"I'm surprised you're this serious Richard. Were you really going to kill your best friend without any second thoughts?" Angus didn't expect an answer, neither did Richard reply. "If it's possible, I don't want to fight you. But I can see you won't let that happen. Here I come Richard!"
Astaroth was fast, but against the negation abilities of Angus's Lance, his techniques fell short of their capabilities.
Angus thrust forward, his aim the demon's head. He made a quick turn towards the left after his attack was deflected with a slash of a monstrous claw.
"Snap out of it Richard! I don't want to kill you!" Angus yelled out to his friend who merely smiled.
"Are you implying that you can kill me at anytime?"
"So you're conscious after all. Why are y-"
The Demon cut Angus's words short by leaping over the entire space between them and lashing out with a clawed hand at his neck. The attack was foiled when Angus averted the blow with his lance.
'Astaroth' struck again with his other hand which was promptly restrained by Angus. Then in a movement Richard could barely follow, the stigma boy swept the demon's feet off the ground and delivered a devastating ax kick to his torso to slam him into the ground. A third kick sent the demon tumbling across the clearing until he dug his hands in the dirt to slow his roll.
Angus leapt away just before black chains could get a hold on him. He landed on the floor, and proceeded to cancel out the flames that were launched at him by the demon. From his side he noticed a horde proceeding towards him, and he promptly cancelled out the fiery dogs.
"You should know by now that magic attacks won't reach me. If you want me dead, you'll have to do so with your ha-" A kick to his side prevented him from completing his sentence.
'A decoy?!' His mind screamed as he transitioned from his tumble into a perfect roll. The magic based attacks were to distract him from the incoming demon. He didn't expect any less from Richard.
The kick was a lethal one, his ribs had been shattered. But in this form, his regenerative capabilities were at its peak. Angus is able to heal his injuries almost instantly.
Angus stood from the floor and turned towards his opponent. He had mixed feelings about this fight, and thus had been holding back. But he couldn't say the same for his opponent. Richard was determined to kill them, and that much could be discovered from his malicious aura.
"I understand your reluctance, but if you keep stalling, you're going to die" Richard came clean.
Angus smiled at his friends words. He had been stupid to think he might be able to save his friend from this darkness. But there was no saving anyone who had already fallen to the depths of hell. He has wasted his time and energy, and now he was nearing his limits with the lance.
"Permit me to eradicate all evil O'lord. Let thy light cleanse away the darkness and make..."
'Exorcism chants?! But he can't perform exorcism yet' Richard recalled. Angus planned on exorcising his familiar. Without Astaroth, he didn't stand a chance against Angus. He had to stop him from completing those prayers.
The malicious creature, upon seeing this development leapt forward again. It's claw outstretched to decapitate its target.
In a flash of motion, a hand slammed on the beast's extended claws, redirecting its lunge downwards. Then a follow-up kick to the head had it careening back into the treeline.
Daniel was up, and it was obvious his physical enhancement spell hadn't worn off. Thanks to Angus's presence, his healing process had sped up. And he had woken up just in time to save his friend from Richard.
He had wished to wake up and discover that everything was a dream. But rather he woke to the sight of his friends still trying to kill each other.
"Richard stop" Daniel pleaded in a faint tone. He could still feel Richard in there, even amidst all the hate and bloodlust. His best friend was still alive in there somewhere.
"Out of the way Daniel!" Angus yelled out just before a eat of light shot out from his palm. Astaroth made to evade the light, but Daniel had intervened and prevented the creature from dodging.
The light ray fell upon the beast, and in the same instant engulfed it. In seconds, the beast was no more, and Angus had dropped to his knees. Richard was coughing up blood, but Daniel knew this battle was still far from over.
"Blood technique: Crimson wall!" A barrier appeared from nothingness and shielded him and Angus from a lightning bolt that was speeding towards them.
"Be bound by the chains of Heaven" Angus whispered to his hearing only. Gold chains fell from the skies and bound Richard up, but he was quick to cancel out the attack.
Realising that they had no chance of victory against Richard, Daniel proceeded to begin his teleportation chants. Angus was at his limits already, and he stood no chance against Richard.
Things might have been different if Angus had mastered exorcism. But without the proper knowledge of the technique, he had exhausted all his mana in one prayer. It was a good thing it had actually worked. If it hadn't, then they might both the dead by now.
"Blood technique: acidic hail!" It was the technique he had used against his father. The droplets had the ability to corrode anything they fell upon. It was a dangerous technique, and was equally harmful to it's caster. Daniel knew it wouldn't work, this attack lacked the speed to catch Richard off guard. But it would work as a distraction, until he is able to get to Alexander.
"I won't let you escape!" Richard yelled out. Black chains erupted from the earth and held Daniel in place, and the same happened with Alexander. These people had hurt his family more than ever, he wasn't going to let them go unscathed. Right now he didn't care if it was Daniel or Jeffery, he just wanted to kill everyone of the Bruce.
Richard was stabbed by a psionic shield, and in the next moment was sent flying towards the nearest tree. The chains that wrapped up the brothers had vanished, and in the same moment Angus had reached them. Enclosing the brothers in his aura, he teleported away from the forest, and from the incoming hell dogs.
Richard fell to his knees and allowed his tears to flow. He had no idea what he felt at the moment. Regret, hate, anger. He just couldn't tell. He felt lost, and had no idea what to do next.
He crawled up to his mother's unconscious body and placed his hand on hers. Her meager injuries had been healed, but her eye sockets were still empty. He felt anger well up inside of him, but he managed to contain himself. Right now, his mother mattered first. He was going to get back at the person who had left her in this condition and that was a promise. Whether friend or foe, he was going to cut down anybody that harmed his family.