The demon lunges at me again, his shadow covered claws leaving black streaks in the air, like scars carved into reality. Its strike nearly rips the sword from my hand, but I plant my feet into the ground and push back with a burst of strength, metal sparking in the flames that surround us. A shock tears through my arms as my blade clashes against the bony armor covering its shoulder.
The demon roars, a sound that makes the earth itself tremble, then answers with a tail strike that hurls me several meters through the rubble. My ribs burn, but the demon blood inside my armor pulses once more, and I rise before it can get close.
I leap at it, unleashing a flurry of lightning-fast strikes, my sword cuts through its limbs like a storm of steel. Every blow is a mix of hatred and resolve, every clash an explosion of light and darkness. The demon staggers but still does not fall. I push it back, gritting my teeth, and scream with all my strength, my voice echoing over the chaos of the battlefield:
— "Hiro! If you can hear me… evacuate the wounded!!!"
The demon gathers its strength and, with a howl that shatters the air, slams both arms into the ground. From the soil erupt tentacles of shadow, spiraling upward to bind me like living chains. They tighten around my chest and arms, crushing my armor and strangling my breath. I try to raise my sword, but it too is caught, forced down by the weight of darkness.
The tentacles smash me against the ruins, stones shattering around me, a stream of blood running down my chin. Every rib feels ready to snap under the pressure, and in my mind only one thought resounds: the demon blood isn't enough anymore…
My vision darkens, hearing only the infernal roar and the slowing thud of my heart, as if the world itself were about to stop. The shadows squeeze tighter, the demon's fangs drawing closer to my face, ready to tear out my throat.
Then, a powerful voice cuts through the chaos, slicing through the noise of death:
— "Ignis Orbis Eternum!"
Above the demon, a colossal sphere of fire forms, greater than any sorcery I have ever seen. Flames spiral, compressed into a blazing orb, like a newborn sun born from Selene's hands. The air ignites instantly, the ground melting under the unbearable heat. In an instant, the sphere crashes down upon the demon, exploding in a burst of pure fire.
The shockwave hurls me backward, tearing the ruins around us apart like leaves in the wind. The demon screams, trapped in the inferno, its shadows burning away, its body struggling to resist the flames, but the spell tears it apart from within.
Still gasping, crushed against the ground, I see Selene's silhouette emerging from smoke and ash, arms outstretched, her eyes glowing with pure magic.
— "I won't let you be taken from me, Kaizen!" she cries, her voice trembling with fury and despair, as her flames consume everything around us.
Selene collapses to her knees beside me, pressing her hands over the wounds still searing beneath my armor. Her magic pours out like a luminous rain, struggling to mend what darkness has broken. My breathing is heavy, blood surges wildly through my veins, yet the warmth of her spell grants me a fleeting moment of relief.
Suddenly, a tearing sound echoes above. The demon rises into the air, its body still smoldering from Selene's flames—but the dark energy around it is denser than ever. Its wings burst into a surge of shadows, splitting the earth around us.
— "Selene… finish quickly… you need to stand up!" I whisper.
A wave of black energy erupts from the demon's body, crashing down upon us. Instantly, everything changes. The sky vanishes, the earth disappears—we find ourselves in a foreign world: an endless tomb of stone and smoke, a suffocating space where shadows stretch like living walls. All of it bound within a demonic barrier.
My heart freezes. This is no longer the battlefield. It's just me and Selene, inside his domain.
At the center of this tomb of darkness, the demon's body begins to shrink, bones cracking, flesh reshaping. Within moments, its beastly form dwindles and transforms. From the black flames steps out a near-human figure, a man with sharp features, blood-red eyes, and a cruel smile shining in the abyss.
— "Impressive…" he says with calm composure. "Very impressive. I didn't know humans could reach such power. That woman's flames… and your sword… surprised me."
Selene continues pouring her magic into me, though her hands tremble. I glance around, feeling the walls of this demonic world close in, suffocating any chance of escape. Worry for her presses heavier on me than my wounds. If this monster strikes now, she will be the one who suffers most.
The demon runs his fingers through his black hair, then fixes his crimson gaze on me.
— "Tell me, human… what is your name? I want to know the head I'll claim as my trophy."
My heart races, not just from fear, but from the shadow looming over Selene; the demon already believes he's won and will take my head. I try to lift my sword, though my arms tremble.
— "Selene… stay behind me…"
My breathing steadies slightly as Selene's light heals me. It's not enough, I feel I'm only at a third of my true strength, but I can stand again. I grip my sword and meet her eyes.
— "Selene… listen. When I signal you, raise a stone pillar to the heavens. I need to reach him."
She shakes her head, worried.
— "Kaizen, it's too dangerous. In your condition…"
I touch her hand, stopping her.
— "There's no time for doubt. Do as I say."
The demon, now in his humanlike form, floats above us, smiling coldly.
— "I like it. You still rise, even when you should already be a memory."
I raise my sword and, with a tilt of my head, give Selene the signal. She presses her palms to the ground, her voice resonating with magic and resolve:
— "Petra Ascendens!"
The demonic tomb quakes, and from the ground erupts a colossal stone pillar, sharp like an obelisk thrust toward the sky. Selene's magic flames wrap it in a radiant aura, propelling me upward with immense force.
I seize the moment. Bending my knees, I launch myself from the rising stone, soaring straight toward the demon. The air vibrates, shadows swirling around us, his crimson gaze tracking me with keen interest.
— "Ingenious… your woman truly knows how to support you," he says with a cold smile, shadows coiling around his arms. "But you still haven't told me… who are you, human? What is the name of my future trophy?"
My heart thunders. My breath is heavy, my sword pulses in my grip, demon blood burning in my veins. The truth is, it isn't fear for myself that makes me tremble, but knowing Selene is down below, trapped in his world, exposed.
— "You don't need to know my name…" I shout, lifting my sword amidst the flames still burning on the rising pillar.
I launch into him with an explosive leap, my blade glowing in the darkness. The demon raises his arms, forging twin blades of shadow, and we clash in a furious aerial duel. Each strike of my sword collides with his dark weapons, sparks and shadows mixing into a storm of light and abyss.
The stone pillar continues to rise, granting me footing for mere seconds, while the demon floats freely, his movements a deadly dance.
— "Still not telling me your name?" he laughs, striking me back with a shadow slash that shatters part of the pillar. "Then I'll rip it from your lips when you die in my arms."
His blades rain down upon me. My strikes falter, each block crushed under the colossal force of his dark weapons. He pushes me back relentlessly, each step shattering stone, each defense tearing my arms with exhaustion.
A frontal strike nearly wrenches my sword away, followed by a side slash ripping through my chest armor, blood spraying into the air. Before I can breathe, the demon crosses his blades, gathering between them a searing crimson energy, then unleashes it in a single devastating strike.
The blast hits me directly, my body hurled like a comet into the ground. The impact shatters earth and stone, burying me in a crater, dust covering everything.
The demon hovers above, glaring down with contempt.
— "Two against one? That's hardly fair…"
Then he dives for Selene. She flinches, startled, but raises her palms, her voice trembling yet resolute:
— "Aegis Astralis!"
Symbols of a shield flare into form around her, a circle of expanding light. But the demon is already there, his spear of shadow poised to pierce her.
From the crater, broken and bloodied, I rise with a scream that shatters the roar of battle. I ignore pain, ignore fractures, ignore the blood pouring from my mouth, I hurl myself at the demon, ramming him from the side. His trajectory shifts, the spear missing Selene, who collapses to her knees, eyes brimming with shock and fear.
The demon is thrown several meters away but grins, more furious than ever.
— "Rising again… interesting. But this time, I will take your head!"
Panting, every fiber of my body torn in agony, I still manage to raise my sword. My eyes lock on the demon, but my heart beats wildly for Selene, who nearly fell. She draws a deep breath, her eyes blazing with fury and resolve. Her body pulses with magic, every muscle taut. She knows, time is the only gift she can give me now.
— "I have to stop him, even for a few seconds…" she whispers.
She raises her palms skyward:
— "Ignis Volturna!"
From her fingers burst concentric flames, launched toward the demon. They explode mid-air, forming columns of fire that spiral to strike. He dodges easily, twisting aside, his shadows stretching to absorb some of the heat.
She wastes no moment:
— "Fulmen Arcanum!"
Bolts of pure energy shoot from her hands, each seeking his weak points. They detonate upon impact, shaking the air and carving bursts across the battlefield, forcing the demon to weave and dance among them.
— "Kaizen… just a little longer… hold on…" she tells herself as she prepares the next spell.
— "Terra Fractura!"
The ground beneath the demon erupts, shards of stone thrusting upward to impale him. He twists aside, slashing some apart with shadows. Each spell forces him to defend, to focus, though none gravely wound him. His shadows absorb her magic, his smile still cold.
— "Do you think a handful of spells can stop me?" he laughs, dodging the last strike with agile grace, dancing through flames.
Selene quickens her pace, spells flowing one after another: Aqua Jetis-a torrent of water detonating against his shadows. Ventus Cyclone-a whirlwind trying to drag him from the air. Lumina Purificata-a ray of pure energy slicing through darkness, blinding his sight and slowing his reflexes.
Each attack forces him to move, to evade, to block, but nothing lands true. For every second she buys, I draw breath, my ruined body holding together through sheer will.
— "Just a little more… I need a little more time!" Selene murmurs, as her spells batter the demon.
Her body trembles from exhaustion, mana draining away, every muscle burning, yet her eyes blaze with unyielding resolve: she must buy me time.
— "I'm running out of mana… I'll stop him with one last spell!" she whispers, her voice faint.
She raises her trembling arms, her cry like thunder:
— "Ignis Terrae Magnus!"
Magic erupts with devastating force. The earth splits around her, stone and fire merging into a massive orb of blazing energy, larger than anything she's ever cast. The air vibrates, raw power pouring forth, striking the demon's chest directly.
He tries to block, shadows stretching to absorb it, but the force is too much. The explosion rocks the world.
At the impact, a white pendant shaped like a feather falls from his neck. His eyes widen, fury and shock mixing:
— "No… not now!"
In desperation, he lunges for the pendant, shadows reaching. But Selene isn't done. With the last of her strength, she raises one arm and cries:
— "Draco Petrae!"
From the ground bursts a colossal dragon of stone, its cracks glowing with her power. The dragon soars and crashes into the demon with devastating force, hurling him away. The pendant slips into a hidden fissure among the ruins, glowing faintly. The impact is so great the demon struggles to breathe.
Moments later, the demonic barrier begins to collapse. The walls of darkness, the shadows, the tomb itself, fade. Light returns.
Every fiber of my body burns with pain, but my will remains unbroken. I grip my sword, ready to fight again. The demon reels from Selene's relentless onslaught, yet his shadows still grope desperately for the fallen pendant, his rage boiling, eyes burning with despair:
— "The pendant is all that matters, I need it for more power! I didn't expect to face two such strong opponents here!"
My arms blaze with pain, but it doesn't matter. I must strike. I sense he is distracted, driven by something beyond the battle.
I glance at Selene.
— "You need to fall back… I don't want you hurt."
She answers with a resolute smile and calm gaze:
— "No, Kaizen. I'll stay by your side. My mana will recover, I can hold him off a little longer."
As the demon writhes in desperation, I hurl myself forward, attacking from the side. Blood and pain mean nothing now; every motion fueled by fury and pure resolve. I can feel him vulnerable, disoriented, and my heart pounds with a single truth: I must end this fight, now.