Rage blasted through Demetrius like never before. He rushed out of the alley and stood behind his shield, staying between the demon and its targets. Tomoe and Theodora stood behind him as a status screen appeared in Demetrius' vision.
DEMON ENGAGED!
HATRED MANIFESTATION: FULL FORCE!
FULL HATRED OF HUMANITY TARGETED AT YOU!
TRUE NAME KNOWLEDGE IRRELEVANT, HATRED TOO GREAT!
People who hate you: CALCULATING...
Demetrius gazed at the demon with a cold glare. Then, the status screen finished its calculations.
People who hate you: Effectively 10,000,000 while demon is in this world.
"Its kind feel nothing but hatred for humanity since they come into existence. They cannot help being what they are. They do not have free will, evil is their nature and it is all they can ever be. I would pity it, but..." Demetrius clenched his fists so hard they turned white. "You bastard! You tried to kill Tomoe! You tried to kill Theodora!"
The girls blinked in shock. They saw Demetrius tremble with rage and realized this was no faked emotion. He was furious that someone tried to murder them.
"What about your sister? He tried to kill her too!" Theodora pointed out.
Demetrius turned his head towards her. Shock was on his face. It was swiftly replaced with such great fury that Theodora wondered if he was a god of anger.
"Oh, he did?" Demetrius turned to the demon. "You will not have a swift death for this. And I will not let you harm Adriadne, Tomoe, or Theodora."
Tomoe felt her heart thump. Theodora did the same. The demon burst out laughing.
"You think you can stop me? I'll break through this shield like I'll break your skull!" it declared.
The demon pulled its arm back. Flames filled its fist. There was a massive explosion, and the limb rocketed forward at such great speed that a normal human could not see it.
For Demetrius, time slowed down. He boosted his strength and speed with magical power. The Stratigos moved through the shield he set up. His hand clenched the monster's arm mid-air in a vice-like grip.
For the demon, it looked almost like Demetrius teleported. The creature tried to move its arm, but Demetrius would not budge.
"Damn you, human! Let me go!" it shouted as it tugged. "You pathetic piss stain on the world! Let go of my arm, or I'll make your death even worse than I would have already!"
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"No," Demetrius replied.
He kicked the demon so hard that it went flying back through the air All the while, Demetrius kept his grasp on its arm. The limb was pulled out of its socket and torn off the demon in a shower of blood.
The demon tumbled back, crashing into the ground and sending up a cloud of sand. It coughed as it stood up. Now, the monster's rage mixed with another emotion: fear.
"You...you bastard! I'll kill you!" the demon shouted.
But, even as it threatened Demetrius, the monster backed away from him. There was a look of contempt on the Stratigos' face. He tossed away a demon's arm like throwing out garbage.
"Return to the Sixth Heaven," Demetrius commanded, making a crossbow-like shape with his fingers.
"No!" the demon said. "I haven't killed enough humans!"
It zoomed forward, claws at the ready. Demetrius released the metaphorical latch. A bolt of darkness pierced the demon's knee, blowing its lower leg off. The monster crashed forward onto the ground.
Demetrius walked over to the demon with a tranquil rage. It tried to get up, but the stratigos blew off its other lower leg too. Heavy breaths came from the monster's mouth as it tried to get up.
"Dammit! Why did this have to happen to me? I only killed a few people, so why?" the demon shouted.
No response came from Demetrius. He placed his foot on the demon's head and pressed down. Its head splattered like a watermelon crushed by a hammer. Then, the demon's body faded away, including the parts Demetrius already severed.
A status screen came up.
DEMON SLAIN.
RETURNING TO NORMAL PARAMETERS.
Demetrius ran over to Theodora and Tomoe.
"Where is Adriadne?" he asked.
"She's safe," Theodora answered. "She should be looking for you."
Demetrius nodded.
"Are you two okay?' he questioned.
"We're fine," Theodora replied. "You arrived just in time."
"Thank the gods," Demetrius breathed a sigh of relief.
He shook his head.
"I don't know what I'd do if any of you three died."
Tomoe's heart thumped harder.
"Domo arigato, Demetrius-sama," she bowed deeply.
"Those were certainly words," he replied.
Theodora gave Demetrius a smile.
"You know, Straigos Kallergis," she inclined her head slightly. "You talk like a knave, but you actually care a lot, don't you? You saved us both, and you have my thanks for that."
Demetrius looked away.
"No, I don't care about either of you," he said.
"Do you really think we'll believe that after your fight what that demon?" Theodora asked.
Demetrius grimaced and checked his bond levels regarding the two of them.
Inu: 3.
Sagittarius: 3.
"Dammit! My spells will be much weaker than before! And worse still, Tomoe and Theodora are going to try to drag themselves into my life," Demetrius thought.
"By the way, how did you know we were in danger?" Theodora asked.
"I saw the giant wall of ice you made," Demetrius answered. "As far as I knew, you were the only ice magician in Cea. And I already discovered there was a demon here."
He shrugged and started moving.
"Now, I need to find Adriadne before someone else finds her," Demetrius stated.
A sound of crunching came at his feet. Demetrius looked down and saw that he stepped on some arrows. The stratigos recognized them.
"It looks like Ganzaya saw your wall of ice too," he observed. "But I doubt his arrows did anything to a demon of that power."
Theodora grabbed Tomoe and started walking alongside Demetrius.
"Let us help find Adriadne," the former suggested. "It's the least we could do."
A sigh escaped Demetrius' mouth.
"Making sure Adriadne is safe is my highest priority right now," he thought before speaking. "So be it."