"More!" Sukuna howled with laughter and joy and amusement as Lung, who was now a flaming, towering behemoth of a creature, standing at over thirty feet tall, roared and rushed towards him, the Parahuman releasing enough ambient heat to slowly melt the buildings around them, stone and metal alike, hissing and turning into burning puddles. Everywhere, people screamed and shouted. And Sukuna was only vaguely aware of the other Parahuman specks that'd come to join in on their fun – or, to try and stop them. Not that he cared, of course. By this point, the dragon had grown to such a degree that hardly anything could harm it. Its armor was so thick and so dense that Sukuna was pretty sure Dismantle could no longer cut through it. Cleave was an entirely different story, but – then again – he wasn't doing this to kill the dragon. "Show me more!"
Lung's roar shattered windows, his voice a cacophony of rage and pain. The heat radiating from his body turned the air itself into a shimmering mirage of death, the atmosphere rippling with lethal energy. Sukuna's grin widened as he sidestepped a colossal fist, the ground splintering beneath the impact. Lung's claws, now massive blades, carved through the street, leaving molten trails in their wake. He then used Cleave to cut down Lung's arm, causing the appendage to fall onto the ground, kicking up a storm of flaming dust.
Buildings around them buckled and collapsed, unable to withstand the intense heat. Flames danced in the reflections of shattered glass, the inferno swallowing whole blocks in a matter of moments. Civilians, caught in the fiery maelstrom, ran in terror. Their screams blended into a discordant symphony with the crackling of fire and the groaning of failing structures.
A young mother, clutching her child, sprinted towards an alley, her face a mask of desperation. Before she could reach safety, a surge of flame from Lung's body swept over her, reducing her and her child to charred remnants. Firefighters and police officers, brave souls battling against the inferno, found their efforts futile. Their hoses melted in their hands, water evaporating before it could touch the flames. Their protective gear was no match for the monstrous heat, their bodies crumbling under the relentless assault. Beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful.
The very air cackled with Cursed Energies, borne of death and destruction, pain and fear. Delicious. Hopefully, the Queen Administrator was having as much fun as he was, studying and learning all it could about the nature of Cursed Energy. That was the deal, after all.
Sukuna relished in the chaos. His laughter was a cruel melody that intertwined with the destruction, each cackle echoing the demise of another life. He watched as Lung's size increased with every passing second, the Parahuman's transformation fueled by his own anger and the sheer number of lives extinguished by his flames. Sukuna rushed in and landed right on Lung's head, whereupon the King of Curses sent forth a cacophony of Cleaves, cutting apart the dragon's head into ribbons, which regenerated almost immediately afterwards. Laughing, Sukuna dove down and cut down Lung's legs.
They regenerated even quicker.
Fun!
The ground trembled as Lung's foot came down right where Sukuna had been, crushing cars and sending debris flying. His wings, once nubs, had now unfurled into massive appendages that beat the air, creating gusts that fanned the flames further. The King of Curses very easily avoided the dragon's counterattack, of course. Lung's eyes, glowing with an unholy fire, locked onto Sukuna.
Grinning, Sukuna sent a wave of Dismantles and gouged out all of Lung's eyes.
The Dragon roared and the flames intensified. And, not even a second later, Lung's eyes had regenerated.
"Not enough!" Sukuna taunted, his voice carrying over the roaring inferno. He leaped into the air, slashing with Dismantle, aiming not to kill but to provoke. His cursed energy sliced through Lung's armor, but the wounds healed almost instantly, scales regrowing thicker and harder. Sukuna's grin widened; the more he pushed, the more monstrous Lung became. Dismantle, he concluded, was now totally ineffective against the Dragon. Fair enough. It was never meant to be used against armored foes.
More Parahumans arrived, their powers clashing against Lung's might in a desperate bid to contain him. They were insects before a dragon, their efforts commendable but ultimately futile. One Parahuman, attempting to freeze the air around Lung, screamed as his ice melted before it could solidify, the steam scalding him alive. The others were equally as ineffective. Some of them, Sukuna mused, were probably villains, here to try and defend their city. He didn't care about them; at least, not yet - fleas before the King of Curses. Tsk, it's not like he wanted to burn all of Brockton Bay, just a big part of it.
Once again, Sukuna sent forth a chorus of Cleaves, cutting apart portions of Lung's gargantuan body to ribbons.
"Pathetic!" Sukuna mocked, his eyes glowing with malicious delight. He moved with the grace of a predator, weaving between Lung's attacks, each strike he landed serving only to stoke the fires of transformation. Lung's body grew, surpassing fifty feet, his flames turning from red to a blinding white, hot enough to turn sand into glass on contact.
"Show me your true power!" Sukuna demanded, his voice thunderous. He released Cleave, the attack cutting through the thick armor but doing nothing to slow the behemoth down. Lung's roar was a storm, his breath a torrent of flames that consumed all in its path. Buildings fell like dominoes, melting into glowing puddles of lava, the cityscape transforming into a blazing hellscape.
The death toll rose exponentially. Civilians and their families, friends, and loved ones perished by the hundreds, their lives snuffed out in the blink of an eye. The few remaining emergency responders fought valiantly but were overwhelmed by the storm of flames, dying before they could even scream, the ashen dust that used to be their bodies fluttering in the open air. Sukuna's eyes sparkled with dark glee. The more destruction, the more Lung transformed, the closer he came to his goal. And it seemed like the dragon was growing faster and faster with every passing second, especially as Sukuna sent more and more Cleaves to harm and injure, but not kill.
Truthfully, the King of Curses wasn't even sure if he could kill Lung at this point - not unless he used that attack, of course, which didn't want to.
Lung's height now dwarfed the tallest skyscrapers, his form a hulking mass of scales and fire. The ambient heat from his body alone was enough to ignite entire blocks, the city burning not just from his direct attacks but from his mere presence. He was a walking apocalypse, and Sukuna's heart sang with the symphony of carnage.
In the midst of this chaos, Sukuna continued to provoke, his strikes calculated to inflict maximum pain and fury without delivering a killing blow. He could kill the Dragon at any point, Sukuna mused, but – then again – wouldn't be too much fun if he did that, wouldn't it?
"Yes! Grow! Burn it all!" His words were a chant, a summoning of further destruction. Lung obliged, his transformation accelerating beyond natural limits. The beast was now over a hundred meters tall, a living furnace whose flames reached the heavens. Sukuna wondered if Lung's Shard could grant him enough power to destroy the whole world, but he doubted it. Shards weren't trying to blow up the planet, first and foremost, and he doubted Lung's Shard had enough energy and material to pump up Lung that much.
The city's skyline was a silhouette against a backdrop of hellfire, the air thick with smoke and the scent of burning flesh. The few remaining Parahumans fell back, realizing the futility of their efforts. They could do nothing against the force of nature he'd unleashed upon them, a masterpiece of chaos and death.
Ah, it'd been a while since he'd seen this much terror and devastation. It was beautiful.
He'd write a haiku about it if he had ink and pen. But, finding the right seasonal word for this might be a bit challenging. What month was it, anyway?
Innocent lives were extinguished by the hundreds, then thousands, and Sukuna wondered if it'd already reached a million - unlikely. The heatwave spread, igniting fires miles away, and a gargantuan portion of the city became a wasteland. Sukuna stood amidst the destruction, his laughter a haunting refrain that echoed through the inferno.
Sukuna surged across the open air and surveyed the city of Brockton Bay from high in the sky. Lung's rampage had burned nearly a fourth of the entire city and, even then, the flames continued spreading. Hmm... Taylor Hebert was waking up. It was only a matter of time before she realized what was happening and retook control over her body. It was time to end this. He'd had his fun. And, ultimately, Sukuna didn't need Lung to reduce all of Brockton Bay to ashes. Actually, he did not want that at all.
Sukuna surged across the open air and surveyed the city of Brockton Bay from high in the sky. Lung's rampage had burned nearly a fourth of the entire city and, even then, the flames continued spreading. Hmm... Taylor Hebert was waking up. It was only a matter of time before she realized what was happening and retook control over her body. It was time to end this. He'd had his fun. And he couldn't wait to see what Queen Administrator learned from all of this.
"I think it's time to end this little game, Dragon." Sukuna mused, eyes narrowing as he looked down upon the colossal beast Lung had become. His laughter died down, replaced by a calculating silence. He landed softly on the ground, the scorched earth hissing under his feet.
The air was thick with smoke and the scent of burning flesh, the sky darkened by the inferno that raged through the city. The few remaining Parahumans had retreated, leaving the civilians to fend for themselves against the unstoppable force that Lung had become. The dragon's roar was a constant background noise, a reminder of the destruction he was capable of.
"Lung," Sukuna called out, his voice carrying effortlessly over the chaos. "What an amazing power you possess; I'd hoped to have seen more of it, but I'm losing interest."
Lung, towering and monstrous, turned his attention towards Sukuna. His eyes, glowing with an unholy fire, locked onto the sorcerer. He roared, a sound that seemed to shake the very foundation of the earth, and charged.
"Storm! Endless void! Scaling mountain!" Sukuna stood his ground, his grin returning as he channeled his cursed energy. He released a wave of Cleave, not aiming for Lung's body, but for the unseen connection that bound Lung to his Shard, the source of his power. The attack cut through the air, an invisible force aimed at severing the link, a neat little trick he'd theorized from studying the Shard Space. He wasn't sure if it'd work. He'd never done it before.
But that was the exciting part, wasn't it?
For a moment, nothing happened. Lung continued his charge, flames roaring around him, but then, he faltered. His hulking form slowed down immensely, until he stopped moving at all. The immense heat began to dissipate and his towering form started to shrink. The flames around him flickered and died, and Lung's roar turned into a scream of pain and confusion.
Ah, Sukuna mused. It worked.
Sukuna watched with satisfaction as Lung's transformation reversed. His massive wings shriveled and vanished, his scales receded, and his size diminished until he was once again the man he had been before the fight began. The ambient heat that had turned a large portion of the city into an inferno faded, leaving behind a landscape of ash and ruin. Lung's flames, Sukuna mused, were connected to his power, then. And, without the Shard to sustain them, they flickered away.
Lung collapsed to his knees, panting heavily. His body was covered in burns and cuts, his strength sapped by the sudden loss of power. He looked up at Sukuna, confusion and rage in his eyes.
"What…what did you do?" Lung gasped, his voice weak.
Sukuna chuckled, a low, menacing sound. As he was now, Lung wasn't even worth Sukuna's breath. But, he had plenty of fun and so the King of Curses decided to humor the Dragon. "I cut the connection to your power. Without it, you're just a man, nothing more."
Not that Lung would understand his answer, anyway.
Lung tried to rise, but his legs gave out beneath him. He fell forward, catching himself with his hands, his body trembling with the effort. The flames that had once surrounded him were gone, and the air was now cool and still.
Sukuna walked over to Lung, crouching down beside him. He grabbed Lung's chin, forcing him to look up. "This is the end of our fun, dragon. You were a splendid plaything, but all things must come to an end."
Lung spat at Sukuna, the action weak and futile. Sukuna's grin widened, and he stood up, looking around at the devastation they had caused. A fourth of the city was a wasteland, the flames still smoldering in some places, the bodies of the dead lying in the streets. Distant sirens approached. Sukuna raised his arms up into the air, before jumping away to a place that was far from the flames, far from the destruction. He landed on the rooftop of a tall building, one that offered a good view of the blazing ruins. Perfect. Beautiful.
"Taylor," Sukuna said, grinning madly, feeling her consciousness stirring. "It's time for you to wake up."
AN: Chapter 13 is up on (Pat)reon!