Chapter 214: Battle for Salvation (VIII)

Filch didn’t see what was happening with Santiago and Jeanne, he was too busy with what unraveled before him.

The five slit demon had learned from their first exchange and it had changed its movements in order to counter Filch’s powers.

He had stopped chasing Filch’s feet and started cutting off the walls instead—positioning himself between Filch and any surface large enough to pull real material from, herding him toward the center of the street where the ground was the only thing.

Filch gritted his teeth. ’he is smart, shit!’

He was being outthought!

He dropped for the lamppost anyway, not because it was the best option but because thinking too long in a fight was a death sentence. His palm hit the cold metal just as the five-slit demon’s hand closed on his collar and hauled him backward off the ground.

For a moment Filch was simply airborne, his feet hanging as the demon held him at arm’s length with the ease.

“Caught the rat…” The demon laughed.

But suddenly he saw Filch moving his body in a way to let his feet reach the metallic structure. He crossed his legs around it and the metal glowed with bright blue light and shot forward as a spike.

The demon dropped him to step back.

Filch hit the broken tiles and rolled… creating distance and finding a perfect spot.

He spotted Jeanne on her knees just two streets away and Velrith had completely overshadowed her.

It was bad.

And the green-eyed demon was not in a hurry.

That was the worst part. He stood over her with the patience of something that intended to finish this at its own pace and saw no reason to rush.

Filch’s jaw tightened.

He looked back at the five-slit demon, who had repositioned and was watching him with five-slit eyes that radiated nothing resembling concern.

’I can’t fight both problems at once.’

He made the discission in under a second and changed his direction away from the five slit demon and towards Velrith.

His both palms hit the ground in a running drag that sent a wave of compressed stone rippling outward ahead of him. Not a spike but a shelf—a raised ridge of earth and white tiles that erupted between Jeanne and Velrith with enough force to knock the lighter of the two off balance.

Jeanne was already moving, the moment the ground shifted beneath her. She read Filch’s trajectory in a fraction of a second, broke left along the wall, and put distance between herself and Velrith before the dust from the raised shelf had settled.

The five-slit demon was behind Filch now, closing fast.

Filch planted both feet and spun to face Velrith, both hands pressed flat to the broken road.

The brown eyed demon was suddenly hit by a projectile on his torso, he didn’t even notice when it came. He looked in the direction from where it came but didn’t find anyone.

Just then, his hair stood on their end. His brown eyes started glowing brightly and his body suddenly grew in size. Another lightening induced projectile hit him in the back just beneath his heart.

If his body had been at its normal size than there was no doubt that the arrow would have pierced his heart. That was some crazy accuracy!

But this was catering to him and not his opponents. They didn’t know that every wound inflicted to his body would increase his overall strength.

Filch had closed the street behind him, so in order to not let the demon get away… but actually that was a pretty bold statement.

Velrith looked at him.

“That was a reasonable maneuver,” the demon said.

“That was not a fair matchup at all,” Filch replied. “I thought I’d make it a little bit more fair.”

“Fair?” the demon chuckled. “Its just a matter of who dies first and last.”

Filch maintained a neutral face and pulled out his cigarette to let out a big cloud of smoke before touching a metal rebar protruding out of a building and turning it into a spear.

“You should learn not to underestimate your enemy.” He sad and charged.

Velrith took a step back and let some plants grow from the cracks in the tiles. He blocked the first stroke from Filch with his forearm… it didn’t had much strength behind it.

Then a succession of attacks followed… those were weak as well. He only received a series of small cuts and nothing serious.

Soon the plants had grown thick and hard, they wrapped around his hand… taking the shape of a sword before he pulled the part away from the seedlings.

At that moment he saw Filch step away with a smile on his face.

’Checkmate…’

As soon as Filch’s feet touched the ground, several thin lines started glowing from beneath them and moved to several parts of the surface and walls all around the demon.

It was only then that he realized, why there was not much power behind the attacks. It was because Filch was only using one hand to attack and the other to put some kind of points all around him.

The Demon’s eyes widened and a strong feeling of unease heightened from his chest. He tried to jump back, but it was far too late… the points all around him glowed brightly and attacked all at once.

Sharp spiked protruded from everywhere and moved towards him at the center.

At the same time Filch’s smile had vanished as he noticed the tendrils, as thick as roots growing from the cracks and related it to the incident just the other day.

The puppets, those two faceless figures that had followed him and Ishiki from the Inner ring and in the Secondary Ring.

At that time he had dismissed as some other players skill.

But, now as he watched a pale tendril curl from between two tiles he understood to whom exactly those humanoid beings had belonged to.

’Holy shit! It was this Demon’s Ability.’

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