Blake still couldn't exactly see the demon, and his attack command was tied to sight. A mistake, no doubt, but there wasn’t a terrible amount he could do about it now. First things were first. He mentally commanded all his constructs to leap off the platform and start flying.
They obeyed without reserve, and soon Blake saw the red eyes glowing in the dark. He ordered them to attack just as a gout of flame erupted from the creature, and flew straight at Blake.
Psionic Shield activated but he honestly had no idea if it would protect him. There was nowhere to hide on the platform, and Blake mostly just put his arms in front of himself and stood there as the fire arrived. A greenish shield flared and he wasn't even sure what the hell was happening.
For a moment, at least, the whole cavern was nice and visible. And the fire didn't hurt Blake at all. He looked around the cavern and realized there was a small ledge surrounding the entire thing. If he wished, he could follow the wall in either direction. But at the moment he saw very little reason to move.
Instead he activated his long neglected Arcane Blast as his constructs struck. As hoped, the Psionic affinity went straight on, raking at the demon with their claws. Except the sheer size of Blake's enemy was now coming into view.
The demon's wingspan must have been at least thirty feet. Its body was plucked right out of myth—like a Balrog from Lord of the Rings, or a Pit fiend from D&D. The only things it was missing were a whip or a flail. But the long, dark claws on either hand seemed deadly enough. It swiped back at Blake's constructs, sparks flaring as it raked one's spherical body and knocked it flying.
Blake kept his Arcane Blast short and sweet, wanting to see the result. With the minimum of mana he swiped a line across the demon's face, watching the energy crackle uselessly against the thing's skin. He frowned, cursing himself for not bringing something to throw with Telekinesis. All he had was a small knife in his pocket, which seemed not at all adequate to kill a giant demon.
But beggars couldn't be choosers. As the constructs swarmed in their deadly, demonic dogfight, Blake lifted his blade into the air, moving it closer before channeling as much kinetic force as he could into the launch.
It struck and rammed straight into the demon's flesh, but the creature hardly seemed to notice. It swiped with its claws but seemed to struggle to actually connect, not particularly graceful in the air. Its huge fangs were showing in an angry snarl, and again its eyes turned to Blake.
It ignored the statues, and came forward.
I'm going to eat your brain, mind mage, a voice whispered in Blake's ear. I'm going to feed you to your pretty little prize before I break her mind, and then her body.
Apparently demons were pretty much what you'd expect. Blake put the vaguely overwhelming animal terror of having his mind infiltrated away as best he could, and focused.
[Psionic Affinity: Mind Bend resisted.]
Blake backed away as the demon landed on the platform, just barely able to stand to its full height under the cavern roof. His wings folded back like Goliath from that Gargoyles cartoon, and Blake's constructs came flying in behind. The Arcanes tried somewhat unsuccessfully to grab the demon as the Psionic kept on raking shallow wounds into its apparently very thick hide.
"Die."
Flames seemed to erupt from everywhere, the whole platform whooshing in a fiery explosion that swallowed Blake's world. He covered his face, but again he saw a translucent green shield covering his body, and felt almost nothing.
As the fire cleared the demon growled and came forward, but was forced to turn and swipe at the constructs raking and grabbing at its back and sides. Blake had no idea what to do except turn and run. He tried pulling the knife from the demon's chest and ramming it in again and again with Telekinesis, then gave up and just used it to push the demon.
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It staggered back a step or two but otherwise came on snarling, grasping and throwing one of the Psionic constructs into the wall so hard it shattered.
"Insects," the demon growled. "A fool and some wasps against me?"
The air itself seemed to solidify around Blake's head, crushing him like a vice. He screamed.
[Psionic Affinity: Mental Break partially resisted.]
It was like an earthquake in Blake's mind. Like a fissure opened and began swallowing his thoughts and perception. He couldn't seem to focus, to breathe and stand at the same time. In panic, he tried to take that open chasm and move it to his Partition.
Instantly his mind returned at full force, and again he activated Telekinesis to push the demon back. It roared in outrage, fighting the spell as it slid him back a few more steps. Blake's mana was maybe 25% and dropping fast, and he didn't seem to be actually hurting the damn thing much.
The wings, he thought, looking at the more vulnerable looking bits of connecting flesh. Maybe we can at least damage those.
"Is that all you can do?" The demon growled as it tried to come forward, again thrashing at the constructs attacking it from behind and sides. "Delay? You came to kill me with parlor tricks?"
Blake's Partition commands were in total disarray from the demon's spell. He focused on his Arcane constructs and directed them actively. They had to get a grip on those wings, and use their touch power. But they needed help.
Blake activated Psionic Making and blitzed through the options at full speed, dropping the duration down to almost nothing. He only needed a distraction. And it was time to find out what Duality of Ambition did.
He chose a larger humanoid construct with an armored front and started casting, using every drop of remaining mana and activating his prestige power. He'd still have his gem.
As he started casting, the demon seized the other Psionic construct and slammed it into the wall, again smashing it to pieces. It half spun as if to deal with the Arcanes, clearly deciding Blake was no threat.
Then his spell finished, Duality of Ambition glowing and making a new, audible crackle as the air before him shimmered, and something appeared from nothing. It was twice the size of his other constructs.
Blake had no time to inspect or celebrate, and directed his new construct to attack instantly. The ground shook as it charged.
The demon's red eyes narrowed in surprise. It spun to face the new threat and they seized each other's arms and twisted, the construct unbelievably holding his ground. Blake stopped watching and commanded the Arcanes, which leapt on the demon's back and grasped at its shoulders.
Blake's spell only had seconds. The demon growled, muscles bulging with power as it slowly overtook the construct and forced it to its knees. It roared in triumph, pressing in and grasping the construct's head, ripping it from its body in a moment of insane power and violence. Dust and debris exploded around it. Then it screamed.
Blake's Arcanes sunk their hands into the demon's flesh, pulling at the base of its wings. It reached up and grabbed at them, pulling chunks and pieces from their bodies but unable to reach them well. One of its wings sagged as the flesh almost came apart, and Blake seized his gem, activating Telekinesis.
He pushed the demon back. Step by step the thing stumbled and went snarling towards the edge of the platform, soon realizing its peril.
[Psionic Affinity: Mind Rend resisted.]
[Psionic Affinity: Mind Bend resisted.]
The demon focused all its attention on Blake—eyes flaring with magic as it bared its teeth. More fire erupted around the room, again sizzling against Blake's mystery shield, though this time getting a little warm.
Blake's gem drained to nothing as he pushed with desperate strength, getting the demon to the edge of the platform just as he went completely dry.
It grasped one of his constructs and threw it off before stabilizing itself, wings now sagging uselessly. It looked up at Blake with pure hatred, the air between them seething with mental and arcane energy.
Blake's mind was throbbing with effort, his Partition mostly crumbled and useless, his mana pool gone. He didn't have enough left to push the giant creature. And though it seemed vaguely insane, he saw no other choice. He charged.
The demon readied its claws. But as foot followed foot forward, Blake felt stronger and faster than he'd imagined possible. Was it just adrenaline? It was like he was growing with every step, like he'd triggered some hidden spell he didn't know he had.
The demon seemed to recognize it, too. Its eyes widened and it tried to move forward rather than just catch Blake with its claws. It moved too late.
Blake slammed into its massive chest as it raked into him, his mana too low to activate Psionic Shield. His thigh sprayed blood and ripped open to the bone, the other claw slicing down his head and shoulder as he pushed.
The demon grunted in surprise, staggered back as it tried to find another step and found only open air. Then with a slight wave of its bloody claws, it fell back, and tumbled into the pit.
Blake slumped to the edge of the platform, and watched his blood leaking down and pooling on the stone tiles. He tried to command whatever constructs were still able to go break Ilya's cage and fly her out, but his vision was going dark fast.
He'd never been particularly good with blood, especially his own. It was his last thought before darkness.