B5 C48: Demonic Clash

AN: Two chapters today to make up for missing Monday. Make sure you've read chapter 47 before coming here. In other news, while I've been ba

AN: Two chapters today to make up for missing Monday. Make sure you've read chapter 47 before coming here.

In other news, while I've been bad about posting, I've been pretty good about writing lately! Suppose it depends how much I get done today, but it's looking like I'll finish up book 5 by the end of the day. There's one or two chapters I might break up or combine, but the book is sitting at about 57 chapters this time. Nine more to go!

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For a second, as Cal’s blade bit into Cezerra, I thought the fight would be over before it really began.

Not that it could have possibly been a death blow, of course. With Cezerra’s freakish Constitution, she could live without vital organs or even a head for a while. More than that, Cal had gone for a far less necessary body part: Cezerra’s leg. 

We’d discussed what body part to target for a while, and while a clean beheading would have been ideal, the real problem was that Cal was just too short. Without both her feet firmly planted on the ground, there was no way to get the leverage she needed, and with Cezerra’s towering height, there weren’t many better options. 

If Cal’s weapon had been designed to pierce instead of slash, perhaps we would have tried the heart, but there was little chance she could cut through the boss’s entire rib cage. On the flip side, if she only had one limb to stand on, we figured we could dogpile her before she could reasonably recover.

All that to say: We tried to chop her leg off.

And more importantly, we failed.

In the split second it took for Cal’s Chicken Scratch to cut into Cezerra, I watched as the demon flooded the injury with her demonic mana. At the same time, I could see the muscles in her thigh contracting, clenching down on the blade even as it quested for her femur. Courtesy of the blade’s secondary effect, cutting winds shredded the surrounding flesh, and the air surged outwards as Cal finally connected with the reinforced bone.

For all that, the blade came to an abrupt stop. The tiniest crunch might have signaled some sort of hairline fracture, but our opening strike had failed.

Worse yet, rather than staggering Cezerra and opening her up to further strikes, the blow only seemed to invigorate the demoness, and even as she shot a hand out to swat Cal away, she filled the air with an ear-shattering shout.

“Useless!” Her feral grin shifted to a scowl as Cal vanished before her blow could connect, but rather than search for the elusive target, she shifted her attention to me. My plate armor wrapped around me, and though I was focused on dodging for now, I began to overload my defenses.

Before I knew it, twin fists started rushing towards me. Neither the brutal attacks nor my subsequent dodges were enough to hold Cezerra’s full attention, and she freely berated me between blows.

“And here I thought we had an understanding! Suppose I’ll have to show you what happens when you try to backstab me. It’s all right. You’ll learn. Eventually.”

Standing directly in the doorway of the temple, I weaved back and forth, doing my best to keep Cezerra in one place. If we could help it, I would stay here for as long as possible to keep any drudges from getting inside or surrounding me.

And speaking of those drudges, a snarl sounded from behind the boss, causing her to risk a glance behind her. With the surprise on her face, I wondered if she’d almost forgotten about her own helpers, but as Cal’s feathery blade bit into the first of them, Cezerra growled.

“Make yourselves useful! Tear her to shreds!” As soon as Cezerra gave the command, the drudges whipped themselves into a frenzy trying to hunt Cal down. Sadly for them, they might as well have tried to catch the wind. Small stripes formed on the hides of each drudge as Cal danced around them, blipping in and out of sight with each strike.

 Cezerra tsked, seeming to consider abandoning me to go hunt Cal down before thinking better of it. Instead, seeing that none of the drudges were dying, she left the others to their own devices, doubtless believing that the eleven beasts would slowly wear Cal down while she handled me.

Her barrage of attacks quickly intensified to the point where I was unable to dodge them all, and summoning my hammer, I used it to ward off her heavy strikes, pushing them to the side. As I took a single step back, the boss lunged forward to follow, only to stumble as her feet refused to budge. A thin layer of frost clung to them.

Cezerra peered past me, and though I didn’t have the attention to spare, I knew what she would see. Deeper within the temple, a massive glacier sat tucked away in a shadowy corner. Within it sat Verin, her hand clutching the Sightless Eye. A moment ago, the entire thing would have been tucked away in darkness, but at last, Verin had deactivated the artifact, joining the fray. 

Cezerra failed to suppress a shiver as the effects of Verin’s magic wrapped around her. “All three of you! I should have known. But you know what? Good! The obsidian boss barely put up a fight. Maybe you three will finally help me work up a sweat!” With a simple flex of her muscles, she ripped herself from the Clinging Permafrost at her feet, renewing her assault.

Verin’s appearance seemed to light a fire under the demon, and it took every point of Dexterity I had to dance between her fists while smashing them away.

Dodge has reached level 14!

The biggest advantage we had was that Cezerra still wasn’t taking the fight as seriously as she should have, and I wanted to keep it that way, buying precious time for Verin’s Glacial Aura and Cal’s various class skills to go to work.

Alas, as fast as I was, there was only so long I could avoid my opponent while standing my ground. One fist swooped in, throwing my hammer to the side and opening my guard. The next hurtled towards my chest.

I turned and twisted, turning a direct strike into a glancing blow, but the damage was done. Cezerra’s hulking fist rammed into me, carrying a dose of its insidious mana intrusion.

And for once, nothing happened.

The Demonic Brawler pitted herself against my new Eternal Armor, and the class skill found her wanting. 

Paired with my Force Dispersal, a quick activation of Friction Feet kept me from being shoved backwards. Unharmed, I stood my ground.

“How…” For the first time in the fight, a look of utter bafflement crossed the boss’s face, and maybe even a smidgen of fear as well. A mask of resolve quickly covered whatever other feelings she was having, and on realizing that I was no longer the weakling she’d spent months pulverizing, Cezerra finally got serious.

But that was fine. Because so did I.

My mana core flared as I flooded my boots, armor, and hammer with mental mana. Already, I’d proven that the combo could destabilize my opponent, but this time, I wasn’t done.

Weapon to Wand. A fourth stream of mental mana pulled off from my core, threading itself into the intricate spellform for Mind Spike. Instead of trying to fire it through my mental space, I let my newest class skill go to work, attaching the spell to my hammer.

As much as I tried to stay focused during my fights, it was the first time I’d been able to use the skill in an actual fight, and the barest sliver of my attention was pulled towards my notifications.

Weapon to Wand activated on Stygian War Hammer.

Mental Magic has gained a temporary boost of six levels (25% of Hammers).

Intelligence has gained a temporary boost of nine points (25% of Strength).

With that big a powerup, the difference was staggering -- literally so, as I sent the hammer crashing into Cezerra’s side. She stumbled unsteadily even as her eyes started to roll back into her head, and for a second, I thought that single attack might have been enough to knock her out.

Barely, she managed to collect herself, sending out a drunken punch that soared off to my side.

Much like had been true for Cal, it was frustrating that I hadn’t been able to end things with a single strike. Unlike the far more fragile princess, however, nothing kept me from standing my ground to deliver a followup.

If one attack wouldn’t do it, then I’d hit her with a hundred.

Casting Mind Spike once again, I could feel my mood soar as I started to repay Cezerra for all the pain she’d put me through these past months.

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Cezerra was not having a particularly good time.

Which was strange. Less than a minute ago, she had been. She relished a good fight, and even if she wasn’t fully healed yet, she wouldn’t say no to testing out her recent rank upgrade. Frankly, it would do some good to teach her captive a few lessons, too, just to ensure she knew where she stood.

Currently, though, Cezerra wasn’t thinking about much of any of that, because Cezerra wasn’t thinking about much of anything. Every time she tried to form a coherent thought, it was blasted straight out of her head by the rhythmic tap, tap, tap of the human’s hammer against her body.

By the time the demon did manage to string together a full thought, it threatened to floor her.

I’m… losing. Hells, that couldn’t be right, could it? She’d fought the girl only a few weeks ago, and she’d barely put up a fight. Gods only knew that her armor couldn’t handle her strength before now. Had she been holding back, or had she grown that much in such a short span? And which option was scarier? 

Need… space. Cezerra tried to backpedal only to find herself tripping, her feet clinging to the ground. A brutal swing capitalized on her mistake, delivering its debilitating mental payload along with its bone-rattling force, and Cezerra barely had the presence of mind to yank her feet from the ice and push herself back.

Tess seemed reluctant to follow her too far from the temple entrance, instead switching to her bow and arrow to continue her assault. Thankfully, the arrows seemed weaker than her hammer, and some of the mental effects seemed tied to proximity. Cezerra’s head started to clear, and the moment it did, she cursed herself.

What am I doing? Surveying the battlefield, she watched as the strange invisible warrior toyed with her dredges. While she’d initially thought the girl was wearing herself down in vain, on closer inspection, she was barely exerting herself while tying down a full eleven opponents.

She wants me wasting all the drudges that way. Cezerra’s brain felt like it was about to leak out her ears, but she pushed herself through even as more mental arrows bit into her. How should I use them… On Tess?

With a tug of her will, the demon sent her underlings a command, switching their target. As one, the beasts began charging the temple. 

While their efforts bought her a temporary reprieve, it was less effective than she would have hoped for. With Tess standing in the entrance to the temple, the large drudges were unable to surround her, only able to attack one or two at a time instead.

So that’s why she doesn’t want to move. Or was there more? As Tess was forced to defend herself, the thick caul over Cezerra’s mind began to cast itself off. Her armor can take a full punch from me. The drudges have no chance of getting through her armor, even if they surround her.

Was it the other one, then? The girl in the ice?

That’s it. She’s the weak link. If Cezerra could just get close to her -- either herself or her drudges -- she was sure they could chip away at that ice of hers. And then kill her to destabilize the others? Or maybe just hold her hostage.

She needed more time to think, and as her aching body reminded her, more time to heal, too. Her regeneration was still a bit slow from her time away, and that many solid hammer strikes had done a number on her.

Plus, Tess doesn’t wish to move, and the ice girl is stationary, no? Perhaps a temporary retreat was in order. Hells, maybe even a full retreat. Losing the drudges would be annoying, but if she hid herself away until she fully settled into her new rank, she’d have a far easier time of things.

With that decided, Cezerra spread her wings wide to take to the skies. Chilled far more than she’d realized, they were slow to respond, but the effect was only enough to delay her for a second or two.

Unfortunately, a second was more than enough for her enemies.

THWICK.

You have been slashed for 306 damage!

Freed from the attention of the drudges, the warrior hadn’t been idle, with nothing stopping her from targeting Cezerra. Only, somehow, her second attack was leagues more powerful than the first. Cezerra had no time to wonder why, as she couldn’t keep herself from gaping at the aftermath of the slash.

With a solid thud, a mass of bone, muscle, and membraneous tissue fell to the earth. Unable to believe her eyes, Cezerra turned to stare at the remnants of her left wing, lying impotently on the ground. 

That’s… I don’t think I can regenerate that. Can I? Not fast, at least. 

With how much she weighed, the bulk of her flight was magical in nature. It had to be. Still, the wings were a necessary component, both to steer and to focus the magic. In a single strike, she’d been grounded.

Her dazed incredulity wore off quickly, replaced by a steadily growing red hot anger, but her foe had already vanished, offering her no chance to retaliate. 

So with equal parts pain and rage, Cezerra roared.

I’ll kill them! Both! And then I’ll tear the limbs off the last one. Cezerra had been too soft, she realized now. Tess didn’t need arms or legs to cast the summoning spell, did she? It was a fitting punishment for taking her flight from her.

Had she been just a little less angry, perhaps she would have realized that retreat was still an option. She could run away on foot. Not that it was guaranteed to work, but it was an option.

Consumed by the spirit of vengeance, Cezerra didn’t even consider it.

With her mind no longer clouded by Tess’s mental attacks, Cezerra’s thoughts raced until she settled on a plan. Not giving the warrior a chance to strike again, she moved.

To the ice girl. But first, to get past Tess.

The drudges made space for her, with half of them ordered to watch out for the warrior if she reappeared. Any further strikes couldn’t go unpunished.

In a flash, Cezerra returned to her initial position, up against her original hammer-wielding foe. A punch hadn’t even fazed the human last time, and though it had only been a glancing blow, Cezerra wouldn’t waste her time trying the same thing twice.

Even if I shove past her, she has that teleportation ability. But no matter. True, Tess had obviously been studying Cezerra during their spars, devising strategies to use against her, but who said the demon hadn’t been doing the same?

Risking another whack from the girl’s terrifying hammer, Cezerra lunged forward with a punch, watching as the girl braced for impact. At the last moment, however, the boss opened her hand up, wrapping around the human’s arm.

First, she needs to make a full step to use that damnable teleport. Second, she can’t do it while something is holding onto her. 

Perhaps realizing what was about to happen, Tess began to grow heavier as stone formed on her armor and boots, but it was too late. Cezerra whipped the girl into the air, chucking her right into a duo of drudges. The very moment she landed, the beasts were on her, clamping down with tooth and claw. None of the attacks pierced her defenses, but that wasn’t the point.

The entrance was open. Summoning some of her drudges to follow, Cezerra charged through. With Tess dealt with, not a single obstacle lay between her and the glacier up ahead.

At least, that was true for a second. A thick wall of ice sprung up from nothing, and then a second and a third behind it. 

Even with her rage still powerfully thrumming through her, Cezerra couldn’t help but laugh. If the girl thought such weak defenses would delay her, she was in for a shock. Not slowing in the least bit, Cezerra barrelled through the ice walls, filling the temple with crystalline clinking and crunching. Close on her tail, her drudges similarly showed no signs of stopping. The girl’s frost magic tried to seep into her bones, and with each step, her feet stuck slightly to the ground, but with her momentum, it was too little, too late.

She could see the fear in the girl’s eyes now as she realized her glacier would likely only delay the demons for a matter of seconds. Just a few paces away now. Unless the girl had some last-ditch spell to use, the only thing that could stop her was the other two. 

Risking a quick glance behind her to make sure they weren’t launching any attacks at her, Cezerra spotted the enemies in question. Preemptively gloating, she sneered at them.

Tess, though she fought valiantly and had nearly broken free, hadn’t been fast enough. One of her drudges was already dead, dispatched with startling ease, but the other maintained its death grip on her arm, preventing her from teleporting.

Even so, she was defiant. Summoning a spear, the girl cast one of her portals, the other end appearing directly before Cezerra. Likely wreathing the spear in mental magic, she tried her best to sneak the attack through in the hopes that Cezerra would impale herself.

It was no use. Well used to the girl’s portal tricks by now, Cezerra lashed out, dispelling the portal before the girl could make use of it.

Which only left the warrior.

In a way, Cezerra was surprised to see her, expecting the odd combatant to be invisible, as per usual. Stranger yet, she wasn’t rushing forward, trying to catch up.

Instead, she stood halfway across the temple, somehow having shaken off the drudges Cezerra had sent after her. Her face was off, too, lacking any of the emotions Cezerra would have expected to find there.

No panic. No fear. No grief.

Just a sort of weary resignation. Rather than a shout or a cry, a sigh escaped her lips before she opened them to speak.

As strange as it all was, it didn’t matter. Finally to her goal, Cezerra turned away, not bothering to wait for whatever begging and pleading the girl was about to hit her with. The time for such things had passed.

Had she developed a stronger mana sense, perhaps Cezerra would have noticed as the surrounding mana trembled and stirred. As it was, she didn’t realize anything was wrong until it was already done. 

A single word snapped out from the girl’s mouth like the crack of a whip.

“Stop.”