The Demon Queen constantly kept her distance away from me. She refuses to allow me any chance to get close to her by constantly using her ranged attacks. I am down to only one more charge of Rend and Lightning Charge. I need to make it count. There was not much point in trying to use Lightning Strike when she is fast enough to dodge it. There is a reason why she kept flying nimbly around.
The Demon Queen used two of her existing thorn pillars to slam on me but I managed to avoid it. After regaining my bearings, I realised that she had readied a heck amount of blades and daggers to throw at me.
"This is the end, Hawthorn!" she shouted and sent all the floating blades and daggers flying towards me.
I quickly summoned Rend as I had no time to dodge. Thankfully, I had enough time to cover myself with my cloak. After the last of the blades had bounced off my cloak, I was immediately struck by an impact that I felt awfully familiar. Damn it, she used her scream attack on me once again. The floor beneath me broke and I quickly summoned Tengu-kaze to stab through the floor which is above me right now. Geez, almost fell to the lower levels. I was deafen currently so I had to make do with my other senses. I quickly climbed up the hole that I fell under, brushed off the dirt from my shoulder and taunted the Queen once again.
"You were saying?" I smirked.
***
Do I really need to use Great Blessing in order to defeat this captain? Judging by what we are capable of, and how far we were able to push him, safe to say we can't defeat him with our current power level. His strength or speed had increased to at least threefold and he can heal much quicker now that he had his limiter removed. The Dark Lord was starting to pant heavily now that his potion duration had ended.
The captain placed his greatsword on his shoulder and shook his head as though he was not amused with our performance. He proceeded to taunt us with his fingers to attack him as though he taking things easy so far. And he might be right, he had not even activated his Bloodlust after his limiter broke.
The Dark Lord glanced at me giving me the signal. I sighed and nodded, completely understanding his intention. We cannot afford to hold ourselves back any longer. While I never enjoyed the after effects of using Great Blessings, we don't really have much of an option now. At least Zen & the Dark Lord can benefit greatly from this spell as well.
The Dark Lord reached to his back pouch and took out a small vial with black liquid while I kneeled on one knee to begin my chanting. The captain were kind enough to wait for us to ready ourselves. Had not known any demons being so noble, or perhaps he is just overconfident with himself. The Dark Lord emptied his vial and tossed it aside. The room was surprisingly silent enough to hear the sound of the vial rolling to a complete halt. His body started going slimmer and smaller until he had to eventually remove his armour and cape. His hair started changing from black to red while his eyes turned eerily to pure white. Complete opposite from the previous potion he drank. He was only wearing his inner wear now and stood ready. There are two downsides to this elixir but the benefits far outweigh the cons for us right now.
I focused myself and casted Great Blessings. My body was encased with a golden spectral light armour in several places that protects me against fatal blows. Both Zen and the Dark Lord had partial golden armours that protected their shoulders and knees. My Great Blessing was enhanced by Focused Meditation turning it into the True Great Blessings. This spell will not last long and both the Dark Lord and I will be down for the count in about 15 minutes. We need to end this fight before the duration ends.
"Let's go," I told the Dark Lord and he just nodded. Not willing to speak, eh? I'm well aware of the side effect that potion grants you. No need to be shy.
The Dark Lord charged straight ahead towards the captain. With his smaller body, his speed had drastically improved along with my Great Blessings. The captain was caught off-guard by the sudden boost in speed and tried to block the leap attack from the Dark Lord but he was too slow. The Dark Lord had almost managed to pierce through the captain's helmet but the captain turned his head at the last moment avoiding the blade from piercing through his brain. Damn, we were so close.
Red blood seeped out of the helmet. That attack must have pierced through his eye at the very least. The captain roared with anger and activated Bloodlust immediately. The Dark Lord had shrunk and was now about a third in height compared to the captain, yet he taunted the captain with his index finger. Like a child making fun of an adult.
***
"This spell again? What a nuisance!" complained the Demon Queen.
I don't have much time left in maintaining Rend. I only have my red dragonhide cloak to protect me after this. Even with the blessing provided to me, I can't seems to get into close combat with her when she constantly kept gliding far away from me. An opportunity is all I need. Only about 5 minutes left before Rend expires. Got to make it count!
I call forth another lightning with my right gauntlet. I had to take a gamble. The roof of the castle were mostly broken at this point. The Demon Queen made a "Tch!" and flew even further away than before to avoid getting struck by my Lightning Strike again.
The Demon Queen raised a huge wall of thorns and pushed it towards me. She must be baiting me to use the Lightning Strike on that wall. I ran towards the wall and smashed through it with my spectral cloak and gauntlets. I immediately released Lightning Strike on her as soon as I gained visual on her. But she had already enclosed herself with a thick layer of blood that completely nullified my Lightning Strike. Damn it, she baited me into her trap.
My spectral cloak started flickering in and out of existence and eventually disappeared back into the other dimension. The Queen grinned and started laughing with her evil tone. She must be getting overconfident now that Rend had ended. I need to play it safe, it's not yet over.
***
We were pushing the captain back. However, our spell and potion is only gonna last about another five minutes or so. This demon have such insane regeneration after he reactivated Bloodlust. Any injuries he sustained were being healed almost instantaneously. Even breaking his bones did very little to slow him down. Does Demon never tire out eventually? Are they gifted the ability to constantly keep fighting? We resorted to dismembering his limbs whenever possible to increase his regeneration time. But all will be naught if we can't destroy his brain.
I took a quick peek at Zen on how he's faring. He was running around seeking cover from the numerous attacks the Demon Queen was throwing at him. What happened to his spectral cloak? Did he hit his limit? We need to help him!
The Dark Lord probably noticed Zen's situation as well and is pushing his body to its limits to attack the captain. I joined the fray and tried to inflict as many wounds as we can on this captain. We kept a lookout for the possibility of reaching his helmet but there was none. This demon must have decades if not centuries of fighting experience to keep his one weak-point so closely guarded.
The captain managed to counter the Dark Lord and hit him with the hilt of his greatsword sending him flying. Now it's just me and him. I pumped myself up and fought hard but every damage I inflict on him would end up healing while mine stayed bleeding or bruised. He eventually gave me a kick to my sternum which knocked me off my feet. Even with all the armour from the grand blessings, I was sure my sternum was fractured from the impact of that kick. Armour only prevents against stab or slash wounds but not against impact sadly. The captain stood next to me about to deliver the coup de grâce. I was fading out of consciousness at this point as the spell was wearing out. The Dark Lord was struggling to stand up himself and was panting hard trying to reach me. I had resigned myself to death as the captain swung his giant sword towards my face. I hope Rose would take up the courage to be the next Paladin Lord. A bright flash of light covered my vision followed by a loud rumble that shook the whole castle.
***
I need to time it right. Only one Lighting Charge left. I need to lure her to the right spot. The Queen continued her barrage of attacks on me while I hid behind a pillar. It won't take her long to find my location. She spotted me and continued her attacks. I threw Tengu-kaze at her and she dodged it with ease. I continued to head closer to the throne with the cover of the pillars. She flew closer and summoned thorn pillars from the ground. The pillars were slithering after me like they had a mind of their own. I resummoned Tengu-kaze and used wind pressure to cut the pillars which resulting in me cutting the castle pillars as well. I'm still amazed at how the castle still remained upright despite such destructive battles.
The Queen continued her chase and barraged me with her daggers again. I leapt as far as I could behind where she flew and swung a huge gust of wind towards her, pushing her closer to the throne. As she was guarding herself from the wind, I tossed Tengu-kaze and somehow it managed to pierce one of her wing. The weight of Tengu-kaze was starting to force her down but she steadied herself and maintained her flight. Now's my chance!
I rushed closer to her as she tried to pull Tengu-kaze out of her wing while trying to keep herself afloat. She saw me approaching her and tossed a couple of daggers towards me. I raised my red dragonhide cloak to keep me protected but a few daggers still managed to pierce me despite her blundering throw. I ignored the pain and continued running towards her location. The Queen wanted to fly away from me but Tengu-kaze's weight was pulling her down, keeping her in place.
I kept praying to the above for the right opportunity to strike. C'mon Zeus, grant me something! A flicker of white light lighted outside of the throne's window. There it is!
I raised my left hand towards the Queen. She guarded herself but realised that my left gauntlet wasn't charged. She smirked and was about to say something when a lightning came through the window behind her and pierced through her body. She was stuck getting electrocuted for a couple of seconds as the lightning charged my gauntlet. The amount power I received was insane. A direct lightning from a real thunderstorm was completely different than a summoned one. My dark gauntlet turned white after charged by that lightning.
The Queen's body was roasted and had a huge gaping hole at her stomach where the lightning struck through. I will not make the same mistake again. I coated Inazuma with Lightning Charge quickly and walked towards the Queen. It's a wonder she's still afloat even after getting her body toasted by lightning. I leapt at her ready to strike. The combination of a strengthened Lightning Charge and Dark Slash will definitely be enough to finish her when she's completely immobilised. I roared with defiance as I lobbed off her head from her body. Now that, was satisfying.