Baldurai had raised the stakes in less than a second. Somehow, he had turned his almost impossible-to-scratch armor now completely invulnerable to every attack!
No matter how much John slashed his sword against the demon's tough exterior, he failed to make even a single dent on it as a show of his effort.
"Change of plans," John thought to himseld. "I'll need to use Keruri Style."
Instead of staying with the the same awkward posture he had battled with, John shifted back to a standard stance, which, thankfully, involved putting both his feet on the ground.
It took no less than two seconds for the aura about John to change from the peculiar, yet strong pressure he was emanating in response to Baldurai's to a new, deceivingly weaker one.
John shifted his grip on his sword, this time opting for a backhanded approach to how he held it. Literally!
"This style focuses on pure offensiveness, and grants some much needed penetration onto my blade." He thought.
This was just one of the hundreds of sword styles John was aware of, and while many of them couldn't yet be used at the level he was in, there was at least one that would help his situation.
Baldurai also noticed the change in John's posture and stance, but merely threw a scoff in his direction, confident that his armor would never be pierced. There wasn't a single hint of pride in his thoughts, either. It was pure, calculated understanding of the facts that enabled him to feel this way.
"Varnier would want me to take my time and give you a painful death, but I am simply here to avenge him, not follow in his footsteps. He was scorned by our brethren, and yet I still honored him."
"Will you accept your death here now, human? Cease this endless struggle, for I fear that your last symphony will come to an abrupt end very soon. The Devil Ashra will have taken hold of your friend by now."
A characteristic that was rarely seen in demons. A race that loved causing as much pain, destruction, and havoc wherever and whenever they could. And yet Baldurai was offering John an easy way out of this.
To the normal person, they would've taken the offer. Baldurai was clearly not the type to play with his victims, and seemed like he only came here to exact revenge on his brother's murderers, nothing else.
But really, when was John ever a normal person? Furrowing his eyebrows, the swordsman revealed a strained smile, before simply answering, "No."
"Very well, then. Savor the last few moments before your death."
Baldurai charged at that very moment. His speed had noticeably slowed down ever since he activated his hardening, but that didn't mean he was any less of a threat.
To make sure John wouldn't try to escape, he would release a small volley of Earth bullets to keep him close to the ground.
This continued until Baldurai reached John. As soon as he did, he swung his toughened-up arms at the swordsman, who did his best to redirect the force directed at him with deflects.
His Chronos Interval still had around a minute before the effect ran out and the skill would enter a short cooldown, so John figured he needed to end this battle quickly, or at the very least slow down Baldurai enough for Dignitas and Evangeline to return.
As Mana Maxima was boosting his stats, John had no trouble with keeping up with the now slower swings from Baldurai.
"Close…" John murmured just as he ducked under the demon's long, thick arm.
Twisting his body, he drove his sword into Baldurai's skin as hard as he could, but was only met with more resistance. Just in time, another low sweep was thrown at him, from which Chronos Interval kicked in and blinked him to a different direction.
"They should be coming soon… what? Why do I suddenly feel stronger?"
John remembered this feeling. It was the oddly similar to the sensation he felt back when he was fighting Varnier. That effect had somehow instantly healed him, and filled his mana to the brim.
Well, it wasn't that John needed the boost right now, but he welcomed it. It would grant him more time to find out a way to defeat Baldurai.
*whoosh*
But as if on cue, the familiar figures of Dignitas and Evangeline walked out from the alley behind him and drew their weapons.
"Dignitas! Eva! You two are okay!" He exclaimed in surprise.
"What, did you think I was going to die? Nevermind me, why were you worried about Eva? She didn't even get hit."
"Well… you two might've been attacked while I was fighting Baldurai."
"Now that's asking for an unwanted event to happen. No need for that around here. Anyway, it's time to show your stuff, Eva." Dignitas beckoned to the Lunalite, who had already begun chanting.
With her trident to the ground, Eva prayed in elven language, which Dignitas and John could understand as a chant to call on a beast from a different plane of reality.
When roughly translated, it came out as this: "Oh, Spirits from a plane unknown to us, please grant these helpless souls your blessing, and hold with us an audience, a show of your glorious might. I call upon Erichtonerich, the Moonlight Weaver!"
Just then, all of the entities present felt something strange. The earth below them shook as if there was an earthquake, the mana in the air seemed to change properties from natural to… ethereal. It had a ghostly scent to it now.
"What… is this?" Baldurai asked as he inspected the new "mana" in the air.
As a demon, he was quite used to Devil Ashra, as that was the variation of mana he had been exposed to his whole life. But this was different.
Then, after the earthquake, the ground beneath them suddenly started to open up. Fearing it was a trap set by Baldurai, John urged his two friends to retreat.
However, Eva gripped his arm tightly, before shaking her head. John finally understood that this was her doing.
And finally, as if taken from the very bowels of the earth itself, a transparent, blueish figure rose up from the ground like a zombie. It's appearance was nowhere near as close to being undead, however.
"So this is a spirit…" Dignitas remarked. It was the first he had seen it in action, and it was indeed as confusing as he had read.
The Moonlight Weaver was a tall, scruffy man wrapped in ragged robes that covered his entire body. His face was concealed behind a crescent moon mask, fully keeping to the "moon" theme.
And alongside that, his staff was a long, golden stick that had the far end carved out in the image of a full moon. Dignitas could faintly sense a new type of energy pouring out from the staff.
"If this isn't Astral Arts I'm feeling… then could it be?" John finally realized. It was an energy that he felt all too often when he fought against the undead and the incorporeal.
This was Lifestraught, the energy that all of the dead ran on. This was the fuel to their magic the same way mana was the fuel to the humans'.
The only energy that was said to be impossible to use…
Even Devil Ashra had a use in certain societies and machines. But Lifestraught… that was a whole different story.