across the stone floor. The shards shot up and down, and the remains of the cut arm dropped to the floor.
Taking no chances, he turned and forced the shards back into place, his weapon aimed at the massive creature.
This was the first time Solaris had seen the entirety of the being, not just the glint and not just the weapon. His hopes were shattered immediately, upon this sight, a massive creature similar to a man yet impossibly fat, his head adorned with a mask that had a shining piece of glass within its eyes, and his arms armed with cannons of weapons. The creature was an interesting sight.
Staring at the creatures shinny eyes, Solaris was certain it was a sloth demon.
From its physique to its form of weapon, it was exactly what was described to him as a sloth.
Its skin was a pale grey and an almost lifeless grey. Yet still grey.
This time, he didn't feel the overwhelming sense of death falling from its gaze, and instead, he was readying for an attack; this was something that the creature didn't do, and instead, its black mask seemed to peel, and a word, or rather a shout, left its toothy maw.
"MALITH!!!!"
A sound so loud Solaris felt a ringing as it subsided, and then a warm, then cold liquid dripped down his ear.
Solaris put his arm up and felt the liquid; it was blood. His eyes narrowed as if assessing the situation and pondering what the beast had just said.
***
Far off in the distance, a humanoid figure sat in a lavish chair, one that would only usually befit a king, yet this being sat in it with layered comfort, as if it was its own chair and not that of a ruler, or perhaps it was its own chair, thus explaining the comfort, yet this creature was far from a king, in fact it was far from human.
Yet it was not a beast, either; it was a situation where an identity didn't befit the individual, yet a mere word did.
King.
Its body sat on layers and layer of gold, skulls, money of all kinds, and most importantly, its chair.
"MALITH!!!!"
As Malith heard its name, it removed its arm from the armrest and pointed it in the direction of the voice. As it did, a golden chain that had been wrapped around the demon's crimson body shot out with violent speed; the length seemed not to end, and the luster seemed not to diminish, no matter what happened.
***
Before Solaris could understand what had happened, it was already over. He forced the shards to move, yet they didn't.
Before a thought could be formed, his body was pulled from the building.