Edited by: tommyjl7

This is not how I imagined the battle between the devils. Up until now, I thought it would look like a battle of minds and pure magical power, I thought that they would transfer us into a different plane of existence with ash floating in the air and erupting volcanoes in the background… Yet they were still here – in the forest, under the barrier, boxing one another. As much as I was terrified and the current situation actually happened to ease my nerves, I was utterly disappointed.

The werewolf dropped on all fours and charged like an animal shortening the distance in three huge leaps. It jumped on Sebastian trying to knock him down, then thanks to his size and weight, he would have a huge advantage. But as he was mid-air with his paws stretched outwards, Garuda moved two steps closer and attacked. First, he attacked with the uppercut yet as soon as his hand hit the monster’s jaw, he gripped werewolf by the back of his head and pushed him to the ground.

But, as soon as the beast was sent to the earth, he grabbed Sebastian’s leg and smiled smugly. With a strong pull he brought my familiar down next to himself.

- “As always acting all-mighty, Bahoru?” werewolf snorted as he positioned himself above Sebastian pinning him to the ground. In no time he started pulverizing him into the dirt with a tempest of blows

- “You have always been this way! Overly proud! Not seeing efforts of those beneath you! You always thought you were the strongest, fastest, smartest! Take away your real vessel and you are nothing!”

Yet all this time despite lying on his back Sebastian was blocking attacks of the other devil with his forearms

- “I battled under your command during the war of firstborns! I carried your banner! I did everything I was told and more! What did I get? HOW WAS I REWARDED!?”

Another strike, Sebastian started struggling with keeping the tempo

- “NOTHING! I was forgotten! When the war ended and we returned to the hell you rewarded those who you deemed worthy! AND YOU SENT ME TO LIMBO! ME!”

Another attack, yet this time it was filled with so much hatred and wrath… that despite its power and speed it was more than just obvious to predict. Sebastian caught his fist and twisted it to the side. The sound of bones cracking echoed across the clearing.

With few fast moves, Sebastian released one of his legs and twisting his whole body grabbing an arm of the werewolf locking it. Then he jerked his body back dislocating monsters shoulder. Releasing the grip and performing a lightning-fast kick he sent the werewolf to the edge of the barrier, which upon contact made the green light shine and burn the monster a little.

- “I think I remember you…” Sebastian said calmly “… your name was… Adrosi?”

- “AGEROSHI!” the beast yelled getting up from the ground. He grabbed his damaged arm and with one swift move he snapped his joints back in place “… the frenzy unbound!”

He finished his introduction. Idiot. That devil was an idiot. One of the things that helped an exorcist greatly in casting devil aside was to command him using his real name. Sebastian, you are a genius.

- “Yes, Ambrozy, you did well, but that’s it. You were not even near to get a promotion, there are hundreds if not thousands better than you that did not receive the reward. You were expected to do this much. You did not take over the battlefield, you did not shine with powers or intellect beyond your current status, thus you were sent to the place which was supposed to sharpen your powers. But you missed the whole point of the lecture. You are still repeating the same mistakes as eons ago.”

- “Keep talking, Blood-feathered! You will fool no one with…”

- “Each time you step on the battlefield, what is your job? To kill as many enemies as possible? To kill as strong enemies as possible? No. That brings glory on the soldier, but it does not serve the purpose of strategist that planned the combat. The soldier role is to win the war. Even at cost of glory. Even at cost of honor. We are nothing more than tools and you failed to see that. When we enter the battlefield we are not supposed to attack the strongest enemies, but weakest. This way we break the formation, the chain is as strong as its weakest link, snap one, shatter it all. You could have won dozens of more battles, but you failed to prioritize your opponents. As you are doing now. Tell me, if you want to defeat me, what should you do?”

We were almost done. Sebastian sensed it and started buying as time. Right now I was not sure if he lectured me or the foolish devil.

- “Attack me? Defeat me?...” Sebastian, No, Bahoru – one of the Pandemonians kept talking “… You are not blind, so you had to see that I am bound to the summoner under the totem…” he pointed at me “… You would achieve the fastest and most underwhelming victory if you would focus on him, as right now he completely dropped his defense. But you kept attacking me. The victory was within the reach of your grasp the whole time… but now, you failed. Where are we, Agerosh’u?”

The werewolf looked over the barrier then under his feet, then at us, sitting around the totem and the totem itself which was almost completely charged for the 3rd pulse.

- “Indeed. This is an insight you are lacking. My master correctly foresaw that he would not win this battle in the usual way, so he divided it into the stages. Lure, battle under the barrier, which does not suit us, devils, and last thing… He turned the insides of the barrier into the altar by combining both nature and blood magic. Devil-consuming altar. Each time the devilish presence entered it, each time it fought here and died… it was a form of sacrifice powering up the spell. Every pulse was nothing more than information that another part of the requirement was met… and now, tell me, what is about to happen?”

The structure of the barrier started shaking and changing. The runes and power-words that built it started moving in place, rotating, creating a new structure, new runes, and new words. Like in a Rubik's cube. What was A turned into V. What was P turned into d. sometime the two words would merge creating a single, more powerful spell-word, or one would shatter into a two, and each symbol would complete two different spell-sentences.

Magic, while being written, is two-dimensional. But after staring in the pendant given to be by Heira I have eventually learned the art of setting much more complex spells. This barrier was an example.

But, the “wider” and more complex is the spell, the more power it requires to fuel. The three of us would need months to do so, but fortunately, we found another power source – the werewolf that inhaled the magic of sacred night AND fulfilling the vow with a sinner.

He was like an atomic reactor, a battery that overcharged the structure within less than half of an hour. One last time the werewolf looked at the corrupted animals he brought together with him, and which were now lying dead within the barrier. Their bodies already started evaporating as they were used as a living sacrifice.

Then he looked at me, roared and charged. His eyes were clouded by mindless hate.

Sebastian did not stop him. He didn’t have to.

- “Pulse incoming…” I said in a calm tone.

- “The real art of war is not to win with an enemy that is weaker than you…” Sebastian said calmly with disappointment in eyes “… but to defeat a much stronger enemy using his own power against him.”

Once again beast leaped in a desperate act of stopping me, but the totem already started shaking sending a greenish glow.

The ring of power, stronger than before hit him. The power that cast him aside started burning his corrupting nature. Literally. The white flame took over his body releasing the cloud of pitch-black smoke. The devil cried in pain and horror as he was deprived of his essence.

I shattered my connection with Sebastian before the green-magic hit him. This way I saved him from “bits” of “discomfort”.

The barrier, made of hexagonal-like cells, changed its structure into a wall of thin, spear-like lines of green and white light, attracted by the darkness. The stronger the darkness, the stronger attraction, and the devil in the middle of the clearing was like a beacon summoning them. A rain of light-spears fell on the werewolf’s head, impaling him and pinning him to the ground. Every second he spent in this position must be an agony.

I quickly rose from the ground and ran toward Gisele. She managed to crawl away a little, with a piece of clean clothing she tried to stop the bleeding.

- “Babe, you okay?” I asked in a concerned tone

She looked like all the horrors in the world. With paler face, half-closed eyes, sitting only because her body was resting on the half-broken tree. Yet she managed to raise one thumb in the air.

- “All nice and dandy. Give me a moment and I will be ready for a round two.”

She actually made me snort, even as it was a nervous and hysterical laughter.

- “Suuuure. Give me a minute and I will patch you up.”

I put my hands by her wound and cast a healing magic. She sighed with comfort as part of the pain was lifted off her.

- “We got him, didn't we?” she asked

She had problems focusing her gaze.

- “No babe, we all died.”

- “Really? That’s too bad.” She wasn’t joking

She had problems with rational thinking.

- “Lanele! My bag!” I yelled through my arm

Priestess blinked twice as she tried to snap out of mind-exhaustion. The spell was quite tiring. Yet in next second she got up and rushed to me carrying my goods. With one hand still casting healing magic, I started throwing things out of my bag until I found a little metal-reinforced chest. I quickly opened it with my free hand revealing its content.

Inside, in the leather straps were several vials filled with dense liquids. The chest was designed in such fashion that vials inside wouldn’t break as long as they remained inside. The smith that forged it boasted that “even a dragon can stomp on it, and everything inside would remain untouched!”. I didn’t have yet a possibility to check if the chest is dragon-proof, but it did handle the difficulty of the journey well.

I uncorked the red vial and brought it to her lips.

- “Gis, babe, have a drink.”

Yet she moved her head to the side disgusted.

FOR FUCK SAKE! WOMAN! It is supposed to work nice, not smell nice! Do not make a scene now!

With an annoyed groan I poured the liquid in my mouth and force-feed it to her. I checked if she swallowed and then I opened another one. I tore aside pieces of clothes revealing her wound. Three deep slash-marks were still slowly dropping blood from her side. If claws would dig her skin centimeter deeper, they would pierce through the liver. I poured the liquid directly on the wound. The alcohol which was the base of the potion burned her nerves with pain. She rolled her eyes and lost consciousness.

I looked at Lanele.

She understood what I wanted without saying a single word. She started digging in my bag and brought clean bandages, a needle, and a thread.

- “You or me?” she asked as she was preparing the tools.

- “You. I will focus on healing with magic.”

She nodded in response lowered herself and started closing the wounds.

- “Atta girl. You did well…” I kept talking to an unconscious woman “… Fuck.”

- “Something happened?” Lana asked still focused on digging the needle in Gisele’s side.

- “I just realized she will brag about fighting with the devil for next year. And a week from today she will be saying that she was alone, battled three of them at the same time and left the battleground unscratched.”

- “That sounds like something she would do.” Priestess nodded with a serious face. “… Zariel?”

- “Yes?”

- “How did you do that?”

- “Sunshine, I am doing things which are impossible on daily basis. Miracles on every Thursday. If you wouldn’t specify what you are talking about I will have no idea what you are asking a…”

- “The spell. It was 3-dimensional. I get the concept, yet doing it so smoothly, alone, in a matter of minutes during combat is…”

- “It was like solving a Rubik's cube and Sudoku at the same time while programming in HTML, just a basis. Some training and you will be able to do it too…”

- “Solving what with what during what?!”

- “Nevermind.” I sighed

In a couple of minutes, we were done with Gisele. With help of magic and threads we close the wound, with potions I stabilized her state and supplemented her blood loss. Just a little. Lots of sleep and good food will do the rest.

With hands still covered in Gisele’s blood, I get up from the ground and moved toward the devil.

Bounded and pinned by light-spears he was gazing at me with pain and hatred in eyes.

- “Now, the grand finale. Go away and bring Johann back.”

- “He belongs to us now! You may have defeated me, but you will never…”

- “We will do it either a hard way…. Oh no wait, there is only a hard way. I mean, hard way and THE hard way. Anyway, I will enjoy both. The more you resist, the better. Now…”

I looked up in the night-sky

- “… now, let’s take him away from the moon. He will start singing different story as we would lock him down away from the source of his power. Dang, I could use Jason’s help. He knows a thing or two about tortures.”

- “You think I am afraid of the pain of this vessel?”

- “For now? No. You are not fully merged. But as the time would flow and you would get more… accustomed to the body you will start feeling more, am I right? Rupert, would you and your boys kindly…”

- “Leave it to us, boy…” he froze for the moment “… I mean, your m…” he remembered about my spiritual position

- “The boy is fine.”

Members of the brotherhood took their sweet time creating a wooden cage in which they would later carry the devil. They carved protective sigils all over it, making weakened devil unable to escape. Then we transported him back to the village – to Johan’s cellar. We were about to start the actual exorcism, this time not being hindered by the powers of corruption.

The question remained - if we would manage to bring Johan back, and in case we would – in what condition his mentality would remain? There are chances that he would be reduced to nothing more than a brainless, blood-lusting animal.

Wondering about every possible aspect as well as the ways of banishing the devil in the cruelest way possible I skipped the wall of notification saying something about getting a ridiculously high amount of exp and leveling up few of my skills.

One final question remained. How did that bastard end up in our world?