A few moments passed until he realised what it was: the scales rubbing against each other, creating a deep metallic grinding noise mixed with the occasional thud of bone hitting the floor.
Zell opened his eyes wide, staring at the massive demon currently in mid-air as if locked in slow motion; its demonic twisted arm was slamming down towards him, the black scales and thick claws aimed to tear him apart as its body rotated forward with the huge amount of force in the strike.
He tried to move his body, but with a slightly dull movement, he leaned to the side, pulling back his halberd, ready to pierce the demon guardian's body with a vicious thrust, feeling his arms tighten and anchoring himself into the floor, lowering himself taking a light breath in the process.
At least, that's what Zell thought it was going to do.
Instead, the giant demon spun away from him, its body turning upside down, the top of its skull facing downwards, the horns becoming pointed spikes instead; a moment later, it landed on all fours and began to charge straight towards him with incredible speed.
Zell didn't hesitate; he jumped backwards and dodged the attack as best he could, falling onto the ground due to momentum, rolling across the earth until stopping near a broken wall, barely managing to avoid getting crushed under the demon.
'Fucking cheater!' Zell thought, but the dragon in his mind and blood began to boil like it was roaring inside his body while the demon brooded with the same kind of delight; flicking his wings; Zell looked at the demon, which seemed to mock him.
Its entire body was covered in black scales except for its face, hands and feet. Its torso was thin but muscular, its shoulders broadening further than its waist, giving it a strong appearance. However, the lower portion of its body was slim, making it appear feminine.
Despite looking female, the demon's tail was split into two halves, ending in curved hooks, while its chest was flat and narrow, revealing its ribs, while its hips were rounder than a human's, resembling a snake's.
The demon also had a pair of leathery batlike wings on its back, similar to a raptor; the wings were red, black and purple, covering almost half of its back. They could fold themselves inward, allowing the demon to fly through the air with ease; the upper surface of its wing had numerous black feathers, with a white feather growing out from the tip.
On the underside of its wings were three clawed digits, two smaller ones and a larger one resembling a bird's talon; the claw tips were black, whilst the nails underneath were yellow and orange.
To finish off its look, the demon possessed a horn protruding from its forehead, with another extending from the middle of its nose, curving upward. These horns were sharp and jagged, designed to inflict pain upon foes; the horns grew thicker as they got higher, eventually reaching halfway up its head.
Above these were small fangs shaped similarly to a cat's teeth.
However, none of this mattered now, as the demon glared at Zell with glowing red eyes, having regained control over itself.
"You're quite the fighter," the demon spoke in a deep voice, sounding as if it belonged to a man rather than a beast.
"I'll kill you," Zell replied bluntly without hesitation, indicating he meant every word.
"Killing your kind? Ha ha, don't fucking joke with me! I am Azamat, guardian of the great Amon, the prince of war and slaughter! Bow your inferior head and beg for forgiveness!"
The demon began to emit a powerful aura, its body filled with dark flames and a powerful weight; thanks to the weakening of the barrier and the first merger, it seemed that demons were no longer limited to a small 10% or so of their real power, now able to use close to 40%.
Zell was forced to jump backwards, narrowly escaping the fiery blast directed towards him; however, the demon's aim was true, the explosion sending debris flying everywhere, including the nearby trees and rocks. The force of the blast sent Zell tumbling through the air before landing hard on his ass, his body shaking uncontrollably from the impact.
He stood up quickly, his body still trembling, before his wings began to flutter rapidly, his body began to shoot forward, jumping from the pierce of debris, hiding from the demon's vision; his halberd pulled back as he tensed his muscles, the mana surging through his body, like a powerful hurricane wanting to explode from his very hands.
Suddenly, the demon turned around, its large wings spread open, aiming to crush Zell to death within a single swipe.
"That's enough games, little demon," Zell said calmly, readying himself for the inevitable collision.
Azamat began to roar, unleashing a wave of flames towards him. A huge heat began to melt the trees and surrounding area; Zell immediately dove behind a rock, trying to escape the onslaught of hot wind and flaming particles.
"Fuck... That hurt..." Zell muttered as he watched the demon begin to turn its attention elsewhere, its wings folding shut, preparing itself for another assault. He saw a chance and took it, leaping out from his cover and using his wings to gain height while launching several spells at the creature; a bolt of flame shot out of his right arm, followed by a barrage of ice shards from his left.
Both attacks missed as the demon dodged both easily before its body began to glow brightly.
However, it was too late...
Zell's hand gripped the halberd tightly; his muscles now tightened as he lunged only the lance forward, almost snapping his very arms to get the extra length; a burning sensation filled his elbows and upper arms, which caused them to deform but gaining an extra 20 centimetres as his halberd penetrated the barrier made for magic being physical and aimed to penetrate the demon's heart.
In response, the demon roared and launched a volley of fiery projectiles towards Zell, ignoring them as although they hit him; the damage done was minimal, less than 35 per cent of his health bar.
His mouth now opened wide with a huge smile, and laughing manically as he watched the demon panic, feeling the crunch of the demon's scales being penetrated, broken and torn apart before he tensed his right arm further, once more, using his wings to propel himself forward.
His body slammed into the demon's body, pushing it back with immense strength, crushing its body beneath his own; the demon screeched in agony before smashing through a department store, several clothes being burnt into ashes from both of their flaming auras, leaving nothing behind besides some charred cloth and melted steel.
Zell lowered himself onto the ground, panting heavily after such a brutal fight.
"Ha ha! You think that will stop me?" Zell laughed loudly, watching as the demon lay on the ground, impaled through the chest with the demon-slaying halberd.
In a fit of excitement, seeing the demons fake death, Zell's hands morphed, filling his hands with slight pain as the bones broke, reforged themselves and began huge, deadly claws, causing him to fall further from humanity, lowering his legs, he jumped onto the demon.
His hands, like blades, began to relentlessly strike at the demon, trying to claw and rip its flesh and scales into mush, his deformed black helmet now almost fused with his face as its steel teeth opened, revealing a large red tongue and a deep dark hole.
Zell no longer held back; demons were food for him to devour and become stronger; he too became a demon-slaying artefact as his body leaned forward, the poor demon too late to stop his act, as his wide maw bit into the throat of the strange demon, tearing a chunk from its neck, before swallowing the strange meat.
The final counter of Azamat was to try piercing into Zell's throat with its tails; they shot towards him at tremendous speed; Zell barely had enough time to react before catching both of them with a vicious bite, his steel teeth clamping down on the demons tails, blood and flesh oozing down his black scaled armour, while still trying to tear the demon in half pulling both it's arms apart.
The demon screamed in pain as its arms snapped off its body, forcing it to release Zell from its grip and allow the demon to retreat, its body dropping to the floor, dead from the sheer amount of wounds inflicted on it.
Zell then let go of the demon, standing up as it fell to the ground, gasping for breath; he placed his foot against the corpse's head, crushing its skull completely before letting it roll to the side.
As he did so, he noticed something; there were many other demons scattered throughout the city, waiting for any prey to come along.
"It's time to hunt..." A distorted, eerie voice sounded from his lips as he vanished from the spot, almost imitating the ability used by the demon guardian now laying on the floor. The demon portal in this area began to shatter, another failure for Amon, the prince of war and slaughter.
- Killed Demon Guardian
Gained + 10 to all attributes
Learned Skill Velos
Velos
A technique used by demons which allows them to move at extreme speeds, able to penetrate magical guards, techniques for automatic counters and travel up to 200 metres with each movement, able to turn during the technique.
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