His quick onslaught of attacks was quite impressive. However, Rugsibar, who had launched onto the demon, and Sayu, the girl who should have known better, were both unaware of the next attack.
The demon immediately burst flames out from his body, which burnt the armor Rugsibar was in only a little bit due to the armor's natural protection against magic.
Yet, the flames sent Rugsibar away. To which, the demon growled in pain, before kneeling out of pain. This was where Arthur launched in, forming a cutlass once more, as Raiden and Sylvia casted attacks from afar.
Electricity began to pool inside of Raiden, who launched it at the demon, striking him with lightning, causing him to flinch while Arthur swung his cutlass with as much force as he could muster.
Yet, it wasn't enough, as a small barrier formed, colliding with the cutlass and stopping it. But before Arthur could be attacked, Sylvia wrapped vines around his limbs and slowed his movements while Arthur threw a sloppy kick.
He'd only very lightly trained boxing, so his kicks weren't all that great.
The kick wasn't super effective, before Octav smirked and pointed a fingergun at Arthur, launching a ball of dark flame.
Upon piercing Arthur, everything went dark.
…
Sayu heard Arthur's screams once more. It was the sound of death approaching.
Sylvia gasped, seeing Arthur writhe on the floor in pain.
"What spell was that?" She asked, before turning to Sayu. "What now?"
Sayu wasn't sure. She began to panic, before crouching down and holding her head. "Ignore me ma'am!" She cried. "I can't help any more!"
Sylvia acknowledged that and grabbed Arthur with the vines, dragging him back away. Eventually, however, while Sylvia was focusing on providing support and healing Arthur at the same time, Arthur began to fight her, forming a knife and slashing her across the face.
Sylvia was occupied with the now traitorous Arthur, who wept deeply.
For Raiden and Rugsibar, they were dealt with, as Octav now refused to get into close combat with Rugsibar. To do so, he got rid of the barrier as a whole, and only put it around Rugsibar. This would only hold him for five seconds, but it was enough.
After all, Raiden wasn't as powerful close up as Rugsibar.
As a team, when it came to close quarters combat, coming in first would be Rugsibar, then Arthur, then Raiden, and Sylvia and Sayu in the back.
Raiden wasn't a pushover, but when compared to Rugsibar the "Little Monster," he wouldn't match up, especially when Octav began to use different techniques of dark magic.
Raiden swung his halberd, which Octav blocked with the same barrier magic, before summoning hands of darkness which grabbed onto Raiden's ankles from the ground, holding him in place for just three seconds.
Raiden was finished with a beam of corrupted dark magic, which decays everything struck by it. So, the large beam struck Raiden in the chest and stomach, decaying his flesh of old age, including his heart.
His flesh was pale white, and so soggy, flabby, disgusting and old. It was a move that required extra stamina to heal due to the extra effects, stamina which Raiden did not have. Raiden fell to his knees, enough force to rip apart the soggy flesh, which splattered onto the floor for Raiden himself to see, as the demon kicked him in the face.
Then, while Rugsibar was breaking down the barrier, Octav rushed away, hiding behind small hills to conceal himself and bringing that sword out once more, unleashing a slash from afar.
Rugsibar had been dealing with the yellow barrier, which was hard to see through. So, upon breaking through it, the whole thing shattered. When Rugsibar saw Raiden's corpse, and for a moment, just a moment, froze, that was what made it too late.
He was beheaded then and there.
After killing the most troublesome nuisance, Octav went over to Arthur and Sylvia, who were both in combat, before scorching the nature around Sylvia, making her unable to use offensive spells, and getting her to turn her back on Arthur, who impaled her from the back of the head.
"That's three down," said Octav, before seeing Arthur fall to his knees, clutching his head in agony.
"Kill, kill me, kill me, kill me, kill, ki—"
Fire burnt through Arthur's head, frying it before he could replace it, killing him instantly.
Octav turned around, seeing the quivering little girl, whose teeth chattered and knees shook. She held her ears with both hands, as she cried.
The footsteps marched over to her, but she couldn't tell, as she'd closed her eyes and was muttering to herself, making sure she didn't hear anything.
"Kid, you just gonna quiver? What're you doing with the party?"
"Hey, I'm asking a question."
"Answer already!"
Octav kicked the girl in the face, not too hard, but still hard enough to frighten her. She was trembling so terribly bad, it was almost cartoonish.
"A-a-a-aaaaa," she muttered. "What're you doing with the heroes party?" Octav asked.
His wounds were healed by a demon's natural regenerative abilities. No response from Sayu, so he sighed.
He turned around, seeing the riders attempting to attack with a rock, but that idea was quickly shot down when he burnt them to ash quickly, before turning back to Sayu.
"Hmph. Whatever," he said, before extending his palm and frying her head instantly.
…
"It's… the forest seems to be troubled. I believe we should—"
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
Sayu cried and wept, falling down and holding her head in pain. This caused everyone to be uneasy, rushing over to her aid.
"M-muh, aa-a, n-no, aahhh!!"
Sylvia rushed over, and began to use healing magic. Sayu tried to push her away, which surprised the elf. Sayu got up, holding her head, able to recover quicker, as she'd died in a less painful manner than last time.
"There, there is, a man, he's a demon, Octav is his name, he'll attack any second!" Sayu called, wiping the tears from her face she sniffled.
This immediately set off alarms to the entire party. With Sylvia now understanding what was causing the forest to be so frightened.
She called for the riders to stop the carriage, and they did so. Rugsibar got fully equipped with armor and his weapons of a lance and longsword.
For the brief 15 to 30 seconds of time they had to spare before they were attacked, Sayu went over to Arthur, still holding her head and sobbing, making it a bit hard to hear her.
"Y-you, don't use, t-tha weapon, the loud one, and avoid getting too close. Dodge his small fire."
"The what?" Arthur asked.
"The loud one! It's long, and it shoots something!"
Immediately, Arthur was aware that she was likely referring to a gun created by his blood. "Why not?" He asked. "It won't work, he's too strong! You have, have to, um," she stuttered, before a boulder crashed through the carriage at high speeds, injuring everyone.
Sayu was in the back of the carriage, so she was the only one unaffected by it.
She'd done this battle three times by now. First, Sylvia panicked, then talked to the rider, before the boulder crushed her alone, killing her and the riders. Without a healer, they were all killed afterwards, with Arthur attempting to use the sniper rifle with it inefficient at killing the demon.
The second time, she'd saved Sylvia from the boulder, but Arthur was sniped with the flame, causing him to lose the mental stability he had, before the vines were cut off and she nearly plummeted to her death. That time, with Arthur going haywire, they all lost, and she'd been impaled with a lance from Octav, which he'd taken from Rugsibar.
And the third time, was the one in which her head was flash-fried.
Now, she was the only one uninjured by the boulder. She turned towards everyone, rushing over to them, before Octav rushed at her with the sword born of flame.
Despite this, the first one to move, surprisingly enough, was not Rugsibar or anyone else, but rather Arthur.
He rushed in with the cutlass, slicing at the demon, who evaded and countered with a swing which cleaved off Arthur's right leg. Yet, for Arthur, that was not a factor.
Arthur patched himself back together, before stabbing the demon with the cutlass and ripping it out before kicking him away, grabbing Sayu's cape and running off with her, dragging the poor girl through the dirt.
…
The reasoning for Arthur's cutlass being able to penetrate flesh, whilst bullet could not, was a matter of magic and sharpness.
Bullets weren't too sharp. The most aerodynamic and powerful form of a bullet is more like the shape of a U than a diamond or point. This leads to more force being spread over a wider area, which ultimately, against incredibly tough flesh of demons, wasn't enough to penetrate.
Of course, this did not mean bullets were entirely ineffective. Demons still had eyes and testicles, if male. So, weak points would absolutely be injured by bullets, but against the tougher flesh, it would not work.
If a bullet couldn't penetrate the flesh, why would a cutlass? As known, Arthur's cutlass was "magical" once it reached a certain point of blood. If it wasn't moving beyond the speed of sound, it shouldn't pierce. But, Arthur's cutlass would be able to sever and pierce things that normally shouldn't.The metal that made up the giant sword wielded by the dragon was simply that much stronger. Flesh was still flesh, so the demon would not be impervious.
In terms of weaponry, without magic involved, the demons would require explosives to be damaged, assuming bullets weren't targeted at weakpoints.
In fact, fire magic, which caused great explosions, with force much exceeding any bullet, would be useful against demons.
And as for why Rugsibar was able to penetrate and attack the demon and pierce his flesh, it was obvious, wasn't it? It was Rugsibar using them. Oh, and the sharp weapon was durable enough to not break when pushed to nearly the sound barrier.
The weight put behind the blade, in turn with the sharpness factor, made it penetrate. Push a bullet against your skin with some force, and then do the same with a knife. The sharp knife needs less force and speed to penetrate than a bullet does.
…
That lengthy reasoning aside, Sayu was now quite dirty with, well, dirt, and patted the dirt off of her outfit. Arthur looked at the demon and formed a sniper rifle.
"Don't, it won't work!" She cried, but Arthur, just as last time, fired anyway.
This time, intervention would not cut it, and Arthur missed from the distance, as he'd never shot a sniper rifle before. He decided to cut his losses and form his cutlass once more.
"Remember, remember, do not get hit, absolutely avoid the small fire he has!" Commanded Sayu. Arthur was beginning to get annoying, but kept quiet.
Octav flashed flames over his eyes, and looked at Arthur. He pointed a small fingergun at him, and fired, to which Arthur dodged, before Sylvia held the demon in place with her vines, before Raiden launched a bolt of lightning at him.
Octav was struck by the bolt, taking large damage which paralyzed him for a moment, leading to Rugsibar rushing him down, taking out his longsword and butchering into the neck of a demon.
It cut through the flesh with force, but couldn't quite break the bone.
"Everyone, you have to attack now!" Yelled Sayu. Arthur and Raiden rushed in with their weapons to finish off the demon, while Sylvia took cover behind a tree and used leaves taken from trees, which circled around the demon's face and obscured his vision.
Raiden swung at the knee, but the halberd was not strong enough to penetrate. Meanwhile, Arthur stabbed him in the gut, while Rugsibar stabbed him multiple times in the chest with his lance.
The demon exploded into a ball of flames, scorching everyone present and blasting them away.
Both Arthur and Raiden were incredibly injured, having their skin blown up in a fashion considerable to that of what was likened to rockets exploding right in front of them.
Arthur himself was a chunk of meat, without arms or legs and his front side scorched. He patched himself together, and the stronger Raiden was healed by Sylvia.
Octav hid behind trees, but seeing as Sylvia was using nature magic, he figured that the forest would betray him. So, he formed a blue ball of flame and began to eviscerate the surrounding natural life, setting the forest on fire and burning it apart quickly.
Sylvia balled up her fists in response to the death of nature, looking down as she healed Raiden fairly quickly, their healing powers working in tandem to heal him very quickly.
Raiden got up, looking over at Octav, while everyone grouped up.
"Sayu, what now?" She asked.
"Um, I don't know," Sayu muttered, which was hard to hear with the burning forest creating some noise. "What?" Sylvia asked, and Sayu yelled her previous answer.
"Just, don't die, please don't die," that was her ultimate instruction.
Sylvia nodded her head.
"Okay, what do we know?" Sylvia asked. "He's got fire powers, which are a counter to nature, I'm assuming?" Said Raiden, who Sylvia affirmed.
"Well," Rugsibar began. "We were effective when we fought him up close. But he can use that explosion ability again. Dragons, can you tell when mana builds up inside a person?"
They shook their heads.
"Alright. I'll give the order to retreat before he explodes. I'll shout 'two,' that's the agreed word."
They agreed. "Demons have a high natural regeneration ability, the only way to properly kill them for good is by destroying the evil trinity: the heart, brain, and lungs."
"Both lungs?" Arthur asked. Rugsibar nodded his head.
"Which one should—"
Sayu rushed over, shouting "look out!" before trying to shove Arthur away. Arthur was too powerful to be shoved, but the action did help him evade.
Once more, it was a shot of small flames.
"Tch, why's he keep trying to shoot me with that?" Arthur asked. "I don't know, b-but it makes you all screwy, sir."
"Screwy?"
—If it affects the mind, maybe it's like what happened in the last battle? Maybe so.
The truth of the matter was that the flames directly targeted the brain, corrupting the mind with dark magic. Octav could tell that Arthur was the weakest mentally among all of them, so he chose him as the main target, since it would work best on him.
Regardless, the fact of the matter was that it meant that the battle had resumed.
The men all stood up, with Sylvia launching leaves as a smokescreen for their movements.
Rugsibar was the most efficient and skilled combatant present, so he rushed from the front, as he would be able to handle it. Meanwhile, Arthur and Raiden flanked.
Rugsibar had two weapons, so his job was to annihilate the two lungs, while Arthur and Raiden focused on the brain and heart.
The leaves were burnt away with flame, as Rugsimar immediately impaled the demon in the stomach, stabbing one of his lungs. Octav couldn't draw a weapon of his own, so he tried to back away to create distance, but was stabbed in the back by Arthur. However, when Raiden tried to penetrate the back of his skull, it did not work.
The material which made the Dragonslayer was too weak to penetrate the skin of the dragon.
And as such, Rugsibar gave the command to flee, which both dragons did, as energy swelled up inside of Octav.
However, after exploding, Octav rushed to Arthur.
After all, unlike the other potentially powerful warriors, Arthur had a technique that would one shot him entirely. Arthur readied himself for what Octav was going to do before him, before taking a pillar of fire to the back.
It scorched him, launching him forward and reminding him of the painful fire he'd been met with. Experiencing such pain once before, it had left an imprint on his mind. Pain, after all, was the worst thing for him.
The two things that made Arthur a failure of a human being, were pain and incompetence. The daily pain he experienced, and the inability to change anything, those things set him apart from the rest of humanity in his own eyes, crushing his spirits.
That's why—
"One down."
Being rendered helpless by the remembrance of pain, he was quickly taken out of the picture with a shot to the head of that small, unassuming purplish black fire.
…
Appearing once more, it was that fateful construction site.
Disregarding the constant pain of his youth, what was the "decisive incident" of his life? His treatment as a human, that would not usually be considered large, traumatic events. Rather, more like a consistent mood of downpouring rain which befell him constantly.
Was it the moment he awoke, finding his friend's head laying down next to his? Or was it afterwards, when he was told that it was entirely his fault, and no one else's? Which memory was more painful?
Regardless of whether it was the moment of weakness, or the painful truth of that weakness which broke him, the fact remained that, on that day, he'd gone through perhaps the worst pain of his life.
But that didn't matter, did it?
After all, everything since then, had now brought him back.