Even without visual confirmation, Jaco’s other senses didn’t betray him. His sense of smell didn’t indicate that Levi had run away. There was currently a light breeze that had changed directions a few times over the last few minutes. But he didn’t rely on that alone. His hearing was the real evidence.
While he’d been fighting the Minotaurs, Jaco thought he heard occasional footsteps that didn’t belong to either of his companions. Yet the sounds had been spread out in a circle, and came at seemingly random moments. It seemed that Levi was very carefully circling them, remaining cautious about betraying his movements.
However, even now while he wasn’t distracted from fighting, Jaco still couldn’t pin him down. Going off smell and those random sounds, it seemed like Levi should have been close enough to at least spot him once while moving. But that hadn’t been the case.
Jaco didn’t know if whatever was really going on was the result of an Ability or an artifact. It could have been a mix of both, as far as he knew. It was apparent that Levi’s actual capabilities as a whole was still a major question mark. Even after both Sam and Evelyn had shared what they knew about his powers during a prior meeting, the info provided wasn’t much at all.
In all this time, since the early days of the Apocalypse, Sam had only known of one Ability that Levi used in front of others. One that made sense, with his Class being that of a Spellblade, its name indicating a blend of magic and swordplay. The Ability in question apparently had two parts to it.
First, it acted as an all-around enhancement. An effect that made Levi’s sword tougher in some respects, more flexible in others, and simply overall sharper. By itself, that wasn’t anything to really write home about, as it would have been more like a bog-standard Passive Ability if that were all it could do. However, it was the second effect that made this Ability a lot more interesting.
The prior buff was apparently more of a side effect than anything. For what the Ability truly did was prime Levi’s blade to absorb and then later unleash other powers. It could be anything from a Warrior’s Slash or Block to the spells from a Mage’s Arcane Spellcasting. The Ability could even absorb something like the Martial Artist’s Unarmed Strike and adjust it to be used with his blade instead of the intended bare fist.
According to Sam, Levi had only ever shown himself able to store and use one absorbed power at a time. However, considering his true nature, she had no idea if that was the actual limit or just something he feigned at the time to keep its true capabilities a secret.
With the knowledge of that one Ability, one question easily came to mind. They had only seen him use it with the Abilities of other people, and not with whatever additional powers he possessed. But Sam had only seen him use it before anyone would have discovered the existence of artifacts. Since then, amazingly powerful artifacts had been found, and even gathered by the Chosen Few. Could Levi even absorb their powers for himself? And if so, to what degree?
Everything past that was just a further set of question marks, like… what were his other Abilities as a Spellblade? Or, easily just as important, what new power did he get from choosing Conditional Magus as his Class Evolution? Because while “conditional” did suggest its nature, who knew what the specific details actually were.
So in Jaco’s mind, everything and anything had to be kept in mind. His body swiveled in place as he scanned his surroundings, on the lookout for the other human. From a couple dozen feet behind him, Sam and Evelyn did the same. They didn’t exchange any words, but just a brief glance’s eye contact was enough to confirm that they were all wondering when Levi would make his move.
However, something much more important was the battle still going on above them. It was by far the most crucial thing happening, as the Demon’s victory would instantly invalidate any hope they had of survival. In that moment, their attention was forced to the skies above.
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An explosion rang out as the Angel’s spear of golden light met with demonic claws enveloped in red energy. Both beings were sent flying back, with the Demon crashing through a building. Yet just a second later from inside, large vertical arcs of crimson cleanly cut the building into pieces before continuing their flight toward the Angel.
The arcs only further grew in size as they flew, yet their target remained undaunted. She held out her free hand, from which a towering shield even larger than the buildings spring forth. The arcs slammed into the barrier, but only managed to crack it before they disappeared.
With a cry of holy damnation, the Angel then raised her spear into the air. Responding to her will, the barrier was transformed into a wall of spears. As soon as they came to be, she sent them flying in the Demon’s direction.
That’s… woah, Jaco thought. His mouth was slightly open as he was truly awed by the spectacle of it all. And in the back of his mind, the Druid couldn’t help but try to imagine himself in the fight as he was now.
The Demon hadn’t shown off much in terms of its powers. Yet just those red arcs of energy were far beyond a Warrior’s Slash or what he could create with wind magic. The concrete structure they’d cut through might as well have been made of butter for how easily and cleanly it was sliced apart.
As for the barrage of golden spears just now, Jaco doubted that even his most defensive Abilities could even hold a candle. Even if he did everything that he’d done before and added the Hell Elixirs, his gut told him that it wouldn’t matter. Before those spears, even the form of a mighty bear would be rendered a bloodied porcupine.
A mental image that the Demon made its own reality as it flew back out and into his sight. Its body was now riddled with holes, and it ripped one last spear out of its leg. Interestingly enough, there still wasn’t any blood, or any sort of equivalent liquid, coming out of its many wounds.
However, how it felt toward the damage already done was clear from how its coal-like eyes were now searingly red hot. It looked as though they would actually catch fire, as even without other facial features, its gaze toward the Angel was still obviously one of pure hatred. Her own expression still calm and collected with focus, the Angel just pointed her spear at her foe.
“Surrender now, fiend, and spare yourself from further suffering. Do so, and you shall receive the blessing of a swift death that your kind does not deserve. No matter your schemes, you Demons are not yet meant to roam this world. Look past your natural arrogance, and you shall see that the Gate’s toll on crossing early has been made evident in this battle,” she declared.
At her words, the smoke from the Demon only became heavier and darker. Its eyes only brightened even further… until the young flame suddenly died out. The smoke all but disappeared as its battered form paused to hover in the air.
“Had we fought just a few days from now… bah. Fine, I will admit it. As I am now in this condition, I cannot beat you.” It lowered its arms, and slouched forward. “I surrender, Angel, so at least make good on your promise to make my death a swift one.”
The Guardian Angel looked at the monster, her eyes cold and calculating. Yet even as she continued to stare, her foe did not move from its place. After a few seconds passed, she nodded. The Angel then raised her spear and positioned herself as if to throw it like a javelin.
Jaco watched as even more golden light began to gather into it for what seemed to be some powerful, charged attack. All the while, the Impure Iranes continued to stare down at the ground in apparent acceptance of what was to come. There was still a distance of well over a hundred feet between them. So even if it tried something to sneak-attack the Angel, she would have plenty of time to—
“But if I can’t kill you, then I’ll damn this human you care so much about!” the Demon yelled as it swooped straight for Jaco.
Oh… fuck! he inwardly cursed. As energy almost instantly gathered within the Demon’s palm, his thoughts were racing.
The last save from the Angel, when she’d fired the beam between them, had just been him getting lucky. Just now, off to the side, she had still been in the middle of charging her spear. The Angel canceled the move a moment ago, but Jaco already knew it in his gut: the Demon had been smart to wait until she’d been in the middle of something that would cause a delay to change, and put her on a time lag. Which meant that this time, the end would actually come for him.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, there was a flash of blinding, red light. Every muscle in his body was already tensed, just hoping that what was about to come would at least be quick and painless.