The cathedral was chaos. Kohen and the dragon ripped through paladins like tissue paper, the screams of paladins ringing through the air.

Cass had made a promise. Now, the question was, how did she keep it? How did she avoid killing Alyx and Ahryn's brother?

They couldn't just ignore him. Releasing the seal on the hall while the demon was on the loose meant letting it into the city. And she couldn't do that.

Was there another option?

It was the paladin captain's power that held him now. Was there another method of keeping him here? This was the lair of 'demon hunters'. They had to have something to lock up monsters.

She scanned the room, looking for inspiration.

The first of the next wave of paladins had made contact with Kohen. He decapitated the first man, his lightning blade buzzing as it sliced through metal and flesh. His phantom hand broke the soul and plucked out the pieces from the corpse as it thudded to its side. With each fragment, the purple and crimson of his soul, with its streaks of swirling greens and blues, all muddied into an ever-darkening black.

It spoke of power overflowing, burning with intensity to the nameless sense buzzing in her mind.

She could have it too, it whispered. She could effortlessly stab through her enemies. She could wade through them, the wounds they inflicted on her made meaningless.

She shook the thought aside, pulling Soul Guard tighter. These weren't her thoughts. They were nothing but demonic impulses.

Soul Guard has increased to level 11.

She didn't need overwhelming power. She needed to restrain Kohen.

Across the cathedral, the dragon rammed the circle of paladin shields, bowling through them and into Fortitude's Aegis summoned by the captain to fill the gap. Paladins charged from behind, their swords slicing at scales, only to be knocked aside by the dragon's thrashing tail.

Behind her, the dragonlings pressed against the walls of their containment circles, shaking in terror at the carnage before them. A second, darkened circle lay empty across the room.

Cass's eyes lingered on the empty circle. "The containment fields. Salos, you can break containment fields?"

Salos's tail flicked. "Yes, obviously."

"They are for holding demons. Did I understand that right?" They hadn't held her, but she was special, according to the dragon.

"Weakened demons," Salos said slowly. "The kind that are not gorged on souls and overstuffed with energy."

"But that is what they are for."

"Yes." Salos sighed.

"Can you re-enable them?" Cass asked.

Salos shook his head. "Maybe. It depends on how they were disabled."

"But in theory, you can?"

"Killing him would be kinder," Salos said.

Ahryn's shoulders slumped.

Cass glared at him. "I said we'd do our best."

Salos sighed loudly. "In theory, this is possible. But, right now, he'd probably blow right through the field, as overstuffed as he is on souls.

"But if you can bleed off the excess energy he's consumed and somehow force him to expend down to his baseline, then yes. I suppose it would be possible."

"How do I get him to spend it?" Cass asked.

"Drain his resources. Any or all of them. Stamina, Focus, Health."

"Beat him up, got it." Not ideal, for a lot of reasons, but…

"We can do it," Ahryn said. His soul quivered.

"Go prep the containment field," Cass said to Salos.

"Fine, fine." Salos disappeared into a shadow. I'll look into it. But if you see an opportunity to kill him, do it. Don't be soft here, Cass. I mean it.

I'll be careful, Cass promised.

That wasn't—she could feel him shaking his head. Fine. Just don't get yourself killed. Please.

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While Salos worked on that, Cass just had to weaken the demon enough to contain him. No big deal.

And also not let him devour any more souls.

His phantom hand plunged into another paladin's chest, crushing and tearing the soul into bite-sized pieces. Her skin crawled at the sight, and her stomach rumbled.

The paladins were a liability to her here. Too strong for her to do anything about without great difficulty. Too weak to be anything but a snack for the demon.

And she really needed him to stop snacking.

She had one really simple answer to that problem. But Salos was going to hate it.

"Ahryn, stay away from me," Cass ordered, sprinting away from the boy. "Support me from a safe distance."

"Oh-okay?"

Salos, Fairy Fire me!

His groan was audible across the room. What do you mean? Do you want to be the center of attention for the entire room?

The demon can't eat what he can't catch, Cass answered.

Please do not get yourself killed, he said as her skin ignited in purple flames. The eyes of the room gravitated toward her.

Thank you.

He grunted.

The nearest paladin turned away from Kohen, his sword slicing through the air as he spun.

She slid under it without slowing. The paladins couldn't catch her. Only the captain, and only with his charging rush attack, was fast enough to keep up with her.

Ahead of her, Kohen turned, his dark eyes glinting with the purple of Fairy Fire.

"Yeah, you!" Cass yelled at him. "Fight me!"

He grinned, the lightning blade in his hand flaring brighter.

Demon of Blood and Lightning (Lvl ???)

Cass's stomach flipped. Maybe this was a bad idea. He had been a higher level than her before becoming a demon with more combat experience and who knew what kind of tricks.

Now he was a monster that fought evenly—at an advantage?—against the level 40 paladin captain. He tore the hordes of paladins apart like they were TV ninjas.

But she had his attention. It was too late for second thoughts.

He sprinted at her, his sword swinging, his dark eyes glinting with madness and fire.

Good. Now, to keep him occupied.

She ran, throwing a Lightning Tempest Blade at his face behind her.

He chased, his sword dancing out to parry her flying attack as it came. His lightning blade flared as the two lightning blades touched.

She followed it with a Wind Tempest Blade, arching it around his side. He didn't notice it until it struck his temple. It cut a deep gash, blood welling and gushing down the side of his face.

He didn't slow his chase to blot it. He didn't even wince.

Cass's heart hammered in her chest. Had he even noticed, or did he just not care? No, either way was fine.

She had two goals: drain his resources and keep him from eating any more souls.

Blood loss drained Health. Whether or not he felt the wound, bleeding was bleeding. This fight wasn't about stopping power. It was about bleeding him dry.

Bleeding him dry without running out herself.

Stamina: 38/141

Focus: 37/549

Health: 70/134

She was almost out of everything. Stamina was at a quarter and dropping at a manageable rate, as long as she didn't need to Liminal Dodge. Focus was down to about 5%. Her head pounded with every step, the Focus depletion headache building.

She didn't have the Focus to waste on fancy skills, but if she stuck to Tempest Blade, she should manage.

Kohen was in no way limited.

Behind her, she could feel a surge of mana, crimson and sticky. His off-hand twisted through a series of arcane gestures as he chased her. To her horror, blood rose from the fallen corpses, pooling in balls in the air above the fallen paladins.

Call of Blood

[A skill for accumulating the fallen life force of foes for use in further skills.]

Cass Stormstrided away from him, but there were so many of them. There was a ball in front of her. Another to her right.

Corpses everywhere, his reach stretching across the room.

He raised his hand, palm out at her, and shouted a single word in a language Cass didn't know.

Alacrity slowed time as his spell activated. Their surfaces rippled. They vibrated. They exploded.

Spikes shot from the orbs, like crimson sea urchins.

Cass Dodged back, narrowly avoiding a set of new holes in her chest and neck.

The paladins around them were less lucky. Blood spines jabbed through gaps in armor and punched holes through thin plates. They stabbed through eyes and wrists. They fell in droves.

At the same time, Kohen lunged forward, his lightning sword quickly catching up with her fleeing body.

Cass spun, her hand out on instinct, grabbing at the rampant energy in his blade with Elemental Manipulation. It resisted her control, more so than lightning alone usually did. Another's Will held it in its blade shape. A Will no less formidable than Cass's.

Time slowed as the blade flew for her neck. Cass pushed against the energy. Kohen's Will pushed back, gaining inch after inch.

She pulled at the edges, looking for a weak point to destabilize the blade. The demon's Will followed her attention up and down.

It was so close to her body. Barely any space between the blade and her hand or between her hand and her neck. And her Will was straining. Her Focus was bleeding.

Focus: 25/549

She couldn't redirect the blade with Elemental Manipulation. Could she still Dodge?

Dodge screamed that there wasn't time. That she was a fool. That a Liminal Dodge was the only way she would not lose her head.

Atmospheric Sense buzzed in her ears about the movements of nearby paladins, which points would be dangerous to move to, which would be safe, where the dragon was, where Ahryn could cover her better, where Salos was hunched over the side of the magic circle, where the captain directed his soldiers from, where more people ran through the halls in conflict before even arriving.

Stealth asked why they were here at all.

Staff Mastery whispered she'd have a better chance if she could find another staff. That it could do nothing for her with the dagger in her hands.

Wind Step whirled, ready if only she had the Focus to activate it.

Tempest Blade chomped at the bit to fight back. To let it cut.

Before she could attempt any of that, Ahryn's voice echoed softly over the battlefield. "Storm's Lull!"

A white light fell over Cass and Kohen. For a second, the world was still. Her mind was quiet. There were no whispers of her skills at the edges of her consciousness.

Kohen's lightning blade flickered out of existence. His arm swung past her. His eyebrows knitted in confusion.

And then the light was gone. Her skills roared in her ears for attention.

Move! Dodge shouted, yanking her body right.

Cut, Tempest Blade hissed, lightning springing to the edge of her dagger.

Kohen's sword sprang back to life, the back of the lightning blade millimeters past her neck. She could feel the buzz of its energy over her skin.

She darted around the reforming blade and stabbed her dagger into the demon's shoulder.

The blade hit bone, but the lightning rolled through his body. His muscles spasmed. Yet his lips just curled up in a grin.

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