Chapter 315: Dread No More

The spear pierced through the head of one leech with a force of the impact so great that it drove the creature backward and through several structures in a massive way of destruction.

The sword struck the second leech directly between its rows of teeth, punching clean through its skull and emerging from the other side.

Both leeches twitched violently for a moment then their bodies began to disintegrate and crumble into ash.

Arianna smiled as she watched them fall apart. “Two down,” she muttered.

But there was still one left.

Atop the third leech’s body, Malachar had a sword gripped tightly in one hand.

And standing opposite her on the same massive beast were Rin and Aeris who had split off from Laela and Arianna to square off against the Demon Lord of Dread.

Aeris moved first, launching herself forward with explosive speed, and closing the distance to Malachar in an instant.

She swung her twin blades to come up in a cross-slash aimed at the demon lord’s torso.

Malachar sidestepped smoothly, letting the blades pass harmlessly, then countered with a quick thrust of her own sword toward Aeris’s midsection.

But Rin was already there.

The half-demon lunged forward on all fours, intercepting Malachar’s blade with one clawed hand while her floating sword shot forward like a missile toward the demon lord’s head.

Malachar ducked beneath the flying blade and kicked out at Rin’s legs, forcing the half-demon to leap backward to avoid being swept off her feet.

Aeris came in again from the opposite side, as she unleashed a rapid series of strikes. Each one came from a different angles; overhead, from the side, low toward the legs,

forcing Malachar to constantly adjust her footing as she parried each attack with precise movements of her own sword.

Rin’s floating blade circled around behind Malachar and shot forward again, this time aimed at her lower back.

Malachar spun on one heel, deflecting the flying sword with a flick of her wrist while simultaneously slashing at Aeris’s neck in the same motion.

Aeris ducked beneath the strike and rolled to the side, coming up with both blades ready once more.

The three of them moved across the surface of the worm beasts, like dancers performing a deadly choreography.

Their movements flowed seamlessly from one to the next; attack, counter, dodge, reposition each one perfectly timed to support or follow up on the other’s actions.

It was a battle that looked like something out of high-quality animated works; fluid and dynamic, with every motion so precise.

Aeris and Rin switched positions constantly, never staying in one place long enough for Malachar to pin them down.

When Aeris attacked from the front, Rin attacked from behind. When Rin lunged in close with her claws, Aeris provided cover with her blades. When one was forced back, the other stepped forward to fill the gap.

They moved in perfect sync despite having no formal training together, leaving just their instincts and desperation to let them adapt on the fly.

Malachar’s expression remained cold and focused as she fought them both off. Her sword moved with ease, deflecting strikes that would have killed lesser opponents without so much as breaking her rhythm.

Her footwork was impeccable, always placing her in position to counter or evade before her enemies could capitalize on an opening.

But even she couldn’t deny it, they were keeping up with her.

Rin lunged forward with her clawed hand swiping toward Malachar’s face. At the same time, her floating sword shot in from the side like a spear aimed at the demon lord’s ribs.

Malachar leaned back just enough to let Rin’s claws pass by her nose, then brought her sword down in a sharp arc that deflected the flying blade mid-flight.

But as she did so, Aeris came in from above, leaping high into the air with both blades raised overhead for a powerful downward strike.

Malachar glanced up just in time to see Aeris descending toward her like a meteor. She shifted her weight and brought her sword up to block.

And that’s when Rin made her move.

The half-demon planted both feet firmly on the leech’s flesh and lunged forward with all her strength, driving her shoulder into Malachar’s side just as the demon lord raised her sword to block Aeris’s attack.

The impact threw Malachar off balance for just a fraction of a second, but it was enough.

Aeris’s blades came down with devastating force, crashing against Malachar’s hastily raised sword with enough power to send sparks flying.

The demon lord staggered backward half a step, forced onto the defensive.

Rin pressed the advantage immediately. She swiped at Malachar’s legs with her claws while simultaneously commanding her floating sword to strike at the demon lord’s head from behind.

But Malachar had already recovered quickly as she leaped into the air to avoid Rin’s swipe and twisted mid-jump to deflect the flying sword with a backhand swing of her own blade.

She landed smoothly and immediately countered with a powerful horizontal slash aimed at Rin’s exposed torso.

The strike connected cleanly and the force behind it was immense that it sent Rin flying backward across the leech’s body like a rag-doll.

Rin’s body tumbled through the air helplessly, with blood spraying from where Malachar’s blade had carved across her ribs.

But before she could fly too far, something caught her mid-flight.

A thick vine shot up from below, one of Laela’s creations, and wrapped around Rin’s waist like a lasso.

The vine halted Rin’s momentum and held her suspended in midair before returning her back to Laela’s side.

Aeris saw the opening immediately.

With Malachar momentarily focused on watching Rin fly away, Aeris pushed off hard against the leech’s flesh and launched herself forward with both blades ready again.

She closed the distance in an instant and swung both weapons in another cross-slash aimed directly at Malachar’s chest.

Malachar’s eyes snapped back toward Aeris just in time to see her coming. The demon lord brought her sword up quickly to intercept..

But then something changed.

Arianna who had been watching from below with hawk-like focus whispered,

“Shrink.”

And the effect was instantaneous.

Malachar’s sword, the weapon she’d been relying on to block Aeris’s incoming attackc shrank so rapidly it seemed to vanish entirely.

Malachar’s eyes went wide with shock and that split-second of hesitation was all Aeris needed.

Her twin blades hit clean as there was nothing left to block them. The first blade carved across Malachar’s shoulder, drawing a line of black blood.

The second blade drove forward with all of Aeris’s strength behind it and buried itself deep into Malachar’s chest.

Malachar gasped as pain exploded through her body. Black blood gushed from where Aeris’s blade had pierced, spilling down over both of them.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Aeris with her blade still embedded in Malachar’s chest, and Malachar staring down at it in disbelief.

Then Malachar reacted.

Her fist came up in a brutal uppercut that caught Aeris right in the jaw.

The Amazon’s head snapped back violently, and blood sprayed from her mouth as she was lifted clean off her feet by the blow.

Aeris flew backward as such speed that Laela’s vine couldn’t catch her in time, until she crashed hard into a destroyed building several meters away.

She coughed up blood as she struggled to push herself upright again.

Arianna and Laela only turned back towards her for a brief second before reverting their focus back on the enemy who hadn’t died yet.

Malachar stood where she was for a moment longer, with one hand clasped over the wound in her chest.

Blood poured freely from between her fingers, staining her robes black.

She gritted her teeth and grabbed hold of Aeris’s blade still buried deep in her chest, then yanked it free.

More blood gushed from the wound as she tossed the blade aside.

Malachar staggered slightly, her breathing also wasn’t steady, but she remained standing.

She looked down at Laela and Arianna below, then at Aeris at the far end behind, and at Rin, who was still being held aloft by Laela’s vine as she clutched at her own wounds.

And then Malachar laughed bitterly.

“Not bad,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

She raised her free hand toward them as purple energy began gathering around them. But before she could finish casting whatever spell she’d been preparing…

…several gods appeared around her all at once.

They materialized out of thin air in flashes of divine light and she was utterly surrounded now with no escape route left open to her.

Malachar froze mid-cast as realization dawned on her face.

She lowered her hand slowly, then let out a bitter laugh that turned into a cough as blood bubbled up from between her lips!

“I was done for anyway,” she said hoarsely, then looked up toward the sky and smiled faintly.

Her body began disintegrating then. The leech beneath her let out one final screech before it too began falling apart.

It was at that this point that both Arianna and Rin ran towards Aeris at once.

——

Back within his Pocket Domain…

Aiden smiled from where he floated within his translucent orb.

Through his bond with Laela and Arianna, and through his connection to their emotions, he could feel it.

They won!

[…67%… 68%…]

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