"Lady Xinun? Who is that?"

???? says "She is the demon lord who has claimed this territory. Your master should have known that. Now who is your master?"

'Drog! Help!'

Drog 'I'm coming master!'

"I don't know what you are talking about. I don't have a master!"

???? says "You are an unclaimed? How are you even here?"

"I don't know what an unclaimed is, but I guess I am one since I don't have a master. As for how I came here I'm not sure."

???? says "Well, if you are unclaimed then I will just have to claim you for my master."

"You mean this Lady Xinun you mentioned?"

???? says "Yes, Lady Xinun, the Flame Queen. I am one of her lieutenants so I can claim you in her name."

"What does it mean to be claimed?"

???? says "It means you belong to Lady Xinun, you obey her and are protected by her."

"No offense, but I think I prefer not to have to obey anyone."

Right as the man is about to respond Drog finally arrives and leaps at him. His free hand snags Drog out of the air and holds him by the throat, but now both his hands are occupied. I didn't think Drog would be able to do much since he is stronger than me, but he is a distraction.

As the guy turns his head to look at Drog I let go of his arm and swipe at his face with my claws. I aim for his face because when looking at his aura I noticed a strange glow around his face. As my claws rip across his face an amazing change happens, he goes from a six foot human to a twelve foot demon.

He has massive horns growing out of his head and he is a deep red color. He has black bat wings on his back and his skin is thick and lumpy. He is massive and hugely muscled, his arm is as big as my leg.

He must have been wearing some kind of magical mask to disguise himself. Now he even smells like a demon, and now I can sense him as well. He is a rank seven demon, which explains why he is stronger than I am.

Drog 'Be careful master, he is strong!'

'Yeah, he is rank seven. We need to create an opening to escape.'

His grip on my throat hasn't lessened and my claws may have destroyed his mask but they didn't scratch his face. I try clawing at his arm but again my claws can't pierce his flesh. I never thought a rank seven would be so far above me in power.

If I could just draw Blitz, but he has me pinned against the wall so that I can't reach. I try kicking him in the chest to get some room but I can't move him. For the first time I am starting to feel helpless, is my only option to try and fight him in the soulscape?

Drog 'Sorry master, he is too strong!'

Demon says "Now I will take you both back to my mistress. She will torture you until you tell her everything you know."

'Be ready Drog, I'm going to try something.'

"Um, no thanks? Lightning Aura!"

As the lightning surrounds me I can tell it is hitting him, he makes a pained sound but he doesn't let go. The lightning keeps shocking him and as it does I bring both legs up and kick him as hard as I can. I manage to make him take a single step back which gives me just enough room to reach up and draw Blitz.

As Blitz clears the sheathe I bring it down on his arm with a roar. Blitz does manage to cut his arm but I was hoping to completely sever his arm. Now my only hope is that my roar brings help, the city guard might not be able to hurt it but since it was hiding maybe they can chase it off.

A pair of city guards turn into the alley but they freeze when they see the demon. For them to arrive so fast they must have been close by, but the demon doesn't seem to care about them. When one of the guards starts blowing a whistle the demon casually throws Drog at them, knocking them back into the street.

Now that he has a hand free he easily smacks Blitz out of my hands, leaving both my hands numb and possibly broken. He then smacks me across the face leaving my vision blurry and my head ringing. While I am somewhat stunned the demon tucks me under his arm and extends his wings.

Demon says "One of you is good enough."

The way he has me tucked under his arm both my arms are pinned at my sides. All I can do is kick my legs a little, not enough to do anything to the demon. Not that I have been able to hurt him much so far anyway, and only with Blitz.

'Looks like this is my last option. Create Soulscape!'

Nothing happens, not only can't I drag the demon in, I can't even open a soulscape. Somehow the demon is suppressing my ability to create a soulscape, I didn't even know that was possible. That was my last hope, I've tried everything, I can't do anything against this demon.

The demon starts to flap his wings, the wind generated is intense. As big as the demon is and as heavy as I am, I am fairly surprised when its feet leave the ground. Then I see Drog come charging down the alley towards the demon.

'Drog. no!'

As Drog leaps at the demon, the demon throws a punch at Drog. When the demon's fist hits Drog, Drog's body is reduced to a red mist. Luckily it is just Drog's physical form, he will return to the sword.

I watch the ground fall away as the demon keeps flapping its wings. I am soon looking down on the roofs of the buildings, from the buildings I can see the demon is flying south. That makes sense if the demon is taking me to his master on the old continent.