Eliad moved swiftly between the aligned columns, holding the demon-slaying sword in his right hand and a semi-automatic pistol in his left. At the end of the tunnel, the enormous doors that divided the path began to move heavily. The screeching of the disused gears echoed throughout the corridor.
“Look, the doors are closing!” Eliad suddenly shouted. “It has to be them! Hurry!”
The four of them started running without completely breaking formation as the image of the doors at the end grew larger. However, the doors were closing faster than he had thought, so he picked up the pace and left the soldiers behind.
As he got closer, he could distinguish several humanoid figures in front of the enormous doors. Some of them turned around and began to cross slowly to the other side.
“I won't let you escape!” he said to himself.
The gap between the doors was getting narrower, but if he could go a little faster, he would have time to pass between the humanoids on this side and make it through. He knew the mage and the soldiers were quite a bit behind, which meant he would likely leave them to their fate. It wasn't something that pleased him, but his priority was to stop the demon before it grew stronger.
Eliad channeled his inner energy and released it to infuse his legs. His muscles grew and tensed just as he was planting a foot on the ground. He leaped, covering much more distance than any human could. He touched down and continued running at a much higher speed, feeling his entire body slicing through the air. The humanoid figures waiting to welcome him became fully visible just before they began to transform.
The figure of a woman in a secretary outfit became more slender, her skin turned a light lilac, and her hair became ashen. Her nails grew long, hard, and sharp. A tail sprouted, and three black horns emerged from her head. The bones in her knees became thick spikes. A third breast, secreting a white fluid, grew below the other two on her exposed stomach. She was the living image of both erotism and danger.
The lower half of a chubby man with a ponytail transformed into the torso of a huge yellowish worm with ten long legs on each side. The upper half, which still retained a somewhat humanoid shape, was covered in tentacles. Two enormous mouths without teeth but full of tongues appeared on his deformed face, separated by a large eye.
The head of a man with bulging eyes grew immensely and filled with eyeballs. Two of them were connected to his face by tentacles. Even his mouth was an eye with teeth. The man’s legs became like those of an animal, and his hands turned reptilian.
Finally, the bodies of two men dressed in National Defense Corps uniforms grew to the size and musculature of a grok. One had horns, beast legs, and wielded a large war axe. The other, with reddish skin, a canine face, and a tail ending in a spiked ball, held a huge twisted broadsword.
The runic device started beeping, showing five dots along with small letters indicating the level of the apparitions: one level 2, and four level 1. Based on their appearances, Eliad guessed one was a lust core, one a gluttony core, another a greed core, and the last two were either wrath or hatred cores.
“I can get past them,” Eliad thought.
The newly transformed demons charged at him like ravenous hyenas.
“Stupid mortal! Do you think we’ll let you reach our lord?” the she-demon said before swiping at him.
Eliad ducked, dodging the attack without slowing down, then jumped to avoid the swipe of her deadly tail and continued running toward his goal.
Next to confront him were the demons who had once been members of the National Defense Corps. The hunter sidestepped and used his sword to deflect the axe-wielding demon’s attack. He spun around, slashing the back of the demon's leg, and shot the other demon in the eye just as it raised its broadsword. Both roared in pain, though one more than the other, as it was likely the first time someone had slashed part of its essence.
Leaving the two warrior demons behind, Eliad saw fire projectiles created by the many-eyed demon heading toward him. He dodged them without slowing down and retaliated with several shots, forcing the infernal creature to create a magic shield to protect itself.
Eliad looked at the doors. They were almost closed.
There was only one left.
As he got closer to the last demon, Eliad stopped shooting at the sorcerer demon, who quickly fired another magic projectile to prevent him from crossing to the other side at all costs. But that was already part of the hunter’s plan. Eliad hugged the worm demon’s body, fired a couple of shots at it, and then dodged with a feint. At that moment, the fire projectile struck the demon’s torso, setting it ablaze. Startled, the demon began beating itself with its numerous tentacles to extinguish the flames consuming its body.
Eliad knew the she-demon was right on his heels. But he didn’t care; he was almost at the gap between the doors. Once he crossed to the other side, he would deal with them all at once. He kept running and finally managed to pass through to the other side.
A new point appeared on his radar.
The hunter didn't have time to see the level of the enormous warrior-like demon waiting for him on the other side. A massive punch struck his protected chest with incredible speed, sending him flying back to the other side. The blow knocked the wind out of him, and everything around him seemed to go deafeningly silent. But at least he had confirmed Michael’s face. The bastard was laughing.
Eliad crashed to the ground and rolled several times. He got to one knee and placed his left hand on his thin armor, trying to catch his breath. But the she-demon, unwilling to give him any respite, pounced on him. The former secretary’s claws raked across his face as he tried to stand, and then he received a kick to the head, making him roll across the ground again.
The broadsword-wielding demon charged at him, filled with rage.
Eliad tried to get up quickly to face the brutal onslaught coming his way. However, he knew it was too late; the demon was already upon him.
But just as the broadsword was coming down on him, a beam of pure energy struck the demon, causing its attack to veer slightly. The hunter seized the opportunity and jumped back to put some distance between them.
“Save some fun for the rest of us, hunter.”
Eliad turned and saw the mage descending nearby. His eyes shone with excitement. The sound of a rifle echoed faintly, and the she-demon, almost upon him again, quickly moved aside to dodge the bullets.
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“This time, I’m not staying on the sidelines,” Neisa shouted from her distant position. To her right, the drauo soldier was beginning to slow down.
“And neither will a descendant of the rock,” Bargu said, also interrupting the horned demon’s charge. Then he turned and looked at Neisa. “How did that sound? Cool?”
“Not bad for some soldiers,” Eliad said with a strained smile as he loaded another magazine into his pistol.
“Vulfrack told us one of yours would likely come, but he didn’t mention you’d bring friends, hunter,” said the she-demon, a sly smile spreading across her face. “Well, more fun for us.”
Eliad had thought that the presence of lower-level demons in the rear might mean the demon was so ancient that he didn’t know his order had almost gone extinct and had preferred to ensure his escape. But it seemed this Vulfrack had warned them. Who was this demon? And more importantly, how did he know Eliad was coming?
“I’m going to tear them apart and break all their bones,” the broadsword demon roared furiously.
“Not if I do it first,” added the axe-wielding demon, glaring at Bargu.
“I want to experiment on them,” said the many-eyed demon.
“Can I take care of the woman?” asked the half-worm demon, drooling from the two toothless mouths on its face.
“Take whoever you want,” the she-demon replied sweetly and charged at the hunter. “But the hunter is mine!”
“Now is not the time to ask myself those questions,” Eliad thought, and he rushed to meet the she-demon.
The former secretary launched numerous martial strikes using her hands, legs, and tail, but Eliad dodged and blocked them repeatedly until he managed to shoot her. The she-demon was forced to move aside to avoid the bullets and then jumped back to evade the hunter’s sword. Eliad lunged at her, and this time he led the dance. After several unsuccessful sword strikes and gunshots to the rhythm of the battle, they separated to regain their distance.
“Not bad, human,” the she-demon said, licking her lips.
“I was just warming up,” Eliad replied as the magazine dropped from his pistol.
***
Isen watched as the broadsword demon charged at him furiously and smiled. The moment he had longed for, to become the hero of one of the stories he had read, had finally arrived. With his bare hands, the combat mage manipulated the magic particles, transforming them into magical projectiles that he launched at his muscular opponent. The demon writhed with each projectile but did not stop. Instead, it increased its speed and fury.
Before he knew it, the demon was upon him, and a tremendous sword slash descended toward his head like a guillotine. However, Isen had been preparing for this strike for years, having fought hundreds of similar battles in his mind with each story he read. Without flinching, Isen created a magical shield, and the clash of sword and shield echoed throughout the tunnel. The demon’s face was the very image of rage.
As Eliad had told him, Isen noticed how particles of corrupt magic emanated from the demon and mixed with the normal ones. He was once again tempted to use them. He wanted to discover the power of the demons. He wanted to see how strong his spells could become.
But he discarded the idea. The heroes in the stories had not used corrupt magic to defeat their enemies. And neither would he.
The demon raised the broadsword to strike him, and Isen took advantage of that moment to dematerialize the shield and create a fist of earth that erupted from the ground, sinking into the demon’s stomach. The infernal creature staggered back a few steps and doubled over. Another fist emerged from the ground and struck the demon’s chin, lifting it a few inches off the ground and sending it sprawling on its back.
Just then, Isen stepped aside to dodge a fire magic projectile and then countered another with one of water, leaving a faint mist in the air.
“That's more like it!” he said, and his eyes shone once more.
***
Bargu regretted his words the moment he saw the infernal creature charging at him like a raging bull. No matter how many bullets from his rifle embedded themselves in its muscular body, it didn’t stop. It didn’t even flinch. It was as if it were immune to pain.
"Fuck, it’s almost on me," Bargu thought, terrified. "Come on, damn it, why won’t you die?"
Suddenly, his arms and legs began to tremble. His breathing quickened. He was panicking.
The demon emerged from behind a column and, with a leap from its goat-like legs, soared several meters, closing the distance between them. Bargu knew this was his chance. The demon wouldn’t be able to dodge his bullets while airborne. He raised his arms and squeezed the trigger again. However, his nerves betrayed him, and the bullets barely grazed the demon.
"Shit!"
The demonic creature descended upon him with a swing of its axe, and Bargu had to muster all his willpower to make his legs react. A split second after the young drauo jumped aside, the demon's weapon embedded itself in the ground, shattering the tiles around it.
“Damn rat!” the demon yelled as it forcefully yanked the axe free. “I’m going to crush you!”
Bargu got up as quickly as he could and squeezed the trigger tightly. But there was barely any distance between them, and soon the demon was upon him again. The young drauo managed to dodge the first blow by stepping out of the axe’s path, but a sharp pain shot through his arm as the demon's weapon struck his shoulder guard and sent him flying.
***
Neisa fired several bursts of bullets as the demon, whose lower half resembled that of a giant worm, approached her. A few bullets managed to hit its humanoid torso, leaving tiny trails of violet blood in their wake. The demon whimpered and stopped briefly.
"Noo! Why are you hurting me?" it screeched in a greasy voice. "I just want to hug and touch you!" The demon shuddered and looked mischievously from side to side. "Well, and lick and eat you, hehe."
"I'd rather die than let you touch me, disgusting slime!" Neisa retorted, squeezing the trigger. The bullets struck the creature's wide, slimy lower half.
The demon whimpered again and reared up on its four hind legs before resuming its advance.
Neisa turned and began running backward while changing the magazine. To her left, Bargu was frantically dodging the flying strike of another demon. The Fiero Mayordomos soldier turned to face her enemy, ducking to avoid a sudden swipe from one of the demon's tentacles. She rolled on the ground to dodge another, got on her knees, and fired another burst at her attacker.
More violet blood flowed, but that didn't stop one of the tentacles from striking her in the face. Neisa fell to the ground and rolled again, but this time not of her own accord.
***
Isen blocked another fire projectile with a magical shield and deflected the demon's massive sword with a gust of wind. However, the infernal creature turned and swung its spiked tail at him. The battle mage jumped backward while raising a small earthen wall that shattered upon impact.
Isen touched down and observed the demons, panting. Although he considered himself superior to them, he was beginning to tire both physically and energetically. If things continued this way, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up the pace for much longer. He had to eliminate one of them first.
Isen decided to focus on the demon with magical powers. As a battle mage, he knew that most magic users neglected physical prowess to concentrate entirely on learning and using magic. While he wasn't sure if the same rule applied to demons, it seemed more feasible to distract the demon with the sword and quickly finish off the magical demon in close combat than to try to fend off the blows from the first and the spells from the other.
The battle mage's eyes glowed again, and the ground beneath the sword-wielding demon turned into a deep mire that began to yield under its weight, while earthen tentacles obstructed its movements.
With another hand motion, Isen lifted off the ground, dodging stone shards. He created another gust of wind and propelled himself toward the many-eyed demon while unsheathing his sword and dodging the magical projectiles it launched. Just before landing, he ran his left hand along the blade, making it as cold as an iceberg.
No sooner had he touched down than small lightning bolts shot from the demon's eyes toward him.
"I've acted rashly!"
The battle mage crouched slightly and quickly manipulated the magical particles around him to create an energy shield. The electric charge began to course over the shield's surface, and Isen extended tentacle-like projections from the shield, directing the current underground.
"That was close. I was naive to think that demons could only channel their spiritual energy through their hands."
The shield dissipated, and the battle mage counterattacked with a thrust. The demon deflected the weapon with a lateral swipe of one of its claws. However, to its surprise, the claw that had blocked the attack began to freeze.
The infernal creature recoiled in fear. Isen advanced with a spin and, with an upward slash, decapitated it. The corrupted blood sprayed out, forming a trail of ice.
The battle mage bent his knees and tried to catch his breath. He was exhausted. However, an infernal scream behind him reminded him that the fight was not yet over. Isen turned around and prepared to face the demon's charge.