46 Flames of Fury
"Begone from this place, interloper...!" bellowed Ifrit, sweeping its claws toward Andrew, leaving behind arcing trails of fiery energy that spread far beyond the range of its actual talons.
Grinning mischievously, Andrew abruptly vanished, allowing the energy to pass through his position before reappearing with a pair of sabers in hand, leaping toward Ifrit as Ardbert landed a heavy blow against its elongated neck, failing to behead it but causing the fiery Primal's forelimbs to crack the ground from the force of the blow.
Swinging down both of his sabers, Andrew attempted to cut off Ifrit's red-hot horns but only succeeded in leaving tiny cracks in their surface. More annoyingly, his sabers quickly became white hot and began to melt when they made contact with his body, compelling him to abandon them as Ifrit unleashed a furious roar and discharged a hemispherical plume of flames as fast as a shockwave.
Reappearing on one knee behind the Miqo'te Bard, named Renda-Rae, Andrew remarked, "Nice view," while resisting the urge to reach out and squeeze her buns. His remark caused her to try and kick him in the face with her heels, but much of her focus remained on Ifrit as she said, "You need to envelop your weapons in Aether or something similar. Attacking a Primal with conventional weapons is an exercise in futility."
Though he was tempted to point out that his weapons were enchanted, Andrew swapped to his three-barreled pistols and replied, "I'll keep that in mind," before teleporting next to Ardbert as he was sent sliding tens of meters by Ifrit's arcing tail attack.
After thoughtfully arresting Ardbert's momentum, Andrew darted past the armor-wearing man, approaching Ifrit at his fastest speed. The closer he got, the more time seemed to slow to a crawl, but Ifrit wasn't any normal monster. Even in a darkened world where seconds passed in what felt like minutes, the fiery Primal's movements were nearly as fast as his own.
'But I have something that eclipses speed...' mused Andrew, vanishing just as Ifrit lunged forward to try and crush him with its powerful, white-hot jaws. The next moment, he appeared behind it, three-barreled pistols aimed at its back with an excited smile.
*BOOM*
Though the projectiles only left shallow, molten pockmarks in Ifrit's body, that was all Andrew needed to see to know his attacks were effective. He would have preferred to slice through it with a blade, but while he could channel mana through his weapons to empower them, it required a lot of focus and the active 'scattering' of energy within his opponent. He could cut through steel beams with relative ease, but when it came to a mass of energy like a Primal, his technique was sorely lacking.
'For now,' thought Andrew, winking playfully before disappearing as Ifrit roared, unleashing a pillar of flames that nearly extended to the clouds. As he did, fiery Aether condensed in the surroundings, forming crystals of solidified flames that greedily absorbed energy from the atmosphere and environment, funneling it to the enraged Primal.
Appearing next to Lamitt on one knee, Andrew asked, "Hey, what's the deal? Why aren't you healing me...?"
"It's not my fault you keep disappearing and flitting about at random," replied Lamitt, directing a side-eye at Andrew. She had been salty with him ever since she overheard him asking Ardbert if he had ever done it with a Lalafell. Fortunately, Andrew had his own means of healing.
Pulling out an intricate blue potion bottle, Andrew emptied the contents onto his head, causing a cloud of steam to rise from his body. At the same time, Lamitt used a spell known as Aquaveil on him, mitigating the heat of Ifrit's fiery demesne and decreasing the amount of damage he would take for a brief but meaningful period.
Waiting for Ardbert to send the much larger Ifrit flying through the air with an upward swing from his axe, Andrew teleported next to him, placing his hand on the grinning warrior's shoulder and briefly transporting him away. At the same time, he used Auto-Float to chase Ifrit into the air, unloading anti-dragon rounds into the Primal's body and swapping to loaded pistols until he was completely out.
"Foul trespasser! You shall burn in the inferno wrought by mine fury...!" exclaimed Ifrit, ignoring his injuries as he channeled the energy from the fiery crystals to produce a rapidly expanding sphere of flames above his head.
"Unlikely," replied Andrew, swapping to a long-barreled pistol and firing a few final potshots at Ifrit's face before vanishing as the sphere of flames came surging toward him. Lamitt cast her most powerful barrier spell in a desperate attempt to try and tank it, but Andrew hadn't forgotten about her or Renda, appearing next to the duo, grasping the former's collar and pulling the latter close with his right hand, teasing, "You owe me a drink," before teleporting them to safety just as Ifrit's Hellfire impacted the area, creating a molten crater more than 500m in diameter.
Sensing that his prey had escaped, Ifrit released a thunderous roar that caused the surrounding space to 'crack.' Primals could create a personal domain/demesne to lessen the damage they caused to their followers and environment. As Ifrit's rage and power increased, his flames began to spill into the real world, endangering the lives of the lizard-like beastmen that summoned it and anyone else that happened to be nearby.
Fortunately for the bestial Amalj'aa and the hostages they had taken, Ifrit wasn't allowed to rampage freely. Shortly after the explosion produced by his Hellfire dissipated, Andrew reappeared at former ground level, floating a few meters off the ground as he asked, "Ready for round two...?" with a cheeky smile.
"A pox upon your whole race...!" bellowed the enraged Primal, charging toward Andrew like a living meteor. However, as most of its energy had been used up to utilize its Hellfire ability, it was in a severely weakened state, allowing the fully healed Ardbert to overwhelm it with raw power while Andrew darted around at high speeds, whittling it down from afar using bullets alongside Renda's Aether-infused arrows...
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As Ifrit's body vanished like a phantom, leaving behind a fiery red crystal, Andrew exhaled a sigh of relief before turning to Ardbert, smiling as he asked, "Anything else you need? If not, I have a few ladies waiting for me back in Spira."
"Of course you do," quipped Renda, rolling her eyes off to the side while Ardbert returned a smile and replied, "Hark, friend. Twas a fierce battle, and the weight of our endeavor presses upon us all. Mayhaps I could ease your burdens by profer of a drink? T'would be a shame to part so soon with a comrade in arms."
Waving his hand in front of his face, Andrew responded, "Some other time," while secretly thinking, 'I'll never get used to this man's archaic manner of speech...'
"Tis a promise," replied Ardbert, extending a hand to shake Andrew's before the latter gave a casual farewell salute and vanished. Instead of returning to Spira, however, he appeared in his penthouse, intending to wash up and relax since his tenderized body smelled of sulfur and was covered in soot.
Moving from his living room to the master bedroom, Andrew paused as a familiar voice remarked, "You've arrived. And I trust that all your bits and pieces are intact...?"
"You're welcome to come and confirm it," mused Andrew, prompting the platinum-haired cat girl, Y'shtola, to set aside her book, alight from their bed, and approach him.
Leaning forward to give Andrew a whiff, Y'shtola remarked, "You stink of fire, brimstone, and curatives. Was your fray against the Primal, Ifrit, hard-fought...?"
"Eh, it wasn't that bad..." responded Andrew, reaching his arms around Y'shtola to give his favorite ass a squeeze. Her face and nose scrunched slightly, but she leaned into his embrace and said, "Remember this well. Your life is no longer your own. Many people, myself included, depend on you. I will not advise you to avoid danger entirely, but do not risk your life wantonly..."
"So long as I have women like you waiting for my return, I'm invincible," assured Andrew, grinning wolfishly as he raised Y'sthola by her bottom, pressing his hardening bulge against her pussy. It had only been a few moments since they laid eyes on each other, but the heat and moisture of her accommodating cavern had already reached the point he could feel it through the fabric of their respective outfits.
Snapping her teeth in response to Andrew's attempt to kiss her, Y'shtola firmly stated, "Bath, now," before extricating herself from his embrace and taking the initiative to lead the way toward the bath, deliberately swaying her hips and swishing her tail. She was 'secretly' fond of his usual aroma, but the smell of sulfur was especially pungent to the sensitive nose of a Miqo'te. Thus, while her body was in an inordinately 'active' state due to her concern for Andrew's safety, he needed a good scrubbing before she could pounce and attack him freely...
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With Minfilia also stopping by to express her gratitude for his help against the Primal, Ifrit, Andrew's return to Spira was much later than he planned. Fortunately, he had apprised Yuna, Rikku, and Paine of the situation in the bath, so they weren't waiting anxiously for his return. Rather, while he was going to town on Y'shtola and Minfilia, the amusingly brazen trio hopped over to the penthouse of their own accord, raiding the fridge, utilizing the kitchen, and even unwinding in the steam room. Yuna later apologized on behalf of the group, but Andrew assured her she had done nothing wrong, pointing out the penthouse and its facilities were just as much theirs as it was his...
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"Uncle Cid...said we...could use...his airship. I'm thinking...of heading...to the Temple...of Macalania..." said Yuna, her face beet red as she smacked her hips against Andrew's, riding atop him using the Thief Dressphere as it gave her much greater stamina.
"Do you want me to come with you...?" asked Andrew, rewarding Yuna's efforts by meeting her halfway, causing a loud smacking sound to echo throughout the room.
Surprising and making Andrew feel awkward, Yuna replied, "No...I know you get bored...having to wait around...so I...I'll complete the remaining trials...on my own...!"
Though he would have liked to insist he didn't get bored, Andrew was a terrible liar. He was good at making shit up, but when it came to outright lying, especially to the people he cared about, he was like an open book.
"Just make sure to inform me if anything unexpected happens..." said Andrew, tightening his hold on Yuna's ass and accelerating his pace until she gave up moving on her own. Instead, she leaned forward, responding to his words with a kiss as he hammered her increasingly accommodating pussy, compelling her to endure a continuous climax until he released his fifth load of the day inside her.
"Haaaaa...haaaaaa...haaaaa...."
Lying limply against Andrew's body, Yuna wore an unfocused, smiling expression as she gradually closed her eyes, falling asleep with his dick still inside her quivering pussy. The Thief Dressphere certainly gave her more stamina, but as it also made her more 'active,' she was completely tuckered out after more than an hour of continuous fucking.
"Hmmm..."
Though he could keep going, Andrew kissed the top of Yuna's head and materialized a blanket from his Item Box, allowing it to settle over them as he embraced the slumbering, sweat-covered Summoner. The smart thing at that point would have been to pull out, but since he was curious to see how she would react after waking up and realizing his dick was still inside of her, Andrew spent a few hours organizing his Item Box and conversing with people through his Correspondence Menu. Nanamo offered to come over, but since he would feel guilty if Yuna woke up and he was absent or with another girl, Andrew refused, promising to plow the Sultana's garden thrice over the following day...
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