III

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Arc III Chapter 12

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The demon's shattering roar reverberated through the air.

Aurora eyes widened. Though ancient, though unknown, his nonsensical rambling was perfectly comprehensible. They understood!

Much to Auroras surprise, the beast was actually capable of human, intelligible tongue. The demon spoke!

Hiding her face behind her cute doll, Aurora hoped that the demon wouldn't see her.

She wasn't here. There was no little girl with a doll to be seen here. She wasn't possibly theoretically potentially hypothetically to blame for the escalation of current events.

In her defence, nobody could have reasonably foreseen such a dramatic outcome. A bloodthirsty demon appearing out of thin air without warning? That was certainly an unexpected development.

Aurora shook her head. She carried no fault, right? Her doll agreed despite hesitating.

Kakos' blood boiled in trembling anticipation and exhilaration.”You feeble humans, you freed me! Have you not learned from the mistakes of your ancestors ...”

A torrent of wind blades cut the talkative demon short, throwing him into the nearest stone wall.

Arwing wielded her sword and demanded attention. “Listen, we must attack! He is weak! He is still recuperating! His mana reserves are depleted! We can defeat him!”

Lambert gripped his sword, freed from his stupor. “Arwing is right. Iris, Michael, take formation! Together, we can bring him down!

Iris understood and summoned her magic. Circles formed and her lengthy incantation started. “Furious fire, blazing heat ...”

Meanwhile, Aurora decided it was time for a tactical retreat, time for her to hide and let the professionals do the fighting.

Aurora chose a nearby boulder as cover, big in size and sturdy, and waited for the battle to end, while observing from the safety of distance. As she had learned from her previous life, cover, concealment, and camouflage, were important.

Kakos emerged from the falling rubble, shaken and caught off-guard by the unexpected attack. The wind blades showed little effect. His durable skin shrugged off Arwing's attack with ease.

Kakos roared in anger, fuming, his mouth convulsing at the sight of a group of lowly humans defying him.

“You meagre humans, you dare to attack me! Me! Me! Who do you think you are? Know your place! I will feed on your rotting corpses! Your souls shall be mine ...”

A barrage of icicles from point-blank interrupted Kakos with brutal efficiency. The ice invaded his flesh and pain shot through his body.

Nelaeryn closed his trusted tome. Letters and glyphs of power fought at his side. “You definitely talk too much. Less talking. More fighting.”

Aurora cheered from behind. That was a good hit from Nelaeryn. Excellent target acquisition despite overly fancy incantations on his part.

Assisted by their elven allies proving their worth on the battlefield, Lambert and company appeared to have things under control. They could probably handle things on their. No need for her to intervene, as she didn't wish for her companions to die a premature death. They deserved better after sheltering her.

Aurora dismissed her mana and the subtle purple glow fluctuating around her hand vanished.

Madness filled Kakos' eyes. “Puny insets, insignificant maggots, you dare to defy me!”

Nelaeryn readied his next barrage of spells. Ice sickles surrounded Nelaeryn. No quarter. No mercy. No respite.

Kakos countered with his own magic. His breath produced fire and the flames evaporated the attack.

The vapour dissipated and Kakos grinned. “Meagre humans, don't take me lightly ...”

His rambling tirade cost him dearly. Distracted, Kakos and a few innocent stone columns took a giant fireball directly to the face.

Aurora and her doll flinched. That must have hurt.

Iris panted. Her spell exhausted her mana and stamina more than expected.

Yet Kakos survived the magical onslaught, visibly angered by the impertinence displayed by some lowly humans. “You! Grrmrhrhrrmrmrm! Grmemmemermrmrmmr“

Kakos went on the offensive, charging ahead, uncaring of the risks. His body felt neither pain, nor fatigue. His entire being was a weapon honed to perfection for a single purpose, to kill.

“Disperse!” Lambert sensed the danger and ordered a retreat. It was impossible to stop the crazed stampede.

Lambert rolled sidewards. Even Iris was forced to move in her pain-stricken condition. Mages disliked the physical aspect of fighting, but the realities of combat cared little about mages and their uncomfortable robes.

Kakos crashed into the wall with full force. Stone crumbled and dust rose skywards as structural damage increased. “Run! Run for your MISERABLE life, you maggots! You are nothing before my might!”

Aurora disagreed, not much impressed so far by his incredible performance. The demon relied far too much on his physical defence and bulk to absorb incoming attacks. Crude and uninspiring. Not the most sophisticated way of fighting ...

Aurora dodged in time. Iris missed her target and a lost fireball shot past Aurora's head, hitting a pillar behind her in an explosion.

...

...

...

Aurora and her doll slowly peeked from behind their cover. “That was close.” Friendly fire was dangerous. The fireball nearly incinerated her fluffy hair

Aurora doll seconded her notion.

Aurora disappeared again behind her safe cover as the battle raged on.

Arwing gripped her sword. “Nelaeryn, ready?”

“As ready as possible considering the circumstances.” Nelaeryn readied his tome. His fingers were itching.

Arwing channelled her mana through her blade. The forces of wind surrounded her figure, and the wild torrents grew stronger. “Piercing gale, the scariest gale, Anima! Heed the call!”

Nelaeryn followed her example and opened his tome. “Darkest mana, servant of the frigid abyss, Glacies! Acknowledge my edict!”

They cast their spells.

Kakos confounded their plans. He accumulated his mana to unleashed his powerful breath, producing this time a cataclysmic terrible explosion of earth-shattering proportion and blinding light. The ruins trembled. The walls, the ceiling shivered in fear.

The blast shook the earth, kicking Arwing and Nelaeryn across the room. Their magic attacks were countered by brute force. The demon cared little about mana consumption, relying instead on his abundant reserves. Raw strength easily substituted his lack of skill and finesse.

Nelaeryn was quick to recuperate. Arwing was far less fortunate. A piece of fallen debris knocked her out.

Nelaeryn gritted his teeth. This was bad. Very bad.

Kakos gained momentum and charged with his sharpened claws, lusting for blood. “You are mine!”

“Not with me!” Lambert counter-attacked. His sword blocked the claws, absorbing the strike.

Lambert gritted his teeth, yet he didn't budge. The demon's sheer strength and mass put Lambert at a disadvantage, but years of training and mobilsing his mana made him prevail. His block created an opening. The demon's enormous mass rendered him sluggish and immobile.

“Michael, ... this ... is ... your chance!”

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