For a long, fragile moment, the battlefield was quiet. No wind, no voices — only the slow, unsettling drip of water from shattered pipes above. The remnants of the last fight still clung to the air.
Lucien, Reinhardt, and Kael were scattered around the wreckage, catching their breath. Sid stood in the middle of the room, feeling the daemon's name — Ravh'Zereth — throb somewhere deep inside him like a heartbeat he didn't want to hear.
Professor Nox walked in, his coat still swaying from the quick stride. His eyes scanned the scene once, sharp and unreadable.
"Is it over?" Lucien asked, though his tone carried no conviction.
Nox's gaze shifted, not to the others, but to the shadow pooling unnaturally in the corner of the room. "No," he said quietly. "It's just… holding its breath."
The shadow stirred. Slowly, it peeled away from the wall like smoke made solid. At first, it had no shape — only a writhing darkness — but then it gathered, twisted, and hardened into a towering figure.
Its head was crowned with jagged bone, and four arms ended in long, curved . Its voice was a rasp of grinding metal.
"I am here to destroy the vessel of… Ravh'Zereth."
Sid's blood ran cold.
Nox stepped forward without hesitation, his voice low but commanding. "This," he said to the others, "is a monster from the last war. An underarm of the demon lords. In the old days, one of these could raze an entire fortress before breakfast."
The demon's four arms flexed, and the walls shuddered under the pressure of its presence.
"Stay back," Nox ordered the group. His eyes didn't leave the enemy. "This one's mine."
The Battle Begins
The demon struck first, crossing the space between them in a single lunge. Its claws ripped through the air with such force that the floor splintered where they passed.
Nox's body blurred — he was already gone from where he'd stood. In a flicker of light, he reappeared behind the demon, his left hand tracing a swift pattern in the air.
Velari Arts Shadow Veil Sever. A thin, crescent slash of dark-violet light tore into the demon's back.
The creature roared, spinning with its other two arms, forcing Nox to pivot away. The floor erupted as the strips tore through stone.
"Fast," Nox muttered under his breath. "But predictable."
The demon's shadow stretched unnaturally, then rose like spears from the ground.
Velari art : Hollow Step. Nox vanished into the folds of his own shadow, reappearing above the enemy's head. His right hand ignited with a swirling seal — a spiraling brand of black and silver flame.
He slammed it down on the demon's skull. The force exploded outward, hurling the monster several meters back into a wall.
The Demon's Counterattack
But it was far from finished. With a snarl, the creature tore itself free from the rubble. One of its upper arms reached forward, claws glowing with sickly red energy, and the other three whipped forward in different arcs — a killing pattern from the war days.
Nox twisted his wrist, forming a barrier of rotating diamond-like fragments. Each claw strike shattered one layer, until the last blow broke through — but Nox had already side-stepped, dragging his hand through the air.
Velari Art: Abyssal Reversal. The momentum of the demon's strike turned against it, twisting its limb and driving its own claw deep into its torso.
The monster roared again, black ichor spilling onto the floor. But rather than falter, it grew more frenzied.
The Fight Stretches On
The next exchange was brutal. They moved too fast for Sid's eyes to follow completely — flashes of Nox's black-silver arts clashing with streaks of crimson from the demon's cursed strikes. Each time Nox landed a blow, the demon adapted, shifting its attack rhythm.
But Nox wasn't simply holding his ground. He was studying it.
"You're not the strongest they've sent," Nox said mid-step, "but you're built to test the vessel. That means—" He ducked under a swing and drove his palm into the demon's chest, detonating a seal that sent it skidding backward. "—you're dangerous enough to take seriously."
The demon hissed, its voice low and venomous. "I don't need to win. I only need to break him."
Its gaze flicked briefly to Sid.
Sid's fists clenched. The demon's voice whispered faintly in his mind, urging him to step forward — to burn this intruder to ash.
Nox's voice cut through the haze. "Sid. Stay. Back."
The demon's claws suddenly dug into the ground, and with a heave, it split the stone open. A pillar of black flame erupted upward, forcing Nox to leap away.
He landed lightly, eyes narrowing. "Enough warm-up."
The battle was far from over — but Sid could feel it. Nox was preparing something deeper, something heavier. The real fight was about to begin.