Maledictus crashed into the ground hard, folding his wings tightly around himself at the last instant so they absorbed the majority of the impact. The earth buckled beneath him, stone splitting and dirt erupting outward in a violent spray. He straightened with a rough, grinding motion and barely had time to raise his arms before Winter was already there, the axe screaming through the air toward him. The collision detonated like a thunderclap. A shockwave blasted outward, ripping the ground apart and carving a massive crater around them as the dust and debris swallowed both figures whole.
"Are you getting stronger?" Winter asked as the dust began to settle.
Through the thinning haze, he saw it clearly. Maledictus had blocked the axe cleanly. The blade bit into his armor, leaving it slightly dented, but nothing more. No blood. No stagger.
Maledictus did not answer.
Instead, he snapped his wings open and beat them down with brutal force. The air itself became a weapon. A violent gust slammed into Winter and hurled him backward, skidding across broken stone before he dug in and came to a stop a dozen or so feet away, still within the crater. He lifted his head slowly, eyes locked onto the Demon Knight.
*There is no doubt in my mind,* Winter thought grimly. *He is getting stronger. I can feel some outside force feeding him power. But who? And why did it not make him stronger before?*
What Winter could not know was that with the death of one Demon Knight and the capture of the others, more power was being funneled into Maledictus and the remaining Knights from the Knight Commander, concentrating what remained and making those who still stood far more dangerous than before.
Winter adjusted his grip and brought both weapons up. The spear rested in his right hand, angled forward and slightly downward, its point aligned with Maledictus's centerline. The axe sat low in his left, blade turned outward, ready to intercept or strike in tight arcs. His feet spread apart, one forward and one back, knees bent just enough to keep his weight balanced and mobile. His shoulders squared but loose, allowing the spear to thrust without overcommitting while the axe could swing freely in close quarters. It was a stance built for pressure and control, offense and defense flowing together without hesitation.
Across from him, Maledictus drew in a slow, steady breath and raised his hands. With his weapons launched into space by Winter earlier, he relied on the claws built into his gauntlets now, fingers flexing as metal scraped softly against metal. His wings shifted behind him, half-spread, ready to propel or guard at a moment's notice.
They stared each other down, neither blinking. Stone cracked beneath their feet as they grounded themselves, tension coiling tight between them.
Then they charged.
They closed the distance with absolute focus, both locked entirely on the coming clash, neither sparing even a fraction of attention elsewhere. That was why neither of them noticed the thin beam of light strike Maledictus's right leg. It punched cleanly through his knee joint, burning straight through armor and flesh alike. For a brief instant, it seemed to do little more than scorch the wound—his current power blunted the damage before it could fully register.
Then the light changed.
The beam collapsed inward, condensing into a rigid, razor-edged plane of hardened energy. With a sharp, brutal snap, it sheared through his leg completely, severing it cleanly from the knee down.
Maledictus screamed.
The sound tore out of him as his balance vanished and he crashed to the ground, clutching at the violently bleeding stump. Blood splattered across the shattered stone as his wings flared instinctively, scraping uselessly against the crater floor. Winter skidded to a halt and stared down at him in shock, his weapons still raised, before his gaze lifted toward the rim of the crater.
There, at its edge, stood Grace.
Her right arm was extended outward, fingers still faintly glowing as the last traces of energy bled away. Beside her hovered the Weeping Phantom, her posture tense, her expression terrified as she stared down at the wounded Demon Knight.
"Sorry," Grace said calmly as she lowered her hand. "The duel was taking too long. Thought I would finish it early."
She snapped her fingers once.
Her form vanished in a blink, reappearing beside Maledictus. Another snap followed, and the Weeping Phantom was pulled to her side just as abruptly.
"You—wait," Winter said, scanning the battlefield sharply. "Where is the Demon Lord?"
Grace folded her arms, entirely unfazed. "I killed him while you were fighting this one." She tilted her head slightly toward Maledictus. "You can ask her. She will confirm he is dead."
She gestured toward the Weeping Phantom.
The phantom hesitated, then nodded. "Y-yes," she said quietly. "Rimus is dead."
Winter's eyes widened slightly. From their very brief exchange, he had known Grace was powerful, but not powerful enough to kill a Demon Lord alone.
On the ground, Maledictus stopped moving.
Slowly, he lifted his head and turned it toward Grace. Whatever expression lay beneath his helm could not have been anything less than pure fury.
Winter exhaled and shook his head once. "Looks like I underestimated you," he said, sliding his spear away. "And I already had a very high opinion of you."
He turned then, his attention shifting to the Weeping Phantom. His tone hardened, sharp and disciplinary, as he crossed his arms. "And you, traitor. This is the second time you tried leaving after seeing a group of strong demons. When are you going to learn that I am stronger than any demon or Demon Lord out there?"
Anger flared in her chest at his tone, hot and sharp, but she forced it down. The presence of the other white-haired figure beside her kept her silent.
Grace, meanwhile, turned her head toward the distant portal. "Go on and shut that down," she said dismissively. "I will be heading off."
Before Winter could respond, she snapped her fingers.
She was gone.
"What a brat," Winter muttered under his breath.
He looked down at Maledictus, who was barely conscious now, and grabbed one of his wings in a firm grip. "Sorry," he said flatly. "This is going to hurt a lot."
The axe came down in a brutal arc.
Maledictus screamed again as the wing was hacked free, blood spraying across the crater floor. Winter did not pause. He stepped around and severed the other wing just as cleanly. The Demon Knight's scream cut off abruptly as his body went limp, shock finally dragging him into unconsciousness.
"You are really barbaric when you want to be," the Weeping Phantom muttered.
"I do not want to hear it from someone who tried to invade our world," Winter replied coldly.
He seized the unconscious Demon Knight and hauled him up. "Now let us go back and shut down that portal."