412. Nightcrawler Shadower

“Now’s your turn to die, mortal!”

Gloria’s Grand Skill lashed out— thousands of thin pink beams, all at once, pouring out in a deluge like thin string being woven by a master artisan as they spread out. The [Nightcrawler Shadower] barely reacted in time. He leapt back, deflecting a few of the oncoming beams before sprinting away from this grand salvo.

It ripped apart the earth, tearing apart trees and shredding the grass and the dirt. It covered the sky and cast a blanket of shadow over the landscape. The [Rogue] was fast. He managed to gain some distance from it, but the Grand Skill didn’t stop.

The pink-skinned Demon laughed as she raised her hand, pointing her hand towards the sky.

“You can try to run, little Human! But you won’t get away! I’ll destroy this entire forest if it means killing you!”

Orgaf’s eyes widened as the barrage of attacks grew in intensity. She lit up the night sky, turning the dark blue dome pink, painting it into her own world of death and destruction. The attacks soared past the [Rogue], cutting him off as it blew up a thicket just ahead of him, arcing back in his direction.

He didn’t stop. The [Nightcrawler Shadower] pressed on, disappearing into a ball of shadow in the earth, charging straight into the devastation ahead. The shower of glinting projectiles concentrated on his shadow, even as he moved swiftly around the blasts and around the craters. Even in this ethereal form, Orgaf could still be hurt and killed. It was just harder to actually damage him this way.

Yet, still, a sharp pain echoed on his side as his shadow was knocked into the air like a solid black blob of liquid. He wanted to curse— to scream. But all that came out were whispers from the shadows. He knew this barrage of magic wouldn’t subside anytime soon. The only way to stop it was by cutting it off at the source.

Gloria laughed in glee as she floated a hundred feet in the air, her hands raised to the sky.

“What’s wrong? I thought you were supposed to be fast! Run, Human, run!”

Fucking psycho. He exploded back out of that ethereal shadow form, leaping into the air— through a clearing where there were no beams threading after him. He hurled one of his daggers forward, and it zipped straight for the Demon.

She narrowed her eyes and scoffed.

“Do you really think that would reach me?”

The magical projectiles shifted, changing direction to strike down the dagger before it got to her. But Orgaf danced back as he strummed his fingers in the air. A thin thread of darkness connected his fingertips to the dagger’s hit, and he guided the small weapon through the hail of magic with ease. Gloria frowned, watching it reach her. She tilted her head to the side as it whizzed by her.

“Good trick, but that won’t—”

She started, and Orgaf didn’t let her finish. He released the shadow string and whispered under his breath.

“[Leap of Darkness].”

“What..?”

The Demon froze as Orgaf tossed his other dagger and vanished. It was obvious what happened. The [Nightcrawler Shadower] emerged from his first dagger’s own shadow. She was in the midst of turning her head as he grabbed the weapon and swung for her neck.

She barely moved out of the way— or so she thought. His blade’s shadow struck her, drawing blood as she screamed in pain.

“You bastard!”

Gloria pulled back as black blood dripped from her neck. A deep wound. One that would kill most Humans. But she was a Demon, and Orgaf had learned from his encounter with Belzu that such injuries were considered shallow for their kind.

The Archdemon pointed at him as her Grand Skill continued its salvo. Orgaf himself parried a dozen of the pink beams with the Greaves of Alexander, deflecting them in a hurricane of kicks and sending the magical blasts back towards her. She screamed as she was inundated by her own magic, no way to guard against it.

With a click of her tongue, she pulled her hands back and put an end to her Grand Skill. Instead, she poured her magic into creating a barrier. One that managed to hold up against the brief onslaught of magical attacks.

Orgaf was already falling as he clutched onto a single blade when she lowered the red sphere around her. She stared down at him, surveying the ravaged battlefield. He smirked at her as he flipped through the air, landed at the bottom of a crater she created.

“You damned rat! Don’t think you've won this fight with that!”

“You know, you’re more right than you think you are.”

His eyes flickered, looking past the Demon. She blinked and raised her head. Her eyes went wide as she saw a small shadow looming over her.

“No—”

His second dagger came flying for her, spinning at an angle— too slow to actually catch her off guard. But Gloria wasn’t a fool. She learned and adapted. She readied for Orgaf to emerge from the blade’s shadow by creating another spherical barrier.

But he didn’t pop out. She waited, only to watch the dagger miss her completely. The Demon narrowed her eyes and looked back down, but Orgaf was gone.

“Where is he?”

She cast her gaze around the battlefield, only to find the craters and senseless destruction she had left behind. A moving shadow caught her attention as she looked towards the horizon. Gloria saw the briefest inklings of the sun just barely beginning to rise into the sky. But more importantly, a dark figure moved, heading for Alyras.

And it clicked in her head, what had happened.

“He tricked me.. again. That Human tricked me a second time!”

Gloria cursed as she lowered her shield. First, with his fake Grand Skill trick. Now with this? She knew he was going to stall the others. Well.. she was wrong.

Just as the barrier vanished, Orgaf emerged from her shadows. Her eyes went wide as he struck up with the Greaves of Alexander.

“You were a fool to face me alone, Demon!”

He yelled as he smashed into her side, breaking her left arm with an iridescent flash. Gloria yelped in pain, and he followed up with a second and third strike. She tried to conjure up a barrier, but he flipped around and jammed a dagger into her chest.

She froze as she stared down at the blade, impaling her the same way it had before. Her eyes darted up as Orgaf’s second dagger went flying back towards him. She knew what would come next, and he grinned.

“After all, I had already won when I killed you the first time around.”

“I..”

Gloria could barely move her mouth. The world seemed to slow as Orgaf reached for his second blade, ready to decapitate her once again. It was hubris that led to this. Her folly in thinking that she could succeed where she failed twice before, even though she was weaker now.

Quite fitting for her, an Archdemon of Pride. She closed her eyes and sighed, accepting her fate.

“I won’t die alone, Human.”

But even then, Gloria didn’t give in in killer her opponent. Grabbing Orgaf, she held onto his arm tight as her eyes shone. Her body glowed, radiating a bright crimson, and he frantically swung for her head.

“[Fulmination of the Arcane Soul]”

The Demon’s head went flying again, but it was too late. Orgaf pulled back as a crimson blast engulfed him. A bright light that vaporized everything it touched. For once, the [Nightcrawler Shadower] found an attack he couldn’t escape, and he only said a single word.

“Fuck—”

Iivor halted as he saw the flash light up the dark sky. It wasn’t day— not just yet. Even as the sun eked closer to the horizon. Yet, for a moment, it grew as bright as day, even where the three Archdemons were.

Desidia raised a brow and glanced back.

“That’s Gloria’s last resort Skill, isn’t it? Do you guys think she’s losing?”

“She probably bit the dust. Idiot didn’t know when she met her match. She’s too prideful for that.”

Avaritia snorted as he turned away from the explosion. A shockwave rippled over the flatlands below them— like a wave washing over the tall grass. Iivor shook his head and spoke in a reproaching tone.

“That’s enough, Avaritia. Gloria stayed back to hold off the Thief of the Golden Scales for us. Let us not speak ill of her, whether she succeeded or failed.”

The yellow-skinned Demon looked ahead towards a city in the distance. Still a speck. Covered by a flickering dome. He watched as the barrier surrounding Alyras fell a moment later as a black pillar of flame spiraled up into the sky.

“Come on, Libid and Gula have begun their siege. It is time for us to do our part.”

And they flew for the defenseless city. Three Archdemons. Each as strong as an Elite. With no one powerful enough to stop them from claiming the Crown of Alexander. It was going to be.. a slaughter.

And as the sun rose over the horizon and morning came, I woke up.