Berith waved her spear again. The blade at the tip of the weapon vanished faster than my eyes could register only to reappear almost instantly where the spear had been pointing. Only by staying ahead of the spear handle's movements was I barely able to dodge the sudden piercing blade.
Nearby, Svend was still seemingly frozen by strange carved bones that surrounded him. He could not move. He was not even breathing.
The three armaments Berith displayed were all powerful tools but the Mora’s oracle bones were on a different level from the other two. Those small unassuming bones were able to affect time itself and freeze a small area. From the moment it activated, it was impossible to break out of from the inside. Svend was too confident. He did not recognize the bones and assumed his innate might would be able to take any attack Berith made. It was a costly error and now I was alone with Berith while the others fought desperately to buy us time.
It was fortunate that I recognized the other two armaments as well. Otherwise, I might have died without even understanding what happened. The spear was known as the Messenger’s Flight. Originally owned by an ace of the Second Division, the man had been a loudmouth. He always boasted that his spear was the fastest in the universe. Meanwhile, the armor Berith wore was known as the Valkyrie’s Honor. It had belonged to one of the Eighth Division’s peacekeepers. I knew a bit less about its effects compared to the spear but I had seen the woman fight plenty of times. The armor gave her a large boost of strength and speed in exchange for overtaxing the body. In that way, it was not too different from when I used The Divine Body technique, giving me a huge boost of power for a short time. The difference was that this was a Demon using the armor. The pure strength of a Demon as old as Berith was already several hundred times that of a normal human. If boosted further, it might even be a threat to Svend’s absurd defenses.
It was a terrifyingly dangerous combination of equipment. If I stayed at a distance to avoid a clash of physical might, the spear would eventually skewer me but if I moved in close to negate the effectiveness of the spear, the Demon’s overwhelming strength would crush me. Even without these new weapons, Berith had already been comparable to Svend or me when I was at full strength. With them, I was completely outmatched.
I grit my teeth as I glanced at the small bones that trapped Svend before returning my focus to Berith. “I guess this explains why your foresight has improved so much compared to the past. How does it feel knowing that your own talent was so weak you had to rely on a dead man’s castoffs just to boost it up to a fraction of the original? You know the Mora that created those bones only used them as a simple party trick, right?”
Berith narrowed her eyes as the head of her spear reattached itself to the base of the weapon. “I am not Envy. You will not be able to rile me up with these little taunts as you can him.”
As Berith spoke, a few glyphs appeared around me. A wave of golden flames exploded outward, but they were not aimed at Berith. Instead, my attack was aimed at the small bones trapping Svend. While it was impossible to escape the Mora’s oracle bones from the inside, they could be disrupted from the outside. Unfortunately, my flames washed over the bones to little effect. I frowned as I saw the bones completely unshaken by my attack.
Berith chuckled confidently. “Did you really think that would be enough? While I admit those golden flames are dangerous, you are still far from your full strength.”
I saw Berith wave her spear again and hurried to move out of its path. I barely reacted fast enough as the blade appeared in a flash. It sliced by my arm, leaving a deep cut. I ignored the blood dripping down my arm as I watched the blade of the spear float back to the rest of the weapon once again. My domain had been completely incapable of even slowing the weapon’s attack but despite the danger I was in, I found myself smiling.
Instead of taking advantage of her obvious advantage in strength, Berith seemed distracted. She kept glancing around furtively and I knew, rather than fighting me seriously, Berith was more focused on finding a way to escape. I could easily imagine her innate talent working overtime as she tried to foresee a way out of this situation.
Before Berith could attack again, I started flying in an erratic pattern. My voice echoed with delight as I zipped around. “You do not seem very skilled in using that little stolen toy spear. Is this your first time weilding it in a real battle?” I asked mockingly as I flew, “Compared to the literal maelstrom of attacks the creator of the weapon could use, you are pathetic.”
Berith growled in annoyance and frustration as she thrust out with the spear again. Her face paled as she realized her mistake immediately. Directly between the spear and me when she thrust out was one of the small bones that trapped Svend. The tip of the spear and the bone collided with an earsplitting crack.
The small bone was split in half by the blade of the spear. An explosion of pure white energy boomed out in every direction, throwing both Berith and me back. Berith recovered from the explosion first and tried to recall the head of the spear but before she could, thin beams of golden light rained down from above.
Seeing an opening, Sebastion had not hesitated to unleash his full power on the Demon. Berith was hit hard and rocketed into the ground. Once there, Sebastion’s barrage of attacks did not come to a stop. In the past, I had seen Sebastion use this same barrage against Svend. At that time, he had practically leveled a mountain in his rage and this time was not much different. Blow after blow struck Berith widening the crater and pushing the Demon deeper into the rock and debris.
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Unfortunately, Sebastion was not able to focus on Berith for long before nearly two dozen of the nearby Alphas charged towards him with eyes full of hatred and bloodlust. The man was forced to change the target of his attacks or be torn apart by the ferocious monsters. The Demonkin did not fare any better than Berith as they were struck down one after another but their sheer numbers kept him occupied.
Berith moved slowly as she pulled herself out of the rubble. The Valkyrie armor was glowing with a bright crimson light. Other than a few scuffs and bruises she was practically uninjured but her look of confidence was completely gone. She was covered in dirt from head to toe and her normally straight well-maintained hair was now a tangled mess that covered her face.
As she crawled out of the crater, I could hear her rambling, repeating herself over and over again. “I cannot die. I must not die. I will not die… no matter what.”
I took a bit longer than Berith to recover from the explosion. I shook away the ringing in my ear and immediately looked towards Svend. With one of the bones destroyed, he was no longer unnaturally still but he was not yet free. Instead, he was moving at a snail’s pace through the area affected by the strange light. He would eventually be able to free himself now but it would still take time.
I looked down at the Demon with a grin. “This is why you do not use stolen armaments without years of practice. They never work quite like they should, almost as if they are rebelling against the thief. The Mora’s oracle bones can twist time to a halt but did you really not think that it might also interfere with your own ability of foresight?”
Berith looked up at me. Her piercing red eyes glowed brightly beneath her hair. She waved the shaft of the spear again and the bladed tip started to return to the weapon.
I shook my head as the bracelet on my wrist began to glow. The chain began to grow and twist like a snake as it came alive. With a thought from me, the chain wrapped around the spear blade still attempting to return to Berith. The screech of metal mixed with the clanging of the chains as the two objects struggled against one another. Eventually, it was the chain that was victorious, pulling the spear tip down to the ground where it was bound tight.
“Did you not expect me to have an armament too?” I asked in a jeering tone. “Do you have any more stolen toys to show me? If not, you are going to die here. It is only a matter of time.”
Either from my cocky attitude or the desperation of her situation, my words finally got under Berith’s skin. Rather than reply, she simply growled like a cornered beast. Deep red steam escaped from her mouth as she breathed out. Like ink dropped in water, a crimson color spread across her skin. The color spread quickly, jumping to her hair and even dyeing the silver armor she wore. The ground around her started to distort as it became tainted with her energy.
“I refuse to die!” Berith roared. She tossed away the now useless handle of the spear and charged towards me in a blind rage.
I wrapped my domain into a sturdy armor as I realized that Berith was no longer looking for an escape. Her full power and attention were now on killing me.
I quickly created more than a dozen glyphs as Berith flew towards me. Each glyph created a shield of golden fire. The shields layered on top of each other as many times as I could manage in the split second of time I had.
Berith’s fist came crashing down like a mountain. It felt as if I was standing against an endless ocean of blood. The first of my shields shredded like paper. The next seven did not put up much resistance either. It was only on the eighth shield that Berith’s fist began to slow slightly. However, my power was not enough to stop her attack completely. My domain armor cracked as I was sent careening into the same crater Berith just climbed out of.
My chest felt as if it had just been hit by a sledgehammer. I could taste the blood in my mouth as I coughed weakly. I did not have time to recover however before Berith was already crashing down towards me again. I ignored the pain in my chest and took a deep breath. Boundless strength flowed through my arms as I activated my Divine Body.
Berith roared like a beast. Her nails were like talons as they reached out to tear open my heart. I exploded with all the power I could muster as I rose up to meet her.
I felt something snap in my arm as my body was thrown back down to the crater. I tumbled across the rubble before sliding to a halt in a miserable mess.
I groaned miserably as I tried to pick myself out of the dirt. Even at my best, Berith was not an enemy I could take lightly. At my current strength, taking her on alone was just too much for me to handle. I knew this before the fight started but I still insisted on facing her head-on. It was not a matter of pride but of necessity.
I tried to sit up, only to be stopped when Berith’s foot stomped down on my shoulder, sending a wave of pain through my arm. “I told you we would both die,” Berith said grimly, “Why did you refuse my offer? Why must you insist on saving this insignificant realm? What is the point of all of this?”
I coughed up a trickle of blood and despite the pain, I smiled up at the Demon. “Because I know I can win.”
“Arrogant fool!” Berith screamed. Her foot stomped down again, sending a wave of pain through my ribs. My domain flickered unstably as it barely resisted the corrupted energy that surrounded the woman.
“Maybe,” I said softly as I reached out to grab the ankle digging into my stomach. I pushed my Divine Body as far as I could and griped the ankle with all the strength I could muster. I met Berith’s gaze with a grin as I spoke. “But I would rather be a fool than a coward.”
Berith scowled as she pressed down harder onto my stomach. I could feel her corrupted energy trying to eat its way into my body. However, Berith did not have time to do anything else before a giant halberd came tumbling down from the sky. She noticed something was wrong a moment before the enormous weapon landed but when she tried to move, my grip delayed her by a fraction of a second. That momentary delay was enough. The halberd’s blade slammed into Berith's neck with enough force to crack a mountain in half. The armor protecting her body cracked as blood dripped to the ground.
“Sorry I am late,” Svend said in a booming voice. His massive body dropped to the ground like a rock, kicking up a dust storm with his landing. The shining halberd flew back to his hand and the big man swung it over his shoulder with an embarrassed grin. “I must have spent far too long away from the battlefield to get stuck in such a simple trap. Thanks for getting me out, Wren.”
Berith stumbled back as she brought her hand to the large wound on her neck. It was just a small wound but her hand started shaking as she saw the blood dripping to the ground. “No, no, no, not like this! I don't want to die here!”