Leonor ran to hide behind the barrels again, and Lodtrack stepped back slowly, analyzing the demon who observed him with curiosity.
Lodtrack trembled with fear, a sensation he had never felt against any opponent. He raised his sword and shield; the demon only tilted its head, curious, and with a swipe, sent Lodtrack flying, crashing into liquor containers. Despite blocking the blow with his shield, he felt immense pain in his arm, which went numb instantly; it had almost broken.
Liquor began to seep from his body to the ground. Violently, he attacked the demon, who launched another swipe. Lodtrack rolled to the side and narrowly avoided the blow. The ground vibrated and cracked beneath the immense hand of the demon. Lodtrack made a desperate thrust that pierced the demon's flesh by a few millimeters. The beast recoiled with impossible agility, a thread of purple blood dripping from its abdomen—a superficial wound.
The curious eyes of the demon turned to fury as it attacked Lodtrack with punches he dodged and counterattacked with difficulty, without landing a good hit. Leonor watched the battle, terrified, noticing how Lodtrack's attacks only scratched the demon, and how the warrior fought more desperately.
'Calm down,' Lodtrack thought as he dodged a punch and superficially slashed the demon's skin. 'If you lose control, you'll end up dead,' Lodtrack thought at another blow. This time, Lodtrack had to duck and barely avoided the impact. 'But there's no way I can keep control with this thing. I just can't beat him; his fists are immense, and he moves too fast, like dodging cannonballs.'
The creature, impatient, threw a punch that barely grazed Lodtrack. Still, he fell to the ground from the shock. Leonor muffled a scream; Lodtrack was unable to reason for a few seconds due to the impact. It was enough time for the beast to grab him like a ragdoll by the torso, leaving his left arm with the shield immobilized. Lodtrack struggled to free himself, but the demon shook him violently, rendering him unable to react. Tired and furious, it began to squeeze its fist.
Lodtrack screamed in pain, his ribs and trapped arm were shattering like branches, turning to dust as he spat blood, and his body twisted. A little more, and his shattered ribs would pierce his lungs, and he would die.
Desperately, he swung his sword with all his might while shouting; finally, a good cut. The swing completely pierced the demon's arm, leaving a gash the size of an arm. The demon howled with such force that its roar must have been heard throughout the entire castle. Subsequently, it threw Lodtrack to the ground; he rolled until he was once again next to the liquor containers, feeling the spilled drink on his face.
He had no idea what to do; the beast continued roaring in pain, its blood spilling all over the floor. Once it calmed down, it would kill him. He forced himself to his feet; blood continued to gush from his wounds, and his legs barely responded.
'If this creature doesn't kill me, these injuries will,' he thought. He turned his gaze to the demon, who was already recovering from the shock; then he looked at Leonor, who was crying, paralyzed with fear. He looked back at the ground. 'Think, this thing must have a weak point; I could only wound it by sheer luck.' He noticed the mixture of blood and liquor, and an idea slipped into his thoughts. 'LIQUOR!!! This thing is still flesh and bone; there's enough liquor here to intoxicate half an army, liquor that only needs a spark to ignite.'
He dropped his sword and grabbed a barrel full of liquor. He turned to the demon. "Hey, scrub face," the demon looked at him furiously, the murderous instinct it radiated enough to make a lion run like a scared cat, but Lodtrack just nervously smiled, "you come from hell, right? I hope you like the heat," and he threw the barrel. The demon did exactly what Lodtrack expected; with a punch, it shattered the barrel, and the liquid drenched it from head to toe.
He took his sword once more and ran toward the demon. He tried to move his left arm, but it was completely shattered, and he could barely move it on its own. The demon threw a punch, but Lodtrack dodged it; the punch hit the ground, which shattered beneath them. Lodtrack clashed his sword against his shield, and a spark jumped onto the demon, who immediately caught fire.
Leonor screamed upon seeing the creature engulfed in flames. Lodtrack fell to his knees; the creature tried to put out the fire with its hands, but only fanned the flames. A roasted smell began to emanate from the creature, and Lodtrack knew he had hit the mark.
"As tough as your skin may be, it's still organic. So, setting it on fire will make it as soft as mine!!" Lodtrack swung a furious slash. The demon's skin, weakened by the fire, offered no resistance to the deadly edge of the sword and cut like paper. "You bastard, I'll repay you tenfold for the damage," Lodtrack began launching slashes and thrusts with his single arm, now completely damaging the beast as it howled incessantly. Giving in to the moment, he attacked fiercely, ignoring the flames extinguishing from the demon's body.
"Lodtrack!! The fire!" Leonor shouted. Lodtrack didn't stop, but the demon's hand grabbed the sword, which this time failed to penetrate its skin.
"Damn it." The demon clenched its fist, and the pieces of the sword fell to the ground tinkling. Lodtrack looked up at the demon and only saw its completely red eyes. The beast raised its fist, "I don't want to die yet." The demon attacked, but its blow only hit the ground. Lodtrack fell to the ground as he was knocked down by another person.
On top of him was Virtof with a nervous expression. Lodtrack was stunned to see him, but he had no time to think because the demon turned toward them with its crimson eyes.
It lunged at both, but Virtof pushed Lodtrack aside and tried to block the demon's blow with his sword; but he was sent flying, falling near where Leonor was.
"Are you okay?" the noble asked. Virtof put his index finger to his lips, indicating silence, he jumped to his feet, and charged at the demon. Lodtrack watched as Virtof fought the demon, although like him, his attacks did not pierce the skin. Virtof attacked fiercely, seeking a weak point, but the demon responded with the same energy. Virtof's fatigue became more apparent, barely able to dodge the demon's attacks.
Lodtrack tried to get up, using the last bits of will and strength he had left, but it was useless; his legs simply wouldn't respond, and many of his bones were shattered, having fought for so long only because adrenaline. Virtof seemed to be in the same situation Lodtrack was a moment ago, with a slight difference; the demon seemed slower, and it exhaled forcefully through its jaws.
An opportunity, Lodtrack knew he could take advantage of that opening, he just needed to get up, then a figure ran to his side and with a swing of his axe attacked the demon, which fell to its knees from the impact.
"Chub," Lodtrack said, trying to get up with more strength, but he felt a hand on his back.
"You shouldn't move with those wounds," Lodtrack looked up and saw Jill's face smiling weakly, though visibly drained at the sight of her partner in that state. "Rest, we've got this."
"No! It's too strong; you won't even be able to injure it" Lodtrack refuted "you should flee... agh" the wounds worsened with his abrupt movements.
"You don't understand." Jill took something from her bag and put it in Lodtrack's mouth, indicating he should swallow it; she smiled weakly and continued, "you're the one who's going to run." Lodtrack looked at her confused.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lodtrack asked, but he only received a smile as a response, and Jill looked toward the barrels where Leonor was hiding. Lodtrack had forgotten he was there; he had to get him to safety, and then he realized what Jill meant "you are going to die."
Virtof fell to his side; he had cut his forehead, and his face was stained with blood, but he still had the strength to fight.
"You have so little faith in us?" Virtof said mockingly, though he immediately hardened his expression "we're Draco's apprentices too, you know. Don't believe too much. I know we can win."
"But sir Leonor is the priority!" Chub shouted from a distance "and you look pathetic to keep fighting."
Lodtrack looked at them, searching for words to let them allow him to fight, but it was useless; his body could barely walk.
"With what I gave you, your superficial wounds will heal." Jill continued "but you'll only have the strength to escape, not to fight. Your priority should be to protect Leonor; that's our duty, and maybe our only chance to win."
Virtof smiled and charged at the demon again. Jill wielded her spear and looked at Lodtrack one last time as a tear slid down her face. He nodded, believing he understood what she meant. He would only have a few minutes to get out of there.
Lodtrack got up and ran alongside Leonor, who was cowering in fear, listening to everything. The guard crouched beside him, put his hands on Leonor's shoulders, and looked at him trying to calm him; the noble simply nodded and stood up.
"You better survive!!" Lodtrack shouted as he headed inside the castle with Leonor.
"Don't worry about us," Virtof said "we're Draco's apprentices after all."
"This is a piece of cake," Chub affirmed "I'm sure Silo will come to save the day, that would make him happy, right?"
Jill remained silent and turned her back on Lodtrack, who nodded silently and continued running. Virtof saw Jill's face soaked in tears and raised his sword more determined than ever; Chub and Jill imitated his example, and together they continued to fight the demon.
Lodtrack wiped his face and went through the door without looking back; unaware that this would be the last time he would see his companions together.