The demon of hatred charged at Kazon, his left hand extended with his blue horn glowing as several thin blue slashes shot out towards Kazon. Reacting quickly, Kazon clasped his hands together, materializing a wall of hellfire to block the attacks and keep the demon at bay.
"That is a very simple ability," Kazon remarked, his focus on maintaining the fiery barrier.
"That isn't all, you fucker!" The demon of hatred growled, his red horn now glowing. With a clenched right fist, he unleashed a wild punch that collided with the wall. Kazon leaped backward just as the barrier seemed to be absorbed by the demon, traveling up through his right arm and into his red horn.
"You have two different abilities," Kazon observed calmly as the demon closed the distance between them once more, narrowly missing Kazon with a vicious uppercut.
"You do as well, doncha?" The demon sneered, attempting a roundhouse kick aimed at Kazon's head.
"Correct," Kazon replied as he leaned back to evade the kick, feeling the demon's claw-like toenails scrape against his helmet. With swift precision, Kazon retrieved yet another dagger from his back with his left hand and slashed upward toward the demon's eyes.
Reacting quickly, the demon of hatred grabbed Kazon's hand mid-swing with his right hand, simultaneously attempting to punch Kazon with his other fist. Kazon intercepted the punch with his own hand, and the two powerful demons found themselves locked in a tense grapple.
The demon of hatred snarled, drawing his head back before delivering a vicious headbutt to Kazon, causing his head to snap backward from the force. With a grunt, Kazon retaliated with a headbutt of his own, causing the demon's nose to bleed from the impact.
"Why don't you get out of that shitty armor and then we fight, huh!?" the demon of hatred yelled in frustration. His anger turned to surprise as he felt something cutting into his right wrist—it was Kazon's dagger.
"Don't have much experience with weapons, do you?" Kazon remarked, seizing the opportunity to free his left hand from the demon's weakened grip.
"Don't need any!" the demon of hatred exclaimed defiantly, his red horn glowing. As Kazon attempted to stab him in the side, he noticed a fiery glow emanating from the demon's throat, reminiscent of a dragon preparing to unleash its breath.
Sensing danger, Kazon quickly released his hold on the demon's hand and withdrew both hands, forming a crossguard in front of him. In an instant, the demon of hatred unleashed a torrent of hellfire upon Kazon, akin to a dragon's breath. Despite being a demon, Kazon braced for impact, uncertain whether this inferno held magical properties that could bypass his immunity.
Meanwhile, Marcus and Erkag continued their fight. Marcus, now equipped with his curved saber, took a more defensive stance, while Erkag assumed a more offensive one. Using his left arm, Erkag ripped out a chunk of the wall next to him and hurled it towards Marcus, who swiftly ducked to avoid the projectile. Just as Marcus dodged the chunk, he heard the whirling noise once again. Erkag closed in rapidly, ready to deliver a knee strike to Marcus's face, but Marcus had anticipated this move, as he had figured out the meaning behind the whirling noise. He raised his curved saber to block the knee strike, using both hands to absorb the force of the blow.
Allowing the momentum of Erkag's attack to carry him, Marcus landed gracefully on his feet, a few feet back. Without hesitation, he closed the distance between them and unleashed a powerful horizontal slash towards Erkag's midsection. As the blade connected, it created the sound of metal striking against metal, embedding itself into his midsection.
"That was impressive," Erkag remarked before he attempted to slash Marcus with his right hand. Marcus, quick to react, sidestepped the attack, causing Erkag to overextend himself. Seizing the opportunity, Marcus swiftly stepped behind Erkag and, with a fluid motion, hooked his right leg behind Erkag's knee, destabilizing him. As Erkag stumbled forward, Marcus grabbed his arm mid-swing and used his momentum to guide him forcefully to the ground, slamming him onto his back with a resounding thud.
Marcus then capitalized on Erkag's momentary immobilization, driving his boot into Erkag's chest to keep him down before grabbing his saber and, with precise and calculated movements, employing the blade in a lever-like motion. Each incision carving deeper into Erkag's midsection, leaving no room for escape as the blade found its mark with unforgiving accuracy.
A pool of the orange liquid gathered underneath, leaking from Erkag's midsection. "Not bad," he remarked before the whirling noise occurred once more. His right hand shot up and went limp as the cannon poked out of his wrist. But before he could fire, Marcus, in a risky move, quickly leaned down and grabbed his right hand. With surprising ease, he bent it so that it aimed at Erkag's head.
"You figured it out, did you?" Erkag asked, a hint of admiration in his voice. Yes, as mentioned before, Marcus had deciphered the meaning of the whirling noise. Whenever it occurred, Erkag's limbs moved at twice the speed, fluidly, like a machine or automaton. However, like a machine or automaton, Erkag's movements were always predictable and practical, following a set pattern regardless of the situation.
Due to this, Marcus had deduced how Erkag would move when the whirling noise occurred. Not only that, he also discovered that there seemed to be a grace period during which Erkag couldn't sustain this heightened movement continuously. After the fact, Erkag appeared to struggle to control his limbs properly, leaving openings for Marcus to exploit.
As the cannon charged up, Erkag let out a resigned sigh. "Looks like it's my loss. Whatever. At least I died in the hands of someone interesting." The cannon fired, and the orange beam struck Erkag's head point-blank, obliterating him and the floor beneath him. Marcus swiftly retrieved his curved saber from Erkag's midsection before leaping backward to avoid plummeting to the floor below with Erkag's body.
Meanwhile, Kazon and the demon of hatred continued their intense struggle. Kazon's armor was scorched, and he could no longer hear it screaming at him. The demon of hatred launched a barrage of attacks, a flurry of punches and kicks aimed at Kazon. With precision and agility, Kazon dodged, blocked, and redirected each strike with calculated movements.
The demon's first punch came in fast and fierce, aimed straight for Kazon's face. Kazon sidestepped, allowing the blow to whiff past him, and countered with a swift kick to the demon's midsection. As the demon recoiled from the impact, Kazon spun around and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the demon's head, staggering him momentarily.
But the demon of hatred was relentless. He followed up with a rapid series of punches, aiming for Kazon's chest and abdomen. Kazon blocked most of the blows with his forearms, but a few managed to slip through, leaving bruises and dents in his armor. Sensing an opening, the demon launched a spinning kick toward Kazon's head, but Kazon ducked under the attack and countered with a lightning-fast jab to the demon's solar plexus.
Despite their intense battle, neither Kazon nor the demon of hatred could gain a decisive advantage. Each time one seemed to gain the upper hand, the other fought back with equal ferocity. For this conflict to change, for it to reach its conclusion, a third party needed to intervene. A third party that was not the exhausted and injured Marcus. No, it had to be something neither of them could predict.
Without warning, from one of the rooms, something burst out. It caught everyone's attention—a creature that none of them recognized. A towering monster with sleek black fur reminiscent of a wolf, its form strikingly feminine yet undeniably menacing. Glowing red eyes glinted like serpents as it surveyed the scene, and its hands bore two sets of razor-sharp claws that protruded between its knuckles. An unknown force had joined the fight.