Bella had already cleared the way for the vine demon by separating the death puppets. It shot toward Zac as soon as it saw him. Zac's body was covered in cracks and his form was emitting a black, gaseous death energy. The vine demon shot its vines at Zac, threatening to stab him as it got closer. Zac moved just enough—more like abruptly—to make every vine miss him by the narrowest of margins.
Zac drew his daggers and cut two of the vines before it could pull the others out. They sliced through the vines like butter melted. The demon let out a terrible scream.
"Not too bad. Not bad at all," Zac uttered while fixing his gaze on the shiny blades he was holding.
