The first spell Damion cast was Ice Shard. It was his longtime go to spell and now that it had reached B Rank, he was able to send out multiple razor-sharp icicles at his target with each cast. Still, even with the ability to hit his target multiple times, the Simurgh was just so large, that Ice Shard did little actual damage.

Ice Shard did have one effect. When the razor-sharp ice punched through the flesh of the Demonic Beast, it gave Damion its undivided attention. The Simurgh turned towards him and let out a howl that seemed to vibrate the very air. How the magic used by the flying beast worked, Damion was not sure, but when his Ice Sword shattered beneath his feet, he understood what it did.

Somehow, the Simurgh's attack broke apart the magic bonds holding his Ice Sword together. The attack had no apparent effect on his armor or other artifacts. But that was the least of Damion's worries at the moment, since he found himself suddenly falling out of the sky.

Thankfully, this was not his first go around with this sort of situation and he was able to keep his wits about him. Several quick casts of Blink moved Damion out of the line of sight of the Simurgh, giving him the freedom to cast Ice Sword and get situated again.

Phil in the meantime was hounding the Simurgh's flanks. The smaller bird was able to maneuver close and open several gashes in the larger Demonic Beast's side before swooping around and attacking the Simurgh's other side.

Damion announced his reentry into the fight by casting Summon Ice and sending a half dozen ice spears into the back of the Simurgh. When the attack landed, the Demonic Beast let out another of its howls. Once again, Damion's Ice Sword was shattered to pieces, as well as his ice spears that were sticking out of the creature's back.

This time when Damion started to fall out of the sky, instead of Blinking away from the Simurgh, he Blinked towards it. Landing on the back of the large Demonic Beast, he had a front row seat to see that the wounds created by his ice spears were half healed. Almost as if the mana from his spells had somehow fueled the Simurgh's regeneration.

Deciding to test his theory, Damion cast Ice Sword in its normal form and stabbed down into the Simurgh's back. The moment his blade pierced the flesh of the Demonic Beast, it let out its howl and the Ice Sword broke apart while he watched the holes in its back partially close up.

The good news was that the Simurgh was not able to fully heal by draining Damion's mana. The bad news was because it could heal with such a method, it was going to be difficult to kill the creature.

Exile could of course simply remove parts of the Demonic Beast from this reality. But the spell could potentially ruin any chance at making money from the carcass. Frost Fire likewise could probably out damage the rate of healing of the Simurgh, and he doubted the bird's strange ability to suck in mana would apply to that devastating spell. Unfortunately, Frost Fire tended to make a Demonic Beast even less valuable than if it was simply missing a few parts.

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Phil continued to harry the Simurgh's flanks and even with the couple of heals the Demonic Beast was able to pull off, the injuries were starting to add up. Already Damion could tell the Simurgh was flying slower. As he considered what spells to use, he realized he should not use any. Without mana to steal to fuel its healing, Phil's attacks were slowly bringing the B Rank Demonic Beast to its knees. As long as he did not offer up a free meal, the Simurgh was already done for. Even using spells like Icy Grasp or Fiery Grasp would risk letting the beast heal, so he elected not to use them. The question he had now was, how could he hurt the Simurgh without casting a spell.

He still had one Aurichalcum dagger, but it was only D Rank and the last time he tried to stab a Demonic Beast with an identical dagger it had broken.

'I really should have upgraded my dagger to B Rank,' Damion thought as he considered his options.

Since he did not have a martial weapon strong enough to harm the Simurgh, he decided to use brute strength. So far, the Simurgh had ignored his presence on its back. It was about time he made the big bird regret that.

With one hand Damion took hold of a group of feathers and with his other he punched with all his might. The Simurgh let out a howl, but since no spell was cast none of the Demonic Beast's wounds were healed.

The Simurgh rolled through the air, trying to throw Damion off, but he held fast. Once the bird was flying upright again, he got his footing and after renewing his grip on the feathers, threw another punch. This time the howl the Simurgh let out was not the same. It was not trying to break a magic attack; it was crying out in pain.

Carefully moving up the back of the Simurgh by using clumps of feathers as hand holds, Damion was able to reach the Demonic Beast's neck. His next punch was to the base of the creature's skull. Even with the size difference, unless a creature had an armor plate in that area, the blow was going to cause damage.

After this punch the Simurgh did not cry out. Instead, the Demonic Beast's wings stopped flapping, and its head drooped. The Simurgh had lost consciousness and was plummeting to the ground. Feeling certain the bird was going to crash, Damion used Blink to move away and then cast Ice Sword so he could fly safely to the ground.

Damion was not sure if he was happy or disappointed when the Simurgh regained consciousness a few dozen meters above the ground. The Demonic Beast extended its wings and arrested its descent. However, the Demonic Beast still had considerable momentum and while it stopped itself from crashing headfirst into the ground, the beast still hit the ground hard.

Seeing the Simurgh crash, Damion rushed forward. The impact had to have injured its legs, and any injury would have compounded the injuries Phil had already inflicted upon it.

Once he was close, Damion released his Ice Sword and used Blink to move himself the rest of the way to the ground. Phil swooped down sharply and sank its talons into the back of the Simurgh's neck while leaning forward and ripping gouges of flesh off with its beak.

The Simurgh tried to turn its neck and use its claws to scratch Phil loose, but Damion rushed forward as it went up on one leg and crashed into the other leg. Knocked off balance the Simurgh tumbled forward, and Phil was able to continue to dig into the Demonic Beast's neck.

Blood was pouring from the wounds on the Simurgh's neck, as well as from the gashes on its sides and belly where Phil had attacked it in flight. The Simurgh no longer tried to lift its legs to get at Phil and after a few moments its massive head fell forward and hit the ground with an earth-shaking thud.

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