The Koboldevil stared directly at Cole, baring its teeth in what looked like a grin. The young man was stunned, unable to move. This was the first time he’d felt like someone wanted to kill him, rather than something. The imposing monster took one step towards him, when a hammer smashed into the side of its head.
Stannis roared, enraged by the red glow of an aura once more. His hammer blow knocked the Koboldevil’s head sideways, leaving it at an angle that was far from natural. The monster’s head was briefly facing almost backwards, like an owl, before it rotated it back to normal with a sickening, audible, crunch. Stannis went to follow up with another blow, but the scaled fist of the monster grabbed his hammer's shaft.
The Koboldevil grabbed Stannis with its other hand, pushing him back. It swung the hammer into his chest with force that would have cracked ribs if not for Tamika’s quick thinking, who generated another shield around him. Regardless, the force of the blow sent him flying back, slamming into the trunk of one of the trees.
Bellisaire was next to act, quickly firing her spectral arrows directly at the monster’s scaled head. Unlike the lesser Infernals, the arrows didn’t pass straight through, instead bouncing off before fading away. Only one did anything different, sticking into one of its great spiralling horns. The Koboldevil ripped it out, snarling at her. Bellisaire looked shocked, but not hopeless. She narrowed her eyes, which led Cole to think she had something more up her sleeve.
Malena was next, and it was here that Cole actually thought they might have a chance at beating it. Just as the monster turned its attention back to him, his own green eyes staring into those pits of flame, a harsh whistle cut through the forest ambiance.
The nodachi flashed through the air, and the Koboldevil barely ducked in time. The swing that would have taken off its head merely sheared through its horn, which flipped in the air, sticking into the ground. A high-pitched whistle marked the follow up slash, which the humanoid blocked with raised forearms. The blade bit into the scales, and Cole was sure it would have cut through eventually, had a bright flash of flame not burst out from its mouth, knocking Malena back. She held onto the now red tinged sword, however, flicking the steaming blood off as she slid backwards through the dirt.
Tamika and Tao worked in tandem, with the former hexing the monster with some kind of slowness spell. For a few crucial seconds it was like it was moving through molasses, which allowed Tao to pummel it with the Magic Missiles he’d lined up. They surprisingly did damage, small cracks forming in the scales, but it was nowhere near enough to stop it.
A ghostly scream wailed through the air, different to Malena’s whistling blows. Bellisaire’s phantom bow had released an arrow, that was spiralling through the air, much larger than the normal type that Cole had seen her using up until this point. Where the smaller variants had failed, this one seemed to work, phasing straight through the creature’s chest. As it came out of its back, he noticed something different. A ghostly, faintly glowing chain was following it, one end attached to the Koboldevil’s chest, the other to the base of the arrow.
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The monster didn’t seem to notice, continuing its advance towards Cole, and he stood there, paralysed with fear, thinking that it hadn’t worked, sure that this would be the way it ended. Until the arrow stuck into the ground, and the chain pulled taut, yanking the Infernal back like a dog on a leash. It growled, twisting its head over its shoulder to eye the phantom chain. Cole really wanted to find out exactly what that bow could do, but he was definitely glad it could do that.
Malena didn’t waste another second, dashing forward once more. Only the quick reaction time of the monster saved it from being instantly killed, a open palm catching the sharp edge. It wasn’t as successful as its earlier block, only absorbing most of the force of the cut. A second later, and the blade slashed through, sending half of the creature’s right hand flying into the air in a spray of boiling blood. Malena hissed as some of the spray hit her, but luckily it seemed to only be small mild burns. There was a whistle as she slashed again, too fast for the Koboldevil to react, and just like that, it was missing its arm. The red-haired woman jumped back, and the chain attached to the Infernal snapped taut once more as it tried in vain to leap at her. The woman rushed forward, streaming trails of wind behind her as a screeching whistle, like the one atop a steam train, pierced Cole’s ears.
Then it was over, nodachi thrust through the monster’s belly. Malena withdrew her blade, but the corpse of the Koboldevil stayed upright, leaning forward, only held up by the ghostly chain. Finally, the body dropped to the floor after the chain faded, matching the fire in its eyes. Malena stabbed her blade straight into the ground, making a tunnel out of the monster’s head for good measure. Cole appreciated that, knowing all too well how difficult they were to put down. Luckily it seemed like her whistling attacks were effective. The corpse didn’t move.
“Well,” Cole said, casting his gaze over to Stannis, who was limping back into the area. “I’m glad that’s ove-“
The Koboldevil’s body exploded in flame, forcing Malena to jump away, sword left thrust through the ground. While the sword looked fine, flames merely burning away the cloth wrap on the hilt, the body was completely eaten up. When those flames faded too, Cole felt that he could let his breath out. Who knew that the Koboldevil’s had a built in on-death jumpscare? He supposed that’s why Thesta had used up her magic to completely vaporise its old body.
But it wasn’t finished. Of course it wasn’t finished. What first tipped him off was the reaction of Strike Force Talos. Stannis cursed as he was stopped in his tracks, raising the hammer once more. Bellisaire readied her bow, searching the battlefield for something.
Then he saw it. One of the corpses that used to be a flying Imp was glowing faintly, a red, Infernal glow. The body began to float up, reaching into the air, and Bellisaire began frantically pelting it with spectral arrows, but to no avail, they were instantly vaporised on contact with the Imp’s skin.
Flames roiled over the surface of the newly reborn Devil’s skin, reaching up to its eyes. Two spiralling horns thrust their way out of the top of its head, hot droplets of blood flung everywhere.
Cole knew that there wasn’t much time. It made all too much sense. The Devil had come back once before, he should have expected something like this happen. Thesta had mentioned that the Koboldevil was what happened when a Devil possessed a Kobold’s body. So what did that make this? An Impdevil? Devimp?
He shook the stupid compound words out of his head, focusing on the situation once more. This rapid rebirth hadn’t happened when Thesta had killed it. Why was that? It had to be the complete destruction of the creature’s body. No body, no burst of flame, no possession of a nearby corpse.
But who could possibly do that in Strike Force Talos? Stannis maybe, but he was heavily injured. Malena and Bellisaire were still in fighting form, but piercing and cutting damage was never going to be able to destroy a corpse. Tamika and Tao just didn’t fit the bill.
No one here had the power to vaporise the Devil’s body.
No one except him.
The Devil seemed to have finished its resurrection, erupting a gout of flame into the air as it flapped its new wings. It ducked its head down, and Cole was once more staring into the pits of Hell, roiling flame circling in the monster’s eyes.
He stood his ground however, refusing to look away, and as the Devil angled itself towards him, wings propelling it in a mad dive, Cole’s finger slowly began to carve golden light into the world.