Embers (Hana ✗ Sen)

[Mu]

He followed her instructions carefully, moving out of the way of clouds and flying birds that squawked in terror and fled at the sight of the two. It had been a while since he had properly flown, he felt so free. It was like flying in Phantisamine and overlooking the world but the human world instead, with clearer air a less chance of bumping into demons. He was careful about Selene sitting atop his body. He made sure to steady his body and not make any of the usual loops he would in case he threw the huntress off.

During the week he had seen a few what he thought were huge birds. Selene had introduced him to 'airplanes and helicopters', facinating and captivating the attention of Phynex. So even though humans did not have wings like he did, they found their own ways of moving about. Humans were innovative and creative, seeing so many things that they used to do what seemed impossible. In the not yet bright morning, he did not see any of them yet. The tell tale sign of their engines rumbling and the whipping blades could not be heard. There was barely any sound apart from the wind howling and the calls of birds.

Phynex could feel every movement of Selene, even when she applied more pressure on the rock she was holding on to. But he could feel her getting used to the flying experience. Even though the sun was not up yet and the darkness was still looming over the city, he could see fairly well. They zoomed towards the countryside, where there were more and more trees. His sharp eyes always found themselves roaming towards the animals that seemed to be grazing the grass.

 

[Hana]

She leaned forward slightly, and while he didn't have eyes, she could see that he was looking at the fields. Her eyesight allowed her to see far enough if she focused, letting her see the outline of the animals grazing on the grassy fields. "Those animals you are looking at are called 'cows'. Remember what I told you about 'beef'? Their meat is what is usually called 'beef'," she might as well turn this trip into a learning experience for him. They had only remained in the hunter district, after all, so the countryside would probably be new to him. Fields and fields of crops, even some streams passing through the farms and lakes. Then the more forest-like areas, different trees all growing strong and close to each other, their leaves and branches forming a green facade from their point of view.

Even farther out, now out of the bounds of the city, were the mountains. They weren't going that far, but the mountains gave a beautiful backdrop. "Those are the mountains." Because these mountains weren't really inhabited by humans, there were few demons as well, and the trees and wildlife were left to grow free and wild. Selene knew it wasn't always that way in the past, supposedly the West loved to use weapons of steel and fire, explosions and bombs that had ravaged the lands in the past.

It was sad that these lands only recovered now that the demons were trying to take it away from the humans. Only now that the humans were too busy fighting for their lives and their own was the land able to recover itself, and murmurs of the hidden supernaturals - because surely they were out there - were now putting their efforts into finally helping the green things grow. Though they still didn't like humans for what they had done in the past.

"These lands used to have great and beautiful cities, even more than our city now," Selene said softly as she looked down. "Maybe not so beautiful, because humans loved steel and fire and machines. They had ruined most of the land hundreds of years ago. In a way, some say that the arrival of the demons was good for the land - but not the humans."

 

[Mu]

"Cows..." he repeated after her. They were quite big, white with dark patches. From so high in the sky it was hard to see clearly and notice every detail but from what he could see from up in the clouds, the number of cows were plenty. Thinking about the amount of delicious meals he had eaten during his first week, he licked his lips. It was so different from the cities, it reminded him of a greener Phantisamine. Instead of tall buildings with glowing lights and people wrapped tightly in coats hurrying about, all he could see was grass, a few houses scattered here and there and animals. There were plants growing in patches of land, lakes as clear as crystals shimmering and clusters of trees here and there. It was something he'd never seen before, and it was beautiful.

On the horizon was the looming shadow of the mountains. Not as big compared to the underworld, but they in itself were pretty. Not covered in white and chilly winds like the domain of the Ice Witch. But it did look sadly barren, he wondered what mountains looked like when they had life on them.

Phynex nodded and listened. "Phantisamine used to have villages and smaller cities apart from the capital. But they have almost all been demolished under the hands of the generals. Demons are so destructive, it terrifies even me." He was silent. "My father was a general. They say he did many terrible things. It is hard for me to see a monster like that in my father, who had been kind to me."

 

[Hana]

She looked at the back of his head in surprise, hearing that one tidbit of information. A demon general's son? While the list had estimated him to be at the least mid-high to high-low tier, Kasimir hadn't added in that this demon had an at least high-mid tier parent. The curious lack of mention about his own mother was obvious, but she didn't press him. Selene was already surprised he was even sharing this with her, knowing that she was from a prominent hunting family. "I think you'll find that defining a monster would get harder and harder everyday," she remarked quietly. Though his father must have been fearsome indeed to be called a monster among demons, it was similar to the way her father was thought to be a demon himself with how insanely strong he was, even retired.

"You can be a friend to one person and an enemy and a monster to another. Your father wouldn't have been as much of a monster as they said if he knew how to treat his son, would he?" She raised an eyebrow. "You can't avoid doing mistakes or terrible things in your life." She knew some who if they saw her at work would describe her as cruel and ruthless, as cold as ice. That was the way she had been taught to deal with her work, and it led to her doing some terrible things - maybe in the eyes of people, maybe in the eyes of even the demons themselves. But the world was harsh and despite the pleasant concept of 'what should be fair', it wasn't fair. Thinking like that would only get you killed.

Now the knowledge that demons caused war among themselves wasn't new. Even humans did that. "At the very least, even a monster has loved ones," she murmured, voice almost inaudible. They were getting closer to their destination, and she once again went back to pointing out to him where they should land.

 

[Mu]

Phynex chuckled tonelessly, with the many things happening to the world right now, defining a monster was hard. Demons who invaded the lands of humans and tried to claim it with brute force instead of negotiating, who killed demons on sight and did whatever they wished with the bodies. Souls and bodies being used in the making of a contract, betrayals and demon dominance and their belief in demon superiority was enough to drive them to do all sorts of unspeakable evils. It was true his father ended lives, stole treasury from villages and plundered and wasted them. But he was just being loyal to his lord, and he was, though some may find it hard to believe, a great father who knew how to look after his son and raise him.

He heaved a sigh and followed her direction, moving his body and angling it down so that they headed towards the location she was pointing at. The area was silent, the sun almost coming up but not just yet. The demon was nowhere to be seen, nor were any humans nearby either. "Do you think I am a monster?" he asked. He did look like one. He could be one too. Selene just hadn't seen it yet. Phynex wasn't sure if he wanted to show his hunteress partner what he could become once he got too into the battle.

 

[Hana]

Selene watched as they once again descended onto the ground, the ground seeming to become larger as they met it. Once back on solid ground, the girl got off of her demon partner in swift but careful movements. Once she was standing beside him she titled her head slightly at his question. "I don't know you enough to tell as of yet," she murmured, seeing no reason to be dishonest. "But if I were to trust my own feelings..." She patted his side, looking around the place they had landed in. "I don't think you're a monster. You're a person." She wasn't going to outright think he could do no wrong yet, he may be a rather kind demon, but she knew she hadn't seen all of his sides yet.

By now the sky was starting to lighten, and the sun must have started just barely peeking out of the horizon. Her eyes still adapted to the mostly dark surroundings. As she had expected, this place was one of the more rural areas, far away from the crowded streets and buildings. The only buildings here seemed to be farmhouses, storehouses, mills and stables, and even then the farms were far in between. They had landed by the edge of the abandoned farm their target was dwelling in, and from the sounds of it, the demon wasn't back yet. She couldn't yet sense a demonic aura from the storehouse, though there was a lone light coming from there.

"It seems he hasn't come back from his daily exploits yet," she remarked darkly, motioning to Phynex to follow her behind a cluster of trees. The thick trunks and the low hanging branches would hide him for now, and she quickly grabbed onto one branch, pulling herself up easily before making her way up higher and higher the tree. Settling herself on one branch, moved closer to the branch's end as much as she could, eyes set on the area surrounding the storehouse, then at the dusty road. Selene knew by now that the closest other farms should have had their own inhabitants up and awake by now, early to rise and to take care of their fields and their livestock, but the area here seemed quiet. That was probably the work of The Butcher, with his rather original name, terrorizing the locals and taking their harvest and their stock.

She looked down for a moment from the branches, towards Phynex. "You're going to wait until he comes back, then. It won't be long, since he prefers to do his 'work' during night." Once the demon brought back his spoils and settled in for the day inside his storehouse, she wouldn't immediately lure him out and take him down. Selene had a few suspicions that this demon may have paid off or intimidated the weaker demons in the area to look out for him, so she would probably have to make a few 'detours' around this farm to take care of a few more eyes. "I'm going to go out and look around to see if he has his own lookouts, and take them down before they could alarm him once he comes back. The way you are now, you'll be noticed immediately. We could use your demon-fire as a lure later on."

 

[Mu]

Having flown many times before, the fire demon easily swerved downwards and safely landing on the ground, kneeling down again to let the huntress off and allowing her to slide off easily. His mind was clouded with many emerging thoughts of his father and what Selene's opinion of him was. Why he was suddenly so self-conscious, he had no idea. The fire demon turned around to look at Selene with a shocked expression, surprise visible in both his aura and the sudden glow of the demon's face. "Me? You see me as a 'person'?" To be viewed in anything but a demon was unusual, but he felt his face start to glow with what looked like affection and embarrassment. This was new. His partner seeing him as more of a person than a demon who pillaged the human world.

Selene had directed him to land at the edge of a large patch of land. All he could see were buildings, most of them quite big and painted in bright colours, surrounded by lovely green grass and flowers swaying with the gathering, morning wind. There wasn't a single person in sight, not even animals. Phynex couldn't sense the demon's aura either, either he was very good at hiding it or he was out looking for food or more humans to kill. The sun had just came up, lighting the sky slowly. The perfect opportunity to snoop around under the eyes of the Butcher.

The place was eerily silent. Phynex quietly plodded after Selene into the cover of some trees, but who were they hiding from? The demon was not here, and there were no cows or anything at all. All along the farms on their way here were littered with them, grazing peacefully on grass ways and ways away from where they were now. Maybe the humans had thought about moving their animals to a safer location, humans tended not to stay in the same area of a dangerous demon. For someone with that name, Phynex imagined an ogre like demon. He knew about the orcs and ogres that lived in the murky swamps of the underworld, and the loud oni of the mountains, the 'Butcher' sounded like any of those giant species.

Phynex frowned at her, sadness temporarily showing on his body language. But he did understand why. Until he achieved his human form, his glowing body would just be a magnet for attention. Selene's cover would be blown. The fire demon was better off hiding and waiting for the demon to come back. He flashed her an encouraging smile and wished her good luck before burying himself deeper into the shrubbery, turning his body temperature to its lowest to avoid a fire.

 

[Hana]

She glanced at his momentarily saddened face and jumped down from the tree branch, avoiding the lower branches and landing silently in front of him. "I am glad you are here, you know," she remarked quietly, expression calm and truthful. "I've never had a backup before, so this feels... New." It was true. Selene had never had someone, even another hunter, act as a partner or someone who would look out for her, backing her up against demons she faced off against. The knowledge that someone would be fighting alongside her still felt a little foreign, though that was the reason she had actually formed a contract in the first place. "I'll be back," with that, she headed away from their hiding spot behind the clustered trees, going off into the early, dark morning and spreading out her senses.

Her suspicions were proven when she felt a group of interested eyes on her back as soon as she set foot on the property, and she turned her head in that direction. Showing no reaction or hint that she sensed the demon, which now that she focused was clearly a low-tier one, she soon set to work. Narrowing down locations and cornering the minor demons was easy work, their weak but noticeable auras soon clear to her and letting her move quickly towards where they were hiding. All in all, there were four of those demons, who seemed to be some sort of small imps. The last one seemed to catch on that she knew they were watching.

He must have sensed something amiss with the other demons, because as she neared the place where he hid - of all places, near the storehouse and behind a stack of crates - she could hear erratic, agitated movements. His footsteps were already indicative that he was trying to look for an out, but there was hesitation. There were pauses in between as she rounded the corner of the crates, as if he was contemplating whether he should run or not.

The demon must have come to a decision, because a rounded, gleaming object soon whizzed towards her. Her hand snapped up and caught it out of the air at arm's length, and inspecting it, she frowned. It seemed to be some sort of sickly vial of poison or gas, and she, narrowing her eyes in the general direction of the demon, threw it back with greater force. A shattering sound followed by splattering was heard along with a garbled cry, high and nasal almost, and before the demon could run she let her knives loose. The panicked sounds suddenly cut off, and as she cautiously made her way across she knew what she would be seeing.

Selene hadn't aimed to hit the demon with that vial, after all. She merely threw it in his direction, aiming a little just to barely miss him, before following it up with her knives. The distraction and the panic wouldn't let him see the sudden flurry of knives stabbing into his body. She stared blankly at the hissing, sickly green substance that seemed to evaporate behind the demon. It affected through contact with skin, most likely. Pulling her knives out of the demon's dead, prone body - from the forehead, throat, chest and his wrists which were pinned down with the knives - she flicked the blood off of each knife before soon retreating. The demons were all taken care of in a similar way to this one - though the others didn't even know what happened before they died soon after.

It had only taken half an hour at most to find and rid the place of those lookouts, and she soon walked back to where Phynex was hidden. "There were four lookouts. Low-tier demons, now we wait." She frowned at the remnants of blackish blood on two knives that won't seem to come off, and wiped it off on a the leaves from a low hanging branch, before swiping the blade to cut off the affected leaves. "Can you burn those?"

 

[Mu]

The demon flushed, his face glowing like a warm orange light that he quickly toned down to avoid being noticed, peeking out at her from the leaves of the bushes and trees, "I am glad you are here too," he murmured back which most his body surprisingly concealed from within the greenery. If he went deeper, even demons won't be able to see him unless the Butcker decided to ruin this nice patch of trees and bushes. The only other being he had ever fought with was the fire nymph, and that was a few hundred years ago. Fighting side by side with a human who was highly skillful and took her job seriously seemed intimidating and stressful, but the fire demon found himself falling in love with the human city he was in over and over again.

Watching her carefully to know when to go in for backup at the fight sign of trouble, he suddenly felt the presence of four auras. They were not particularly strong, weak ripples of maroon echoing from their bodies. From what he could see with his sharp eyes, concealed in the trees, they were low-tiered imps. Demons that others considered servants and a good source of manual labour. They would do anything for a swig of alcohol, their ultimate drug and love. They were small and a nuisance, often being sent off to other demons by their lords to act as pesky salesman or just being an annoyance in general.

Their auras were wavering, as if they were unsure about the sudden presence of a female who looked like they couldn't see them. Though three of them had dismissed her, the other was not so sure just yet. Phynex almost jumped in when one of them lashed out, their long nailed hands clasped around a glass tube of sorts, holding a corroding acid - chemicals were the specialty of imps - that he knew could melt just about anything. The fire demon found himself holding onto his breath, and let it out with a loud puff as he worriedly watched Selene dispatch them easily.

All of these seemed to have happened in a few minutes, but half an hour had already passed, the imps dead and stacked in a pile nearby and the Butcher nowhere to be seen. The sun had risen up higher, giving the grass a lighter colour and the trees beginning to sway gently, the leaves creating a soothing rustling noise. Demon attacks and this 'Butcher' did not suit this type of peaceful environment at all, apart from the food the demon could steal and eat, what was the point of staying here?

Phynex blinked at the pile of bodies nearby and then at Selene's indifferent face and her stained blades. Imp blood was thick and disgusting, making stains and making anything covered in it difficult to wash without some cleaning formula that a young inventor had tried to sell to the demon's world. He cocked his head and took a deep breath, blowing out a thin stream of greish-green flames out, the flames instantly engulfing the pile of imps and burning them until only ashes were left. "Normal fire would have made it smell. Hell fire is the way to go here."

 

[Hana]

Selene nodded, having finally cleaned off the irritating remnants from her knives. Well, at least they looked like they were rid of the substance - she would be cleaning them after this. Imp blood was hard to clean off, but not impossible - she had killed and spilled the blood of many demons and that included them. She murmured her thanks, thinking about how useful hellfire would be to get rid of demon bodies and evidence. That is, in situations where the usage of hell fire wouldn't be sensed. It was possible high demons could tell if hell fire was used just recently in an area.

"Now we just wait." She made her way back up the tree from earlier again, settling once more on a high branch with little sound but the rustling of the leaves. Intently looking out at the storehouse, she mentioned to Phynex, "Tell me if you see a demonic aura or see something. As soon as he gets inside that storehouse, we're going to have to be very careful about luring him out with your fire." This was a situation where they could take advantage of his strange vision, as it didn't seem to be merely looking ahead, but somewhat around him as well. It also gave her ideas on how to practice sneaking, she might encounter a demon with similar sight like his one day.

After a while of silence as they both watched the place, Selene spoke up, voice still a low murmur for only him to hear. "What kind of demon do you think is this Butcher?" She wanted to hear his opinion and guesses on what demon they would be facing. Her own guesses included orc or giant, and maybe the more exotic in the West - an oni. That type dwelt more in the East, from the books she had read and the stories her redhaired mentor had told her.

No doubt Kasimir, as old, powerful and knowledgeable he obviously was - there was no point in hiding it for him - had once traveled to the Eastern lands. He seemed to be particularly amused about foxes and birds, for some reason, whenever they looked at the replicas of Eastern artwork. That demon was always amused about something, though, so maybe that was just the way he was.

 

[Mu]

He tilted his head and nodded, looking out for an aura was no issue for him. Self-taught and probably not as good as the demons the fire demon could list, he still found this skill reliable. His vision was all in his mind, everything was like as if he did have eyes himself. But the demon relied on other sense as well, being an half earth-elemental demon, he could sense the tremors - even the slightest ones - with ease. If this Butcher demon decided to walk up to his storehouse, Phynex could have no problem sensing his presence beforehand.

"Something big, from the orc family or even the oni of the East." Phynex sounded thoughtful, trying to think of any demons it could be. "It might be a Butcher Beetle from the forests of the West," he suggested. Since it had the word butcher in it, and demons weren't necessarily creative. They were very big and did like bloodshed. "Western demons usually focus more on elemental magic, they tend not to brandish and show off the weapons they wield. On the other hand, I have heard that even though our Eastern counterparts are much more skillful with magic, they tend to channel them through swords and the like." He made sure to keep his voice low enough for no one to hear but Selene. "Have you been to the East before?"

In the underworld, the East was very different. The Western side had domains, states and borders, each ruled by an archdemon and served the supreme lord. However, in the East, they had a system of 'rings'. The first ring being the land of the low tier and so on. Damned souls were caught in between both worlds, and the demons that lived in the seventh and last ring were an unknown species. Though Phynex himself had never travelled so far, he had read many stories about the Eastern land. Where demons believed in honour and sacrifice and were more connected to the Celestials.

 

[Hana]

Selene nodded at his guesses, murmuring, "I thought the same." Butcher Beetles would be a little more trouble with their protective armor, since that would take more pressure to break through, but they weren't impossible. A lone one wasn't really heard of, though, much less in such a quiet area liket his. She shook her head in reply to his question, still looking intently ahead. "I know that about Eastern demons. If I remember right, they also use Seals for almost any number of purpose." She glanced down at him momentarily. "One of the Old Ones is supposed to be an Easterner, a Seal master."

The Seals were one of those mysteries that the West could never pry out of the East. The Easterners guarded this valuable magic fiercely, tight-lipped about even a simple explanation, let alone the mechanics. Its origins were mostly clouded in rumors, but all agreed it was invented by a demon, though nowadays even the Celestials knew about it. Selene knew it was similar to the rune arrays and circles of the Westerners, though. Supposedly like the rune arrays, the Seals were also an inscriptive type of magic - one that took meticulous planning and skill, and a talent for improvisation. It was hard to tell if one was a true master of Sealing and Runes because of how open-ended and wide the areas were. A battle between a skilled Rune user against another was already considered a rare spectacle, practicioners showing their dedication to the art pitting their wits, experience, skill and talent against each other. The battle between Seal masters were a thing of legend in the East - and Seal masters were even rarer than Rune masters.

"The swordmasters of the East are also quite famous," she murmured. It was known even here that it was a taboo to touch the Bonded sword of another person, because it was in an extension and physical manifestation of the person's soul. It could have harmful consequences to both the owner and the offender both. And swordmasters never yielded their own swords willingly, it was a disgrace among disgraces - enough that some would commit ritual suicide. The only way to get the Bonded sword was through defeating them in battle and demanding for it. Selene was more interested in learning more about how they fought, however. The styles based on speed and agility would help augment her own list of skills.

She suddenly stilled as she felt something amiss in the edge of her senses, and leaned forward slightly. Going back to staring at the area of the storehouse, she murmured, "Look."

 

[Mu]

"I haven't seen the Old Ones a lot myself." Most of them were wanderers, travelers just like him. They were well respected by all members of the underworld, even earning the trust of the supreme king. They knew all and were wizened with magic, they knew magic no one else did. Even the ones that have been wiped out of existence because they were considered taboo and dangerous. He had heard one of the Old Ones was all knowing, omniscient and could answer any question presented to him after years of what was rumored to be meditation and traveling. The demon had truly been everywhere, explored the Western states, traversed to the deepest of the Eastern rings - stayed in the seventh ring for only a few minutes without going insane - been to the cold North where it could get so cold one's skin could crack open and expose the organs before freezing entirely. Witnessed the falling of the ark of the Celestials and the birth of the most mysterious yet powerful demoness - even on par with the supreme king - and hailed as the mother of portals and modern demons. The old demon saw the instrument of transport that took the ascended humans into the sky and beyond through the gates of Paradise turn into breeding grounds for new demons and mainmast of the ark crack open the sky and reveal the first portal to the human world. A fascinating and chilling story of how the Witch tempted the demons into entering the human world and causing chaos. No one knew her motives.

Phynex nodded, "I have read about the Bonding. Like sharing a soul with a weapon. I have also read about their version of demon contracts as well, like debts that need to be repaid." There were times that Phynex wanted to go visit the Seven Rings, but traversing from one side of the land to the other was a difficult task. Like the human world - he had studied a map during the past week - the underworld had a long and wide river separating the two lands. They say it was a river of souls and a home of the damned. Not all demons could cross it, it was much easier to just find a portal in the human world to get through, but the Easterners were skilled magicians, containing all portals to the Eastern underworld in their own homeland.

The fire demon was surprised, he had been so busy thinking about demons and talking to Selene, he had almost forgotten about the Butcher. He could feel vibrations in the ground, and an approaching aura. Surrounded by reds and red colours only, a giant's shadow emerged from the horizon. The Butcher was tall, big and imposing. A mutated face with barely a presence of a mouth, long pointed horns jutting out from his forehead, glowing and beady black eyes. He had a wide, almost protruding chest with thick arms and legs that ended with two toes. His skin looked like the texture of muscle, and his body had plenty of that too. In his clawed hands held a limb, dangling figure of a cow, its head had been torn off, the blood dripping and dripping like a running tap but unfazing the demon.

 

[Hana]

"Well, no wonder he needed such a big storehouse all to himself," Selene muttered wryly as she spotted the large, hulking form of the Butcher approaching his lair. She glanced over at the cow in those large, clawed hands, the cow already looked dwarfed in comparison to the demon. It was probably from one of the nearby farms' livestock, she could only hope the inhabitants themselves were alright. The Society could be so callous towards civilians sometimes, preferring to focus on the demons themselves instead of taking care of the civilians. It was quicker that way, but the civilians also tended to have a hard time, though most settled for the demons plaguing them being killed by the hunters. It was just that way now.

The Butcher had a gleeful grin on its twisted face, his beady black eyes looking straight towards the storehouse. The grin was smug and satisfied, as if taking the belongings of hapless civilians was anything to be proud of. That mangled mess of a mouth, the lips twisted and the teeth jagged and uneven, even looking broken in some parts, made her wonder how the demon was even able to grin. Either way, the world was better off without the sight of that grin.

She narrowed her eyes, and staying incredibly still on top of the branch, whispered to Phynex, "Once he gets inside, we move forward to that storehouse." If the Butcher had any brains in that twisted and mangled head of his, he should be able to sense the presence of a demon like Phynex. Phynex's presence alone was able to mask her own aura - she knew how to mute her own, not completely wipe it off the senses, but her partner's aura acted strangely. She wondered how she had just noticed it, but the aura seemed to come in front of hers, as if a disguise or hiding hers. She had been planning to learn how to completely hide her own aura for the purpose of enhancing her already considerable stealth, but this strange thing was an unexpected help. It couldn't really be done every mission, though, since that was merely calling trouble straight to Phynex.

"And then, can you call and control your fire to slip inside the storehouse?" She asked quietly, still watching the demon. Because it was a humanoid type, she could already pick out certain weak spots to take advantage of. The hard muscle would be hard to slice or stab through, but there were always weak parts. Now to deal a critical blow to the Butcher... "Parry and fend off his blows, I'll have to duck under you and him." If she could weaken the legs - by hamstringing them - the demon would have a much harder time. She slid out a dagger from her sleeve. "But also target his weak points if you can." Had she been alone, taking down this demon would have taken long. This Butcher was the tough type that she had to whittle down by quick, repeated and fast strikes, having to be careful not to get hit and then land the critical blows. Selene knew she probably couldn't hope to block this demon's attack, and if she even did she couldn't hold for long.

The Butcher had now reached the front of the storehouse and seemed to be calling out to his four imps. Which were, of course, dead. At the lack of replies, the demon's mangled face darkened. She distinctly heard a displeased and disgruntled growling, and the demon seemed to be cursing the 'laziness' of the imps and how they probably had been dozing off or intoxicated with their alcohol. Somehow, it was amusing that even the Butcher acknowledged the incompetence of his own underlings. He seemed to look around with a scowl, before stomping into the storehouse, darkly promising a punishment to the imps if he saw them.

 

[Mu]

Phynex nodded and waited for his vision to blur, just so that he could feel his own aura surrounding him. It was hot. Like fire. Reds and browns swirling all around him like a watery halo, shimmering and showing his true demonic nature. With great effort, he pulled his aura backwards, masking it ever so slightly so he wouldn't be detected by the huge demon that had just disappeared into the red storehouse. Now that the tremors were weaker now that he was inside the building, Phynex quietly moved forward, listening to his gut feeling and walking like a cat, silently and carefully. He clung to the side of the storehouse where he knew the demon couldn't see him, looking to see if Selene had followed him.

Following her earlier command, he began bringing his hands together, fire bursting to life like an awaiting friend and letting him shape it, mold it into a thin like string. Just as much as Phynex could choose what to burn with this new control of fire, he could decide what not to burn. He and his fire were one, and that was what made it stronger. With a flick of the wrist, the fire lay on the grass like a snake, glowing brightly but for some strange reason leaving the grass untouched. It snaked towards the storehouse and turned the corner, shooting towards the leg of the demon and curling up his leg in one swift motion and bursting into enraged flames.

The demon inside had been caught off guard. His imps had not responded to his calls, so he dismissed them, knowing they were probably off drinking alcohol of the humans and getting drunk silly. The Butcher strung the cow from a rack he had set up, letting the blood drip out of the stump of its neck and grinning at his prize. The animals in the human world were quite tasty, but of course, it was just a snack compared to the soft flesh of humans. Without hesitation, the demon took a big, bloody bite out of the leg, chewing on the red meat and swallowing the muscles and tendons, blood and all.

Suddenly, he felt a burning pain on its leg. Looking down and shocked to see his leg on fire, the demon tried to pat if off and smother the flames. But like magic, it refused to go away, as if it had its own life, it continued to burn. Growling, the demon stumbled outside and walked towards the lake, mustering his strength and ignoring the pain. Even if he tried to run towards the water, his leg was beginning to weaken from the flames. He had skin just like human beings - much to his disappointment - and he did wish he had armor like other demons.

 

[Hana]

Selene watched as the fire snaked through the grass and into the storehouse, admiring the control it took to keep the flame moving as sinuous as a snake and at the same time not burning anything. They both heard a bewildered and angered grown from the place, and then the large form of the Butcher thundered out of the storehouse. She immediately noticed that he was limping - and upon further looking, she saw that the fire was curled around one large leg, blazing in angry red flames. Even the demon himself could not fully ignore the burn, as his leg would weaken from the damage every second.

"Good idea," she murmured to Phynex. She had not told him that, but this worked just as well - a lure and at the same time weakening the Butcher in some way. They watched him try to go as fast as he could to the lake, and with barely a rustle, Selene dropped to the ground agan. "Let's go. He will notice you first. I will get behind him to get a first unexpected hit." With how the ground trembled and the Butcher's steps thundered loudly, Selene's completely silent presence wouldn't even be sensed until she would hit him. With a final glance at Phynex, she moved to tail the Butcher as he stumbled to the lake. Her footfalls fell lightly upon the ground, so light and soundless that it didn't seem like it made any impact.

The Butcher was still quite some distance from the lake, and already he was stumbling and trying not to fall to one knee. His face was a picture of rage and agony as the skin and flesh on his leg sizzled and burned, the skin peeling and blackening from the flakes of fire that lashed at it. His demon healing was trying to counter the damage as fast as it could, but at the constant rate the fire was burning, focused intensely on only his leg, he was fighting a losing battle. The regeneration of tissue, skin and muscle simply couldn't keep up with the rate the fire burned through his cells. He growled and snarled, enraged at whoever did this to him and looked around.

What he didn't know was that Selene had already crossed the area to him, and was now carefully dancing out of his vision, her steps now completely soundless. With each sudden turn that he gave, she predicted and soon moved out of his sight and his sense, keeping a distance behind his back as she held her blades in each hand. With a glance in Phynex's direction, she gave a small nod, the sign for him to go. Surprisingly, she was anticipating the coming fight more than she had towards her battles in a while.

This would give her a chance to see how well she could work with Phynex in actual combat. And this was a chance to see how he fought, since they had never really seen each other in action, only in practice and in lessons. Selene had a feeling Phynex wouldn't disappoint. And that he would have even more surprises up his sleeve than she thought.

 

[Mu]

Phynex watched with mild interest as the large demon stumbled out of the building and headed towards the lake just at the end of the plot of land. He glowed for a few seconds at Selene's praise. He had practiced a lot for this. Bonding with fire was like bonding with Selene, it needed time. At her word, he moved forward and out of the shadows of the storehouse, stalking the footsteps of the rampaging demon, who's noises were getting louder and louder as the fire consumed his leg. Phynex could see the fire doing its work, burning away and eating away the skin and revealing the muscles and flesh underneath, the wound blackening as the fire continued to dwindle away at his energy and the strength of his leg.

The Butcher turned around and the first thing he saw was another demon. And it wasn't some cheap imp that he could easily overpower, he could tell the thing was stronger. "You. You did this." He deduced after a few seconds of intense staring. It was made of fire, swirling magma that formed his body along with a few rocks. It was doing nothing but standing there in a defensive stance, its face passive as it moved closer one step at a time. The large demon gulped, taking a step back, the pain in his leg searing and warping his sense of feeling. All he could feel now was pain, pain and pain. Yet the fire refused to be put out. He needed to reach the lake, but he did not dare tear his eyes away from the fire demon. It was here to take away all his spoils. All the gold, the meat and the humans. No! With a yell, the Butcher bravely charged forward head first, one hand out ready to materialize the club he liked to use for bludgeoning.

He had been standing still most of the time, only moving forward ever so slightly, but he could tell the Butcher had noticed. Phynex yelped at the sudden charge of the demon, his eyes immediately focusing on the hand the larger demon had held out. It was the exact same pose he would do to summon his glaive. Doing the same, fire unlike any other began to gather, it was a mix of reds and oranges and blacks, all coming together to form one solid object. With two hands and pushing all of his weight to his back legs and tail, Phynex gripped the handle of his giant glaive and brought it down to meet the Butcher's club, who's eyes widened in surprise.

A giant chunk of tempered metal met the giant club, making a sickening noise as the blade dug into the Butcher's weapon. The glaive was at least half the size of him and packed a punch. Being so heavy and needing two hands, Phynex preferred not to use such a huge weapon, but he certainly did not want a giant club to his face. The two demons began to use force, trying to push each other down with their weapons. Phynex began growling to match the his opponents, opening his mouth to spit fire into the demon's vulnerable face.

 

[Hana]

Even from behind the large Butcher, Selene could practically read the demon's thoughts in that warped head of his through his body language. As soon as the Butcher had noticed Phynex, he had seized up in surprise, connecting the fire in his leg to her partner's appearance. Then came the anxiety as he realized the fire demon in front of him was just as strong, if not stronger - he was beginning to have doubts. After that came the urge to just flee and put out the fire on his leg by jumping in the lake, and lastly came the greed. Demons could always be counted on to be territorial, she thought in boredom. The Butcher had obviously declared this place as his territory, and he wasn't just going to give up his spoils. Even if he had to charge foolishly, already injured, at another strong demon who could use fire to his advantage.

Then when it came to Phynex himself, Selene almost had to smile at how easily he held himself now. Even in that first defensive stance, he held himself confidently, knowing full well his advantages and his disadvantages. At first impression and at his usual personality, Phynex seemed like the type who didn't like keeping still. But she could see the coiled muscles ready to spring, and the energy in his body even as he kept himself still, waiting for the perfect chance. Then she almost sighed as she heard her partner yelp at the sudden charge of the other demon towards him, but continued to watch.

The Butcher summoned his club, which made her partner summon his own weapon in turn. A giant glaive, summoned from his flames and fittingly called Ignis, formed in his clawed hands after a flash of otherworldly fire. Just as the Butcher's club was about to be brought down upon him, Phynex shifted his weight to his hind legs and his tail and met the club with Ignis with a crunch. Phynex's weapon was fine steel that cut and dug into the club. Then came the battle of strength and wills between the two demons, and Selene waited for her time to come in.

The feral growl coming from her partner to match the Butcher's furious snarls made her raise an eyebrow. With how absorbed the Butcher was in striking Phynex, he wouldn't notice the lithe girl at his back, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and further disable his already weakened legs. Then Phynex opened his mouth and unleashed a blaze of fire into the Butcher's face and an anguished roar thundered throughout the area, startling the birds in the trees from the forested area. The Butcher screamed and used his other hand to claw at the flames on his face, his panic further lending him further but uncontrolled strength - he frantically pushed and shoved his club at Phynex as he tried to ignore the burning sensation.

Finally coming to the conclusion he couldn't continue pushing weapons against Phynex, he pulled back his club with great force, hoping to pull the embedded glaive with it and away from the fire demon. And with another furious, pained roar he charged, materializing his giant cleaver to aim for the lower parts.

But then he stumbled. For one, clear reason. His leg was on the verge of giving out. Deciding it was time, Selene moved, her figure a blur as she flashed to the other unharmed leg. Striking out with her blade, she aimed to cut through the tendons behind the demon's knee, and blood splattered as she managed to cut through, before following it up with several swift cuts to further the damage.

The demon blinked, bewildered, as he felt himself almost fall in slow motion before the stinging agony in his other leg came to him. He let out another pained shout, before noticing that it wasn't the same pain as the fire. And the demon in front of him was clearly preoccupied with using his glaive. That left one thing...

Selene angled her body just in time to avoid the downward swing of the giant cleaver, and took the chance to get into the demon's guard as he recovered from his swing. He had put a lot of his momentum into it, and his strength, and his own force staggered him. Coupled with the weakened legs, it was almost pie to slash her own blade into his wrist, splattering more blood. She didn't stop and followed it up with more vicious slashes and stabs along his arms, since he had now lowered more due to his stumbling it was easier to reach. A downward cut along his elbow to further severe the tendons, though it took her more time because the demon really was muscular. Dodge another swing as the Butcher let out another roar and cut through the other elbow.

Her face was impassive as she worked, her eyes cold and calculating as she saw her goal before her. And with almost preternatural intuition, she leaped away as the demon staggered and fell forward, his heavy weight causing a loud sound that carried throughout the place.

 

[Mu]

Phynex grunted as the Butcher tried to lift his club upwards, hoping to take his glaive with him. Shame that Phynex's arms were strong as they looked. With force of his own he yanked his weapon back, starting another battle of strength between the two, which demon would take both weapons. The fire demon almost chuckled at the attempt of the bigger demon trying to pull both the club and the embedded glaive towards him. If he tried even harder, it would make it much easier for Phynex to slice the club into two bitty pieces.

His eyes flickered to his other hand, which had been occupied with keeping his burning leg together, held out and his other signature weapon materialize out of energy and form into a large, bloody cleaver, still stained with the blood of the cow he had slaughtered earlier. The fire demon was about to let go of his glaive and let the demon stumbled with the weight and intercept the cleaver with his tail when there was a sickening crunch coming from the lower portion of the demon's body. The Butcher groaned painfully and both demons glanced down at the source of the sound.

The demon's thick and muscled leg was falling apart. The fire having done its job and burnt through almost the flesh and muscle, ignored for too long while he was occupied with trying to show Phynex his dominance and scaring him out of his territory. Phynex grinned at the demon, one strong kick was enough to snap his leg in two. The Butcher snarled at him, raising his cleaver for a last ditch effort when a sudden blur of white and black flew from behind him.

Selene's speed was lightning fast, if Phynex had not seen the blur he would not have noticed her come in. He watched in pure awe as she deftly finished off the demon's destroyed leg, aiming for behind the injured knee and cleanly slicing the leg into two.

The fire demon leapt back and left the glaive embedded in the club, adding in weight for the now stumbling and howling demon. Finding it hard to hop on one leg and steady himself, he tried to turn around and around to catch a glimpse of his new attacker. A slender figure jumped around slicing wherever she could, jumping from left to right and mercilessly slashing at the demon's arms with a cold, passive face. As the demon tried to lift the arm with the club and glaive to strike the huntress, the fire demon quickly lashed out with his tail, wrapping the prehensile tail around the thick arm and pulling it back with all his might, the little organ at the end snapping threateningly at the Butcher.

The Butcher was howling in pain, unable to move to see his attacker and feeling all sorts of cuts and blows on his body. He watched as his arms slowly began to fall apart, the wounds slowly becoming so severe he could no longer hold his own weapons. Compared to him, the attacker was so small, and with the attacker jumping around, it was impossible to counter their slices. The stump of his leg was bleed profusely, reminding him of the cow he had slaughtered earlier. His vision became blurrier and blurrier as he tried to focus. He could no longer feel anything in his arms, and his only working hand was being secured tightly by the fire demon...

 

[Hana]

The roars that sounded deafeningly throughout the place were no longer the pained, but enraged cry of a beast, but the anguished, fearful screams of a cornered animal. Selene looked on impassively at the demon's face, twisted in sheer agony at the loss of his limbs and the several deep gashes that she had etched onto his massive body. With Phynex's help, the Butcher could no longer move - he was immobilized by the fire demon's powerful arms along with his prehensile tail. Approaching the large, haplessly thrashing form of the Butcher, she put away her daggers, not missing the almost relieved sagging of the Butcher before her.

He gurgled out a reply through a strangled-sounding voice, deep and pained, "Damn human..." Despite the fear for his own life showing in his eyes the sheen of anger and wounded pride still shone, along with his race's normal hatred for humans. His beady eyes rolled back to take a look at her partner, and the anger flared brighter along with loathing. "Traitor demon," the Butcher rasped, "What... do you think... will you get from helping her?" He sneered at both of them before his eyes were drawn towards her at the sound of the hiss of steel. She took out the purely black blade, the slight glint at its edges betraying how treacherously sharp it was despite being as black as pitch.

Raising her eyes to meet Phynex's, the huntress nodded mutely before stepping aside and forward to avoid the feeble, one last attempt at an attack on her by his mangled limb. It was a last ditch effort at survival by the Butcher as he now started to thrash even more wildly, seeing his own fate reflected from the dark abyss of the black blade back at him. She drowned out the pleads and the insults that interspersed as the demon fought his own pride as his desperation rose, his captured arm scrabbling uselessly with his claws at Phynex as he tried to crawl away from the huntress.

She breathed in deeply and shoved away any ideas that the Butcher was a person at all. He was no longer a person. The Butcher was a threat that hurt many humans and took what didn't belong to it. The Butcher most likely killed the family members that were now in a coma, along with the child that if he lived, would most likely never walk again. The Butcher was just a name on her list that she had to cross of afterwards. It wasn't her problem if he had any family at all in the underworld. It wasn't her problem at all if he had the potential to become something better and even more sympathetic if she had let him live. She was doing this to stop him from killing any more people. He was no longer a person.

The sickening noise of plunging the blade into the Butcher's left eye which had rolled back in hysteria moments before, splattering tissue and popping the eye trickling white and red matter down the demon's cheek was all taken with a disturbing calm by the white-haired girl. She breathed out. Selene had done this many times before, and she will do it again. She twisted the blade and pushed it deeper until the final death spasms of the demon died out along with the flare of life in its remaining eye. Then she harshly pulled the black blade out, ignoring the spray of blood and eye matter that she dodged, expression detached as she lashed out with the blade once again across the throat. The Butcher, the terror of the humans in the nearby farms that had caused so much grief and trouble, slumped dead, one eye forever ruptured.