The two demons clashed with their auras, creating a reverberating shockwave throughout the Dreaded Valley. It started a deathly chill inside everyone's spines as they had to spectate the fight.
Blair's instincts told her to run, to get out of the two demons' line of sight; only then would she feel a little but safe. She would have escaped already if not for Isiah's hands stopping her.
Isiah observed the two demons as the chains in his pocket clashed together, rattling in a rhythm. He was calculating his survival if he were to fight with the beasts in front of him. He was confident in dealing with one of the demons himself without a problem, but things would change if he were to fight two monsters.
There was only one scenario in which he could see himself win against them, and that was when the three of them attacked together.
He looked at Bodt and saw a confident facade but the trembling hands holding the flail gave him away. Bodt did not want to fight the demon, but he would never disobey Isiah's orders. That meant that Bodt would fight the monsters, but his fear would hamper his performance.
Isiah looked towards Blair and saw fear plastered on her face. Her eyes were unfocused, her face was pale, and cold sweat ran down her nose. She was not ready to fight a demon, let alone two. Isiah was unsure whether Blair would abandon him when the fight gets tough, but that meant that she would die.
Isiah touched the chains in his pocket, activating the hidden black powder inside. As soon as it was activated, it crawled out of his pockets and onto his hands. It wriggled and slivered its way like a snake until it enveloped his fingers.
He played with the snakes in his hands, retracting and opening his fingers in strange ways. The snakes wiggled with more intensity as Isiah played with them like a child.
The snake looked towards Isiah and nodded its head in affirmation to whatever he instructed it to. The snakes launched towards Blair and Bodt, taking hold of their bodies.
It slithered its way onto every crevice of their body, wrapping their thin bodies onto their limbs. Bodt did not reject the snakes that appeared on his body. He recognized that this was his leader's skill.
Blair flinched as she felt the snakes crawl into her body. She did not like the restricting feeling while being wrapped around by the snakes. She did not want to do it, but her leader's words are always final.
The snakes spiraled onto their bodies and crawled to their necks. The snake went straight for the back of their ears and took a massive bite, lodging their heads onto the victims' ears.
Bodt and Blair's eyes turned black. Their bodies relaxed as they lost control of their bodies, replaced by the snakes controlled by Isiah. They were now just passengers in their own bodies.
Isiah stretched his right hand, and Bodt's body convulsed. Isiah moved his left hand, and Blair's body shook. Isiah stretched his body as Blair and Bodt materialized their weapons from their black powders.
Isiah commanded his two puppets to charge at the two demons. Their weapons were fully activated, swinging in the air and piercing the heavens.
Raguel and Azrael were facing each other, ignoring the blatant attack at the two of them.
Bodt swung his massive black flail in the air and aimed it towards Raguel, the crystal demon. He aimed the flail between the two demons, forcing Raguel and Azrael to separate if they wanted to dodge the attack.
Blair's umbrella attacked Azrael in the same way, forcing the two demons apart. Isiah's plan was simple; it was to separate the two demons and deal with them individually. They would have a smaller chance if the two demons started to work together.
The two demons were not flustered. They stood against each other and kept lobbing attacks at each other. Raguel created another ball of condensed air and threw it towards Azrael, accelerating as it bounced off invisible barriers.
Azrael reciprocated the gesture as he created a ball of rotting reddish-black sludge. It threw the rotting ball towards Raguel, growing in size as it rotted the air around it.
The two demons dodged each other's attacks, but the balls seemed to have a homing mechanism inside them as it followed their every movement. The two balls of unique powers coincidentally collided with the two weapons coming towards them.
Isiah was smart enough to know that it wasn't just a mere coincidence. What was even alarming was the carefree way they disposed of the attack from Bodt and Blair.
He knew that regular attacks wouldn't work, so he tested the strengths of the two demons. He knew he needed more firepower to deal with the two demons.
Isiah started to gather his strength in his hands and black powder rose from the ground as thin lines. These black strings pierced the air as if it were a concrete wall. The other ends of the strings attached themselves in Isiah's body, lifting him in the air.
His body started to float towards the two demons, carried by the black strings in the air. His figure shed black powder as he maneuvered in the air.
His movements were noticed only by the members of the Defending Tip, not the two demons. He took advantage of this fact and prepared an attack they couldn't dare ignore.
Black chains appeared on the two demons' side, slithering their way onto the demons' legs. The chains wrapped around their ankles, and a shackle formed that limited the demons' movements.
The two demons ignored this and continued to lob attack at each other, occasionally exchanging banter/insults.
"Brother, look at you. A kid managed to restrain your soul and borrow some of your powersssss."
Raguel lobbed a condensed blade of air towards Azrael.
"Raguel....there's a.....reason....I'm.....older...than you."
Azrael created a blade of rot identical to the edge of condensed air. The two blades collided in the air, canceling out both powers.
Isiah took this chance to gather black powder in his hands. It formed into a thin vertical edge with a handle, creating a black sword. The sword continuously shed out black powder as he swung the blade in the air.
He spun his finger on the edge of the black sword, testing its sharpness. His eyes scrutinized every single detail of the blade, making sure it was top quality.
*swish*
Isiah slashed his sword towards the two demons, shooting out a thin edge of powder with it. As it traveled through the air, the friction caused by the velocity created a fire that traveled with the powder. The flame turned blue, indicating its intense heat.
"Soot of embers."
Isiah muttered under his breath as he released the attack towards the two demons.
Bang could feel the heat coming off from the attack, making him sweat in his face. He did not know if it was because of the heat or his fear of Isiah's strength.
The two demons looked away from each other and towards the flaming slash, finally acknowledging the third party. Raguel created a ball of compressed air and threw it towards the attack. Azrael did the same as a ball of rot flew towards the flame.
The two balls of powers collided with the flaming slash, creating an explosive reaction. The clash lasted for half a second until the two balls of energy disintegrated under the intense heat of the slash.
Isiah's soot of embers continued to attack the two demons, but its heat was diminished from the collision with the two balls of powers.
For the first time, the two demons had to move away from their spot. They dodged the attack, and the soot of embers continued to fly off into the distance until an explosion sounded out with a big flash of light.
The two demons looked towards Isiah with serious eyes. Isiah smiled as he saw the two demons recognize his power.
"Hoh...I did not...think a person....could reach.....the second advancement....here."
Azrael spoke with surprise, anger, and amazement.
"Brother, you underestimate humanssss"
They turned towards Isiah and spoke with amazement.
"I do not know what you guys are, but you will surrender to me."
Isiah lifted his chin, showing his superiority to the two demons. His confidence was based on the fact that he did not put his full strength into the soot of embers. They could not deal with that weak show of force, which meant that his other skills would be more lethal.
"Hehehe...youths are... naive."
"True that, brotherrrr"
They did not take Isiah's words to heart. They were not angry, but that did not mean that they would not retaliate.
Raguel's knuckles formed crystal spikes. It glowed a bright blue hue and emitted a cold atmosphere that created crystals on the ground.