In a chaotic clash of dust and flying pebbles, Kageno and I were being methodically overwhelmed. Our strikes, meant to be lethal, were being parried with insulting ease. Kageno lunged at the dreadlord's left rear while I surged toward his right. The Commander dismissed Kageno's thrust with a casual feint, and in the same heartbeat, he snapped a kick into my chest just as my blade was about to land. The impact sent me hurtling through the air, crashing into the valley cliff. The stone shattered into a crater, releasing a choking cloud of dust and jagged debris.
Kageno didn't let up, delivering a straight side-punch that the dreadlord caught with a single arm. The collision unleashed a shockwave that spiderwebbed the ground beneath them. The dreadlord's movements were calm, controlled and almost bored.
'He blocked it? He's studying us... parrying us like mere child's play?,' Kageno thought, his irritation flared into a silent rage. He unleashed a blur of strikes from his dual blades, but the Dreadlord danced through the storm with effortless side-steps and precise steel-on-steel blocks. Shockwaves rippled across the valley as the battle shifted from one zone to another. The movements were so blindingly fast that Ria and Kael lost track of their silhouettes. Only Sinata, but even with her Tier-7 perception, could barely follow the carnage.
Suddenly, the dreadlord flickered. He appeared instantly behind Kageno, his massive hand clamping onto Kageno's head. He slammed him into the dirt, dragging him across the rocky floor before hoisting him into the air. Before Kageno could react, the demon unleashed a flurry of lightning-fast strikes to his chest. The force sent Kageno spiraling backward in a blurry motion, crashing through successive cliffs until he vanished into the distance.
The dreadlord's gaze fell back on Ria and Sinata. Utilizing his hell-step, he vanished and reappeared in front of them, swinging his black longsword with mountain-crushing pressure.
BOOM!
The blade hissed from a blind angle, aimed to sever both their heads, but at the last microsecond, the steel veered off course. It grazed upward, missing its mark. The dreadlord paused, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the source of the interference.
"Ria, Sinata! Get out of his sight! I'll hold him off!" Kael roared. His hands were outstretched, veins bulging as he struggled to bend the hell-blade's trajectory with his magnetism. But the demon's sword straightened on its own, refusing to be dominated. Kael trembled, a cold realization washing over him. He was in serious trouble.
'Damn it! I'm cooked.' He muttered inwardly with sweat prickling on his face.
Before a second could tick, the dreadlord flickered again. A back-jab caught Kael squarely in the face, sending him spinning as blood sprayed from his mouth. Before he could even hit the ground, a follow-up kick caught him in the stomach, sending him flying.
The demon pursued Kael's crashing body to deliver the finishing blow, but Sinata intercepted him. Her katana flashed, drawing rapid slashes across the Varakah commander's torso, but the wounds closed instantly. She stepped back, her heart sinking.
'He can regenerate? This is a nightmare,' she realized.
The Dreadlord swung an unavoidable horizontal slash at her. Just as the blade was inches from her neck, I appeared. I intercepted the strike, countering it upward with the short blade. Blood streaked down the side of my face and my lungs burned, but I gave him a taunting, blood-toothed grin.
"Is that all you've got?" I asked, tilting my blade into a defiant stance.
"Interesting human," The dreadlord rumbled.
But as the words left his mouth, metal iron-shackles erupted from the ground, binding the demon's hands and legs. As he was temporarily demobilized, a shadow loomed over him. Kageno appeared from the flank, delivering a devastating flying knee-kick to the dreadlord's jaw, skidding the monster backward.
Ria and Kael had held the line, destabilizing the demon's movement just long enough for Kageno's surprise return.
"Welcome back," I said, looking at Kageno.
"Hmph!"
The Dreadlord slowly raised his head, a dark smile playing on his lips. "You humans are skilled in coordination," he said, and then he unleashed it his ability, 'Abyssal Ambition.'
The environment shrieked. The ground cracked as a tide of dark energy flooded the terrain. Gravity intensified ten-fold. Our movements became sluggish, as if we were underwater. Breathing became a chore. Sweat prickled my skin as the pressure felt suffocating. My knees threatened to buckle, but I forced my will into my legs. I will not kneel like I did back when Luka Cinandra intimidated me which won't ever happen again.
Primal fear erupted from Ria, Sinata, and Kael. They had never faced an aura this lethal. Then, as quickly as it began, the dreadlord withdrew the pressure. Ria and Sinata collapsed to their knees, gasping for air. Only Kageno and I remained relatively steady.
Taking advantage of their recovery, the demon swung his blade horizontally. A black energy arc sliced through the stone, traveling toward us with terrifying speed. Kageno, Kael, and I blurred out of the way but only to realize Ria and Sinata were still paralyzed in the path of the blast.
"Shit—!" I barked.
Just as the arc was about to claim them, a massive metal hand snatched them away, Ria and Sinata gasped as the metal hand wrapped around their waist and yanked her backward.
"Nice save, Kael," I complimented him.
Kael didn't respond. His deep brown hair shadowed his eyes, making him unreadable, but I knew the praise hit home.
"Kael, give them these," Kageno said, tossing two tubes of serum from his pouch. "Seems this bastard is trying to break our spirits. That won't work on someone like me." He snapped back into a fighting stance.
Kael forced the serum down Ria and Sinata's throats, snapping them back to their senses.
"Kael, get them out of here," I said, my gaze narrowing on the demon. My aura began to fluctuate, the air around me vibrating with a hidden, rising heat.
"Because right now," I said, a dark smile spreading across my face, "I'm about to go all out."