The Demon jolted away from Dom as a sea of flames burned around him. In the distance, I could hear the others fighting but I could not spare any energy to help them. I could only hope they would each be able to handle the other Demons by themselves. Right now, my entire focus was on killing the one in front of me, the one that hurt my mom.

Mirrors reflected the light of the flames as the Demon erected a large barrier between Dom and himself. He looked down at the smoke rising from his body with a growl. “Do you really think I can be beaten by a little transient heat, human? I am a Demon, flesh perfected! Even if you had days to attack me, you would not be able to leave a permanent injury on my body.”

Dom chuckled as he brought his gauntlets together with the heavy clank of metal. “Really? I would like to test that.”

Propelled by the force of his Domain, Dom shot forwards like a cannonball. I did not need to be told his plan as he barreled into the large mirror separating the man and the Demon. I simply waited for his fist to move and directed all the fire I could to act in unison with his attack.

Dom and I had fought together countless times in the past. His talent and mine worked together extremely well. It was part of the reason he had been my right hand for so long. Dom’s ability was unique. Even among other talents, I had seen very few like it. By himself, the ability was practically useless but with the right allies, it became terrifying. Dom’s talent was the ability to temporarily absorb and redirect energy. Heat, electricity, light, and even kinetic energy, it was all just fuel to make Dom stronger. It was the reason he was able to trade blows with the Demons despite the disparity in strength between the two and the reason he was able to strike the mirrors over and over again without getting thrown back every time.

I had not picked Dom to help me face the mirror Demon just because I am accustomed to fighting with him. I asked him to join me because I knew that together we would be able to kill the Demon. With every strike Dom made against the mirrors, the force of the blow was reflected back at Dom. His talent would then absorb that energy and redirect it back towards the mirror again. Dom realized this too. So long as he continued to strike the mirrors, he would only grow stronger. The only question now was, which would break first, the mirrors or Dom’s body?

The man continued to strike the mirrors with all his might as that question was put to the test. The blows from his fist rained down without rest. Dom could not stop now no matter what. His ability only allowed him to store the absorbed energy for a few seconds. If he stopped attacking for any reason, all of it would be lost and he would have to start the process all over again.

The Demon stayed back from the wall of mirrors he had created so as not to get burned by the heat and looked to the sky for an escape. However, there was nowhere for him to go. Every direction was either a wall of fire or a dense thicket of ice. I had no doubt he could feel Dom’s blows getting stronger and had no intention of testing how powerful they could become. His only hope of escaping quickly was the teleporter Demon.

Knowing this, The Demon rushed past Dom. He took a few blows from the man leaving a trail of putrid smoke in his wake but he did not stop or even attempt to block. He flew through the sea of fire and into the forest of ice.

I lashed out with a whip of golden flame in an attempt to stop or at least slow the Demon but he simply took the hit with his mirrored armor and ignored me. To my surprise though, it was actually Cyra that moved to stand in front of the Demon with a grin on her face.

“So, our talents cannot hurt you directly but cooking you works just fine?” she said as her domain spread across the area. I could feel the sharp rise in temperature as Cyra’s flames gathered under the Demon’s feet.

“You dare stand in my way human?” the Demon growled as he struck out at Cyra.

Cyra’s body glowed with an intricate set of geometric lines running under her skin. Her entire body looked as if it were engulfed in fire. She raised her delicate hand to meet the Demon’s own. Her body overflowing with boundless strength, Cyra slid backwards but was unharmed by the Demon’s attack. The flames under the Demon doubled in intesity and he screamed in a mix of pain an fury as his flesh began to cook.

“I think you are slightly mistaken about something,” Cyra said with a smirk, “I am a Tressan. We are no more human than you are and if you underestimate me, you’re going to get burned.”

As Cyra stopped the Demon’s attack, Dom caught up and threw a punch of his own at the Demon’s back. Another whiff of putrid smoke rose into the air and the Demon roared in pure rage.

Concentrating on the glyphs, I created several golden whips of fire around me. They acted as if alive and wrapped around the Demon’s arms and legs. My fire might not have been able to break the defense of his mirrors but when molded with my domain, I was able to give the fire substance. It wrapped around the Demon like ropes, binding him and restricting his movement.

Surrounded on all sides, the Demon’s eyes glowed a bright red. His voice took on a low guttural sound as he spoke as if something was wrong with his throat. “You are beginning to wear on my patience. I do not like getting my hands dirty but it seems I need to teach you all a lesson on who is superior.”

As the Demon spoke, his body began to shudder and twist unnaturally. An intense bloodlust began to spread out like a mist. Cyra instinctually leapt back with an expression of horror as all the joints in the Demon’s body snapped the wrong way and his limbs began to elongate. With a crackling pop, his head turned completely around to face his back before his neck began to elongate and hang down towards his chest. The previous image of a completely flawless and unblemished man was replaced with a horrible visage of limbs that did not fit on a human body. However, the Demon’s transformation was far from complete. The robes coving his upper body fell away revealing a blackened hole in his stomach. From that hole, eight long spider legs emerged.

“Finally showing your true face, insect,” Dom taunted as he threw another punch at the horrible monstrosity of limbs that now stood before him.

One of the spider limbs twitched, striking in a blur too fast to see with the naked eye. The limb struck Dom faster than he could react and the man was sent careening into the ground.

“I am going to save you for last, human,” the Demon spoke from the drooping upside-down head in an inhuman guttural voice, “I am going to eat you while you are still alive, slowly, painfully.”

Dom picked himself up from the dirt and flew back towards the Demon with all the power he could muster. Ringing like a bell, the heavy iron gauntlet clashed with the spider’s limb. The mirrored armor extended to the new limbs as well and only the smallest of burns were left behind before Dom was forced back once again.

Cyra’s fire continued to grow in intensity as she surrounded the Demon in a ball of flames. A smell like cooked rotten meat filled the air and the Demon hissed furiously as he resisted the pain. He pulled against the whips of golden fire I had created as he tried to break free and attack Cyra. I held the whips with all my might, focusing all my will so that they would not break. Despite my best efforts, the Demon was still stronger than me. His spider limbs struck out at the whips and the domain that made them solid. With a sound like cracking glass, the whips were broken but as just quickly as the flames vanished, I created more whips in an attempt to keep the Demon pinned down. These new whips only lasted a few seconds before they too were broken but, in that time, Dom had returned with a vengeance.

The intensity of Cyra’s flame did not injure Dom as he flew through it. In fact, it only made his next strike stronger as he threw another succession of blows at the Demon. Several burnt and blistering spots were beginning to appear underneath the armor of mirrors as the Demon struggled against all three of us.

With a guttural roar, the Demon shattered every whip I sent towards it and once again knocked Dom back. The eight spider limbs were struck out so fast that we could not even see them. Taking advantage of the break in our attacks, the Demon completely ignored Cyra and dashed towards the forest of ice. Spikes grew from the trees in an attempt to stop the creature but the Demon was far faster and stronger now that it was using the eight spider limbs to clear the way.

The Demon shattered the first ice pillar and screamed at the others in the distance. “Seir, what are you doing? Why have you not gotten me out of here yet?”

The figure of the teleporter Demon appeared in the distance but the moment his figure appeared, a beam of light struck him and sent him careening through several pillars of ice. Sebastion stood calmly as dozens of thin rays of light shot from his fingers.

“Your friend cannot help you, Demon,” Sebastion said with complete confidence, “His teleportation may allow him to move faster than light but he cannot think that fast. There is nowhere he can go that I cannot strike. Accept your fate and die like the bug you are.”

Barely withstanding Sebastion’s attacks, the teleporter Demon picked himself up from the rubble and looked at the other Demon in the distance. There was a glimpse of disdain in his eyes before he vanished from the ice field. A short moment later, he reappeared near the other two Demons fighting Svend and Vissna. During their fight, the two had been led much further away and even Sebastion was not able to hit them through the ice field.

Seir shook his head in scorn. “That fool is beyond saving. He ran towards the enemies rather than away. We will follow Berith’s orders. I will not try to save him now, not with those frustrating light attacks.”

The wind Demon shrugged indifferently. “It does not matter. He is replaceable.”

“I wanted to fight more,” the third Demon complained as he kicked Svend’s halberd away, sending it and the man flying into the distance.

Too far away for Sebastion to stop them, the teleporter Demon appeared next to both of the other before disappearing with a pop. The mirror Demon stared blankly into the empty space where his companions had once stood.

“Y… you can’t be serious! You can’t just abandon me here!” the Demon shouted in rage.

“Surely you knew this would happen,” I said as I approached the Demon. A glyph of golden flames appeared in each of my hands in preparation for whatever the Demon might try in his desperation. “Berith even said that everyone would die in the upcoming battles, you are of course included. Not that I have any reason to accept what she says.”

The Demon looked around in a panic. He was still stuck within the forest of ice, unable to escape. Sebastion, Svend, and Vissna were now quickly approaching. Cyra’s flames still cooked him from the inside of his armor and Dom was still charging at the Demon heedless of his own safety.

With a maniacal laugh, the Demon close his eyes as if all the threats meant nothing to him. The mirrors surrounding his body crumbled and fell away like glittering sand. He stood in front of us completely defenseless with his arms stretched out wide. “That’s right, I knew death would come for me. We all know it. It does not matter if you kill me because we are all already dead. I welcome it…”

The demon’s speech was suddenly cut short as a dozen ice spikes pierced through his chest. Blood poured down the front of the Demon’s chest and dripped to the ground. The maniacal laugh fell to a weak chuckle.

“At the very least, my death will be beautiful, in service to my lord,” the demon chuckled softly.

Despite being skewered by the ice, I felt the Demon’s power begin to well up and grow. His body started bulging madly as a series of bloody glyphs were cut into his skin by an invisible knife.

My eyes bulged wide as I understood what was about to happen. “Everybody back away!” I shouted.

The Demon’s chuckle became silent as his body fell still. The red began to fade from his eyes but the glyphs on his skin were only glowing brighter. His body started to glow with a brilliant red light that made it look like a ruby. It shined beautifully for a moment before beginning to break down and dissolve into fragments.

The sound of thunder rumbled overhead followed by the sound of shattering glass.