The Guard Commander was the first to reach Arkanis.
He closed the final distance in a short, aggressive rush and swung his chainsaw sword in a heavy two-handed arc aimed straight for the Demon Lord's stomach. The jagged blade roared as it cut through the air.
Arkanis intercepted the strike instantly.
His staff snapped into place horizontally and caught the chainsaw blade with a sharp metallic clash. Sparks scattered where the teeth bit against the reinforced shaft. For a moment it looked like a simple block.
Then the Guard Commander began pushing.
Slowly at first, but unmistakably, Arkanis's arm started to bend backward under the pressure. The Demon Lord's brow creased slightly as he felt the force driving against him. He shifted his stance and brought his other hand up to the staff, gripping it with both hands to halt the advance.
"How are you doing this, old man?" Arkanis asked, genuinely curious. His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the Guard Commander. "I do not sense any mana coming off of you… Ritual or runic magic perhaps?"
The Guard Commander didn't answer. His teeth were clenched tight, muscles straining as he leaned his full weight forward, boots grinding into the fractured street as he tried to force the Demon Lord back.
Prince Mark arrived from the opposite side a moment later.
He lunged in with both crimson blades swinging at once—one aimed toward Arkanis's chest, the other sweeping toward his neck in a crossing strike meant to split his defense.
Arkanis reacted instantly.
He stepped backward in a sharp retreat, releasing the pressure against the Guard Commander at the same time. The sudden loss of resistance caused both the Guard Commander and Prince Mark to stumble forward, nearly colliding with each other.
Before either of them could fully recover their balance, Arkanis moved.
Gravity condensed around his staff, the weapon becoming suddenly dense and brutally heavy. He swung it in a tight horizontal arc.
The strike connected squarely with Prince Mark's chest.
The impact launched him sideways like a baseball struck by a bat. Mark's body tore through the air and slammed into the side of a nearby building, smashing through the outer wall and vanishing inside in a burst of stone and splintered timber.
"Lord Mark!" the Guard Commander shouted.
But Arkanis was already moving again.
The Demon Lord raised his staff high and brought it down in a crushing overhead swing. The Guard Commander barely managed to lift his chainsaw sword in time to block.
The collision slammed into him like a falling pillar.
The street beneath his boots exploded outward, stone cracking and collapsing from the sheer force of the impact. The Guard Commander's knees nearly buckled under the pressure, the shock traveling straight through his arms and into his body until his legs felt like liquid.
"You three will not make a difference," Arkanis said calmly as he leaned more weight into the weapon.
The Guard Commander's arms trembled violently as he struggled to hold the block. Sweat ran down his face as the staff slowly pressed lower.
Then Arkanis heard something.
The sharp crunch of ice-coated boots striking stone.
He glanced up.
Calvinel was charging toward him, greatsword drawn back behind his shoulder in preparation for a full swing.
"Seriously?" Arkanis muttered.
Without even looking back down, he kicked the Guard Commander away. The older warrior fell down to the groundm ribs aching as the pressure vanished.
At the same moment, Arkanis extended his free hand and unleashed a roaring cone of flames straight toward the charging knight.
"Will your ice be able to hold up against my fire?" he wondered aloud.
The flames swallowed Calvinel whole.
For a few seconds the inferno roared, heat distorting the air around it.
Then something burst through it.
Calvinel exploded out of the fire, panting heavily, white mist pouring from his mouth with each breath. His armor was slick with melting frost where he had encased his body in ice to shield himself from the flames.
He closed the remaining distance and swung his greatsword with everything he had.
"Don't underestimate us!" he shouted, forcing a grin through the exhaustion. "We defeated the other guy! So we can defeat you!"
"Yeah, no," Arkanis replied flatly.
He knocked the incoming sword aside with a short flick of his staff, the impact sending the blade skidding off its intended path.
"I know more or less what happened," the Demon Lord continued calmly. "And I know you didn't defeat him."
He stepped closer.
Calvinel's expression tightened into a grimace as he tried to recover his stance.
Arkanis leaned in slightly, pulling his free hand back before driving it forward in a brutal palm strike.
The blow landed directly on Calvinel's knee.
There was a sickening snap.
The young knight screamed as his leg nearly tore apart at the joint. His body collapsed instantly, the greatsword slipping from his hands as he crashed to the ground and clutched at his ruined leg in agony.
"Sir Calvinel!" the Guard Commander shouted.
"No, Calvinel!" Clara yelled from across the battlefield.
From the rooftop above them, Ercale clicked his tongue in irritation. "Seriously you damn weaklings!? How much more do I have to carry your asses?" he snapped, though he still didn't move. Pushing himself any further right now would risk full mana poisoning, something he could not afford.
Then the ruined building behind Arkanis exploded outward.
Prince Mark burst from the shattered wall, G.E.A.R.s roaring as he poured power into its flight system. He slammed into Arkanis at full speed, wrapping his arms around the Demon Lord and driving him backward.
The sudden impact forced Arkanis to stumble several steps.
"As much as my sister would love seeing him suffer," Mark said through clenched teeth, "I will not let you harm anyone further."
Arkanis raised his staff.
"Try to stop me."
But before the weapon could come down, Prince Mark tightened his grip and ignited his G.E.A.R.s again.
Both of them blasted upward into the air.
Mark dragged the Demon Lord with him, accelerating rapidly as he carried him away from the battlefield.
"Take care of the rest first, then come help me!" he shouted down as he flew off toward another section of the city.
Back on the ground, the Guard Commander rushed to Calvinel's side. He tore a strip of cloth from his own clothing and quickly wrapped it around the mangled leg, pulling it tight to form a tourniquet—even though the severity of the damage meant it would only do so much.
Across the battlefield, Amara continued blasting apart the rubble Nilus was raining down, though the attacks were coming faster now.
"Annabel! How are you not recovered yet!?" she shouted over the chaos.
"Just a few more…" Annabel muttered under her breath.
Then finally she felt it.
Mana began flowing through her body again at its normal pace.
She didn't say anything.
Annabel stepped out from behind her cover and raised both palms, aiming them directly at Nilus and the veinblood cherubs hovering above.