Mask quickly pulled the sword once he saw that Gabriel's subordinate was approaching him. His sadistic grin grew even more as he saw that his provoking had worked out just as he planned.
He wasn't the type of person who would torture someone just to show how dark or cruel he was. He didn't have any reason to show that to anyone. Being a demon, of course he had his own negative points regarding personality and morals, also he was projected to be a soldier, Tobey's side who was the opposite of his empathic human self, but that was not the point in doing all that show.
Mask stomped the ground strongly as he approached the paladin and swung the sword in his hand. The latter wasn't expecting him to pull off such a move and got hit by surprise. He had lost his mind when getting enraged, which took away his common sense. For both paladins and demons, their Soul Mirror was extremely important. Having someone profaning it in such a way was outrageous.
However, his own wrath ended up being a double-edged sword as he went ahead of the rest of his troops and didn't hear the orders of his leader. It resulted in his left leg being ripped off.
[You, indeed, are a high-grade paladin as I can see by your movements. They are sharp, filled with technique and skill, and show how much experience you have. However, I could notice from the very start of this siege that you were the only one that overreacted to that hurt paladin that I was about to kill. It was easy to figure out that you would lose control if I did such an act.
[Generally, good soldiers aren't so predictable, so I am afraid that the paladins aren't as frightening as I judged them to be.] Mask said as he turned to the stumbling paladin. The latter was struggling to get to his feet again as he fell headfirst on the ground after having his leg suddenly ripped off.
[You know, my friend from some seconds ago isn't someone with the necessary malice that one needs to survive in this kind of situation. I mean, your people is known for being righteous, right? I bet that the death of a fellow soldier isn't pleasant to your eyes, it certainly hits you hard, right? That's exactly why it is so easy to trigger righteous people, in my opinion.]
As he heard Mask's bold and sarcastic explanation, the paladin turned to him again, attacking even with a missing leg. His Soul Mirror was a one-handed axe, and it traveled with not even half of its previous speed.
Mask dodged that attack as well by just casually stepping backward. His sword shot upwards and cut his attacker's arm, easily crippling him again.
The paladin didn't move for a moment as he looked shocked at his half limb, his lower lip trembling and eyes glazed at the blood gushing from there.
After another swing, Mask's sword was able to cut his ear off. Another and his face got slashed, which left a deep wound there. The Demon advanced in a flurry of blows that resulted in the total dilaceration of the paladin's body, though just non-lethal cuts were delivered on that part of the assault.
Before the enemy could do anything else, Mask viciously kicked the remaining leg of the paladin, making him fall to the ground another time, but on his shoulder. The man was so shocked that, although he was feeling a lot of pain, he didn't scream nor moan. He just kept looking at those wounds as if he could not believe that they were real.
[Damn it, Tobey. Couldn't you work out a little bit more? I am getting more and more hurt every time I try to use our Demon Form at its full power. I thought that I got so messed up before because I was using Dark Energy, but you are actually a weakling, huh?] Mask thought.
Even with his mockery, Tobey didn't respond. He most definitely wasn't in the mood for jokes. Instead, he preferred to stay quiet in a corner of their mind and not look or hear anything that was being said, though it wasn't possible for him to be completely unaware of what was happening there.
After Mask finished his show, he stepped into the second paladin that had just fallen by his hands.
"Why...?" the paladin woman asked beside the leader of the troop, closing her eyes as firmly as she could and avoiding looking at that scene. She could feel the taste of bile in her mouth, such was the impact that that scene caused on her.
"Why didn't you do anything to help them?" she asked Gabriel, her body shivering with fear as her eyes met with the demon's. The latter seemed to be quite different from what he was before. The way he stared at her was clearly more frightening.
The leader of the troop didn't say anything in return. She glanced at his face and saw a grim expression behind his helmet, which also made her shiver and sent chills down her spine. She could notice that he wasn't happy nor indifferent about those deaths either, but something prevented him from walking right away to prevent that tragedy to happen.
Gabriel didn't do anything until that point just because he wanted to play it smart. He wanted to see what was the extension of the demon's power. He considered that soldier as a dead man the exact moment he stepped in Mask's range. He couldn't sacrifice the lives of his entire troop just to save that single man.
That was an unfortunate choice. He wanted to have enough power to make up for his entire troop and for that soldier, helping him and giving them enough time to fly away. However, that was real life and he wasn't a hero, a genius, or the protagonist of fictional books. If he didn't have the guts to take difficult paths for the sake of his troop, he couldn't call himself a leader.
"Demon... you will surely regret what you have done," he said while grimacing in fury. His fists were clenched and he wanted very badly to summon his Soul Mirror, but he held back his personal desires.
[I am anxious to see what's your resolve right now, Gabriel. Are you a paladin or just a talker? I get that you all are still uncertain about my level of power, but seeing two of your subordinates get played with like punching bags without doing anything feels kinda...]
An arrogant look could be seen on Mask's pale gray face. His pitch-black eyes were filled with irony and disdain.
[See what I am doing, Tobey?] Mask thought, trying to reach out to his alter ego. [You better be watching because that's exactly the kind of person you are in your inside, and that's also the individual that you will become after some years inserted into this war. That is, if you want to survive, you must dance to their tune.]
"Everyone! Summon!" Gabriel shouted, making all those warriors one by one summon their weapons and prepare for the clash. "I want groups spread around this man. We can't let him flee away from here. He can't use his Soul Mirror since it got cracked, his body doesn't seem to be in the best condition, and this sword he is wielding doesn't belong to him, so it won't have any effect on his body, it's nothing but a common sword now. We have a clear advantage here."
Mask shook his head as he heard the words of that commandant. He found it funny that they didn't notice until now. That mistake could cost their lives in the near future, but he decided to keep quiet about it and have some fun for the time being.
He attentively followed the troop of paladins with his eyes as they spread around him carefully while pointing their weapons at him. Their faces were filled with hatred towards the demon. They already despised his race, but Mask, particularly, should be one of the worst they ever saw.
'I was afraid of the Soul Mirror of this demon, which was described as something quite frightening in the reports. This lady that called us to help in this battle said the same. Also, his amount of Dark Energy is nearly insignificant, but the quality it has is otherworldly for sure. Fighting against this kind of demon is like stepping on eggs.'
Gabriel was going to shout, ordering his comrades to charge forward and take down that demon once and for all before he caused more ruckus.
Nonetheless, just as he was opening his mouth to say something, he felt an electric wave crossing all over his body and making his hair stand on end. Everyone that was around seemed to feel the same thing as they looked quite shocked.
'Is this... someone else's power, by any chance?' Gabriel thought, gulping hard. 'All this while, this freaking demon was expecting someone to come and was holding us!?'
Gabriel couldn't believe that he got outwitted in such an obvious way like that, but it was unlikely that other demons would enter paladin territory like that. Tobey was a special case because he was already inside there from the very start.
"Bloodseeker..." the lady beside Gabriel said, her eyes wide open as if she just saw a ghost... though what was coming towards them was worst than a ghost.