Black portals swirled overhead, vomiting more cultists into the streets below.
The High Priest hovered above the sky, arms spread wide, creating a protective barrier as his black robes waving from the wind.
Baudin's blade slammed into the High Priest's protective barrier.
The barrier held, barely.
Below on the shattered buildings, Maugier Poirier stood with arms stretched wide, palms glowing light.
Sweat poured down his face, "Hold the line, Idol! Don't let that bastard breathe!"
Baudin's body surged with power. Mana flared around his scarred frame.
He twisted mid-air, bringing the greatsword around for a second, even heavier strike.
The blade connected again, creating more cracks.
High Priest's eyes narrowed in irritation. He finally lowered one arm, pointing a single finger at the annoying pest clinging to his shield.
"Insolent worm," he hissed, "Get… OFF!"
He slammed his free hand downward.
Black mana erupted from the rift in a concentrated pulse.
The barrier itself rippled violently, then exploded outward in a directed shockwave straight into Baudin's chest.
The scarred adventurer had no time to dodge.
"Gah—!" His body was hurled backward.
He smashed through three stories of a luxury boutique building in a shower of glass and marble, the greatsword still clenched in his grip.
Maugier's eyes widened in horror. "Idol—!!"
But the High Priest wasn't finished.
A dark grin split his face as he raised his other hand.
From the swirling portal behind him, a long, ornate staff materialized in a swirl of black mist and crimson light.
It was no ordinary weapon. The head of the staff was carved into the grotesque likeness of a one-eyed demon—fanged mouth stretched wide open.
Nestled perfectly between those jagged teeth was a pulsing golden orb, swirling with demonic energy that made the air around it distort.
The High Priest gripped the staff with one hand, lifting it high above his head.
"Behold," he intoned, "the Scepter of the Devouring Eye. Your little rebellion ends here, insects. Beelzebub's true awakening demands blood… and yours will be the first sacrifice!"
Down below, amid the settling dust and broken concrete of the ruined drebris, Baudin pushed himself up from the wreckage.
His coat was torn, fresh blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but that same wild, grin was already returning.
He hefted his greatsword onto his shoulder with a low chuckle. "Tch… That hurt more than I expected," he muttered, cracking his neck. "But if you think a fancy stick is gonna stop me…"
Maugier's voice crackled with worry. "Stay there master I'll cast an healing spell immediately—"
"No need." Baudin stated.
High above, the High Priest's single-eyed demon staff began to glow with ominous power, the golden orb between its teeth spinning faster and faster, pulling in ambient mana from the surrounding portals.
Baudin exploded out of the ruined debris greatsword already raised high on his shoulder.
"Round two!" he bellowed, voice echoing across the battlefield.
The High Priest's lips curled into a sneer of pure contempt. "Persistent vermin. Very well… drown in the darkness of the Lord of Flies!"
He thrust the staff forward.
Hundreds of dark beams erupted from the golden orb in a barrage—black lances of concentrated demonic energy, each one thick as a spear.
They rained down like a meteor shower from hell, carving glowing violet trails through the smoke-filled sky as they streaked straight towards Baudin.
He charged.
Boots pounding across the ruined pavement, Baudin sprinted through the devastated street like a wild beast on the hunt.
He weaved, ducked, and vaulted over cars with impossible agility for a man with a greatsword.
One beam grazed his shoulder, exploding a chunk of asphalt behind him.
"GET DOWN HERE, YOU FLY-WORSHIPPING BASTARD!" he roared.
Another slammed into the ground at his feet, sending him airborne for a heartbeat before he landed in a roll and kept running, debris flew everywhere.
Explosions bloomed left and right, each impact shaking the earth and lighting up the Champs-Élysées in flashes of unholy violet.
"Too slow!" Baudin roared, laughing even as a beam clipped his side and drew a line of blood across his ribs.
He leaped onto the hood of a flipped taxi, used it as a springboard, and hurled himself forward again, closing the distance with every stride.
Maugier's buffs still surged through his veins.
High above, the High Priest's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Insolent… You dare approach a high priest?!"
Baudin put one foot on the edge of a half-collapsed fountain and launched himself violently upward.
The greatsword trailed behind him, mana flaring crimson around the blade as he rocketed straight toward the hovering priest.
The distance between them vanished in a single, explosive leap.
"Got you—!"
For one second, Baudin was level with the High Priest, greatsword already swinging in a horizontal arc that could slice massive buildings
But the High Priest only smiled.
A colder, crueler smile.
"Oh?" he whispered, voice dripping with amusement. "You thought that was all?"
The golden orb between the demon's teeth suddenly flared brighter. The single-eyed carving on the staff opened its glowing maw wider, and a wave of invisible pressure slammed outward like a silent shockwave.
Maugier's voice crackled desperately through the comms from far below. "Idol! That attack is dangerous—get as far away from him now!!"
Baudin's body froze mid-swing—greatsword halting inches from the priest's robes.
The High Priest's free hand snapped forward, fingers, and black chains of demonic mana erupted from the staff's base.
They coiled around Baudin's torso and arms in an instant, binding him like living serpents. The chains pulsed lifting him higher into the air.
"You insects never learn," the High Priest laughed as he floated closer until his face was mere inches from Baudin's snarling one.
"The Scepter does not only destroy… it devours. And right now, it is devouring every last drop of your pathetic adventurer spirit."
But the High Priest raised the staff once more, the golden orb spinning so fast it blurred into a halo of light.
"Behold the true gift of Beelzebub," he intoned, eyes glowing. "The Devouring Eclipse."
A second, far larger rift began to tear open directly behind him—wider, darker, edged with screaming faces made of shadow.
The golden orb pulsed in time with it, pulling Baudin's bound body closer.
Baudin strained against the chains, teeth clenched in a defiant snarl. "Like hell… I'm done… yet—!"
And the High Priest's final trick had only just begun to unfold.