Elincia's Point of View

The Island

Many things concerned me at the moment. However, the major one was Arthur roaring as he swatted the Demon known as Pestilence away from us. His animalistic howls made me shiver as he looked about wildly. Arthur had always been so composed. Seeing him like this was something I had never considered. It appeared as though he had lost all reason.

“Arthur!” Cassidy shouted.

However, he ignored her as another voice cut in. “Arthur,” Credo began as Pestilence appeared back over to his Demonic compatriot. “Forgive my brother. He should never have targeted them. This is merely to be a test to prove your strength. We’re not here for a fight to the death.”

In response, Arthur opened a portal and appeared in front of him. The two Demons scattered as Arthur pursued vehemently. Shockwaves slammed into our group as many of our soldiers had issues withstanding the force. Sand blew from beneath our feet which made it difficult to see at times. Arthur seemed to ignore Pestilence and focus on Credo, which was surprising. However, when I paid closer attention, I figured out why.

Credo was skilled in spell casting and was obviously rather dexterous with his magic. Pestilence was suited more towards close combat. Arthur was keeping on their long-range hitter on the run while he deflected Pestilence. The two were being pressed as Arthur was clearly overpowering them.

“Enough!” Credo shouted as his magic flared out and wrapped around Arthur, which was quickly dispersed. “Pestilence made a mistake!”

“I warned both of you. Pestilence made his choice.” Arthur said coldly.

Pestilence was grinning madly as they were on the run. “Fine. Then I suppose we have no choice but to make you listen.” Credo stated as the three stared each other down. “It would seem Pestilence had the right idea to get you motivated. Apparently, letting our hostages go free was the wrong move in motivating you.”

Ice shot through my veins as the two Demons began to change. Shadows wrapped around both of them as their features became hidden. The two looked like cutouts in reality as they turned to black masses that moved in the light. Shadows danced in the sand and around their bodies as the two Demons growled in reply to Arthur’s violent behavior.

How could I blame him, though? Pestilence moved to kill Cassidy. Even Arceana and I were powerless to react in time. From what I could tell, the Demon planned on following through as well. The fact that Arthur was able to respond just proved how much he was holding back. Unfortunately, the fight seemed to turn in the two Demon’s favor.

Arceana's Point of View

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The Island

“We need to help him!” Ayda shouted.

“How!?” Typhon responded.

“Nobody moves!” Kheri quickly ordered. “Stay put right where you are!”

Elincia and I shared a look. “How can ya expect us ta just sit here! There must be somethin we can do!” Our student looked at us. “Why haven’t ya gone out there!?”

With a sigh, I spoke as my attention turned back to the battle. “As much as it pains me to say it, this battle is beyond my sister and I. We must have faith in Sir Arthur to drive these Demons away.”

The Zugal General likely frowned at that. “We wait for our orders. Until then, everyone stays put.” She reaffirmed while Elincia shuffled closer to me.

“What do we do?” She inquired in a whisper.

“Pray our Knight is stronger than either of us ever dreamed.” Was my soft reply.

“I am getting flashes of Rudnurth and Elias.”

I frowned at that. “As am I, Elincia. As am I.”

As much as it pained me to admit, Arthur far surpassed me. Rudnurth was a problem. One that I thought was dealt with because he was still weakened, but this opened my eyes. Arthur was unnaturally powerful, just like Rudnurth and Elias were during the war against Klasteris. Whatever the case was, I would need to be careful moving forward. If he was able to fight like this in his weakened state, there was no telling how powerful he really was. Seeing was believing, and after this, I had no choice but to believe.

Arthur's Point of View

The Island

The two Demons were well coordinated. Almost perfect synchronicity between the two made it impossible to get a hit in. That, and their transformed states, were even stronger than Elincia’s Demonic Clone. They were definitely Demon Lords and powerful ones at that. My body was sustaining injuries from my energy alone since I was putting out more energy than my body could handle without transforming. Given that I had just earned a lot of trust and respect, I didn’t want to throw it all away by showing my transformed state.

Both were faster and stronger than me as my blood began to flow faster than I could heal. As if dancing around me, I tried my best to hold them off. Credo would stay in my blind spot and launch spells at me while Pestilence ensured I didn’t have a chance to turn away from him. Jumping and twisting over a spell, Pestilence read my movement and grabbed my foot before pulling me back down into it.

My body was tossed through the sand as the magic pierced a hole through my lower abdomen. It was slowly healing, but given it was Demonic Magic, it healed at a slower pace than most other wounds. Standing, I looked it over before I turned back to the two Demons. They waited for a moment before charging back at me. Swatting Pestilence to the side, for only a moment, I tried rushing towards Credo, but he would quickly teleport away while shadows muddled me down in the sand.

Not long after, the two started teleporting at the same time. Appearing and disappearing simultaneously, it was impossible for me to defend against in my current form. A cut along my back tore through my shirt and a shadow pierced through my arm. Credo sent more shadows to pierce my limbs as my wounds struggled to close while Pestilence appeared in front of me and slashed me along my chest.

Roaring in anger, I forced my limbs out of the shadows, which tore through bone and muscle alike. Immediately after, I summoned a Gravity Pillar above my head and slammed it into the sand around me. Thus, I created a smokescreen out of the sand and used my own energy to manipulate it into staying in the air longer. Going after Credo yielded little results, so I focused far too much energy into my arms and Defiance as I appeared in front of a surprised Pestilence.

He put both arms forward as Defiance slammed into his blades. Even with his shadowed-over eyes, I could see him struggling. Pestilence was being pushed back as my sword slowly cracked his. Magic surrounded his blades as Credo teleported behind him, and I felt his magic quickly wrap around me. Both Demons were struggling to push me back as my form began to flicker. I could see the shock in their eyes as my arms changed for a moment before switching back.

Credo cast a much stronger spell and launched it at me instead of trying to pry me away from his brother. In response, Defiance shifted in my hand, and I turned to put Pestilence’s back in the way. The spell slammed into him, which caused an explosion of rampant Demonic Magic to run wild across the beach. Pestilence’s legs gave out from the sudden attack, and I sent him flying into the water before charging at Credo.

Naturally, he quickly teleported away as Pestilence shot out of the water and into the air. Both of them hovered above me as the sand fell back to the ground and stopped covering for me from the Lestranian group. They probably thought I was dying with how much blood was dripping down my body and how heavily I was breathing. With the two Demon brothers overhead, studying me, they were unaware that I had somewhat successfully pushed them back and gave them a warning at the same time.

“What are you?” Credo inquired in a cautious tone.