An explosion echoed through the air, emanating from the forest. The Deadliest Man Alive turned to see dust rising from a part of the woods, forming a dust cloud. Not that it had anything to do with him. Orian closed his eyes, observing through the eyes of his contracted spirits — lesser spirits rather than the powerful shadow spirit he had used to survive Grace. He utilized these lesser spirits to ensure he could sneak away unseen from the current situation.
Soundless red liquid fell around him, but it seemed to wet nothing. His main concern lay with the beings summoned by Verandez — the demons. He watched through the spirit high in the sky, providing him with an aerial view of the entire estate. He scrutinized its eyes to detect any demons at the front or flying through the air, like a few minutes ago. "Looks clear," he muttered to himself before focusing on the very human-looking demon, Kit, and Verandez in the attic.
Orian knew that Verandez was planning on summoning something powerful, but he didn't anticipate an entire demon invasion. "I have to give it to him; it was not something I expected someone like him to do," Orian whispered. However, this meant he would have to kill him — maybe not today, but someday.
Orian could see that they were engaged in a conversation, but what about? He couldn't discern, as the spirit was too far away to pick up their words. Bringing it too close would risk its death. He switched his view to another spirit, overlooking his Wild-Speck, the bike he rode in on. "Looks fine, good," he affirmed, preparing to move and ride out of there on his Wild-Speck. He would have to move quickly, as demons seemed to fly out every so often.
Currently situated in the back garden, he needed to make his way to the front of the estate outside the gate where his bike was stationed. As he rose from his crouched position, however, a voice alarmed him. *Danger, behind.* Orian swiftly turned and unsheathed his saber, swinging it upwards in one fluid motion. A loud CLANG of metal against metal reverberated as Orian's saber clashed with the trident of a demon.
"Wow," the demon remarked as he jumped back, crouching down and pointing his trident at Orian. "Nice reflexes and senses," he complimented with a wide, cheek-stretching grin, revealing his sharp, nail-like teeth. *Another one strong enough to get past the barrier,* Orian thought to himself, his pink eyes narrowing on the demon and his elongated limbs and sickeningly pale skin.
"How did you find me?" Orian questioned, assuming a defensive stance. The pale demon continued to grin widely, amusement gleaming in his swirling red eyes, each with tiny black dots in the middle instead of pupils.
"I like eating," the pale demon replied, straightening up. His thin, stringy body seemed like it could be knocked over by a slight breeze. "And I smelled really good food here," he added, pointing at his sunken nose.
"I'm flattered, however, my body is not meant for consumption," Orian retorted, causing the pale demon to burst out laughing.
"Don't worry, I'll eat anything as long as it's tasty. It doesn't matter if it's meant to be eaten or not," the pale demon remarked, saliva dripping from his mouth onto the ground.
"Then I better make sure you choke to death," Orian stated, channeling his mana.
"I doubt you'll be able to. I've swallowed things much larger than you," the pale demon declared, the muscles underneath his pale skin tensing.
Orian sent out a slash of wind aimed at the pale demon's head, but the demon bent backward, his head nearly touching the ground as he dodged. "So tasty," the pale demon remarked before springing forward to stab Orian. Swiftly sidestepping the trident, Orian swung his saber down to cleave the demon in half, only for the demon to bend around the blade like rubber and smack Orian with his trident. Utilizing wind magic, Orian slid across the ground, minimizing the impact.
"Come on, use more tasty moves," the pale demon taunted, motioning for Orian to come at him. Orian obliged, pointing his left hand at the ground beside him. The pale demon's eyes gleamed with excitement as he watched a small tornado materialize beside Orian. "Now that looks tai—" The pale demon's words were cut off as Orian launched the mini-nado toward him. Despite its size, the tornado packed a powerful punch, sucking the pale demon in and thrashing his springy, rubbery body around. Dust, sand, and small stones were also pulled into the vortex, pelting the pale demon at high speeds while Orian whirled the mini-nado around the back garden.
"Did that fill your stomach?" Orian mocked, wearing a smirk that quickly faded as he heard the pale demon's response. "No, I'm not anywhere near full yet!"
"Then I'll give you more," Orian declared, changing the properties of the mini-nado at the cost of a significant amount of mana. The pale demon raised a non-existent brow, sensing a prickling sensation against his skin that quickly turned into cutting and slicing as his body began to get lacerated by the winds of the tornado, now transformed into blades of wind. "Now, this is tasty!" the pale demon exclaimed ecstatically.
Suddenly, without warning, Orian lost connection to his mini-nado as it disappeared into thin air, leaving the pale demon standing on the ground. "What did you do?" Orian demanded, anger lacing his voice. The pale demon let out a burp before answering, "Ate something delicious," with a smirk as his cuts and slices began healing rapidly. "I said it, didn't I? I've swallowed things much larger than you," the pale demon chuckled, pointing his bony index finger at Orian, who looked even angrier but then let out a sigh, his face settling into a resting glare.
"I can't believe I have to use him twice in a single day," Orian grumbled, putting his left hand to his face in annoyance. "Kill him, Draven," he commanded. With that, the air around him changed, and the pale demon lost all sense of amusement, his expression turning serious. From behind, Orian manifested a near-translucent dark green figure that locked eyes with the pale demon, who nearly buckled from the sheer power. "This might be a bit too tasty."