His two friends stood by his side, and he knew the fourth must be cheering them on in spirit.
Individually, they were no match for the devil before them, but together, combining their strengths and supplementing their weaknesses, there was no evil they couldn't overcome.
They no longer made light of this cat, no... the Demon Lord Of Ruin!
They mutually agreed on this title for their most formidable foe!
The three spirit beasts now stood together, facing the one small cat. Though the Demon Lord Of Ruin wasn't even a meter tall, to the children, it looked like a giant.
Meanwhile the spirit beasts were in a less than pleasant mood. Xuanwu sighed at what the children have become, the Baihu lamented at their shamelessness, while Qinglong hissed in anger at the now dubbed Demon Lord Of Ruin.
The Four(three) Kings now looked at their opponent. Standing a large distance away, the demon lord watched silently, with its red aura flowing over its body like a regal robe, red eyes showing undisguised confidence.
Shen Feilong and his friends discussed for a bit, before facing forward, and posing in perfect sync like a well tuned idol group.
"Let's do this!" They got themselves pumped up as the demon lord licked his paws as he let them take their time. Why? Who knows, but the boys didn't question it, as that was how all good villains acted! Letting the heroes prepare themselves in front of him in arrogance was the style of all the greats!
"Qinglong! Create a storm! Prepare your lightning!" Though worried that it's comrades would be effected, Qinglong complied.
"Xuanwu! Cover yourself and Baihu in mud armor! So the lightning can't hurt you!" Xuanwu understood. Lightning's one weakness other than accuracy, earth!
"Baihu! Spread some mist! Obstruct its vision!" The tiger spread its qi, allowing frosty mist to shroud the area.
The demon lord watched in amusement as its tail swayed in interest. Chen Ling on the other hand, couldn't help looking worried.
Who cares how shameless they were in hanging up on it? Nobody! The victor is king, while the loser is a thief.
"Baihu, tell the others the Demon Lords location! Stay back and use ice spears and ice roots!" A portion of the mist rose a level higher, Baihu's doing, no doubt.
"Xuanwu, when you get the location, shoot your water beam at it, along with some earth spears and potholes!" It was clear they were going to use their ranged elements to their advantage.
"Qinglong, rain lightning on the area!" Though it might be weakened by the ice, any hit would be a big blow to the demon lord's small frame.
They now had a decent plan, and had a raid strategy that didn't put anyone in close combat! With so many attacks, surely there's no way the demon lord could dodge them all, right?
But the demon lord wasn't the demon lord for nothing, and managed to dodge almost all the attacks within the mist, causing astonishment to appear on their faces.
It was as if it could predict their attacks! And he sorta could too, by listening to the sounds of air cutting or ground moving, he can dodge beams and spears ahead of time, the only problem for him was the lightning, but the lightning would often hit the spears he ducked under, leaving him unharmed.
To the small (self proclaimed)heroes dismay, they saw the demon lord manage to run out of the mist and pounce furiously at the Snow Veil Mountain Tiger with bloodthirsty eyes that hungered for the souls of the innocent(according to the children).
The mud armor was torn like butter, but it successfully stopped the most dangerous strike. The white tiger countered with frost laden claws, threatening to freeze the fallen blood of the demon lord.
But it was a feint! The demon lord used its absurdly versatile tail to change directions in midair, and attack the nearby Xuanwu!
The demon lord had no plans to hold back like the last battle, and slashed with its scarlet blood claws.
"Xuanwu!" Black Tortoise shouted in grief. Xuanwu tried to retreat in its shell, but the devilish talons of the demon lord would not allow it. It could only cover its head desperately. The cutting edge of the dagger sharp claws first broke the layer of mud with ease, before another slash tore through the thick leather of the tortoise like paper in the shredder. A bellow of agony resounded as the demon lord switched targets to the tiger coming to the Tortoise's aid.
Qinglong fired lightning without restraint, now even using its soul form weapon, an orb mounted on a crown, that amplified its abilities, to boost the lightning. It had no fear of harming its allies due to the earth armor.
But the demon lord was simply too small, and Baihu and Xuanwu overshadowed it by several times, usually getting hit in the lord's stead.
Baihu was quickly being suppressed by the Demon Lord's unmatched ferocity, and several deep wounds had appeared on its body.
"Baihu!" Shouted White Tiger, but merely shouting was of no aid in battle. Then an earth wall rose abruptly between the Demon Lord and Baihu! Xuanwu was still there, and offered support, but such walls stood little chance to stop it for long.
Suddenly the tortoise rushed up to fight in a melee!
"...White Tiger, get Baihu out of there." Black Tortoise suddenly spoke up.
"W-What are you doing Black Tortoise?! Xuanwu's in trouble now!" Said White Tiger in distress, Shen Feilong was also confused.
"Don't hold back when the time comes, Blue Dragon. Xuanwu and I have made our resolve." Then they turned to see the Demon Lord slash at Xuanwu's throat, which was heavily guarded by mud armor, but it wouldn't last long. Then Xuanwu abruptly wrapped its neck around the Demon Lord!
"Strike now, Blue Dragon! Use your strongest bolt!" Black Tortoise yelled with tears in his eyes. The earth armor was falling off Xuanwu at this moment.
"No! Black Tortoise! You don't mean...!" He realized what he wanted. If Xuanwu was shocked, so would the Demon Lord.
"Now! While it can't move!" And with tears, Shen Feilong gave the order.
A thick blue lightning bolt hit Xuanwu directly. It was a lot harder to miss since Xuanwu was bigger. Without the armor, Xuanwu took the full brunt of the blow, and the Demon Lord as well.
Three cries in pain echoed through the field: Xuanwu, the Demon Lord's, and Chen Ling's?!
She had passed out with eyes filled with pain, but another pair of eyes held fury and a dozenfold stronger.
Blood red eyes shown through the dust of the wreckage...
"How?!"
"Impossible!!!"
"Was his sacrifice for nothing?!"
Their shock was warranted, was all their efforts in vain? Was it impossible for them after all?
"I-it's impossible for the three of us..." Shen Feilong fell to his knees in despair, but then a clear voice rang out behind him.
"Then what about four?"