25.
The sword swung back and forth, swishing through the air as the demon built momentum. Its long arms and strong wrists kept the blade a veritable blur of gray steel as the blade formed a mirage of afterimages in front of the demon. A hint of a melody, chaotic and jarring, formed in the afterimages. Erak snorted in contempt. A waste of effort.
He charged, steps short and sure as he kept his shield covering his body. The moment he entered its range the blade slashed a half dozen times, sparks erupting off of his armor as each blow struck with the force of a meteor. Erak’s knees bent and bowed, threatening to fail him as the demon’s smile widened.
Erak stabbed at it, a simple, straight, thrust. Power rippled through his body and the spear seemed to teleport, scraping the demon’s armor in a long line as it leapt backward. A white line marred the demon’s armor and it looked down to stare at where that spear would have disemboweled him if it had been just a step slower. Its four eyes narrowed and the smile thinned.
Erak kept pushing. Never once slowing, every thrust and step a half beat faster as he began to strike with precision. Essence pulled around him again, stirring through the center of his chest and filling the air around him. The demon’s sword hit and bounced off his shield, diverted his spear, tried to contain him.
Erak could not be contained. He was inexorable. Unstoppable. Relentless. Erak’s smile spread across his face as his heart beat faster and faster. Each thrumming beat pounded louder until his ears were trembling with the echo of the beats. His aura spread and spread, filling the area around them as Erak felt pressure building in his chest.
Aura of Bloodlust Advanced
Lvl. 2
Potency Increased
The pressure exploded out of him and he could taste the fear in the air, the hints of the madness of the fight. Erak growled in his throat as the higher level demon backed up, its eyes' pinpoints of yellow as it swings became erratic, the fluidity and song fading away.
Erak continued to press until the demon’s back was against the wall. It tried to regain its momentum, lunging forward and slashing twice, but Erak weathered its storm, stomping on its instep. Bones crunched and the demon screamed. Erak punched it with his shield, the edge crumpling metal and shattering bone.
Above him, the lesser demons were backing away from the breach as Imperial soldiers screamed and raged, racing up the stairs to fight the larger demons in a frenzy of rage. The war cries echoed out from the breach, mingling with the demons' cries as the warriors of the Empire threw them from the defenses.
Erak slammed the blade dancer against the wall, stabbing it through the thigh as it bounced off the stone. He headbutted it as it bent at the waist, then hit it again with the shield’s edge. The spear pinned it to the ground and Erak left it, grabbing its wrist with his now free hand. He squeezed and felt bones pop and then break, the demon releasing its sword to clatter to the stone.
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He headbutted it again and the creature went limp. Erak finished it quickly as it lay against the wall dazed and confused. His spear popped free and he looked at the sword laying there on the ground.
Adept’s Sword of Discord
Uncommon
He’d come back for that later.
The interior of the wall was a mass of chaos as soldiers and demons fought without mercy. He watched a human scale a downed demon, crushing its skull with the butt of her caster. He saw another human disemboweled on demon claws, the man still stabbing the creature with his knife over and over even as his entrails spilled out.
Madness gripped this section of the Armory, madness and fear. The demons were breaking. The legions of hell were filled with fear and Erak basked in it. He shed blood as he killed a pair of Infernal Soldiers, then spun and kicked an Infernal Commander out through the breach and to the hard ground below.
More fighting. More dead. Demons and man, all piling up in the dark, hot, passageway. The stench of blood and burnt meat mingling thick enough to choke a man. Erak kept killing, ignoring the alert, as he sent another corpse to the ground. Then there were no more demons, horns blew in the distance, brass and bellowing and the stream finally stopped.
The demons fled. All of them running, their backs to Erak as the scattered remnants retreated back to their encirclement. The ring of crushed rubble and siege weapons that the demons had built around looked flimsy and weak. The protruding cannons that aimed at the Armory looked scarce and non threatening as the urge to leap from the hall and chase after them.
“ERAK!” Nevia screamed, her voice piercing through the urges to chase them down. Erak’s feet were on the edge, teetering to jump down and chase those who fled. To continue the slaughter.
Erak backed up, his heart beating with frantic rage at being leashed. Erak looked down at himself, drenched in blood, and then back at the demons who had fled. He lifted his spear and the remaining soldiers cheered, their minds clouded by the bloodlust aura.
“Sammus is preparing a counter assault. He needs you down in the courtyard. They’re planning on breaking the containment and linking with Colonel Gressen!” Nevia had to lean in to scream at him from inches away.
Erak turned away and marched down the steps and toward Sammus. He had mistaken the young prince, thinking him nothing more than a fop. There was a true ring of steel to the man if he was planning to assault that ring of guns and demons.
Erak looked down at the broken Blade Singer and roughly pulled the scabbard off its back before sheathing his new sword on his hip. The long blade sat awkwardly, but he had been needing a secondary weapon. He needed a good knife or three now.
Level Earned
Bloodsworn lvl. 10
That was nearly as rewarding to him as the fight had been. The sword demon had been a decent challenge, but the reward looking back at him made it even better. There was a definite addiction to this, acquiring strength and power from fighting his foes. It was an intoxicating drug, one that he was going to use with great frequency as he made his way towards the Queen.
But first, he had an army to break.