Civilization

Glancing at the Imp, I was able to understand the purpose of the blackish aura around my weapons. It was the skill it had called, Dark Mantle.

Name: Imp

Race: Lesser Demon

Health Points (HP): 28/28

Mana Points (MP): 17/17

Demonic Energy (DE): 5/5

Strength: 10

Vitality: 14

Intelligence: 34

Dexterity: 19

Agility: 21

Luck: 1

Skill: Dark Mantle, Shadow Sting, Lesser Demonic Energy (Passive)

Dark Mantle (Active) 5MP or 1DE - Apply dark element to a weapon, shield, part of the body, or an object. Enemies making contact with the dark element will take damage (10 + 100% Intelligence). Can apply Dark Mantle 3/5 more times.  Duration 5 mins. Cooldown 10 mins.

Shadow Sting (Active) 5MP or 1DE - Release a thin dark needle to deal damage to a target. (20 + 50% Intelligence). Cooldown 30 seconds.

"Imp, apply Dark Mantle on Devel and Fierna for me!" - Kingston

Running toward Ian, I order the Imp and with a flick of its wrists, a dark aura envelopes their weapons. Without any words between the three of us, we dash at Ian from three different directions with Devel approaching him first from the front, Fierna on the right, and me on the left. With the flame blade in my left hand and my trident in my right, I accelerate faster watching Devel stab forward with his blade, only for Ian to disappear.

Devel's blade stabs into the wall sparking lightning in all directions, gritting his teeth, he turns and yells in my direction as Ian reappears in front of me. All of Ian's spider legs dash out from his sides stabbing at my face at lightning-fast speeds. With my quick judgment, I felt like I was unable to dodge the attack, instead, I activate Charge flinging my body straight into Ian's.

The tips of his legs scrape against my skin, as I shoulder bash into Ian, tucking my head down to protect it. Hitting Ian, I was able to push him back and without fail, I stab forward with my trident, creating a small explosion in his chest, forcing him back some more, into Devel's range. Spinning in midair Ian defends against Devel's incoming horizontal stash, clashing with his blade with the left side of his spider legs while also counterattacking with the right.

Protecting Devel, Feirna's flame blade slices through the spider legs, before attempting a diagonal slash across Ian's body. However, almost immediately after his spider legs were sliced off, new ones grew out stabbing into Feirna's chest, lifting her up into the air as Ian stabilizes on the ground.

"Electrical Charge!" - Devel

Dashing forward, draping himself in an electrical net, Devel slams into Ian's side, shooting electrical currents off his body. Small currents burn Ian's skin and in response, Ian takes the spider legs out of Fierna and backs off, leaping away. Turning to observe Ian, I notice that the burnt skin was already starting to recover, however, I never once heard of Ian having a healing ability. Dashing past me, Devel and Fierna both attack Ian with their respective skills.

"Fire Shield - Cone!" - Fierna

"Askknall." - Devel

In the front, Devel initiates the attack, clapping his hands together the moment he was in range, sending an electrical pulse toward Ian. While behind him, Fierna conjures a cone as large as her body, in front of her, pressing forward like a locomotive. Gritting my teeth, I follow after them, watching their movements and doing my best to find an opportunity to join in on the attack.

With just this short exchange, I already knew that this fight was out of my skill level. Not only is Devel having difficulty facing Ian, but from what I can see, even Fierna was having trouble. The only thing left in my mind is how do I help them. What can I do for them? My attacks are too slow and too weak so… What can I do?

​ As my thoughts race through my mind, Fierna reaches Ian, using her fire shield as a cover she blocks his movements, swinging around the side to attack with her fire sword. Blocking the shield with his right spider legs, Ian brings up his left spider legs to parry Fierna's attack, counterattacking at her legs with the lower left spider leg. Predicting that the attack would fail, Fierna jumps up somersaulting in the air above Ian, the moment her fire sword touches his legs.

Devel approaches Ian from the right side, using the fire shield as cover as his skill sends a wave of electrical energy at Ian, momentarily stunning him. Scraping his greatsword along the ground, Devel attacks Ian's lower body, letting out a small battle cry. As the sword approaches Ian's body sparks orbit around it as the blade glows lightly. Fierna, above swings down with her sword, letting out a large flame as the fire covering her body burns brighter.

"Quickstep." - Ian

Dodging both their attacks with a slight shift of his feet, Ian retaliates immediately, slamming Devel's sword to the ground while at the same time, letting Fierna's body pass by him, giving him room to ground her arm, pulling her to the ground as well. A small cloud of dust appears as Devel's sword shatters the ground and Fierna's body erupts into flames. However, the dust cloud clears instantly as Fierna flies out upward and Devel shifts next to me.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of Ian's counter-attack as he leaps into the air, following Fierna. His speed grew exponentially and could have only been done by Extremespeed, allowing him to reach Fierna within a second. Tackling her in the air, Ian's spider legs proceed to stab Fierna in the back but a smirk appears across her face as her hand caresses Ian's cheek. A singular word could be heard escaping her mouth.

"Charm." - Fierna

A small fiery pink heart leaves Fierna's mouth, imprinting itself on Ian's cheek. His body freezes and he starts to fall as Fierna slips through his grip but as he falls the heart slowly crumbles away, disappearing the moment Ian lands on the ground. Nodding at Devel, the both of us approach Ian, stabbing at his body as we got into range but it seems his movements had already returned, as his spider legs block our attack.

"Hold him still, darling~" - Fierna

Gazing upward, I see Fierna surrounded by a tornado of flames as her sword is pointed at Ian. Winking at me, I realise that her flames were slowly intensifying and both Devel and I had no choice but to stay next to Ian if we wanted to make sure the attack would hit. Already acknowledging the situation, Devel presses forward allowing himself to be sliced by Ian's whirlwind of attacks but a coat of lightning appears around Devel as he activates his skill.

"Thunderous Aura!" - Devel

Turning to Belial, who was relaxing on my shoulder while all of this was happening, I ask him a question that might determine whether or not my attacks would be relevant. After all, this whole fight has been mainly Devel and Fierna, with me supporting them from the sidelines from time to time.

"Belial! Can I use Demon Trigger for you while Fierna and I are connected?" - Kingston

"I wouldn't recommend that. Not only would you most likely be unable to contain your Rage, but the Demonic Energy that is currently circulating around your body is too low for a second Demon Trigger. If you were to try and do it then you might turn out to be the monster that attacked, what was his name again… Luke! That's right, the human with the powers of a Fenrir. So, unless you want to become like that again be my guest." - Belial

"Then what do you suggest we do? I know Fierna is currently gathering power for a last attack and Devel is currently occupying Ian but Fierna's summoning is about to be over and I doubt Devel is strong enough to defeat Ian." - Kingston

"I can hear you, you know. I don't appreciate you saying I am weaker than a player who has lost all reasonings to a stupid curse. Pathetic." - Devel

"Well, that pathetic guy is beating our asses so… What do you suggest, Belial?" - Kingston

"Apostle of Zeus, should unseal his sword again. The moment Fierna's attack lands and kills Ian as soon as possible. You will do nothing. There is no help you can offer, Kingston. You are just too weak." - Belial

Letting out a small sigh, I agree with Belial. There was absolutely nothing I could do that didn't risk me doing something outrageous. I have to just leave it to Devel and Fierna.

"...I know. Devel! Activate that unsealing skill you did earlier." - Kingston

"I can't at the moment. The conditions aren't met." - Devel

"What do you need? Let me help, I can't do anything to Ian at the moment anyway, so I might as well help you out." - Kingston

"There is nothing for you to help. The conditions are just not met, however, after your summons's attack, I should be able to unseal Zeus's Lightning Bolt. Unfortunately, I will need to kill Ian. I doubt we can stop him any other way." - Devel

"Just do it. Kill him." - Kingston

Glancing over his shoulder slightly, Devel nods toward me, returning his attention to Ian as his sword dances with Ian's spider legs. Making sure Ian didn't escape or retreat, Devel had grabbed onto Ian's right wrist with his hand and had been doing his best to parry as many attacks as possible. However, not even his coat of lightning was defending all the attacks, as more and more blood drips down Devel's skin but a silver lining appears.

"Alright, darling~ Are you ready?" - Fierna