An enraged roar tore through the silence of the night as Faye found herself slammed against one of the many trees surrounding the battlefield. Opposite her was a bloodied being, who moments ago sat on the precipice of death, with a spear as bloody as himself held in his hand.

Picking herself up with a smile decorating her face, the demoness faced her newly awakened opponent, observing the rapid changes his body was undergoing. The blue scales coating his body seemed to gain a new lustre as they grew thicker and denser in number. They spread over his holey chest, sealing the wounds from the demoness' torture and the possibility of such an event occurring again.

The Asura flickered from her spot, appearing beside the transforming lizardman with her bloodlust-coated fists each rushing towards a different area of his body. However, rather than the sensation of her fists tearing through his hard scales, she only felt the air brushing against her skin.

She could only look up as the Lizardman flipped over her with his jaws wide open, gathering his mana at a single point. Knowing that the attack was almost fully charged, Faye shifted into a defensive stance, coating her body with as much bloodlust as possible. Madness and fury began to rush through her, though it did little to her mental state, as more blood-red energy wrapped around her body.

And then it came.

She was thrown into a constant cycle of intense scalding and numbness, as a beam of blue light shredded past her bloodlust and buried itself into her navel. The smell of burnt meat reached her nose as her skin, intestines and bone were vaporised, leaving a gaping hole in her abdomen.

Lazaro watched with cold eyes as the enemy collapsed into a fit of coughs, spluttering blood all over the field. With a part of her spine missing, the demoness struggled to keep herself up but despite that, a creepy grin streaked across her lips. The pain brought her pleasure, and with the pleasure came more power. A cloud of red engulfed her form as thick snakes wriggled beneath her skin whilst her muscles grew bulkier.

"Come on, this battle's just getting started lizard!"

Once again, Faye appeared beside the lizardman, this time, with even greater speed than before shocking the lizard as he could only watch with wide eyes as three fists crashed towards him.

Through his ongoing transformation, Lazaro's body had grown larger and bulkier, his physique rivalling his opponents. This allowed him to effectively block one of the strikes aimed at his head, avoiding a dangerous injury. He was quite confident in the defensive power of his scales but as the sound of shattering filled the air and a crushing blow directly struck his flesh, his mind gave into the rage.

Three attacks. One to his forearms protecting his head, one to his left waist and the final towards his right shoulder. The first two blows landed with explosive precision, dealing heavy damage to the lizardman and even his rage-filled brain knew that he couldn't let the third land either.

So, using the momentum from the first two attacks, he flung himself away from the Asura. If he managed to get out of the range of her attack, the opportunity for a counterattack would open up. He just had to escape her attack ran-

Something wrapped itself around his left leg, puncturing his skin with the thorn-like points lining its surface. For a moment, the fury left his face as disbelief took its place as he watched the Asura pull him using the whip that was in the place of her hand. His mind couldn't make sense of the scene his eyes were transmitting to it, the blinding rage didn't do much to help either.

And as if things couldn't get more confusing as they were, Lazaro felt the third attack, that he was desperately trying to dodge, finally land. But instead of the pummeling force of a punch, he felt a blade cutting into his shoulder, attempting to cleave his arm from his body.

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With the way everything had been set up, the lizardman could only squeeze the muscles in his shoulder and try to force the blade to a halt. Though he could not stop the blade on its path, his efforts weren't wasted as the weapon had been slowed to such a degree that upon contact with bone, it struggled to cut through.

Within the depths of the Lizardman's mind, a storm raged endlessly on a vast sea, churning the crystalline blue waters and throwing down its anger in the form of lightning and thunder. In the centre of these treacherous waters, a colossal statue sat untouched by the world around, like nothing in the world was worthy enough to touch.

Giant bat-like wings, layers upon layers of scales cladding its figure, and a monstrous reptilian head adorned with two tree-trunk thick horns. A dragon. Sheer tyranny emanated from the life-like sculpture, a testament to the grandeur these creatures possessed. This presence was more than enough of a warning to all creation in these waters, none would dare to tarnish the statue even the slightest.

As if to challenge this thought, the dark clouds hanging above the signs began to churn with fervour, the explosion of thunderclaps acting as a fanfare to the coming of a powerful force. The surroundings burst with light, as a stream of lightning snaked towards the head of the statue, unimpeded by the statue's suppressive aura.

With great force, it crashed into its target and everything came to a stop, like the world was holding its breath. Cracking and crumbling filled the silence of this stopped world, as a pair of gleaming eyes stared out into the world for the first time.

In the outside world, the world around Lazaro slowed as he felt a milestone being reached and its reward flowing into his mind.

"Storm"

Dark clouds began to gather, hiding away the moon's silver light and sinking the forest into deeper darkness. Flashes of light every so often pushed back the enclosing dark, whilst a sharp odour burnt the nose, confirming that this scene was no illusion. The lizardman had actually managed to summon a storm, however, Lazaro's pale expression suggested the price paid in exchange for no small amount.

The lizardman was running on fumes, he was well aware of it, which is why it was all or nothing now. Pulling on the last vestiges of his mana, he began to charge his final attack, an attack that would obliterate the masochistic beast before him. Using her as nutrients no longer mattered to him, their short fight had erased any reasoning he had, the madness that had replaced it demanded the complete annihilation of this foe.

Faye was sure that this would be the final clash of this battle, both of their bodies were near collapse. Though she was enjoying this dance with death, it was not yet time for death. It was time for her to end things here, the preparations had long been complete.

The hues of her eyes began to glow as she took in her opponent's final change in appearance

Lightning coiled around his form, jumping from scale to scale, it was like a lightning god had descended upon the mortal plane. His eyes were screens of blue light, which by the second grew brighter along with the frequency of thunderclaps and lightning strikes. He stood in a stance that the demoness had recently become familiar with, his jaws stretched wide open as energy once again began to gather and condense into a ball. However, this time, lightning joined in the formation of this attack, pushing its power to a whole new level.

Unlike the previous time, the demoness chose to rush towards the lizardman, a sly grin unable to leave her expression. Lazaro could clearly see the beast's face, but he ignored her, there was nothing she could do to stop this attack. She barely survived a weaker version of the energy beam.

"Lightning Be-"

The ball of lightning and mana fizzled out and fell apart like it was never there in the first place. Lazaro's attention, however, was focused on his decaying right shoulder, everything from the skin to the bone was collapsing. The centre of this decay was the deep slash the demoness had struck him with, this was the reason behind her confidence. It didn't take long for his right arm to fall from his body but before his body could rot away further, Faye finally claimed his heart.

The time the lizardman was distracted by the intense pain of uncontrolled cell death was more than enough to close the distance and pierce through his armoured chest. Faye let out a deep sigh, he was strong but even with her lacking experience the Asura could tell that this was the lizardmen's first battle. His reactions were completely lacklustre compared to the Warforge group and their captain.

But she had fun. That's what mattered to her in the end.

Bringing the heart to her mouth, Faye was about to sink her fangs into the fragrant flesh when she recalled something. Turning to the lizardman, from which the final vestiges of life were flitting away, with a feral smirk streaking her face.

"Before you die, thank your god for me, He delivered me such a fine meal"

A mocking cackle was the last thing Lazaro heard as death took him into its embrace, not giving him a chance to comprehend the demoness' words.