I tried to get my head together as Eozia stared me down with a disturbing grin on her face.

I could feel Avuri tightening her Domain up to only cover the area around us in an effort to strengthen her control. It didn’t appear to have any effect on the demons’ Domains, but that was expected.

The thing that worried me most was the distinct lack of the demonic Qi scent, despite the Cultivators’ appearances. The clear demonic traits in addition to the lack of active demonic Qi meant one of two things. Either the Formation they had in their camp was used for physically adding those traits to a Cultivator’s body, which was something I had never seen nor heard of before.

Or they were no longer human and were, in fact, true Demons.

I had never come across one before, but Vale had explained what that meant to both me and Avuri during our training and studies.

True Demons were Cultivators that had fully replaced all of the natural Qi in their system with demonic Qi. There were a number of ways to accomplish that, but I had no way to know how the two in front of me had done so.

Ultimately, demonic Qi was simply natural Qi that had deviated and rampaged out of control. For most people, having their Qi deviate was a near death sentence. Unless they somehow managed to get it back under control - which was obscenely rare - or someone else intervened to quell the rampaging Qi, it would tear the body apart from the inside out.

Cultivators that made use of demonic techniques forcefully deviated their Qi in specific ways for specific results, usually for more raw power. And most demonic techniques were designed around some kind of failsafe that would force out the deviated Qi once the technique had run its course.

With the right technique, control, and enough willpower, however, a Cultivator could force all of their Qi to deviate and either let it subsume their body or fight to control it. Those that successfully managed to regain control after a forced deviation like that were what we called ‘true Demons’ as they had a level of control and use of demonic Qi that was unparalleled.

It also caused the signs of demonic Qi use to be permanent. Warped bodies, bony growths like horns, varicose veins, and a slew of other physical changes would become apparent quickly after the body adjusted to its new Qi. The body would also no longer produce the distinct demonic Qi scent as the deviated Qi no longer harmed the body.

And all of the signs were clearly pointing to both Auban and Eozia being true Demons.

A shiver went through my body as I prepared for the coming fight. I called up two shorter blades, one in each hand. One was a beautiful white of my demonic purifying technique. The other was a shiny obsidian black, denoting a technique that made the blade as sharp as I could possibly manage. In theory, it would cut through any physical object that wasn’t made of Qi.

Then I formed eight full size swords to float in the air behind me.

Eozia grinned at me, showing off sharp teeth. “Yes, that’s good. Don’t make this too easy for us.”

I refocused on my Domain, trying to strengthen it against the Demons’ Domains. If they took control over my space, I was confident the fight would be over. Avuri did the same, and I could feel her reassurances through our bond. She had my back and I had hers. It was one small comfort as I looked at what was sure to be a very dangerous fight.

‘Back.’

I moved on instinct as soon as I felt the warning. In the same instant, the crack of lightning sounded as the spot I stood in erupted in a blast of dirt. As I was mid-leap, Eozia moved through the explosion of dirt, her giant hammer already swinging.

I moved all eight of my flying swords to try to turn the blow away, knowing anything less than my full attention wouldn’t do anything to stop the attack. My swords left my Domain and entered Eozia’s in the same instant she planted her foot for leverage to twist into her swing. As she slammed her foot, however, my flying swords plummeted to the ground. I could feel an unreal amount of pressure on them, and could only get them to slide along the ground - and even then their movement was sluggish.

As I tried to recall the swords into my Domain, I fell straight backwards to lie flat on my back. It was the only way I could manage to avoid the horizontal hammer blow, which passed just over my prone body.

I didn’t manage to avoid the aftershock of wind that followed in the wake of the swing, though. My body spun and tumbled as it was flung through the air behind the swing, as if I was picked up and thrown by a tornado.

Thankfully, I successfully managed to get my flying swords back into my own Domain before I went flying, and they moved with me, no longer subject to what I imagined was some form of gravity control within Eozia’s Domain.

With a little assistance from Avuri, I landed upright on my feet, just in time for Eozia to be in my face again. This time, rather than retreat and get blasted by the aftershock, I stepped in front of the swing and closed the distance between us where the force of her swing should be the weakest. Thankfully, as long as I had my own Domain up, she wouldn’t be able to force me to the ground like the swords.

My obsidian blade came up to clash with the haft of her great hammer, thankfully stopping the swing. But it didn’t cut the haft, which meant either the hammer was a Qi construct like my weapons, or made out of some other fantastical material with anti-Qi properties.

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Eozia, still grinning wide, used the contact point between our weapons as a fulcrum and swung herself to the side by leveraging the weight of her hammer.

I received Avuri’s warning too late. The crack of lightning echoed in the camp as my whole body suddenly shook and went rigid all at once. Pain flared throughout my entire system, blinding me to all else. All of my concentration immediately slammed into keeping my Domain alive.

I succeeded in that, at least, as I felt a huge crushing force contact my entire right side. It felt like I was tackled by an entire wall, as I was flung to the side. I was dimly aware of my body cartwheeling through the air for a few moments. I focused entirely on my Domain and keeping my weapons in my hands as I landed hard on the ground.

Without a Sky Realm body, I would have died. For Sure. I knew that very clearly as I struggled to my feet while blinking to clear my vision. I could feel Avuri’s screams of horror through our connection, and fought to send two simple thoughts to her as best as I could.

‘I’m okay.’ and ‘Focus on your Domain.’

As I got to my feet and my vision returned, albeit blurry, I saw Eozia standing rather close in front of me with a shit-eating grin. She was talking to me, but I focused on cataloging how my body felt.

Considering I was just hit by lightning and immediately crushed by a hammer afterward, I was doing pretty well. Nothing felt broken, surprisingly, although my limbs were still half-numb from the lightning.

“No, really, I’m actually shocked you’re still managing to stand, girl.” Eozia was saying. “I suppose even non-demonic Sky Realm bodies really are something else, aren’t they? That blow would’ve turned anyone else into paste.” She said with a laugh.

“I have to confess, I do love the way bodies crumple under enough weight. There’s something so visceral about it. The crunch of bone and all the screaming. It’s even better when you can feel it under a weapon!” She yelled, as she wound up a huge vertical swing straight down.

Once again, I stepped into the blow. Apparently, I made the right choice, as both my left and right sides exploded in dirt as lightning struck. If I had dodged either way, I would’ve taken one of those blasts straight on. Eozia’s eyes opened in surprise at first as I closed in again, but that look was quickly replaced with a predatory grin.

In the same motion, I brought up my obsidian sword to try to parry the hammer’s haft again, just guiding it to the side, using its own momentum against it, while bringing the white blade to jab straight at Eozia’s chest.

The parry was marginally successful. The hammer landed with a bang beside me, sending up a cloud of dirt and rock. Some of the debris smacked me in the face hard enough to cause some pain.

My offensive strike didn’t do as much as I had hoped. Eozia had completed the hammer blow with one hand while the other blocked. My white sword was stuck in her left hand, straight through the center of her palm. She pulled her hand to the side, and I let the blade go to avoid her pulling me off balance.

Unfortunately for me, the purifying effect seemed to do nothing to a true Demon. I figured it had something to do with the way my technique worked, not being able to affect fully deviated Qi.

“Ooh, good shot, good shot.” Eozia said melodically, as she pulled my sword from her hand. It puffed away to essence as I created a new sword in my hand. This time, utilizing my Qi disruption technique, the light around the sword appeared to bend and warp in strange ways.

“Are you ready to stop playing around, Eozia?” Auban asked, sounding bored. “Let’s just kill the other one and deal with Ms. Sword Lady after.”

I felt a quick sharp stab of alarm from Avuri, and my body reacted before I consciously moved. I turned to try to reposition myself between the Demons and Avuri, to intercept whatever attack was headed her way.

Before I took two steps, I felt the crushing blow of the hammer slam into my back.

My body pitched forward as I, once again, sailed through the air. And again, all my focus went into maintaining my Domain and weapons. I felt myself getting closer to Avuri through our Domains, so I at least knew which direction I was flying.

As I crashed to the ground, I quickly tried to ascertain my body’s state - which was hurt, but functional at a glance - as well as any approaching danger. I felt the crackle in the air, and immediately forced my legs to jump to the side.

There was a crack, then pain, as lightning slammed into me a second time. That same strange feeling of my body both shaking and going rigid all at once struck me as I crumpled to the ground in front of Avuri.

I felt her concentration on her Domain shake as she watched me get hit, and then fail as I crumpled to the ground. Thankfully, the two attacks had gotten me almost within arms reach of her, and I still had my concentration up.

As both Demons’ Domains surged toward her to clamp down on her Domain, I forced mine to surround her instead. The Demons’ Domains weren’t able to get through mine to lock down Avuri, as she struggled to slowly put her own back in place.

“I’m okay.” I said weakly, my voice coming out in a weird rasp. The second blast of lightning had done some damage, as my body was locked up and didn’t want to listen to me as I told it to move and stand.

The instant Avuri had reproduced her Domain, she moved to kneel beside me, and her hands ghosted over me. I imagined it was for healing purposes, but I couldn’t really feel anything with my body so numb.

“Your Domain is still strong, Emery. You’re gonna be fine.” Avuri said, along with muttering a slew of other reassurances. I would’ve chuckled if I could have - I knew I was alright. She must be trying to convince herself.

“If she stands after that blast, I’d really be impressed.” I heard Eozia say from somewhere relatively nearby. I turned my head to watch her approach us, her hammer once again slung casually over her shoulder. Auban walked leisurely behind her.

“That second blast of lightning was concentrated enough that even if she’s conscious, it’s unlikely she can move. She’s probably still numb, too.” He said lazily.

“Well that just takes all the fun out of it.” Eozia complained.

“Just kill them so we can move on?” Auban said, waving a hand toward us. I saw a ripple of electricity run over his hand as he motioned toward us and I flinched.

Eozia laughed. “Oh! You’ve scared the poor girl, Auban!” She squealed with delight as she raised her hammer over her head, as though she was stretching. I was pretty sure she was still too far away to hit us.

I felt a wave of cold emanate from Avuri as Eozia drew near. I glanced at Avuri as I felt her slowly strengthen her Domain.

I closed my eyes, and desperately searched my head for some way to win this fight as I entrusted our immediate survival to Avuri for the time being.