Donning a cloak over his usual gi. Baron could sense the tension in the air, it was palpable. The smells of fresh flesh and heat filled the air as Baron wandered closer to the riverbed. The Werewolf would have to contain himself as he thought about the details of the slaughter that had occurred here, as they followed the stream the water began to get progressively more dark, blood would wash onto the dirt shore, minerals glistening in the water bed no more as everything would eventually become overrun by the violent red hue of the blood of the slain. Feelings of war began to well in him.

Once dark, the water bed lightened up again this time the short not bare but covered with the strewn body parts of the victims of the mighty horde they had learned about not long ago. Baron had first taken note of the water’s change in color it had gone from dark to bright again, fresh blood and meat tainting the pool, not only the flesh of man but animals as well, dead, shredded fish in the bay also present. His stomach wanted to turn, that was before his eyes rested on the monsters that had ruined the lake.. It seemed there were many demons, some feeding on the lastest bounty of meat they had created. He’d look to his partner with a warm smile before turning back to the monsters.

“I call first.” he muttered to the other male, one of the monsters that caught wind of this had perked up from the pack, looking up from its meal at the two men. It looked more human than demon, it’s humanoied appearance consisting of green skin, a long down turned nose, pointed ears and a mouth of razor sharp teeth. It looked more a deformed elf than demon but all the same Baron saw nothing but another meal.

With a opened mouth hiss the beast spoke to the men, it crawled over its companions, the others seeming too focused on feeding to care and charged first at Baron. The dark haired male wouldn’t budge, he’d only get into stance and wait for it to approach. The green beast was as tall as Hatsu it seemed the resemblance making Baron chuckle under his breath. Once the demon was close enough it’d swing a club at the two, it’s loin cloth blowing in the breeze as swung.

Baron would meet him head on, the club cracking over Baron’s shoulder and splintering into hundreds of pieces as the tool was rendered useless by the wolf’s tough exterior. With one attack out of the way the onyx eyed fighter would clock the demon in the face with a hard right jab before gripping its arm with his left. There was nothing else to it beside that, there were no cry of pain only a yelp as the predator sampled his first prey. The green skin wriggled in his grasps, biting, scratching, doing everything it could do free itself but none would work as it was pulled further into the non-mage’s grasp. The man would put hold the beast still and replicating what he had seen from it he’d lunge his head forward and take a bite out of its neck.

It’d finally stop raving only to cry out as the wolf would sink his jaws deeper into it, the blood was just like that of a man’s red gushing out of the new wound and onto the cloak of the predator. Baron’d continue to feast, his teeth sinking back in once again to sever more meat, his head whipped from side to side, the meat was tough, sinew and blood making a mess of the attacker’s face, skin was peeled and began to tear and a mess was being made.

His palm held the victim’s head up as he continued to bite through its neck, his mouth filling with dark red essence, sinew, skin, and muscle. Eventually the now dead demon would be dropped, Baron would swallow the monstrous cocktail he had created for himself and a smile would wrinkle his blood covered features. “C’mon hatsu, it’s a buffet!”

The warning had mitigated the damage to lives significantly, but it was not enough. The casualty rate was still ridiculously high. Despite the quick response from the Knights and other brave adventurers, the rifts and the demons that poured out of them hit the town hard.

Haru had been training with Kazimir when he heard the loud horn. It was the signal. Almost immediately, he rushed to the assembly point to figure out where he was needed the most. Scouts came in one after another, giving the precise locations of every rift that they spotted. There were numerous. Far more than they were prepared for. To make things worse, the scholars had a difficult time classifying the danger level of these rifts. One thing was certain, however. Some of them were far more dangerous than others, with mana fluctuations around them being off the charts. After some tedious calibrations, one such problematic rift was found near the river.

The Lieutenant found it strange that the demons had chosen the riverside for such an important rift. It was one of the least populated area of the town. Had they spawned the same rift in the middle of the town, they would have caused a lot more destruction. Things didn’t add up. Haru had a bad feeling that the demons had bigger plans for this rift, and not knowing what it was terrified him.

It took a great deal of self-control to rush towards the river and not stop anywhere in the middle to check for survivors. The streets were filled with pesky lesser demons feasting on both the dead and nearly dead. Haru managed to cut down a few on his way. But when he realized he was attracting too much attention from the swarm, which he might not be able to handle, he backed off and used his speed to make a getaway. He cursed under his breath and hoped reinforcements arrive on time to save the survivors.

As he exited the town and came into the vicinity of the river, he saw a bunch of Knights flee the scene; many of whom were seriously injured and were being carried by their comrades. Haru didn’t blame them. They signed up to fight for justice; not be murdered brutally in stead of the citizens. Everyone ran except for one man. “Fenrir!” Haru exclaimed, surprised to find his old friend and trainer. He sincerely wished they had met under better circumstances, but he was also glad he now had someone to watch his back while he fought these monstrosities.

Haru walked up to Baron and turned towards the direction from where the Knights were fleeing. What he saw was something that was going to haunt him in his nightmares as long as he lived. A humongous black rift warped the reality and out came dozens and dozens of abominations. The river had turned red with all the blood of the victims. The demons had not shown no partiality. Even the animals faced the same brutality as the townsfolk. Haru gulped, a tinge of fear taking in. But that fear was soon flooded with anger. His hands automatically reached for his sabre as his blood boiled.

When Baron spoke, one of the demons heard him and chose to charge at them. As it swung its club at the two of them, Haru simply ducked and dashed ahead, leaving the one that charged at the mercy of his Werewolf friend, and going after the two that were still ripping apart some poor farmer’s dead body. Activating his lightsabre, he beheaded one with a quick slash, and kicked the other one away from the body. The one that got kicked gave out an abyssal cry before charging at him. Haru put his foot in front, switched the grip on his sword as though he was holding a dagger and drove it right between the demon’s eyes.

Causing all that commotion, the two of them had surely attracted the attention of every other demon in the area. All of them stopped whatever they were doing, turned towards the two of them and charged ahead mindlessly. Baron didn’t seem bothered by it and called it a buffet. While that confidence was contagious, Haru wasn’t sure if confidence alone was enough to survive this. Unwilling to show any sign of weakness in front of his former trainer, Haru stood his ground firmly, taking a defensive stance and got ready for the things that headed their way. “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, standing back to back with Baron.

Here they were back to back. It felt like they were heroes in mythology facing off against a mighty evil and once the horse began to regroup from their meal of fresh flesh it would all begin to align well with the tales told about the demon slayers of old. From their pack they dispersed, surrounding the men their teeth and claws stained with the blood of the innocent, so many of their bellies filled to delight but despite their fullness they looked at the two men as if they were a two course meal. It seemed Hatsu’s blade work earned them another audience.

“Huh, I didn’t know you liked fancy little blades.” he teased, “Are those hands of yours worn out from holding Akira on cold nights?” he fell into his stance, one hand in guard, the other in a fist at his side. When the demons separated he dealt with the one coming his way swiftly: His right hand darted froward in a fierce punch to the monster’s dome knocking it back momentarily.

“I can’t blame you though, I got caught up in plenty of ladies. One i’ll never forget in particular.” before he could continue the previously punched demon returned at full speed forcing the Werewolf to place a hand at its throat to halt its charge. It was chomping wildly, clawing his arm as it tried to attack but Baron would have none of it and in a display of his newly acquired strength he’d squeeze its windpipe and crush its throat, its body joining the last as it slumped onto the floor.

“She was the reason I was kicked out of the knights you know.” his eyes wouldn’t leave the battle field as the demon’s encircled them, “Purple hair and all, long story short she trained me so hard I passed out. I think your girlfriend was pretty mad too because next thing I know there’s a report filed against me and I’m out of the knights. I still don’t know what happened. But next time I see her i’m gonna train with her so hard she’ll be begging me to forgive her.”

As his story ended, rather Hatsu was still there or not Baron wouldn’t take his eyes off their surroundings, “Anyway, have you and Aki done anything yet kid? Ever since you two stopped me the other day it seems you’re close.’

With countless demons heading their way, Haru’s survival instinct kicked in. It was either fight or flight. The latter wasn’t really an option as they were surrounded. Besides, where were they going to flee? These abominations were all over the town and if they didn’t stop them and close the rifts, they were soon going to be all over the country. So, fighting was their only option. Realizing that made his fear take the backseat. If he was afraid, it was going to mess with the quick decisions he would have to make during the fight, and that would get him killed—or worse, he could get his partner killed. It was good old simple self-preservation and his protective instincts that gave him a good grip on his sword.

He watched as the horde began to close the distance. From his peripheral vision, he could see the open rift above the river spewing out more and more of these monsters. And if he was to trust his eyes and not think he was going crazy, some of the things that were coming through that rift looked a lot bigger and menacing than the ones that were making their way towards them.

Baron’s comment made blood rush to his face. It had been more than two years since he saw Akira, and yet his feelings towards her had only grown stronger. Of course, he still didn’t condone her reckless behaviour and the way she handled some criminals—even if they had it coming. But, the anger had subdued and he just wished he had not overreacted on their very first date, ruining not just the day but also their friendship. Haru shook his head, trying to get these thoughts out of his head. He would be adding to the colour of the river if he was this distracted while fighting the horde. “You are a mad man for fighting them without a weapon,” he simply said, unaware that Baron was a Werewolf and he didn’t need a weapon to tear these ones apart.

And just as he finished that sentence, the fastest of the horde ahead of him was within his reach. One slash and the goblinesque demon was in two pieces. Similar fate followed several others that were behind that first one. They were extremely weak individually, but their sheer number was very difficult to handle. By the time Haru had cut down two of them, five others were too close for comfort. No matter how weak they were, their sharp claws and teeth definitely hurt.

It didn’t take long for the swordsman to realize he cannot personally attack every single one of them. He had to get creative and use the small demons’ ineptitude against them. So, he began knocking one demon in front of another’s attack with his kicks and grabs. Meanwhile, he also ensured not a single one went past him to get a sneak attack on Baron from behind him. Haru was sure Baron was doing the same for him, as he didn’t encounter any surprises from his rear. This was how they were going to survive and close this rift; by watching each other’s back.

Haru was surrounded by heaps of dead demons. He could no longer see the ground. It was just bodies, either those of demons or of the victims. Even though he had not suffered any major injuries, the fight was already taking a toll on him. Fifteen minutes into the horror, the rift stopped sending out these pesky little demons. But it was far from over and Haru knew it. The black tear began pulsating again, with the pulses getting faster every second until it tore open to be even bigger than before. Out came a dozen of demons—all twelve that looked far more humanoid and wielded abnormally large weapons. They were at least a foot taller than Haru.

“Careful! These aren’t like the other ones,” he said to his friend, stating the obvious.

Baron held his chest as he looked back at hatsu hatsu, the lad seemed to be doing well for himself having been much more powerful than he was when Baron first left him. The sight of the young man acting and being such a monster on the battle field brought a smile to the former Saiyan’s face. it was so invigorating fighting along side someone that was like a son to him even though they may have been closer in age than he would have liked to thought, regardless in this relationship hatsu was the son and Baron was the proud father. That said, ike a father Baron was having difficulty keeping up with the lad not only his magic’s loss having a strange effect on him, but the sudden dormancy of his Lycanthrophy also taking painful effects on him. Meanwhile Hatsu was still battling, still going, grinding, fighting. The kid was a fighter through and through and Baron envied him for being so courageous. It made him think back to when they first met, when Baron first agreed to train him and everything in between. And then the purple head incident really brought it all home because they didn’t see each other for years after.

Hatsu was a good kid, he had a nice smile he was handsome had money and alot of power meanwhile Baron was just Baron. He dfidn’t have anything he wanted more than being normal again, but evnetually he just had to accept what he was, a freak. When Baron loss his magic he thought hte world was over, that everything had come to a head and he lost it all. He lost his elf, he losthte purple head, he lost asura, dear sweet Asura. Gods did he love that girl, she rocked his world, she was so defiant, so caring, and yet she was a warrior just like him. He would have given the world around them to see her agian, but alas that was only just a pipe dream as she didn’t return his letters nor was she where they last lived. He assumed she likely went off and made a life for herself somewhere and he couldn’t blame her no matter how much he loved her. That woman was a force of nature and nothing coudl tie her down. The biggest sadness of all was the memories they shared, he always thought about their eating contest, when she sat on his back when eh did push ups and all of the other missions they’d do. On the battle field now he was plagued by such things. He paid no mind to the growing demon horde or Hatsu’s warning as his face contorted into a frown. It was all his fault that she was gone and it was all his fault that he may have never seen her again, woe was him in this grave life and time of day.

He held his chest adn watched as the other demons drew closer before falling to a knee, he was clearly tired by now.

What he thought was the entirety of it was just the initial wave. Once the two were done with it, there came another, which was far more intimidating than the horde of lesser demons they were dealing with until then. Looking at Baron, Haru realized the man wasn’t using his magic. “Think it’s time you stopped holding back,” he said, patting his back. “Come on! These guys are looking at us like we’re dinner,” he added, as the twelve mean-looking demons surrounded them.

The swordsman had no idea what Baron had gone through the last two years. If he had known his old friend had lost his magic… Well, even if he had known, there was nothing he could have done, except feel hopeless in the given situation. At least now, under the presumption that his comrade still wasn’t taking this seriously, being in the middle of dozen seven-foot-tall demons didn’t faze him. He thought his training master Fenrir was going to finally show his true powers and wreck these fools who were trying to wreak havoc in a peaceful town.

Whether they were ready or not, the demons would pounce on them all at once. Haru would stand next to a kneeling Baron, urging him to get up and fight alongside him while he deflected the attacks from the demons, trying to protect both of them. Fighting twelve demons at the same time was no joke and he failed at it miserably. They came at the duo from all angles and blocking them all with his sword was becoming more and more difficult. It was either him getting slower because he was growing tired or the demons hitting harder and faster every time they came around for another attack.

“Fenrir! Get up. I can’t hold on for much longer,” he called out, as he missed blocking one swing with his sword and was forced to use the phasing spell of his cloak. The demon’s greatsword went straight through him like he was a ghost, dealing no damage. Haru used the trick to its full potential and stalled the demons as much as possible. He went right in front of huge attacks, baiting them to attempt striking him instead of his Werewolf friend. However, the clever demons were not fooled for long. They soon realized they were doing nothing with their physical weapons to the swordsman, and one of them swiftly sent a magical bolt, which connected and knocked Haru back several meters.

Now that the Knight was away, the demons turned their attention towards the Werewolf. Haru was still recovering from the attack and was nowhere close to Baron. He swiftly got up and rushed towards his friend to try and protect him, while screaming at the Werewolf to defend himself.

Spell(s) Used:

Baron couldn’t keep it up, despite only having fought for a short time he couldn’t provide hatsu the support he needed to deter the Demon attack. His eyes would narrow as he watched the demons both lesser and great veer back from him, some turning their attention to Hatsu others waiting to strike him, an odd amount of calculation coming from the monstrosities. He didn’t know what to do or say besides swallowing his cud and accepting that he was in trouble. He clutched his chest and tore down his gi a bit his mind was still a mess of unknowing and confusion but soon he’d notice something that’d wake him back up.

When he looked back to Hatsu the orange haired male had been knocked back by a magic bolt, he had been fighting hard whilst Baron held his place and sulked about the past. It was almost like he blinked and Hatsu was gone like everyone else, knocked out of the way by a demon but it felt like Fenrir had just lost someone again permanently. He’d hear the male call out to him, telling him to fight and gravity would catch up to the werewolf again.

A demon raised its dagger and just in a nick of time Fenrir noticed lunging to his right to avoid the dagger and disarming the monster swiftly before stabbing the creature of the abyss in its head several times. He’d stab him until he his entire face was caked with the demon’s blood, the essence running down his face and into his mouth tasting like the sweetened copper mess that he had last eaten. He’d drop the dagger and face the horde that had focused attention on him. He’d tear off his gi and pound his chest with a wide grin.

“Don’t you know who I am?!” he asked the fiends, “You can’t kill me!” blood and spital dotted the ground below him as he spoke, “I am Fenrir! The Saiyan Lycan! And you cowards will die!” the male spoke in a tongue he hadn’t even known he knew, Boscosei perhaps? He was a native before his accident after all. With that he’d unleash his battle cry, it would have sounded like a howl as he charged at the demons. Rather or not Hatsu helped him the male would gore himself into the demons singling one out and taking it down. It was a hard squabble, the beast shook below him, he fought it, others chomped and clawed at him, pulling him off of their brethren only to have his fingers gouge into their skulls, he shook and fought, shuffling out of their grasps as he’d attack another. The lesser demons swarmed him as they were expected to whilst the greaters readied closed in.

In an impressive show of strength he had managed to tear the head clean off a small demon and was using it as a weapon,swinging it wildly at every demon he could. Of course, Hatsu would still have his share of problems while Baron fought on a demons still ready to meet. him. With every swing of the head he’d clock a demon here and there until one would fire a bolt of magic at him, knocking him off balance but instead of being knocked to his feet the magic streamed past him making him teeter. It was a strong attack but not strong enough to take him down as he charged the magic wielder. There would be another magic bolt to which Baron would just barely duck as he delivered a bone rattling haymaker into the monster’s face a crack echoing throughout the battle field.

He rubbed his wrist after it smiling to himself. He had over done it just a tad and hurt himself with the force of the punch. His wrist had a sharp pain in it, him rubbing his wristband and trying to stretch out he joint. Just as one demon went down though another would come out of no where behind the male and raise a weapon above its head, it looked like a club. It knocked Baron over his back with it forcing him on his knees. In retort baron would sweep his leg back and knock the burly demon off of its feet. He’d pull himself up and take care of the challenge. He’d throw a punch, but it would only be caught by a grizzly hand as another would throw a punch at him. Baron would shoulder the punch and headbutt he demon dead square in its nose. He’d whip his head back and do it again, repeatedly ramming his skull into the monster until it let him go and eventually fell limp in a mess of red.

He rubbed his fore head and held out his tongue. It hurt well enough but at the very least he managed to get the thing down before it could do anything else to avoid his offense. He’d shake his head, he had given himself a headache trying to battle as hard as he could. He teetered and wobbled for a moment before he’d finally catch himself up and nod to himself as he tried to sell assurance he was fine. He rubbed the top of his head, there was a new wound there.It was a cut if anything but he felt healthy enough to continue to fight.

He’d take a few steps forward again as another lesser demon challenged him, he’d meet it head on with well.. his head and gave them a rather stuff headbutt the sound of two coconuts hitting each other. It was a brutal sound, but it got the job done as it fell to the ground incapacitated. “Hatsu so you know anything about rifts? Think we can close this thing?” he shook his head and tried to catch his balance. He hoped the male would know how to close the rift or at least give it a good enough patch job so that other demons would not escape the realm of the abyss. It was sort of scary thinking about what else may have lived on the other side of the portal. While he enjoyed the battles Fenrir was unsure if he could keep up with Hatsu and the ever changing horde. He’d look for his friend, “Well?” if the boy didn’t know Fenrir would shrug and take a few steps forward towards the next demon.

He had it in his eyes for just a moment before the thing would be pulled into the water by a pair of scaly hands. It seemed that land based demons weren’t the only ones that had come to their realm. Eventually something would rise out of the water gnawing on the arm of the previous grabbed demon. It was a tall, fish like humanoid creature. It had the body of man, an expended body and rather bulging muscles. It’s eyes were white, not like those of fish but almost as if it were blind. It opened a mouth of jagged teeth and released a hellish cry over the rest of the battlefield before charging. Fenrir barely had any time to react as it slung its arms at him, the webed fingers seeming to have claws at the end. the Saiyan Lycan had nearly fallen but managed to catch the attacks with his forearms only to have himself open for an attack out of his own playbook. The fish like demon rushed its head under his defense and bit his shoulder, disgusting yellow teeth digging into the werewolf’s shoulder. It had taken Fenrir aback but once the pain was registered he’d punch the fiend as hard as he could in its stomach. It was slimy, but it seemed the beastie had a soft belly as its stomach was punctured by Fenrir’s attack but it wouldn’t let go only sinking its teeth deeper into fenrir’s shoulder and owning a pained groaned. Fenrir would cock back his fist again and continued to punch the soft belly of the demon until it let go but its teeth woudl remain. The yellow fangs were stuck in his shoulder, rather they were supposed to be so detached or not at least fiver were aligned over his shoulder and sunk into his skin.

He’d hold his shoulder and jump back from the now dead fish creature. He’d softly sigh and take a knee again to survey the situation. He didn’t know if Hatsu had any ideas but it didn’t matter at this point at they were entering a slog for their lives. It seemed there was a pinch of luck in his day as one greedy demon had seemed to never stop feasting on the dead human the horde had been enjoying. Why was that lucky? It meant that the numbers were a bit tilted and they atleast didn’t have to fight one extra demon. Looking for hatsu this time he wondered how the boy was fairing. It was amazing really, how he fought, how much he changed from small, shrimp to a blossoming man. Fenrir could have admird the new Hatsu all day but it wasn’t going to happen, not yet anyway. Akira was a lucky girl.

Fenrir wiped his eyes with one of his wrist bands. The blood had began to dry, but it wasn’t as bad as he would have imagined given the damage that had been done. Meanwhile his shoulder was throbbing, the pain was new inside of it and only the tips of the broken teeth were left. He’d examine the wound for a moment he took a hold of the one tooth that had been protruding a bit more than the others and pulled on it. He’d yank it upward and reveal a rather long monstrosity it had to be around three inches. It would have been no good to continue to care for himself as one brave demon sought to try its luck charging him and tipping him over. They woudl squabble on the ground as it tried to cast a spell above its head. Fenrir in reaction shoved his fist into its mouth and with this other had poked it in the eyes. The spell would face and the beast howled into his fist as it tried to bite his balled up grinders only to have said fist shoved down its throat. He’d force himself as deeep as he could whilst the monster’s throat bulged now allowing him any further passage. Fenrir would yank his fist back and the demon would sharply breath before receiving a stern punch in the face. it was a bit disgusting his arm slimy with saliva but he wouldn’t waiver. He’d resume studying his shoulder as he gritted his teeth with every touch and movement. Even shoving his fist down that last demon throat caused him great discomfort. “Hatsu do the knights have any good healers?” it probably wasn’t the best time for all of this small talk, but it was a better time than ny to Fenrir and at the very least they could have helped him out. He waited for an answer he didn’t know how many more demons there would be. After his exclamation he would have sworn that the worst of them was over , over and done with but alas it didn’t seem this was true as just three more lesser demons fell into the water. It seemed none of them could swim atleast thus they struggled in the water.

“Ya know if I had my magic I could probably launch a kahmaehamaeha into that thing and make it explode.” he chuckled to himself as he stood up and straightened him back. It was fun enough that they were in the fight of their lives but to have that fight keep getting extended was tiresome he silently hoped his friend could do something about it. He was a mage after all, but that said Baron didn’t have any idea what sort of magic hatsu had. Maybe he had big bomb magic? it’d come in handy.

He licked his lips again, this time the last time he tasted blood. It was still a coppery sweet taste. But he wouldn’t fight anymore demons instead he’d try to catch his breath as he avoided a few chomps and swings of weapons. The few that had looked stronger were indeed just that, magical and powerful. Fenrir would have relished this challange but he could barely elect to keep himself up. He’d flip, jump back, dash away and do everything to create distance. He still hoped Hatsu would hatch a plan but in case the male didn’t he’d try to think of a way to close the rift anyway. It was such a large voice there was no way two mortals could close it? Or for that matter how did it open in the first place? That was a good question. Fenrir wondered to himself how the seal opened and when it got there. Given the state of the bodies it seemed the reports were correct atleast it was somewhat new, just hours old meaning whoever had come before the guards were just caught up in a bad situation and likely got the brunt of the mass of demons.

It would have had to have been magic gone wrong or magic gone right on the other end of the portal. Part of him wanted to go into the rift another confused as to rather or not he could have survived in the demon world. It may have been a good way to get magic if he found a demon to contract. He didn’t know what to do about it though, if he got magic on one end would he be able to return to earth? If he did it likely would have been with a catch. Asmodeous was evidence of this, Espy had powers like a demon but she was shifted between the forms every now and again. it was sort of scary really, becoming someone else when you have no options. Your strength not being enough and having to rely on someone else. It was disgusting but interesting. He liked asmo and all but who knew what she was doing to Esperia’s beautiful mind. Either way, Baron would have to shake his inner questions and came back to reality as he narrowly avoided the swing of a pair of claws. He’d find himself kicking a demon back as he’d search the battle field for Hatsuharu.

“Hatsu you owe me so many bowls of noodles after this. Do you have any ideas yet?” he’d call out as he began another routine of dodging and avoiding with another demon. Regardless of the answer he’d keep running away and making sure not to get hit. There were a few close calls and he would teeter every now and again but like the last demon this one would be deterred with a stiff kick to its face. Baron wasn’t as gassed as before. He was beginning to feel in over his head with all of this but still. There had to be something they could do to end this one once and for all. He’d look for hatsu on the battle field again while he had time to rest. His stamina wasn’t what it used to be that was for sure. He panted and sighed as he caught his breath. He still couldn’t quite see his friend but that may have been more due to the constant threats that popped up in his face every time he tried to rest up.

With time to relax he’d take a knee and breath. He’d calm his breath, breathing in and out for a moment before standing back up and running to the first sight of the orange haired young man. “HATSU! USE YOUR MAGIC ON THAT THING ALREADY!” he’d call out as he held his head up high trying to signal the mage to do something. Even if it was just bubble magic, or lave magic, or dragon soul magic whatever he just wanted to get the thing closed. When he arrived in his friend’s vicinity he would go back to back with him once again like how they started. “I’m gonna be counting on you to do something with that magic of yours. Is it fire maybe? can you seal it with fire?"

There was a breathlessness to his voice, he could breath but this was a fight longer than any he had ever endured not even the war with Grimiore heart had gone on so long. Atleast he didn’t think it did, or rather he didn’t have to do so much work? This was alot of work to close one portal after all, there was blood, demons, dead civilians, it felt like a bit of a lost and victory then again as long as he had Hatsuharu with him he could have done this all day. That said he would have liked to get himself something to eat some time today. Then it came to him. He hadn’t eaten all day and that was likely why he was fighting to sloppily. That or he was just sloppy by nature. he’d have to get himself a few bowls of noodles after this one.

He’d step back placing them just inches apart, maybe the other male had plan or he was just as worried about their odds as Baron.

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Haru ran towards his comrade, screaming and yelling for him to get up and fight the demons that were about to devour him. But Baron didn’t budge. Not until the last moment. The swordsman had almost given up and he was certain that he was going to watch his friend and mentor be struck down by the abyssal creatures. However, thankfully, his yelling—or maybe it was something else—got through and the Werewolf dashed away just in time to escape the attack from the demons. From then on, it was bloodshed. Haru skid to a halt as he watched Baron bash one demon after another. Sure, he didn’t go unscathed through those encounters. But neither did the demons that came in his way. Some of the things that his mentor did to the demons made him look a lot scarier than the horde of monsters that Haru was fighting. He made a mental note to never anger Baron enough for him to want to show this side to him.

Of course, as much as he would have liked to just stand there and watch his friend decimate their enemies, that wasn’t an option. While Baron dealt with his share of the demons, Haru had to pull his own weight as well. Watching his friend get back on his feet and take the fight seriously had boosted the Knight’s morale as well. He gripped on his sword as tightly as his hands shook with the mixed emotions of fear, anger, and excitement. The gang of greater demons split in two. One group went for Baron, while the other came for him. Haru put his leg forward and got ready to fight.

The demons’ swings were harder, but so was Haru’s. The weapons clashed multiple times and the swordsman realized his mana blade wasn’t going to last for long. He should get ready to fight with his hands like Baron did. Just as he expected, his sword stopped functioning soon enough, but not before breaking the weapons of three greater demons. Both sides expressed their frustration and anger at the lack of a weapon.

The three demons stepped forward one after another and began to swipe at the Knight with their claw-like hands. He dodged two, but the third found its mark. The pointed ends of the demon’s fingers scraped against his armour, tearing it open in the front and leaving three parallel gashes on his chest. Haru didn’t let the opportunity go to waste, however. The demon had left itself open with that huge swiping motion. So, he caught its hand as it moved away from him, jerked the creature towards him and drove his left fist straight into its lower jaw. The days he spent training his body under his master had finally amounted to something. While the powerful punch hurt his arm, the demon had it worse. The impact broke its neck and it fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

Haru wasted no time after that. He leapt towards the next closest demon, ducked to evade its punch and proceeded to kick him straight in the gut. The monster’s eyes bulged out in pain as it spat blood. It still wasn’t dead, though. Haru wished to finish the job with another attack, but he wasn’t given the opportunity. There were already two other demons about to strike him down. He had to choose between going on the offensive or defend again. Soon, he realised the former would only be a death wish. If he went in with another attack, he would have no way to escape the attacks from the other two demons and that would be the end of him. So, he dashed away. The demons’ weapons landed where he was less than a second ago.

Now. Haru saw another opportunity. He dashed back into the group of three. A kick to the left one to knock it away from the fight. A strong punch to the one he had kicked before to finish it off. And a swerve kick to the last one to- No. That was a bad idea. The last one had a weapon and Haru ended up kicking the blunt end of the giant sword the demon held up in defence, essentially hurting himself. Haru groaned and fell on his knees. A bad position to be in, in front of an angry demon. The abyssal creature lifted its sword and was about to bring it down straight onto his head.

Fight or flight? Flight, in this case. Haru rolled away. The weapon pierced the ground with ease. Haru gulped, imagining what could have occurred if that thing had landed on him. But it was no time to be thanking his fortunate fate… yet. He swiftly got back onto his feet and used the short time it took for the demon to pluck the weapon off the ground to his advantage. As the monster pulled on the weapon, Haru took a step to his side and punched him on his flank. When that made the demon bend, he kneed its face. The monster stumbled back and groaned in pain, leaving its weapon stuck to the ground. Meanwhile, the demon he had kicked away first was making its way back towards him, along with a few other friends of his. Haru swiftly pulled the greatsword stuck to the ground, struck down the demon next to him with its own weapon. The sword cracked its skull open and was stuck there. Haru left it there and got ready to deal with the incoming bunch.

There were four of them and the Knight knew he wouldn’t be able to handle all four at the same time. He needed a way to isolate them one by one or at least force them to split into two groups. He turned to look at Baron to see how he was doing. He seemed to have his hands full. So, that meant this bunch was all his to entertain.

Meanwhile, the rift was releasing a steady stream of the lesser demons that attempted to swarm the two and make the job of the greater demons easier. Haru began to run from the four demons and they chased him. He had no ranged attacks. So, his only chance was to catch the fastest one in the group, strike him down and repeat the process. The goblinesque demons trying to flank him didn’t make this any easy. However, they did help in dodging and blocking the spells that the greater demons were throwing at him. As he ran, he killed the small critters with swift strikes and threw them behind him to stall the chasing group.

One among the four wielded a pair of daggers and was extremely adept at dodging the obstacles thrown in its path. He was the first to reach Haru and slash at his back. The last time he turned to see how far his assaulters were, the forerunner was quite a few meters away. So, Haru had not expected this sudden attack. With that double slash, the Lieutenant’s cloak was completely torn off, exposing his bare body. Upon taking the hit, Haru stumbled first and then skid to a halt. He turned around to catch the dual-wielding demon by its arm and threw it down on the ground. The remaining three were still a few feet behind. But they wouldn’t take too long to catch up. So, he had to end this quickly. With one swift stomp to the demon’s neck, he killed the one that tore this cloak, and began running again.

The demons weren’t stupid. They figured out what Haru was trying to pull. So, the three split up and decided to come at him from three different directions, but at the same time. Two of them still had weapons—not that they needed them, given their strong and sharp nails. Haru turned to see the distance between him and the group but noticed that there was no longer a group. He now had three different locations and sides to keep track of. He couldn’t possibly look at where he was going and also look out for where all three demons were. But he knew one thing for certain. All three wanted to be where he was at the same time. That was one variable he controlled. So, he stopped and turned around, waiting for all three.

It was tricky, but Haru had a plan. The one straight ahead of him wielded a spear; the one on the right had an axe; and the one on the left was unarmed. All three were the same distance away, but clearly the demon with the spear had the longest reach, followed by the one with the axe, and lastly the unarmed one. With both his weapon and armour gone, Haru had just his limbs to rely on. His plan was simple. To use the demons’ attacks against them.

So, the moment the demon wielding the spear came into his range—which was just a tad bit earlier than the one with the axe—Haru took a step towards the unarmed demon and hit the hilt of the spear from the side towards the monster with the axe. The two weapons clashed and the demons wielding them clambered. The Rune Knight used that moment to duck away from the attack of the unarmed demon and then retaliated with a barrage of swift but powerful punches. The first two attacks didn’t do much to the demon as it had a hard exoskeleton protecting it. But once that armour was broken, Haru’s attack had enough impact to knock it out. The stunt did leave his knuckles bleeding, however.

There was no time to rest. The two weapon wielding demons had gathered their bearings and were about to initiate another attack on the Knight. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to dodge both the swings. Haru managed to escape the skull shattering axe swing, but the spear found its mark. He groaned in pain as the tip of the spear sheared his left hip, making a deep cut. The pain made his legs buckle, but he knew there was no getting up if he allowed that. The demons would rip him apart if he gave them even the slightest opportunity. Haru didn’t wish to die there. So, he held onto the spear that had pierced him for support and yanked it off the demon’s hand. He then used that spear to block the other demon’s axe and thrust the spear into its throat. When that demon croaked and died, it dropped the axe it held in its hand. Haru dropped to his knees, caught that axe before it fell to the ground and hacked the last one’s leg. The demon yelped and fell to its knees. The Knight then thrust his left into the creature’s throat, holding his hand in a claw-like position.

It would seem both he and Baron had managed to defeat the band of demons they were dealing with. Haru took what remained of his cloak and tied it around his waist, using it to stop the bleeding. Just then, Baron asked him if knew anything about closing the rifts and the swordsman shook his head. “Not sure. They said the rift derives power from the demons around it. So, our best bet is to clear these out,” he said, looking around at the swarm of lesser abyssal creatures that they still had to deal with.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the goblin-like demons that were left. Within moments after they defeated the dozen humanoid monsters that came through the rift, Baron was assaulted by another one that came out of the river suddenly. Haru scrambled up to go help his friend, but the ground under him shook violently, throwing him back.

For a moment, Haru thought something was causing a wide-scale earthquake. He wouldn’t be surprised if one of these demons were powerful enough to do such things. But he noticed that only his immediate surroundings were affected. So, there was something else going on here. And he was right. Something came out of the ground, grabbed onto both his legs and pulled him down, attempting to bury him. Haru tried to kick off from the ground to escape its grasps, but couldn’t. Realizing that if he didn’t do something he was going to be buried alive, he quickly used the power of his ring and transformed into a raven. The sudden change in his form into a smaller being and the capability to fly away helped him get out of the clutches of the demon underground.

Baron was quicker in dealing with his enemy than Haru was. The poor Knight didn’t even know where this demon was. He flew over the area full of dead bodies, trying to find out where this nemesis was hiding. As he flew, the ground under him began to reform and shoot out small rocks up into the sky, trying to hit Haru. It wasn’t easy to dodge them all and several rocks hit Haru, forcing him to cancel his spell. The Knight fell down, rolling. The moment he stopped rolling, the terrain next to him reshaped itself and held him in place, binding him. It even had a tight grip around his neck, choking him. Just then Baron asked how many bowls of noodles he owed him. Haru wanted to respond, saying he would buy him an entire stall if he got him out of the shitty situation he was in right then. But the choking earth around his neck didn’t let him speak.

Convinced that his enemy was bound and unable to do anything, the demon that was behind these attacks finally showed himself. He came out of the ground, right next to Haru and gave a menacing laugh. The monster pointed its palm towards the surface and a long spear made of earth shot up from the ground into his hands. Haru knew what was coming. The demon was going to impale him while he was bound.

Having no other option, Haru decided to rely on his mana. He groaned and began to expel his magical force from all over his body at the same time. While he had lost control over his magic, he still had the energy within. Just as the demon was about to pierce him with the earthen spear, Haru blasted the area around him by releasing a lot of mana, destroying the earth that was binding him. The sudden blast knocked the demon back. But this wasn’t without a cost. The blast also dealt serious damage to Haru. There was no other way, however. Being severely injured was still better than being dead, which was what he would have been had he not done something. Besides, this also gave him an opening.

The knocked back demon was disoriented and was struggling to find its bearing. Haru took that moment to roll towards the humanoid earthen demon. Once he was close enough, he did a sweep kick that brought the monster down to the ground, making it easy for Haru to pin him. Sitting atop the monster, Haru gave his hardest punches possible continuously, straight to demon’s face. After the fifth punch, the demon went limp and was definitely dead. But Haru continued punching. Seeing his ferocity made the lesser demons that were going to swarm him to back off and whimper. Once he was satisfied with the pounding, he got up, limped towards Baron and stood behind him.

“Can’t use my magic…” he said, panting and revealing that he too had lost his magic. “We just have to keep thrashing these until they get tired and close the rift themselves,” he added, chuckling. The chuckle was a bad idea. It made him hurt all over. While his words were still positive, Haru wasn’t sure if he could continue this fight anymore. And almost as if on cue, the rift began to pulse. The Knight wasn’t sure what that meant. “Is there going to be more?” he asked, looking up at the rift with dread.

The member 'Hatsuharu' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 57

Haru knelt to the ground. Having endured too many attacks, his legs couldn’t hold his body anymore and gave him. He panted and watched the rift, as it pulsed continuously. It wasn’t even a minute, but every pulse felt like a year. After about a dozen pulses, the rift expanded to twice its size. Haru’s eyes widened in shock. He gulped, wondering what was going to come out of it now that it had grown to be so big. However, soon after it grew, the tear in reality collapsed into itself. And then, there was nothing. The sudden disappearance and the stopping of the pulsation made the swordsman tense. He felt like it was a trick. Like there was something there that he couldn’t see or sense but was just waiting for the right moment to pounce on him.

Thankfully, there was nothing. All the demons around him were dead. Baron looked he was going to survive—albeit with some injuries, just like him. Haru was sure both of them would recover and fight again another day. But for that day, he was glad the fight was over. A minute passed with him waiting tensely for something to happen. And when it became apparent that it was over, his body slouched and he let out a sigh of relief.

The member 'Hatsuharu' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 69