After my nap I drop down from the tree and head off to hunt more ettins. However, despite searching for the next two hours I can't find a single ettin. It seems like they haven't come down to the underground world at all despite it being 'daytime'.
Maybe they are afraid to come down since so many died under my sword. Or it might be because I killed the chief, they might be trying to figure out who should be the new chief. Either way the answer for me is simple, if they aren't coming down then I just have to go up.
So I head to the exit the ettins use and start making my way back up to the surface. There are no ettins on the path and when I reach the surface I find no guards at the cave entrance. I also don't find any ettins when I search the surrounding area, it's almost like they disappeared.
Eventually, the light of a fire leads me to the ettins, all of them. There are two huge bonfires on either side of an altar and all the ettins are gathered around it. The ettins are standing in groups, maybe this is about selecting a new chief.
Either way, there are far too many ettins for me to take on, even with the new sword. So, I settle in to watch and wait for the gathering to end, once they split up I can resume my hunting. From what I can see there is some sort of ceremony going on, there is a strange ettin in front of the altar.
As the ceremony continues I can feel power gathering to the altar, so the weird looking ettin is probably a shaman or priest. At first I am not too bothered, but as the power continues to accumulate I start getting a feeling of hostility. Looking around I make sure I haven't been spotted, yet it still feels like someone is gazing at me with hostility.
Just to be safe I move from my hiding spot and find another further away. Even then I can still feel the gaze on me and it is getting worse as more power gathers. I am starting to think maybe this ceremony or ritual isn't about a new chief but the killer of the old chief.
Right as I am starting to think leaving might be a good idea, something happens at the altar. All the gathered power suddenly condenses in one spot and what looks like a gate opens. It is the size and shape of a gate but it is pitch black and when I look at it I get a bad feeling.
Then something massive pulls itself out of the gate, when it stands up it is at least fifteen feet tall. With dark red skin, horns on its head, and large bat-like wings, it has to be a demon. It has a spear in one hand and a whip in the other, and it is looking right at me.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
As soon as it looks at me I leave my hiding spot and take off running towards the cave leading to the underground. I know that if it can fly it will catch me, but I want some distance from the ettins. If I have to fight this demon then I don't want the ettins helping it.
It only takes about two minutes for the demon to catch up to me, it lands in front of me forcing me to stop. Then a huge circle of flames rises up around us, the flames are at least ten feet high. Guess it doesn't want me running away, but this also means nothing else can join our fight.
The heat from the flames quickly forces me towards the middle of the circle where the demon is waiting. Drawing my sword I activate mage knight blade, target weakness, and storm armor. As soon as I am about fifteen feet from the demon it snaps its wrist and sends the whip shooting at me.
Before I can even see its path the whip has already hit my shoulder leaving a burnt and bleeding gash. I have never seen an attack move so fast, but luckily it didn't seem to do much damage. My best bet against that kind of speed is to move closer to the demon where it can't use the whip.
However, as soon as I move forward it jabs at me with the spear, forcing me to dodge. Instantly after my dodge I get hit by the whip again, followed by another jab from the spear. Looks like it doesn't plan to let me get close and just wear me down with the whip.
So when I move forward again and the spear jabs at me instead of dodging I parry the spear to the side with the sword. As if it had been waiting for that, the demon snaps its wrist and launches the whip. Instead of hitting me the whip hits and wraps around the sword and the demon starts pulling.
As I am struggling to not lose the sword, the spear hits me in the side and I smell my own fur burning. At the moment of contact the end of the spear burst into flames and now my fur around the wound is one fire. Even though the demon is only using one hand to pull on the whip it is taking all my strength to keep it from pulling the sword out of my hands.
Seeing the spear coming at me again I suddenly stop resisting and let the demon pull the sword and me closer. This allows me to avoid the spear and move much closer to the demon, the problem is my sword is still tangled by the whip. Now that I am closer I realize my head only barely reaches the demon's waist, no wonder it is stronger than me.
Suddenly letting go of the sword I take advantage of the demon losing its balance for a second to duck and dash between its legs. As I pass under it I claw at both the demon's legs, cutting deeply into its thighs and drawing blood. The blood hisses and catches on fire after hitting the ground but I don't have time to worry about that.
Now that I am behind the demon, before it can turn around, I jump up and attack its back where the wings are connected. The demon roars in pain and swats me with one of its wings sending me flying. After landing and rolling a few times I find myself dangerously close to the wall of fire.
I quickly roll away as I notice my fur starting to smoke but as I stand back up I get hit in the back by the whip. Turning to face the demon I look around but I can't see my sword anywhere within the circle of flame. I take two more hits from the whip as I am trying to spot my sword, looks like I really messed up this time.