"You will all die here for what you did to her!" He hissed, the tears in his eyes being reduced to steam before they could even fall.
William managed to catch the Mane Demon's arm just as it was attempting to wrap around his neck from behind.
His movements were incredibly fast, and with a surprising amount of strength, he swung the arm around in front of him, delivering a devastating kick directly to the demon's solar plexus.
CRACK!
A sickening crack echoed through the air, followed immediately by a loud, bone-shattering thud.
The Mane Demon was launched backwards with tremendous force, crashing into other demons in its path who were sent sprawling backwards, their forms collapsing like bowling pins.
With all his might, William fully extended his wings and let out a powerful roar that pierced through the sky.
At the same time, his horns began to grow in thickness, and a faint, yet discernible, glow started to emanate from them.
"I... Will... Destroy... You... Kill... You... Break you... Tear you all limb from limb until nothing is left but your SUFFERING!"
As he spoke, his claws on both his hands and feet lengthened noticeably, and his entire body seemed to swell dramatically, his muscles growing thicker and more pronounced, practically appearing like thick metal cords twisting beneath the surface of his deep, almost blood-red skin.
"AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!"
A roar that was far louder and more powerful than even Karlach's own barbarian cry echoed through the air as he launched himself back into the thick of the fight, propelling himself forward with the combined strength of his legs and the thrust of his wings.
BOOM!
He crashed into the incoming horde like a meteor with claws, and suddenly a spray of blood and a shower of limbs erupted from within the army of incoming demons.
William grabbed a demons neck, his claws digging into its infernal flesh before tearing its head off with one swift and devastating yank, pulling the demon's spine out along with its head before proceeding to beat another demon using the decapitated head still clutched in his hand.
SPLAT
SPLAT
CRACK
The demons severed head exploded under the repeated impacts sending a shower of bone, blood and brain matter scattering across the surrounding demons and battlefield.
WHOOSH
A beam of blue/purple lightning, seemingly carved directly into the demon's flesh, tore a hole through its form as it attempted to swing its wicked blade at William's wings.
Overcome by a rage he couldn't contain, William reacted swiftly, spinning around just before the beam could make contact, narrowly avoiding being struck.
Employing the Hellhand Prototype, which was radiating both intense heat and emanating a hexagonal shield spell that formed a protective second skin around it, he effectively deflected the beam of energy.
This deflection resulted in the beam slicing through a few of the demons at their midsection before its power dissipated.
William did not slow.
If anything, the world seemed to slow for him.
Every movement around him dragged, every clawed swipe and snapping jaw arriving just a fraction too late, as though the battlefield itself had fallen out of step with whatever storm now lived inside his veins.
He moved through them like a living catastrophe.
A Mane lunged.
William caught it mid-charge, his claws punching into its ribcage with a wet, splintering sound before tearing outward.
RIIIIP!
The creature came apart in his hands, its torso splitting open as blackened viscera spilled free, steaming in the heat radiating from his body.
He didn't even look at it as it fell.
Another came from the side.
Too slow.
Phalar Aluve shrieked as it moved, the corrupted aura around it pressing down like an invisible weight as the blade carved upward.
SHRAKK!
The strike opened the demon from hip to shoulder, lifting it off the ground before its body collapsed in two uneven halves.
A third tried to leap onto his back.
William's wings snapped outward.
CRACK!
Bone met force.
The impact alone shattered the creature mid-air, its body folding unnaturally before it was flung aside like refuse.
There was no rhythm anymore.
No pattern.
Only destruction.
Limbs were torn free and cast aside.
Bodies were broken with bare hands.
One demon was seized by the jaw and split apart with a roar, its skull cracking as William forced it open like brittle stone.
Another was driven headfirst into the ground, again and again, until the stone beneath it gave way before its body did.
The horde was no longer pressing forward.
It was collapsing inward.
Breaking.
Faltering.
And beyond them, the Drider saw it.
Saw him.
Where once there had been a wounded man now stood something else entirely, something wreathed in heat and violence, something that tore through demons as though they were nothing more than dry leaves caught in a furnace wind.
For the first time since the battle began…
Fear crept into the Drider's expression.
It tightened its grip on its staff, mandibles twitching as it took a step back without realizing it.
"No…"
The word slipped out, thin and uncertain.
Its eyes flicked across the battlefield, searching for control, for dominance, and finding none.
So it did the only thing left.
It raised its staff.
Lightning gathered.
Violent.
Unstable.
A writhing spear of blue-white energy coiled around the length of the weapon, crackling louder and louder as the Drider forced more power into it, desperation bleeding into the spell.
"DIE!"
The bolt screamed forward.
A jagged lance of pure destruction tore through the air, splitting the smoke and ash as it shot straight for William.
He didn't dodge.
Didn't raise a shield.
Didn't even slow.
Instead, he leaned forward.
A Mane Demon stumbled into his path, turning just in time to see him.
Too late.
William drove his head forward.
SKRRAKK!
His horns punched straight through the creature's torso, impaling it clean through as its body lifted off the ground, skewered and twitching.
And then, he turned.
The lightning struck.
CRAAACK!!!
The bolt slammed into the impaled demon with catastrophic force, electricity exploding outward in a blinding flash as the creature's body convulsed violently.
For a single instant, it existed.
The next, it didn't.
The demon was reduced to a smoldering, blackened husk, its form charred and smoking as arcs of dying electricity crawled across its surface.
William stood behind it.
Unharmed.
Eyes still burning.
Slowly…
Deliberately…
He reached up.
Wrapped a hand around what remained of the corpse.
And tore it free from his horns with a wet, tearing sound.
For a heartbeat, he held it there.
The ruined body still smoldering.
Still faintly crackling.
Then, he threw it.
Not like a man.
Like a siege weapon.
The corpse tore through the air in a violent arc, trailing smoke and embers as it hurtled directly toward the Drider.
William did not look away.
Not from the Drider.
Not for a single heartbeat.
His eyes, filled with an intense, almost unblinking hatred, burned upward, fixed directly on the creature.
It was as if that hatred was palpable, a thick, suffocating thing that seemed to hang between them, heavy and terrible.
Slowly…
Almost lazily…
He moved.
Phalar Aluve's hand drifted effortlessly through the air, his grip on the object appearing almost casual, as if the object were simply an extension of his very own body.
The demons around him did not understand.
Not until it was too late.
SHRRAAAK!
With a swift, precise motion, the blade sliced cleanly through the first Mane of the beast, the cut so precise it seemed to sever the creature's body before it even had a chance to react.
The creature remained standing for just an instant, its body then collapsing in a sickening slide across the ground.
Another step.
Another swing.
SHRAKK!
Another demon, this one splitting along the shoulder and hip joint, watched its halves separate from one another.
As they did, a thick, black, ichor poured out from the tear, spraying outwards in a steaming arc.
Phalar Aluve screamed.
Not metaphorically.
Not poetically.
It screamed.
A high, discordant wail, distorted and filled with a corrupted aura that pulsed outwards in jagged waves, seemed to relish in the slaughter.
Each stroke was a feeding frenzy, each death only fueling its insatiable hunger.
William didn't even glance at what he cut down.
His gaze never left the Drider.
Every swing was incidental.
Every kill… effortless.
Across the battlefield, far from that storm of carnage, Minthara ran.
With each step, her boots crunched against the stone beneath them as she closed the distance between her and the jagged edge of the cliff face, her breath moving in steady, short bursts, but her focus remained unwavering.
She reached the edge and dropped low instantly, peering over, and saw her.
Karlach.
Hanging.
Unconscious.
Her muscular figure, though seemingly motionless, was only visible through the torn and tattered remnants of her clothing.
She was caught against a narrow jut of stone that protruded from the cliff face, resembling a fragile lifeline against the vast, endless expanse of black that lay below.
For a single, razor-thin moment, Minthara froze.
Then she moved.
With nary a second's hesitation, she let herself slide down the edge, her fingers finding purchase in the rough stone as she descended, her armor scraping against the rock face as she climbed down towards the precarious outcrop.
The darkness below swallowed all light.
No bottom.
No sound.
Just a yawning void waiting patiently.
With a soft, controlled drop, she settled down on the narrow stone, her boots making careful contact to ensure they didn't destabilize the already precarious structure.
Karlach's body sagged dangerously.
Minthara reached out immediately, gripping her.
"Not… today," she muttered under her breath, her muscles tensing as she began to pull.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Karlach's weight felt impossibly heavy, a dead weight dragging her down both physically and emotionally.
Her body just wouldn't cooperate, feeling utterly useless, hanging limp as Minthara struggled to pull her up.
Stone scraped.
Cloth strained.
Minthara let out a low grunt, her jaw visibly tightening as she exerted a firmer grip, inching Karlach forward towards a stable surface.
Almost?
Almost.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The Underdark shook.
Not trembled.
Shook.
A thick cloud of dust rained down from above, while the very stone beneath Minthara's feet began to violently vibrate, radiating outward in a powerful shockwave that sent tremors rippling across the battlefield directly behind her.
William.
He had not stopped.
He had never intended to.
Two Mane Demons, one in each hand, were thrashing violently against his grasp.
Their clawed limbs flailed uselessly as his fingers, seemingly like iron clamps, tightened around their throats.
Then, he moved.
Wings snapped open.
With a single, mighty beat of his wings, he launched himself into the sky, dragging the two screaming demons with him as he went.
For one brief, terrible moment, they hung.
Suspended.
Then, he came down.
CRAAAAAAAAAASH!!!
He slammed those unfortunate souls down to the ground with a force that seemed to be practically catastrophic, driving them directly into the very heart of the stone that was all that remained of the remaining horde.
The impact detonated outward.
Stone cracked.
Demons were thrown in all directions.
The two individuals he held in his grasp perished instantly, their bodies dissolving into a chaotic mess of fragments under the immense force of the impact, their very presence reduced to a shattered ruin.
The shockwave rippled outward, reaching the cliff.
CRACK.
The narrow stone beneath Minthara splintered.
Her eyes widened.
The outcrop that held Karlach… gave way.
The jagged, pointed spike, torn loose from the cliff's face, shattered free and plunged downward, disappearing into the vast, inky blackness below in an instant.
For a split second.
There was nothing beneath them.
Only Minthara's grip.
Only her strength.
Only her refusal to let go.
Back on the battlefield, William twisted.
His body contorted into a surprisingly fluid motion, and his tail snapped out sharply, wrapping around the arm of another Mane Demon that had stumbled a little too close.
The creature barely had time to react.
The tail tightened.
Then, he spun.
The motion was violent.
Explosive.
His entire body swung around with it, his hips propelling the movement as he flung the demon outward with terrifying force, the force of which sent the demon crashing backward.
The creature tore through the air, a screaming projectile hurled straight toward the Drider.
The Drider's eyes widened.
It moved.
Barely.
Leaping with all its might to the side, making a desperate scramble to get out of the way, as the body, in its violent movement, hurtled past its original position and struck the stone wall behind it.
BOOM!
The impact was immediate and incredibly violent.
The demon's body erupted against the rock, splitting apart in an explosive shower of gore and shattered bone.
Its ichor, a dark, blackened substance, erupted outwards in a violent arc, spraying the surrounding area.
Where the Drider had stood, there was nothing left but ruin.