"Glad to hear it. Before I drop you, there's something we have to do first."
"Hmm? Oh, the void flame. How should I give it to you?"
"Simple. We'll make an equal contract. That way, I can borrow your powers while you're fighting."
"Considering our strengths, I think I'm the one that'll need your powers, but okay. Still, are you sure about that? Don't spirits take contracts very seriously?"
"Of course we do! We're different from you humans. If this wasn't an emergency, the most I would offer is a master-servant contract, with you as the servant, naturally. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I made an exception."
"Huh? When did you-?"
"That's enough talk. I'll send the instructions directly into your head so we can form the contract."
"Okay."
Shortly after, the details popped into his mind. He was surprised by how simple it seemed, but in this situation, it was something to be glad about.
"Did you get it?"
"Yes, I'm ready."
"Good!"
The red spirit then flew towards his face and leaned in so that they could touch heads. For a moment, they formed a spiritual connection through which they could transmit their thoughts.
"By the name Alia, I forge this bond with you."
"By the name Shui, I forge this bond with you."
With just that, Shui could feel the spiritual connection between them strengthen and stabilize. They couldn't hear each other's thoughts, but they could sense each other's emotions and physical conditions. Shui would have liked more time to investigate this new sensation, but the red spirit, Alia, wasted no time.
"Okay, now get your butt down there!"
Suddenly, Shui was overcome by a sense of weightlessness as he plummeted to the ground.
"You could have at least warned me!"
As upset as he was about being suddenly dropped, Shui adjusted himself so that he was diving headfirst towards the slimy creature. Since he was already borrowing the power of gravity, he figured he might as well use this force to deal his first attack. He coated Sui in the void flame and kicked against the air go faster.
"Ethereal Blade Method, Speed Form, First Stance: Instant!"
"!!!"
His blade sliced through the creature with barely any resistance, but he didn't really get a sense that he did any damage. He cut the creature into two vertical halves, with the void flame searing the insides. Any living creature would suffer serious damage after getting burnt by his void flame, but after discarding the portions of its flesh that were being burnt, the slimy creature was back to normal. Shui wanted to figure out how to do proper damage to the being, but to attract its attention, he didn't have to worry.
[Do you know what this thing is?]
While dodging the tentacles attacking him, Shui questioned Alia via their newly formed connection.
[I suppose I haven't told you that yet. Do you know of the fallen?]
[The fallen?! You mean that cursed race made by the Prime God of Duality during the Divine Uprising?]
[So you do know them. That makes this easier.]
[No, it doesn't! You're telling me this is a member of a mythological race? How the hell do we stop something like that?!]
Shui usually never lost his concentration while fighting, but upon learning of his opponent's identity, he couldn't help feeling intimidated.
[You idiot! Don't let its origin deceive you. You could say it's on par with the gods with how hard it is to kill, but if its strength was on the same level, forget you, even I wouldn't be able to hold it back.]
[You make a good point. Sorry about losing my wits.]
[As long as you get it. I'm going to focus on creating the array, so don't bother me until I give you the signal.]
[Okay.]
After discussing with Alia, Shui was able to calm down and refocus his mind on his main objective. Doing any sort of serious damage to this creature with his current abilities was impossible, so he would have to focus on harassment tactics. Fortunately, it wasn't that fast, so he didn't have to worry about getting hit as long as he paid attention. It was still intimidating fighting against something related to the most powerful of gods, but if there was one silver lining, it was that he would have no choice but to use his powers to their fullest if he wanted to live.
He didn't want a repeat of the incident with Alia, so he didn't use his Sage God Eyes to look at it. He could feel his void flame being pulled by Alia, so he crossed it out from his viable options and planned his attack. Its regeneration was too powerful for simple physical attacks, so Shui tried using his heart flame. He shot it straight at the fallen's face, but just like the void flame, it simply shed its flesh.
"Alright then, let's see how you handle this."
Shui stabbed Sui into the ground, then used it to help him control the earth. With the Four Element Technique, he created a giant snake out of the earth and used it to constrict the fallen. Next, he blasted it with his heart flame and made the flame swallow it whole. Its shrieks risked causing internal damage if he let his guard down, but Shui focused on maintaining the earth snake keeping it in place. Even if it could replace its flesh without worry, based on Alia's earlier example, he could keep it from moving if its body stayed aflame.
After a while, the fallen's struggles died down, but Shui didn't want to let down his guard too soon, so he carefully sent his spiritual sense forward to check on its status. Just as his spiritual sense touched the surface of the earth snake, something charged through the flame while heading in his direction. It rushed by him, but still dealt enough damage to send him flying away. He had tried to dodge, but it was simply too fast. Shui was confident in his speed, but in that clash, he judged his opponent wasn't far from him in that area.
"I should have known this wouldn't be so easy."
Now at Shui's height, the fallen bared its shiny gray fangs. Shui figured out that it had shrunk its body to get out of the earth snake's hold, but that didn't explain everything. During his pondering, the fallen pounced once more, but this time, he was ready for it. He met its claws with his blade, however; he felt a strange sensation as he tried to push it back.
"What, you!"
Once he realised what that sensation was, Shui kicked the fallen away and retreated. It had been negligible before, but in that clash he had felt with his own body the most troublesome ability of the fallen besides their endless regeneration.
"I see, so this entire time you've been stealing my vitality. No, not just me. From everything in this space."
The fallen only growled in response, but he didn't need an answer to know that he was right. The fallen could plunder life and use it to strengthen themselves, and even intelligent life was no exception. If it wasn't for his quasi-divine body, it wouldn't be a surprise if that last confrontation left him barely able to stand. If the battle continued at this rate, then he would continue to grow weaker while it grew stronger.
"Looks like I won't even be able to buy time like this."
Shui quickly ran through his available options for the best solution, but his best wouldn't necessarily work and using it would drain his energy at a fast pace. Still, he felt it was worth a try.
"It's been a while since then. Hopefully, I can manage it now."
Using martial intent as the glue, Shui connected his energy, soul, and body to enter the harmonic trinity state. He had a slight headache and his meridians felt like they were on fire, but he could maintain it.
"Alright. Let's try this again."