Blood cascaded through the air as the attack of the three Demons sliced through Cyra’s flames and overwhelmed her defenses. Her limp body fell from the sky and crashed into the ground with the sound of a dull thud.

“I am going to slaughter you!” Svend screamed as he abandoned his pursuit of the injured Aym to charge at the three Demons. Steam poured from his skin as his body took on a golden metallic shine.

Two of the Demons moved to intercept Svend as the third turned towards where Cyra had fallen with a wicked grin. I cursed under my breath as I rushed to Cyra’s side with all the speed I could muster. However, before I could reach her the injured Aym moved between us, blocking my path.

“Sigmund, Sylvie, Nox, protect Cyra,” I commanded. Knowing I would not be able to pass Aym without a fight, I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. Green flames spiraled around me. I pointed my sword of golden fire at the Demon as fury welled up inside me.

I had been so sure that the Demons would not attack us, but I knew for a fact that the Demons could not teleport far. They must have been nearby, waiting to spring this trap, even as I tried to set up my own. I could not fathom why they would take such a risky course of action, but I would not let them get away without paying a price.

The Demon, Aym, had been heavily injured during Svend’s pursuit. He was still stronger than me but his domain was wavering. Weakened like this, he was not an insurmountable force. I just had to finish him before my own energy ran dry.

Three minutes, I had to finish this fight in three minutes.

Explosions shook the air as Svend clashed with the two Demons that faced him. The teleporter easily evaded his blows and prevented him from approaching Cyra while the second Demon conjured mirrors that seemed to reflect any force that struck them. Those two were the worst possible matchup for Svend. He would not be able to reach Cyra before the third Demon did.

Manipulating my domain, I walked across the air as if it were solid ground. Centuries of experience fighting Demons and countless deadly situations came flooding back to me. I approached the Demon that stood before me as I fell into a state of calm, collected bloodlust.

The Demon grinned at me. Thousands of small snakes began to worm their way out of the holes in his skin. They wrapped around Aym’s body like a living, squirming suit of armor.

I raised my hand towards the demon. A glyph formed, followed by an explosion of golden flames. Aym seemed to have expected this form of attack and easily dodged out of the radius of the explosion. Not wanting to give Aym any time to counterattack, I immediately struck out with the golden weapon in my right hand. The flames extended like a whip as they lashed out towards the Demon. Aym raised his iron bar to block the strike and I smiled. Slightly tweaking the glyph at the hilt of the weapon, it seemed to come alive. The whip of fire twisted over the iron bar and struck the demon squarely in the chest.

Dozens of snakes screeched in agony as they were consumed in a blaze of golden fire. Aym fell back as he looked down at his chest in surprise. The living armor had managed to protect the Demon from harm but only barely. The charred snakes fell away to reveal his bare chest for only the briefest of moments before the mass of living armor entwined back together and filled the hole.

“No wonder Berith said I should be the one to face you, what a scary fire,” the Demon said as he casually brushed off a few of the dead snakes.

“Your little Demonkin pets will not be able to protect you for long,” I replied as I rushed towards Aym and struck out again with the whip of golden flames.

Aym did not bother to block this time as he charged directly towards me. My whip once again hit him directly in the chest. A part of his living armor was again incinerated but before I could strike a third time, the demon was already right on top of me.

Aym swung down towards my head with his iron bar as several small snakes leapt from his armor with their fangs bared. I formed a second glyph with my left hand as a shield of fire formed in front of me. The snakes were incinerated on contact but the shield was not strong enough to stop the gargantuan strength of the Demon. The shield shattered like glass as the iron bar barreled its way through my defense. I was barely able to move my head out of the way before the heavy bar crashed down on my shoulder. My domain armor shuddered but miraculously resisted the attack as I was sent hurtling towards the ground. I crashed through several trees before managing to get my momentum under control.

I bit my lip as I looked up at the demon still standing in the sky. Even injured to the point of only having one usable arm, the monster was still stronger than me. If Aym had been at his full strength when that strike landed, I would have probably died.

I glanced where Cyra had fallen. Sigmund had successfully intercepted the Demon that went after her while Nox and Sylvie tried to hold back the small horde of Demonkin Aym had created. Despite managing to reach Cyra in time, the situation did not look good. The Demon facing Sigmund did not bother to block any of the sword strikes raining down upon him. The blade sliced through his flesh with ease but as fast as the wounds appeared, they healed shut as if they had never existed. The Demon launched suicidal attacks on Sigmund that forced the swordsman into a desperate defense. Any retaliation seemed futile.

The Demons had chosen their opponents well. Each of their talents easily countered our strengths. If we wanted to get out of this alive, I needed to do something that tipped the scales in our favor.

Aym was already charging towards me. I did not have the time to think of a complicated plan. So, I fell back on what I knew.

All around me, the forest was rotting from the effect of Aym’s domain. Animals and plants were rapidly mutating from the corruptive energy but many of them died instantly. The ground was littered with the corpses of creatures.

Green flames whirled around me as they flowed into the bodies of fallen birds. Six of the small creatures rose up in a flutter of feathers. Following my command, they took flight, directly towards the charging Demon.

Aym chuckled at the approach of the birds and completely ignored them as he continued to move towards me. The Demon had fought against me many times in the past and knew such newly created undead would not be able to harm him. However, I was not the same as I once was.

As Aym flew through the flock of birds, each of the small creatures turned to look at me. The blue flame in my right eye ignited to life. The birds had a chance to chirp only once before their bodies exploded into a shower of golden flames. I did not wait for the fire to clear as I simultaneously struck out with my golden whip once again.

The burning forms of hundreds of charred snakes rained down from the sky as Aym barreled through the explosion. Without the protection of his living armor, my whip struck flesh. The Demon’s wavering domain did little to slow my attack as the golden flames cleaved straight through the arm holding the iron bar.

Both the severed hand and the iron bar fell lifelessly to the ground but that was not the end of my attack. The moment the golden flames came into contact with the Demon’s body, they began to spread. Aym watched in horror as his arm was quickly being devoured by the fire.

Not hesitating, Aym bit down on his own arm, near the shoulder. In one swift motion, he ripped through the flesh and sinew, tearing his arm from its socket. The flames consumed the severed arm before it even reached the ground, leaving behind only ash.

Blood dripping from down his mouth and across his chest, Aym growled like a wild beast. However, with both of his arms ruined, he only continued to stare at me furiously for a moment before he turned and ran.

I wanted to pursue the Demon but seeing the speed at which he was flying and Cyra’s dangerous condition, I chose to let him go. I did not have much time left before my domain failed me. I had to save her before that happened or Svend would never forgive me.

I rushed towards the battle between Sigmund and the other Demon. The Demon looked like a big brute of a man. He had shaggy unkempt hair and a wild insanity in his eyes. Unlike Aym, this Demon did not fight with a weapon. He did not need one. At the ends of his arms and legs were not the normal hands and feet but long talons that easily ripped through flesh and steel alike.

Sigmund was doing his best to keep the Demon at bay but he was overwhelmed by the nature of the Demon’s attacks. With a talent that could heal any injury sustained, the Demon was more than willing to take several hits from Sigmund’s blade if it meant he could get one of his own. Every part of Sigmund’s body was dripping blood. The swordsman was barely able to stand at this point but still, he held his sword firmly in the face of the crazed berserker’s attacks.

I flew to Sigmund’s side, throwing an explosion of golden flame at the Demon as I did. The crazed Demon paused his assault and backed away from the flames. He looked towards the fleeing Aym with disdain as the wild look in his eyes began to fade.

“Pathetic, he could not even last a single minute?” the Demon spat in disgust, “I would love to keep fighting you, swordsman, but it appears our time is up. I know better than to disregard Berith’s predictions. Before I go, tell me your name, swordsman.”

“Your filthy mouth is not worthy of uttering my name, Demon,” Sigmund said as he shook the blood from his sword with a flick of his wrist.

The Demon’s eyes lit up with fury. For a moment I was sure he would attack. His jaw cracked as his teeth ground together like an iron trap but after a second’s hesitation, he managed to compose himself.

“Then your name will be forgotten when I rip your heart out next time we meet. While mine will live on forever in glory. Remember, the one who will kill you is the Tyrant Demon Abigor.”

Giving one last spiteful look at Sigmund, the Demon turned and fled just like Aym. Sigmund just shook his head as he sheathed his sword.

“A name is meaningless to the dead.”

After Abigor and Aym both fled, the two Demons fighting Svend teleported away as well. Just as quickly as the demons appeared, they were gone.

Svend did not bother giving chase and instead immediately flew to Cyra’s side. “How is she?” He whispered with panic in his voice.

“It does not look good but she is still alive,” I replied as I examined her.

Cyra had been completely unprepared to take the combined strike of three powerful Demons. Two of them had left deep gashes along her back while the third had cut deeply into the side of her neck. If she had not had her domain armor up at the time, she probably would have been beheaded by that strike.

“I am going to massacre those Demons for this!” Svend growled in pure rage despite reaching down to tenderly cradle Cyra in his arms.

“We will get our revenge, but not now,” I said as I placed a comforting hand on Svend’s shoulder, “Let’s get her to a healer first.”

Svend looked in the direction the Demons fled with fury before reaching down to carry Cyra’s unconscious body. He “I do not understand. What was the point of this attack? Cyra is not a major threat to the Demons’ plans. Why did they attack her?”

I felt a chill run down my spine as an answer popped into my head. “This was a distraction.”