The first order of business was to get out of the way of the incoming energy blasts that were coming in. He didn’t know what the red and the blue blasts did, but that did not matter. He didn’t want to figure out what they did, especially with the way they moved all over to strike him. What mattered was using his divine blessing to move out of the way of all the incoming beams to dodge.
He moved, weaving all around to avoid the incoming blasts. While doing so, he nocked the arrow back in his bow and launched another shot, this time aiming at the woman’s face. He started shooting arrow after arrow while he had his divine blessing enabled, all as a means to counter those incoming blasts.
Eventually, he was able to reach a part of the room that wasn’t being struck with the beams. Only when he reached this safe area did he stop using his power. Then, just like that, the world went back to normal.
The beams all scattered and bounced around, but none of them came close to hitting him. Each of the arrows shot earlier sped up and rushed towards the floating demon. However, there was a problem that he had to shamefully admit then and there.
His archery was not up to the task. While yes, he could swing his sword to take down enemies without much problem, he certainly could not shoot his bow as accurate as he desired. Of the six shots he had launched, only two of them hit, but nowhere near the intended target.
One slammed into her right shoulder, while the other flew past and scratched her side. She hissed as she ripped out the arrow once more, before crushing the shaft with her own bare hand.
“Wretched little bastard!” She roared as her arms have begun to shake, before fog seemed to overtake her being, “Let’s see you be able to launch all those annoying little shots without being able to see!”
Before long, that despicable mist began to overtake the entire room. His vision was once more clouded, preventing him from being able to see the demon. This was something that was rather dangerous, considering the fact that he could not detect any of the incoming attacks any longer. But, he had confidence despite the current situation.
That being said, he kept his ears open and his caution up. He focused on any sounds of movement that would give away the next attack. What he knew about this woman was rather simple: unlike the one that was stuck in the tower, this one didn’t seem to be a coward. Meaning that either she was going to go for a direct attack or for another ranged assault once more.
He put away his bow and arrow, before unsheathing his greatsword. He held the weapon in front of him as he got ready to defend from the strike that should come. Whether that be something he can deflect or a strike to counterattack with, he was ready for whatever was to come.
He could hear her moving towards him at a fast pace. At this time, he had to assume that she was able to see through the fog, so he got ready to swing at a point.
The noise got closer. His breath got tighter. Then, at the most optimal point, he swung.
He missed. The demon had seen his attack incoming and thus was able to redirect herself to barely avoid the strike, but not before taking a glancing hit from his sword. His slash cut a large scratch on her torso, which healed in an instant. However, that was enough for her to unleash a loud growl before rushing in once again. Her arm lashed out towards him through the fog, with what seemed to be a black, sharp energy that covered up the entirety of her limb.
He ducked his head away from the strike. However, he miscalculated. The woman wasn’t aiming for his head, she had been directing her attack right at his left arm. The black energy slammed into his limb and he could feel something breaking within.
A scream of pain erupted from his mouth as he was launched into the wall. His back slammed against the stone bricks, which made his body as a whole shake and tremble. A cough and a wheeze managed to escape him as pain continued to run through his body.
However, he needed to move. Right now, right here. He had to get away, he had to dodge the next strike!
He heard her coming. In that instant, he tapped into his divine blessing. Once more, the world began to come to a slow, which let him be able to see the woman coming. The fog may have covered up his vision, but none of that mattered when he was fast enough to bypass any of those problems.
He dashed forward. He held his sword in his grip as he moved towards where he had heard the woman moving. Then, he saw her right there: the black energy still covering up her limbs.
Without hesitating, he swung at her neck. His sword went through flesh and bone as though there was nothing but air. However, he did not stop even after landing that seemingly lethal strike. After all, this was the same person who was able to recover from a slash to the torso and several arrows to the body.
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He slashed through her body five more times, before letting the world return back to normal. In that instant, her body fell apart. Her head slammed onto the ground first, her face one full of shock and anger. Then, her torso, which had been split into fours, fell and splattered. Finally, her legs followed suit, landing into a small pile right next to the rest of her body.
“You–you–”
Whatever she was going to say was put to an end when he slammed his sword right through her head and into the stone. The demon gagged as he did so, before he wrenched his weapon out and looked down at her, panting.
Her body laid there, unmoving. Her head had been split in two, with the last look being one of complete pain. The torso stayed where it was and from what it seemed, he had won. He had put the vile demon to rest, and victory was his. However, that wasn’t the case, not with the fog still flooding the room.
She wasn’t dead still. This definitely had to be something similar to the soldiers back at the lobby, with how they were absolutely unkillable until you destroyed their legs. Either case, he had to get to the rest of her body. Destroy everything and leave nothing behind to regenerate.
He moved forward and got ready to slash at her legs. What he did not expect was for the arms, still wrapped in that black energy, to fly forward and slam right into his body.
He had been prepared for an incoming attack. What he hadn’t been prepared for was the double strike. The greatsword lashed out and sliced one of the arms in half, but not the other. That one slammed directly into his stomach and sent him flying back into the wall once more, filling his torso with pain.
Bile threatened to throw up out of his mouth. His arms felt like jelly, and he staggered to the ground, the pain being overwhelming enough to bring him to his knees. His vision swam and his ears rang. However, he did not let go of his sword, merely pointing it forward as he struggled to get his breathing back in check.
He wasn’t given the chance to recover. The undamaged arm flew forward and grabbed his throat, pushing him into the wall. While the grip wasn’t strong enough to choke him out, it was more than enough to keep him pinned and unable to escape.
He grabbed the hand, but he wasn’t able to loosen it at all. The hand continued pushing him deeper into the wall, and at this point, he truly was out of options.
Tapping into his divine blessing certainly wasn’t going to help him at this point in time, not when he was trapped like this. His greatsword wasn’t going to reach the hand that was choking him out, and he certainly had doubts that he could slice it apart without damaging his own neck at the same time. One hand wasn’t enough to loosen its grip, perhaps two would do?
As much as he didn’t want to let go of his sword, he did not have an option anymore. He dropped the weapon and put both hands onto the opposing hand, before pulling and freeing himself. Bit by bit, his strength was able to overpower the choking grip, allowing him to breathe and get the damn thing off of him. Then, he gave off a battle roar and launched the hand to the ground, before tapping into his divine blessing once more.
The world crawled to a halt once more, but he did not have the benefit to abuse this ability. He picked the sword up and sliced the demon’s hand into multiple pieces, all to ensure that she wouldn’t be able to use it freely. However, he had to let his blessing free, for he did not have the energy to maintain its upkeep. He took a deep breath and held his sword in front of him for defense.
That moment saved his life. The woman had recovered from all of her wounds and dashed towards him with a scream full of hate and anger.
He swiped and this time, he was able to cut her stomach wide open. That was enough to get her to back off, but not before she blasted him point-blank with one of those red energy blasts. He had assumed that this would knock him back a bit, possibly even cause some damage that he could shrug off.
What was not expected was what it did. The red energy began to overlap over the entirety of his chest plate, before everything began to melt. There was no heat to this attack, but he had one of his biggest defenses stripped in a single attack. The fact that this bastard was able to destroy one of the gifts delivered upon him from God meant only one thing
He would need to deliver holy punishment for such a heinous act, one that was far beyond his current ability to deliver. But, he was going to try regardless of the outcome.
He lashed out with his sword. He was able to lop off the demon’s remaining hand, causing her to scream with rage before opening her mouth. Some kind of purple sparks began to form within the orifice, but that did not matter at all, as he merely stabbed forward and stuck his blade right in.
She gagged, but not before getting her head split open once more. This time, the Crusader tapped into his divine blessing once more and went forward with slashing all over. It did not matter the fact his body was beginning to wear down from the constant use of his blessing, nor did he care that he wasn’t going to be able to hit the hidden weakness of this demon. No, what mattered was that he cut this bastard down to complete shreds for daring to destroy one of God’s remaining fits.
He kept swinging. Blood and bits of flesh continued to splatter all over his body. By now, his torso had been doused and drowned in red, but he didn’t care. Swings kept ongoing even as his arms weakened. Yet, he was being pushed forward to maintain holy outrage despite all the dangers, regardless of all the consequences that would come. He had to keep going, he needed to ensure that this monster suffered for every single last bit of pain she had delivered upon others.
He could not care about anything else. Only punishment and righteous rage.