Right after the flash
Wolf blinked against the afterimage of white.
The sky had changed completely. The astral tear was gone. The dark clouds that had churned overhead and rained crimson upon the city had vanished. In their place hung what felt like a second sun, a massive sphere of divine radiance suspended high above. It burned brilliant white, flooding every street, rooftop, and shattered wall in unforgiving light. By now the real sun should have set. Instead, it was as if day had been forced back into existence.
He tilted his masked face upward, squinting through the slits of the wolf mask as the harsh brilliance poured over him, forcing his eyes to adjust.
"Well would you look at that? Finally decided to help again goddess?" he remarked with a low chuckle.
He barely finished the sentence.
Instinct snapped his body sideways. He brought his longsword up just in time to catch Armada's kick. Steel met clawed heel with a violent crack. The impact blasted through his guard and sent him skidding backward, boots tearing furrows through the broken street before he was launched clear off his feet.
Armada landed a split second later and tore the broken blade from his pinned leg with a snarl. He ripped the other shard free as well and flung it aside. Flesh began knitting visibly now that the joint was no longer locked, muscle sealing, bone resetting beneath dark skin.
"Did she help?" Armada asked, breathing hard but grinning like he had claimed victory. "Because I'm pretty sure if she didn't put up that light show, you would have had me by now."
Wolf rolled through his landing and rose smoothly, exhaling as he steadied his stance.
"Goddess this bastard has no pride," he muttered, shaking his head once.
He adjusted his grip on the longsword.
"But I can't deny that. If that flash didn't happen, I would have had him."
Armada lunged from above, claws descending in a brutal arc.
Wolf slid back just out of range, the talons gouging the stone where he had stood.
"Now what?" Armada taunted, spreading his arms wide despite the sweat rolling down his temples. "You're down that shitty sword, have damages that won't heal unlike mine. How do you plan to win now?"
Wolf gave a short, unimpressed hum.
"Uh huh… you do realize that it's obvious your regeneration has limits right? It's clearly tiring for you."
He moved before Armada could answer.
Wolf drove forward. He slipped inside a right-handed swipe, the claws slicing through empty air where his shoulder had been. His blade flashed and carved across Armada's left wrist mid-swing, biting deep. He pivoted sharply as a clawed kick whipped toward his ribs, twisting just outside its path while dragging his sword across the attacking leg. Steel opened flesh before the limb could fully retract.
Armada roared and slammed his foot into the ground.
The shockwave detonated outward. Streets fractured. Nearby buildings split along weakened seams and began to collapse. The blast caught Wolf mid-motion and hurled him backward.
He did not allow the momentum to claim him.
As a building tilted and fell, he drove his longsword into its descending facade. The blade bit into wood and masonry. Using the embedded steel as a pivot, he swung his body forward, reversing the force that had thrown him. With a sharp pull he ripped the sword free and launched himself straight back at Armada.
The Demon Lord raised both forearms to shield his head.
Wolf's blade punched through them.
Steel tore through muscle and bone, driving between the crossed arms. The tip halted a breath from Armada's face.
"All she did is delay the inevitable you bastard!" Wolf shouted, grinning behind the wolf mask.
He twisted.
The longsword ripped outward in a savage arc. Armada's right arm severed above the elbow. His left came off at the forearm. Blood jetted in heavy bursts as the limbs spun away and struck the ruined street.
"Ugh!" Armada grunted, collapsing to his knees.
Wolf stepped in without pause.
"No speeches this time."
The sword swept once.
Armada's head separated cleanly from his shoulders.
The body toppled sideways. Wolf kicked it hard, sending the headless corpse crashing through the remnants of a wall. Then, for certainty, he drove his blade down through the severed head's skull and lifted it up on the steel.
"So the Demon Form stays on after death huh?" he remarked, examining it.
The ground lurched.
A violent tremor rolled through the district. Wolf nearly pitched forward as the street buckled beneath him.
"Woah! What the hell was that!?"
He shook the head from his blade and let it fall, turning toward the source of the disturbance.
"Was that the Demon King's doing?" he wondered aloud.
He broke into a run.
"I have to take care of him too, and any other damn Demon Lords in this city."
He slowed as he approached an intersection, something ahead drawing his eyes upward.
Wolf came to a gradual stop.
"What in the genuine fuck…?"
A five-story building hung suspended in the air, lifted by nothing visible at all.
Then it dropped.