Red Demon and Smiling Demon cut through all hindering their progress in the castle. Red Demon impaled one witch that came from around the corner. They cut down the last enemy when they came to the throne room. Red Demon turned, "This is where we part. Now to pay on a debt Smiling Demon?" Red Demon said in a friendly tone. Drake lifted up his mask. "What?" He asked. "You keep anyone from entering this throne room. You push yourself to the point of almost death before anyone opens this door. I have a feeling this will be a hard fight. Can you do that?" He asked. Drake unsheathed the scythe from his back duel wielding both big weapons. "Get going" he gave him a nod. They said nothing as the Red Demon entered the throne room. Drake stood strong waiting for the enemies to come.
Red Demone closed and barred the door behind him. 'Good luck Drake' he thought, staring at the door. He turned and looked out at the battlefield. What he saw was a dome of red encircling the castle and forest. All around were different species all engaged in battle. More showed up as it progressed. Some were migrating towards the castle. He enhanced his vision seeing a flicker of orange under the blood and bodies. 'It's rune and inscriptions for a giant magic circle. It's not a battlefield , it's an altar for sacrifices!' He looked around for traces of where the Witch King was. He scanned the floors, and walls before stopping on the throne. He walked around it and saw grooves in the stone floor leading away from the throne.
He then enhanced his vision to only see chi. The floor itself became a solid color in his eyes. He could see a network of chi circuits flowing around the castle flowing down into a solid black round room. In the center a silhouette of a person seated around inscriptions.
"There you are!" He thought. He then saw the wall with the switch. He approached pushing his hands on it. The throne then moved to the side. He manifested his soul weapon and unsheathed moon ray. He began to descend down the stairs. He entered a round room with the Witch King seated in the center of it. She had orange light encircling her. The throne then closed behind him trapping him with the Witch King. 'No getting out till one of us is dead' he thought.
Stood in front of the circle staring at her. She remained silent for a few seconds before her glowing eyes opened. "So you're the new King Slayer?" She said standing up. "You will not stop me from reaching the Celestial Step! I have planned this perfectly!" She said angrily. "It ends here," Red Demon said coldly. He bolted forward becoming heavy as he entered the field of pure chi. The energy struck him, weighing him down. "Having trouble moving I see? Seems you were unaffected by my curse too. Just as well…rather gain the honor of killing you myself!" She said giggling. She manifested her staff and ran forward with it. Red Demon sluggish as he parried each attack trying to keep up.
'Haven't used this yet? But with me being slow might as well go on the defense' he then manifested armor from red chi that started to solidify around him. It took on the appearance of a tight Yoroi. He was able to minimize the damage but some cracks formed in the armor after a while. 'This is getting me nowhere!' He thought. Red orbs formed all around them making the Witch King pause. The orbs then turned into swords. All at once they plunged into the magic circle piercing the stone cracking the circle. The room flickered and became drowned by dark shadows.
As it dripped off the blades. She became surrounded by tentacles being engulfed. As she became wrapped up she began to chuckle. As the shadow then started to turn gray like stone only to crumble into dust freeing her.
Red Demon backed off as his vision blurred as a beam of light came from warped gates. He flipped, ducked, and somersaulted dodging the beams. She spun her staff around attacking him. He used both blades to parry the staff. He spun about and was able to land a kick to her side making her slam into the wall. She bounced off and shot forward, driving a fist full of wind. As she connected, Red Demon felt a tremendous amount of pressure as he exploded backwards.
He felt dizzy and his insides were on fire. He leaned forward as his armor turned to particles. Blood dropped off his forehead and his head throbbed. She came to him to finish the job. He dropped into shadow before the staff shattered against the wall. He appeared behind running at her, slashing at her furiously. She became off balance as shadow hands grabbed her. The Demon's Wrath edge started engulfed in flame. Moon Rat was glowing white as he poured chi into the blade. His face became covered by the Crescent Mask. A black and white cloak covered him making him hard to see as he moved around. Like almost attacking her on all sides. He slashed her back and hip. She staggered forward slamming the staff down creating sparks as she shouted "NULLIFICATION" she could see Red Demon clearly as began attacking. It only lasted a few seconds before the cloak made him invisible again.
She then felt a sword pierce her shoulder picking her up as she was slammed to the ground. She grabbed the blade as it burned her hands. Shadows on the blade then turned to spikes piercing her hands. She screamed in pain. She then kicked him in the chest. She was pulled before wrenching her hand free. She groaned and threw another kick across his shoulder. He staggered back and she brought the head of the staff down. He blocked with two swords stopping the impact.
He pushed her back into the wall. He then moved fast and nicked her wrist with one sword simultaneously hitting the staff downward. It wretched from her hands as he brought blades upward piercing both hands and then pinning them to the wall. He then unsheathed his kunai and drove it into her chest. She gasped in pain under a mask. The sockets of the mask began to cry blood.
He stepped back pulling his kunai free. He caught his breath and she stared at the ground. "Bastard wins…hooray…cough. Dreaded Faction will avenge me" she giggled. Red Demon said nothing as he freed her hands, taking his swords from the wall. He stepped back. She lay there limp, "Madness…my…madness" she mumbled before going still.
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The Smiling Demon stood in front of the door waiting. In the halls he could hear echoes of roars, yelling and screaming. They were getting closer as a half dead army of monsters came through the hall. An ant with missing legs dragging along with four, elephant dripping blood about with broken tusks, maimed humans with a grin on their face wielding an ax. "Why aren't they dead?" He thought. A panther with glowing red eyes and its skull showing attacked first. He sliced its head off with the scythe and was set upon by a beast soldier missing an eye. A gash was across his chest. He drove a hammer blow at Shining Demon throwing him off balance. He then decapitated the monster. A spider came upon him pushing into the corner. It was missing legs and a fang. He twisted the blade of the scythe upward and pulled up slicing the belly of the arachnid.
He kicked it away. Beast men were slamming hammers on the door as he intercepted throwing the ax. His chi surged as he bullrushed a bear breaking its neck and slamming others into a wall. He flipped over the elephant spinning as he drove both weapons into its back. The impact created a crater. It slumped down dead and Shining Demon jumped off landing on an undead human. He smashed its head and drove the scythe into a gray gorilla's head. He was then hit by a tail from a giant lizard. He coughed blood under his mask. 'No! Keep going' he thought, activating the Iron Skin spell. He surged with chi and his body became entombed with metal. It flowed over his body and covered his head giving him two slits to look at creating the smile from the mask. Back of his head was elongated and he had swirl patterns on his body glowing blue. He charged forward. He cut through monsters like butter and the bull rushed through the undead. He cut them all down and was then tackled by an elephant picking him up and then throwing him across the room. It then screeched in a high pitch roar. He felt his mind rattle but the Iron Skin was protecting his Mind Palace from shattering. He activated the Iron Spike and threw one at the elephant, killing it for good. He got up and wobbled as he took a punch from a beast soldier. He then ducked another punch and brought the ax up , cutting him from belly to chin. Its throat split open as it dropped. He had a moment of rest as all who were present were now gone for good. He began to laugh. 'WHAT A GOOD DAY TO DIE!' He thought loudly.
He deactivated the spell. His soul core felt bigger from the long use in battle with it. His mind felt sharp and he was running on napalm. He waited for the next wave wrapping some of his wounds. He was beaten, tired, and was broken. Breathing was hard. He pulled out a bottle taking a swig of elixir to help heal.
He could hear more beasts coming. He groaned, lifting his ax and scythe resting them on his shoulders. Monsters walked down the hall towards him slowly dragging along. Drake smiled under his mask. His body then became coated in metal. He then shot forward, cutting down the new threats.
During the fight he was beaten down further. His next respite was longer after a while no enemies showed up. He slid to the ground as he sighed with relief. 'Seems the Red Demon came through. I feel like I elevated closer to rank five. Soon I'll evolve…if I live till then. He pulled off his mask and drank another elixir. His body took awhile to stabilize till he passed out.
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Red Demon lingered in the room after taking her soul weapon and mask. He studied the floor and found a tank of chi that was still filled. He pulled it off a vein and set it down. "It's pure chi! I could use this to elevate everything from forging to my elements" he whispered. The tank disappears into his ring. He then found the switch, pressed it and the throne moved, illuminating a small light from in the throne room. Before leaving he set the room ablaze burning the Witch King's body.
He stepped into the throne room looking out at the devastation left behind. He sighed as the sun began to rise as the red mist dissipated.