Donte dropped from the sky. His sword pointed straight down. A small tornado formed around his body, turning it into a drill that pierced right down the center of the giant cyclone created by the Demon, Andras. His innate talent was not strong enough to counteract Andras’s. It couldn’t even weaken the cyclone’s power. So, instead, he moved with the cyclone, allowing it to pull him down even faster. Donte’s body became a blur. It was like a lightning strike from the clouds, almost instantaneous.

Andras barely had time to register that someone had gotten above him before the two bodies collided. A sound like a thunderclap shook the sky.

The cyclone came to a sudden stop as Donte and Andras both rocketed into the ground. A cloud of dust rose up into the air. Even the sharp eyes of Sylvie could not pierce the storm of debris. There was a moment of silence as both human and Demonkin alike waited to see the outcome of the strike. Only Mare seemed unconcerned as she took advantage of the momentary distraction to pierce through the head of a nearby Alpha. Her face bore a malicious smile as the blood and brain matter stained her arm.

The lull in the battlefield was broken in that moment as a burst of wind erupted from the dust cloud. Donte’s oversized figure was sent flying before tumbling face-first into the dirt.

Andras’s face burned with rage as he tossed the boy like a ragdoll. Blood dripped to the ground as the Demon gripped the blade sticking out of his thigh. Even unprepared, Andras had still managed to dodge in the fraction of a second he had before Donte could land a fatal blow.

“Injured by an insect,” Andras growled. His grip tightened around the sharp edge of the blade. A sharp cracking sound echoed out as the steel shattered beneath his fingers. The Demon tossed the broken sword aside as his beady eyes locked onto Donte. “In a battle with both the Immortal Calamity and the Demigod of Slaughter, but once again, it is you that stands in my way. You are nothing, nobody, another grain of dust beneath my boot.”

Donte chuckled as he picked himself up out of the dirt. “You’re right. I am a nobody, but if you can’t even defeat me, what does that make you?”

Andras roared like a beast. A dozen invisible blades sliced through the air and left long gouges in the rocky ground. Donte couldn’t resist as the blades slammed into his chest. He was once again smashed into the dirt. His weak domain shattered in an instant, quickly followed by the purple energy provided by Dragon’s Nest.

Wave after wave, the wind whipped around Andras and turned into blades. Donte’s body wasn’t even visible anymore as he was pushed deeper and deeper into the ground. It was only after nearly a solid minute that Andras finally stopped. His words were undercut by his heavy breathing.

“I am Andras, the greatest general under the future Archdemon, Envy. I will not be disrespected by some dirty human!”

Andras’s gloating was cut short by a sudden cough from deep within the crater he had created. Rubble was pushed aside as a single hand stretched out from the dirt. A second later, Donte rose up as if emerging from the grave. His body was covered with hundreds of crisscrossing cuts, some reaching all the way from his shoulder to his foot. It was a scary sight at first glance but on closer inspection, there was very little blood. The wounds were long but barely deep enough to break the skin. Even as he pushed himself up from the dirt, many of them began to disappear. His injuries were healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

“That one kinda hurt,” he mumbled with a glance down at his chest, “Still, compared to what Mare put me through, it is nothing more than a tickle. Do you want to try again?”

Andras’s eyes went wide in fright. He unconsciously took a step back. “That… That’s impossible! You were not this strong last time we met!”

A hiss of steam escaped Donte’s mouth as he rolled his shoulders. “I don’t know much about what is possible or not, but growing up in the slums, I learned more than I ever wanted about insects. The most important thing to know is that you must irradicate them completely as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will grow into an infestation you can never eliminate.”

Andras grit his teeth. He glanced up at the battlefield overhead. Only a single Leviathan remained, and his Demonkin were falling one after another. He looked for any direction to escape, but to his dismay, he was completely encircled. Mare and Svend, specifically, were positioned in a way that if he tried to fly, he would not be able to get by without a fight.

Donte noticed the Demon’s furtive glances and leapt out of the crater. He charged at the Demon like a bull seeing red. “Whatever you're planning, it is useless. You have lost.”

“I am the great Andras! I will not die here!” Andras shouted. A whirlwind started to whip around the Demon, and for a moment, it looked like he was going to repeat his earlier storm, but Donte tackled him to the ground before he could. His swollen arms wrapped around the Demon and held him like a vice. The was no skill or finesse in his movements. It was pure brute strength.

“What the… Release me!” Andras shouted as he suddenly found himself grappled by the boy. His clawed hand came down on the boy’s back, stabbing deep and drawing blood, but Donte grunted and held the Demon tighter.

The Demon tore at Donte’s back again and again. His claws cut deeper than the wind blades had before. With each cut, a nauseous red energy festered on the wounds but was pushed back by the gold glow under Donte’s skin. Devastating blows rained down on the boy. Blood pooled on the ground beneath his feet. I could see his muscles shudder from the pain, but still, he did not let go.

Andras’s breathing grew increasingly ragged as he unleashed all of his power on the boy. Just as Donte looked as if he might collapse, a blur of purple passed by the Demon. The arm clawing at the boy’s neck fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. “I think that is enough,” Mare said. The smile on her face was shielded by her hand.

Andras blinked, dumbfounded. He stared at his arm in confusion, then up at the sky where Mare had been just a moment before. “How did you…” he muttered in disbelief. Andras could not be blamed for his confusion. Even I had not seen when Mare had moved. From Sylvie’s view, it looked as if she simply appeared next to the Demon, appearing out of the air itself.

Mare had no intention of explaining herself to the Demon. She nodded at Donte with a smile. “You did well for a dimwit. How does it feel to defeat your first Demon?”

Donte grit his teeth. Blood still poured from his back without any sign of slowing down. “It hurts.”

“Of course it does. Who told you to tackle the Demon like some uncivilized barbarian? What were all those combat lessons for if all you were going to do was this?”

Andras was still held down by Donte but his vision was locked on the small girl in front of him. His face grew redder and redder by the second, as if being ignored was a bigger insult than losing his arm. “The boy didn’t defeat me. If you had not interrupted…”

“The specifics don’t matter,” Mare said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "He kept you occupied until the battle was finished. That’s all that was needed to ensure your defeat.”

The Demon’s eyes went wide as he looked up at the sky again. None of his Demonkin remained. All the Alphas were dead. The last of the Leviathan’s children was currently in the teeth of the giant serpent. Its mournful wails were cut short with a loud crunch.

A tremor ran through the earth as the giant form of Vissna landed on the ground behind the Demon. Her sharp teeth bared. She was close enough that her breath left frost on the Demon’s skin.

“Why have you not killed this abomination yet?” Vissna asked in a deep guttural growl

Mare shrugged. “Wren told me to keep him alive until she got here.”

Vissna’s vertical pupils contracted as she stared at Sylvie. I could feel her gaze through my connection with the tiny bird. A chill traveled up my spine, nearly causing me to trip as I ran across the jagged and rough terrain caused by the battles.

“You had better have a very good reason for this, little phoenix.”

Andras started laughing. “Even the great Aurielle does not dare kill me. She knows that if she does, it will only speed up Envy’s arrival.”

Vissna snorted. “We know of the five glyphs in your skin. They are easy to destroy.”

“That treacherous witch! I shouldn’t have held back torturing her,” Andras exclaimed in fury as he realized that only one person could have told us about the glyphs.

Vissna chuckled at the Demon’s rage as she pinned him under her claws, allowing Donte to free himself. The boy collapsed to the ground as if the hard rocks were as soft as pillows. His muscles deflated like balloons as steam hissed from his skin. Extreme exhaustion flooded him immediately. “Hey, Mare, is it normal not to be able to move after using the Divine Body?” He asked weakly.

“Nothing we did to your body is normal,” Mare replied nonchalantly, “I’ll fix the problem later.”

Donte nodded. He looked as if he was going to say something more, but his eyes fluttered closed before he could. Within seconds, the sound of gentle snores filled the air.

Mare’s expression changed to a gentle smile as she looked at the sleeping boy. "Have a good rest, Donte. You earned it this time.”

Several minutes later, I arrived at the scene riding on Nox’s back. Still too exhausted to fly, the large cat was the fastest transport I could find.

Vissna stomped her foot down as I approached. The unfortunate Demon was powerless as he was buried deeper into the earth under her mighty weight. I smirked at his plight. At this point, the Demon was nearly as weak as me. Most of his power had long been exhausted. Fighting his own subordinate, subduing thousands of Demonkin that passed through the rift, and creating that massive cyclone, all within twenty-four hours. It was a miracle the Demon had not fallen over the moment he met Donte. Now he was practically powerless.

The Demon glared at me with hatred in his eyes. “Enjoy your victory while it lasts, Aurielle. My death will change nothing. With the Leviathan under his command, Envy is unstoppable.”

I gave a condescending smile as I hopped off Nox. I kneeled next to Andras as I spoke. “That is where you are wrong, Andras. Your death will change everything. You probably thought you were being very clever with your little sacrificial glyphs...” I paused as Dom’s last moments flashed through my mind. The urge to bust the Demon’s head open like a melon became almost irresistible, but instead, I only smiled brighter. “But the truth is, your cleverness will be your own undoing. Berith predicted it herself the very first time you entered this realm. We will be the ones to open the door between the realms, and now with your help, we will get to choose the exact time and place we want to fight Envy.”

“No!” Andras shouted. His one remaining arm clawed at Vissna’s talons in a futile struggle to free himself.

I chuckled darkly as I watched the Demon’s mental anguish. Self-preservation clashed with the irresistible obedience Andras felt towards Envy. No normal Demon was like Abigor, willing to pierce their own heart at the first sign of defeat. I stayed close, though, just in case he tried, drinking in his suffering as he desperately tried to escape Vissna’s grip.

Only once I was satisfied did I speak. “Cut off his arm and legs. We will imprison him in Dragon’s Nest until it is time to make our move.”