"Anna! We need to fight! Otherwise, none of us will get out of this alive!"
"Okay..."
The octopus woman was just calmly looking at us without a worry in the world, as if it was natural that we wouldn't be able to put up a fight.
"Oh? You dodged that? But that means you'll have to be in pain for longer..."
My mind and my heart was racing incredibly fast, but it was hard to think things through and think with clarity. So instead of coming up with any complicated strategies, I defaulted to a simpler one.
"Anna, retreat as far as you can, making sure that you can still hit her with your spells! I'll try to force my way in!"
"Un!"
Tightening the grip on my sword, I dashed forward, wanting to make sure to give Anna enough time and space to retreat.
Once again, one of her right arm tentacles swung out, as she made another overhead strike. "Ho!" *BAM!*
A quick roll to the side was all I needed before continuing my approach, but it didn't take long before her left arm moved and repeated the action, to which I did the same. "Hupp!" *BAM!*
There were now three huge cylindrical indents in the ground, which had cracked because of the immense power of every strike. It was a mystery how her small body could produce such amounts of strength, but I was in no state to care.
With both of her arms now busy with retrieving a tentacle each, I managed to get close enough to engage in combat. Filling my arms with strength, I poured mana into my sword, making it illuminate the already sunny day, "[Arc of Light]!" *BOM!*
Purple blood was flying through the air, as I had sliced off several of the tentacles the demon raised to defend herself. "Sorry, but that's not enough, young man." *BAM!* "Kha!"
Another tentacle emerged from the chest part of her kimono and blasted me away, making me fly several meters through the air, just to land with a heavy *Thud!* on the ground. Hurriedly, I staggered up to my feet and readied the sword that I had desperately made sure not to drop.
'Still, that had to have done some damage...'
Letting my eyes land on the demon whose slimy limbs I had managed to decimate, I couldn't help but feel a cold sweat when I saw the scenery in front of me.
Instead of an injured demoness who should have been greatly injured, purple goo started pouring out of her cleaved tentacles, quickly reforming into new ones. 'Do we have to keep fighting until it's out of energy? Or is there some sort of weak point, like her head or heart?'
"[Orb of Decay]!"
Anna had finally cast her first spell, taking her a lot longer than usual due to her nervousness, I suspected. This time, however, Ursula moved for the first time, her tentacle legs quickly moving her out of harm's way to dodge the spell.
'Huh?'
Seeing her dodge the black and purple cursed orb, felt a bit weird. Why did she dodge that, but not even try to dodge my attack? "Anna! Get close enough that you can ensure a hit with that spell! I'll defend you from her attacks!"
There had to be a reason, and even with my clouded mind, it was too obvious to ignore. Infuriatingly, the witch was still hesitant, "Are you sure?" I couldn't hold myself back, now screaming at her because of my impatience, "JUST DO IT!"
*BAM!*
"Urgh!", Using the opening of me turning my head, a tentacle slammed into my body from the side, sending me flying once again. As my blood let out a cloud of blood, I somehow managed to steady myself in the air and land on my feet. As soon as I landed, another tentacle was flying towards me, '[Arc of Light]! *BOM!*
The severed tentacle landed on the ground, wriggling like a worm, but I was already on my way forward, desperate to find a way to get in range of the demon again.
*BAM! BAM! BAM!*
A flurry of tentacles destroyed the ground around me, as I skillfully dodged every single one while I continued to push forward. '[Ascension]!'
Feeling power surge through my body as I started the timer of how long I could fight, I prepared myself to end it as soon as possible. '[Arc of Light] permanent!' My sword glowed in the same way as I activated my skill, but this time I would not use it for a single attack, nor a ranged one. This time, I used to passively increase the destructive potency of my every attack.
"What?!"
For the first time, the woman in front of me had an exasperated expression, unable to comprehend the change in power in my body. *BOM! BOM! BOM!* Tentacles rapidly dropped to the ground, as I started the swordsmanship dance I had practiced for years and years. "Guh!"
'It's working!'
Although the demon somehow always managed to defend her body, it was clear that her regeneration couldn't keep up with my attacks. Finally, the opening we were looking for opened up, as Anna dashed in closer, her wand already charged with a dark glow.
Suddenly, I got a heavy feeling in my stomach, and when I gazed at the face of Ursula, I was met with an insanely devious smile, "Hiihiii! Got you!" One of the leg tentacles suddenly extended and quickly made its way to the girl that was now in range for her to strike.
*BAM!* "Kyaa!*
"Anna!"
"You don't have time to look away!"
Three of her seemingly endless tentacles rushed out and took advantage of my negligence, quickly entangling my body in an iron grip, forcing me to drop my sword. Slithering around my legs, arms, and wrists, I was at her mercy. Even with [Ascension] active, there was nothing I could do now that she had gotten such a tight hold on me.
'Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit!'
The demon had just waited for the now unconscious Anna to get close, taking advantage of my stupid line of thinking, and instantly capitalizing on it. The witch Anna had no chance to even use another spell because I had been rash, impatient to slay the demoness.
Wiping some blood from her lips, Ursula quickly changed back to her more neutral and calm state. "Now, please be a good boy and stay silent." *Crack!* "GAAAAHH!"
It felt like she broke every bone in my body when she tightened her grip on me, forcing every molecule of air out of my lungs. Then, she dropped me to the ground, my body too exhausted and wounded to move.
"Please wait here. I'll just take care of your little friend before we go. It seems like my brother has fallen already, so I have to make it quick before the barrier falls."
Seeing the woman slither her way over to the body of my fallen friend, I tried my best to drag myself forward, but to no use. 'Please! Please! FUCK! LET ME MOVE! PLEASE LET ME SAVE HER!'
However, no matter how much I screamed internally, nothing changed. There was no god to come and save me, no hidden power inside of me that suddenly surged through my body. There was just sadness and pain.
'DON'T LET HER DIE BECAUSE OF ME! PLEASE, THEIA, GODS, ANYONE! PLEASE FUCKING SAVE HER!'
Just as my eyes started to inevitably close, and Ursula had almost made her way to Anna, something absurd happened.
From the skies above, an angel slowly descended, blocking the demon's path to my friend. Huge, majestic black wings were sitting proudly on its back, and a white mask that hindered everyone from seeing its beauty sat tightly on its face.
Before my eyes closed, I managed to squeeze out one last thought, 'Thank you... Theia...'
****
[James's Pov]
'I don't have a choice, do I?'
Both Anna and Arthur were now out for the count, so there was no helping it. I couldn't just stay still when people I liked were about to die.
There was no doubt in my mind that if they weren't people I was fond of, I wouldn't even raise a brow seeing them die. However, this was now not the case.
So I quickly transformed into my new battle mode, making sure to [Materialize] the mimicked mask of Mr. Laufeyson to at least keep my identity hidden.
Because of her exhaustion and injured body from the battle with Arthur, the demoness didn't notice me at all until I was right in front of her, having just jumped and glided above her head before landing.
Keeping up her act, trying to disguise the fact that her body was completely destroyed by Arthur's flurry of attacks, she just spoke politely, "Oh, excuse me, sir. But I would appreciate it if you would get out of my way. You see, I need to kill that girl behind you."
I had no patience for playing around, just showing myself like this was just stressful in itself, so instead of talking, I withdrew my scythe from my inventory, hoping that Arthur would have passed out by now.
"Goodbye."
"Wait! Sto..."
*SCHING! BOOM!*
It was pretty easy to sever her head with my explosive strike, with her not being in the condition to even try and defend herself. As her headless body spewed out purple blood like a fountain, I put my scythe back in my inventory.
'I have to go...'
Having a feeling that it wouldn't take too long for the barrier to deactivate, I transformed into my black, winged form and quickly flew away, not wanting anyone else to see me at the scene.