Before the five, there was a man.
He had long auburn hair, with bone adornments in the shape of carved ornate flowers. Atop his head was a deer skull smeared with what could only be blood, the color directly resembling the life liquid of the creatures the five had slain earlier. There was a scar rising up from his leftmost jawbone, pointing up towards his polished nose bridge, which held a horizontal, thin scar. He wore no shirt, and so the multitude of deep lacerations on his olive skin were readily apparent, his musculature rugged yet lean and graceful.
Despite the well-worn and weathered state of his body, he had the appearance of a handsome youth whose fairness bordered between elven and fairy traits, having a few similarities with more feminine features. Two pointed, ridged ears spread from either side of his face, the colors of which were darkened red jade. They were his "horns", somehow lacking the green of Gant's Taint but very readily soaking in the red of it.
A maroon glow exuded from his presence as his fingers came to a steady stop, the luring feeling fading before his soon to be opponents' eyes. The quint was seeable in a pair of eyes the soft shade of mauve that laid beneath two sharpened, graceful eyebrows that somehow felt friendly despite their underlying ferocity.
On his feet were violet woven sandals, and he wore what once was a top-notch pair of pants. Instead, they were now reduced to tattered red stained cloth. His feet effortlessly glided through the stems as he walked forward, simply speaking to the five.
"Welcome to the Violet House. I hope you liked my performance?" His voice was soft spoken and gentle, though the next words he would speak would shatter the illusion. It was undeniable that this demon was twisted at his core, evidenced by the growing wails of the beasts in the distance and the strips of flesh lying beneath the flowers.
"You can call me Pan's Butcher, and I will call you my choir. Because, my chorus of intruders, you will end up like all the other beasts in here. I'll show you, right now." The evil words were spoken without care, the demon stepped back. Beasts quickly filled the space he left.
"Nothing to do but fight. Get ready!" Bie stepped forward first, succinctly burying Ekulech's head into a beast before shaking off the grey matter that followed shortly after. A kick pushed the dead creature into the charge of another, and the aura of Cruel Thesis mixed with the greyish black of Smile of the Mountain crept out of his form.
Wanxi nodded, and Perdi quickly received the cloudy gust the War-Mer bestowed it and brandished a shield made out of it. The Thane Quality emerged on her glabella as the simplistic canna lily pattern shone in a red glow, and the girl quickly began to wave her hands and chant as she weaved a spell.
Gyuho wielded a bat in one claw and brought down his empty one on a gnarled beast's head, his tight movements would suddenly gain speed and immediately lose it after finding a target. The Vendetta Jackie's muscles bulged, but he kept his canine transformation to a minimum in an attempt to conserve.
Casmere clicked his tongue in slight annoyance, his baleful eyes spreading phantasmic radiance. His swift hands followed after his rapidly flashing bone pick, the wave of charging and wailing beasts slightly kept away. The wheel spun as the images of figures wielding bone picks appeared, the thrusts of which buried deep into beastly hide.
Lulac was nearly as cheerful as Bie, almost foaming at the mouth to unleash his found again confidence. A slight chill danced in the breeze, contrasting with the heat of his drawn beam saber, and he began to wade in the encroaching tide.
The sting of the laser was followed with a disconcerting coldness that caused the franken creatures to cry out. Faint images of the contorting Mansion appeared more readily than they ever had before, and the drain associated with it was considerably lessened. The imprint had yet to form, Lulac getting a grasp on how to condense his power further.
"With this, I might be able to step away from Trainee Achievement and into Practitioner! Even further..." Lulac babbled to himself as Bie covertly rolled his eyes, slicing deeper with his bearded hand axe as his steps unabatedly carried him towards the lax demon.
Pan's Butcher watched with great interest, whistling as more beasts rushed out from the lavender foliage. His eyes went from each of the people who sought to hunt him, landing intermittently on Bie from glance to glance. He somehow felt a sense of fear when looking at the boy with skin the color of light baby blue, but this seemed to rouse his excitement.
His hair fluttered upwards, and he removed the deer skull on his head. Lavender mist gathered to his side as his maroon aura revealed an anguished monstrous face that barely bore a deer's likeness.
"Your skull, I will return it to you."
With these words, the lavender converged into a figure with a bizarre roundish head and spiritual lavender fur. The fur was massive in quantity and spread as far as it could, outlining a wispy ghostlike form. Slipping its head into the skull like a mask, a purple illusory jawbone completed the skull as it brought its eyes towards the Pinions of Ire.
"Beast's Last Gaze...employment. Go forth, Twisted Deer, and unleash the anguish you once felt."
The monster shivered underneath the deer skull and rapidly sprung forth! From its streamlined wisp with thickened fur, two claws emerged from its translucent body and crushed the bodies of the beasts in its way.
"Ram Shot!" Lightning energy condensed on the tip of Wanxi's finger, temporarily halting the Twisted Deer in its tracks. With a slightly sheepish smile juxtaposed with a crafty glimmer beneath the eyeholes of the skull, it batted a beast into the milky white Shot and watched it crackle into charcoal.
Only to be met with a Mountain's Step infused foot crashing down on the skull. Bie twisted his body midair, attempting to kick into the fur. But he was surprised as his other leg harmlessly passed through it, emerging from the other side as the Twisted Deer writhed and flipped, before smacking him with it's ghostly trail!
Bie flew through the air, quickly stabilizing himself as he dug his heavy feet into a ridged back. Whirling Ekulech in his fingers like the rotary blade of a helicopter, a glimmer soon stained both the blade and his hand in purple, leaving a hewn neck in its wake,
Lulac, Bie, and Gyuho advanced, waxen wings, lightened steps, and cackling shadows abound. Each of them aimed towards the Twisted Deer, arriving at a moment's notice. Their target lashed out again, but one of the claws was stopped by a shadow wreathed bat, the other avoided as globs of wax plopped on the ground.
Bie deliberately arrived last, and Wanxi gestured with crackling strands flowing back just like the strands on the Gem of the Dead's hair.
"Ram Lend!" The handle of Bie's dear Ekulech was filled with lightning energy, and the hand ax's second body emerged from their owner's Inner World as its claws were surrounded by black particles.
With a slam from Ekulech's handle and a swift punch from a curled canine paw, the Twisted Deer gazed at Silkie's effeminate slate-like face. Able to see it, Pan's Butcher arched an eyebrow and swirled a finger, allowing three more legs to sprout out from the Twisted Deer's fur.
A series of noises rattled as the demon barely fended off each blow.