Dagarr was the source...

The lanky demon standing before me was the source of my Fingers of Orochi. His one-time contribution was why the daggers were so effective. If his technique came anywhere remotely close, we were fucked.

'Remember my paralytic daggers?' I sent to Jean.

'Yeah?' she answered.

'Well, he's the source,' I said. 'If he uses that attack, we'll be lucky if we only end up paralyzed.'

Jean frowned. 'How do you want to play this?'

'Bait and switch,' I said, thinking on the spot. 'I draw him in but pivot, heading for the backline, while you keep him busy. He's the biggest threat here, and he deserves our biggest guns.'

Jean blushed but ignored my comment. 'What about the rest of the team?'

'Rin is in charge of helping Kurt ferry the mutants to the surface.'

"As your fear made you speechless, or do you simply see the wisdom in giving in?' the Newt questioned, putting an end to our mental strategy session.

I snorted at his comment, summoning Rebellion. "There's a reason no demon that has fought me has lived to tell the tale."

The Dragon Newt laughed. "I suppose every record is meant to be broken."

"Not this one," I said and shot forward with a Burst. The Dragon Newt sped forward to match me, his speed greatly outpacing mine. The second before we crossed, I activated Angel Evade. My body phased through the startled Newt, and I took another bold step forward, angling towards the gaunt blue-eyed mage. With a twist, I struck out, aiming to decapitate the fucker and promptly end the ritual that sent the mutants down below. I froze just before my blade connected, suspended in space and surrounded by an oddly familiar energy. It was skewed and operating on a different frequency than I was used to.

"Space affinity," I realized.

I activated Angel Evade immediately, pitching my Dimensional Affinity with his demonic one, and gritted my teeth as my body flickered, forced in and out of my technique. Several Pinions bounced off my jackets, and I saw the bulky Garok snort and beeline for me.

Shit.

---

Rin

"Don't react," I heard a familiar voice call out beside me. My eyes widened, and I almost did the exact thing the voice warned me not to do. I felt an invisible film wrap around me, forcing me to be still. Despite the strength flowing through me, I couldn't move a finger even if I wanted to.

"Jean?" I called, eyes turning to the Black-haired girl beside me. She was stunning, almost to the point that it made me uncomfortable, and so did Dante's face.

"Pay attention," she said. "You need to get ready. Dante is going to bait the shadow demon while he goes for the tall one in charge of transporting the mutants and the four-armed demon. You need to keep the demons off his back while he fights."

That seemed like a daunting task, even with my ridiculous strength.

"It is," she said, "but you're not alone. I'm here to help, and as soon as Kurt gets all 50 mutants out, I can really cut loose."

I blinked at the sheer absurdity of her statement. I assumed she was fighting at full throttle or close to it. I thought shaking the mansion was the height of her power.

"Not even close," she said, with a confidence that quickly soured, judging by the look on her face. "Kurt knows about the plan also. Get ready."

Dante Burst forward with so much speed I barely caught it. In a blink, his sword was inches away from the gaunt demon's neck and stayed there for two long seconds.

He's frozen. I realized this just as Jean raised her hand, trapping a Black-skinned Salamander man who gave me the creeps. She lowered her hand, slamming him into the floor, and stretched her other hand forward, seizing two of the four strange Mask-wearing demons. She closed her fist, and they went pop.

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The third one appeared behind Jean, spinning, Katanas swinging. I leapt forward like I'd seen Dante do and crossed by a half-shattered bone club against their Katanas. We exchanged ten strikes in a blink of an eye, eight of which I lost.

The demon was a tornado of blades and probably had centuries of experience on me, and it showed with every strike I took. My strength dipped with each wound, but I gained it back with each demon that Jean killed.

As I batted my club to the side and struck out to end me, I tackled it to the floor and grabbed it with my left hand. It abandoned its Katana and covered its head, hoping to keep me at bay, but its face was not my target; its heart was.

I struck out, flat-palmed, digging into his chest. Its ribs collapsed under the weight of my blow, and I wrapped my fist around his heart and closed it. It died instantly, strength flooding me, and my regeneration reached a new high, as did my strength. Behind me, I heard a squelch and a sluree of blood, and mask fragments bathed me. I turned around to find Jean panting as she crushed yet another mask demon just before it skewered me.

Kurt appeared beside me, pale despite his blue skin. I scooped back up my club, and he held onto me, whisking me deeper into the fight.

---

Dante

When flaring dimensional energy was not getting me out of the situation fast enough, I activated Demonic Aura. Demonic energy billowed out of me, flooding my immediate environment. I leveraged my substantial pool, imposing it on the Space Demon, whom I finally identified.

DeVak, Star-Eyed Mesmer

A rare subset of the Mesmer demonic race with a great affinity for Space magic instead of Mind. Although physically weaker, they are typically gifted in Space demon magic. With enough preparation and time, there's no end to what they can achieve.

The last bit caught my attention as the cage holding me shattered. I leapt back, avoiding the colossal fists of the Garok, and yanked myself back at the Mesmer with an Angel Pull. My gauntleted, Burst-packed fist clashed against a hasty shield he'd raised, and I springboarded off it, dodging a spray of metal pinion as I switched to Aquila mid-air. I fired a Round trip at the Mesmer's Shield.

As expected, the weapon technique latched on while I pulled a shotgun from my inventory and fired at the Garok, who was charging straight at me.

The weapon did nothing except anger him more, which was exactly what I wanted. If it was after me, it meant it couldn't go after Kurt, who appeared beside his first mutant and teleported him just as Rin brained a Tyrant with a titanic swing of his club.

Ebony materialized in my left hand, and I pulled the trigger, shooting a curious Harpy in the eye. My body went intangible just as the Garok, who'd leapt up to meet me, struck. His body phased through mine, and I filled my Axe head with demonic energy and a Burst and sent a Flush flying after the Garok.

His body materialized a cloak of brown energy just before my attack hit, blunting most of the power. It still left a considerable gash on its side. The Garok let out a fierce roar that shook the world around us. Stone spikes burst from the Garok's skin, hardening into a dense exoskeleton. As if that was not bad enough, the Mesmer raised his staff and teleported out of the way of Roundtrip as it ate through the last of its shield.

Staff still raised, it cast a powerful spell, and a strange pressure descended, and I noticed the Garok grin as it barreled at me once more. On a whim, I tried using Angel Evade, only to find my body flickering in and out of Limbo as the technique failed.

All it had taken was a few seconds and the Mesmer already countered my second most broken skill.

I leaned out of the way of the Garok's strike, activating Cloak as I delivered a Burst-infused kick to the chest of the monster, sending it reeling, and I flipped back. Rebellion materialized in my hand as I spun, beheading three eager Stygians who rushed at me.

Just when I thought I had a handle on the situation, an aura of darkness exploded somewhere before me, immediately blanketing the room. It was not pervasive, but enough of it was in the air to impede my vision somewhat. Evasion rapidly sapped stamina as the world slowed to a snail's pace. Out of the aura surrounding me, spears of darkness formed, numbering in the high tens.

---

Jean

The fight didn't get much easier after Rin and Kurt disappeared, but it did give me the space to focus on Dagarr. I still had him splayed out, pressed hard to the floor as pressure continually mounted.

With my left hand, now free, I routinely waved it, plucking and exploding demonic spawns.

I watched in strange satisfaction as the black salamander-looking demon gritted its teeth and glared at me. Even though he laid there in front of me, I struggled to pin him down the Astral plane. He was here, and he was not, all at the same time.

"I…underestimated….you. You're…the…real….threat, Aren't…You?" he croaked out.

"You wouldn't be the first," I said, doubling the pressure, rapidly approaching the threshold of my current control. Any more and I might shatter him or this entire building, and the Salamander seemed to notice.

"Why…are…you…keeping…me alive?" It wondered out loud, his voice stabilizing as he marshalled more strength. "He doesn't strike me as the sadistic sort, so you're not keeping me for him... And the pressure is rapidly shifting. You're afraid, aren't you?" he pronounced, narrowing its beady eyes. "Afraid of what might happen if you push too far," he scoffed. "What a human and cowardly thing."

I bit back my retort and was tempted to fling him just because I could. In my anger, I almost missed the spearheads emerging from my shadow.

I diverted all of my telekinetic energy in my haste, blocking the shadow blades, but only barely. That gave the demon the chance he needed to act.

A sinister aura Burst out of his body, swallowing nearly the entire room, and my psychic connection with Dante immediately snapped. I could still sense where everybody was, but only barely.

I heard a crotchety laugh echo out in the sea of darkness.

"Let's see what you're truly made of." Dozens of spears of darkness materialized around me, crashing into my shield.

I bucked under the pressure, finding it almost unbearable. Right before I lost control, I found the demon standing in front of me, breathing in my face.