2 Prologue: Act 2 - An Emergence
Chace looked at the small compass in his hands. It had begun to spin wildly for the past few minutes. He knew what that meant, a demon had entered the world. It wouldn't be long until the compass landed on its location. It would last for only an hour at most, but an hour was all he needed. It wouldn't have responded unless he was within a fifty kilometer radius of its entrance.
After a few more moments of spinning it steadied itself. Pointing to the North for a short time before rapidly spinning again. His eyes widened at that. For two of demons to enter in such close proximity was rare. He gritted his teeth as he headed in the general direction of where the compass had been pointing before the second entrance. He needed to move fast even if that meant disregarding his original job to hunt down a pack of Iron Wolves that had taken root in the wilds near the border town of Lucet.
After nearly twenty minutes of travel he came upon a scene of carnage. The compass had steadied and he had arrived here. It was a small farm, or well it used to be one. At this point it was little more than a burning mound of wood and ash covered field. He sighed seeing the amount of destruction that had already been caused. Cursing under his breath, Chace continued to follow the compass into the woods.
After running at his maximum speed for nearly thirty minutes he arrived at the edge of a small clearing. He had stopped relying on his compass after reaching the forest. The still burning footprints were all he needed.
Within the clearing he could see both a demon and a young child. The demon held onto the child like someone would a jewel. It stared intently at the limp body in its hand, though from its actions its mind was elsewhere. As he continued to watch he dredged up the information from his memories that he needed.
He muttered under his breath "Ifrit." There were plenty of demons that relied on fire, but only one matched this description. A burning humanoid demon with blood red skin, large horns that spread out from its head like a hammer, and most importantly one of the strongest castes of demons as they bore humanoid forms. Any demon capable of having a form even remotely resembling a human would be considered dangerous, Ifrits and a few other demon species would be considered the most dangerous among them.
Chace gritted his teeth and prepared for the fight. Given its current lack of awareness he could surprise it with a Shrike Blade and a Strike Hammer at the same time. With any luck those two would be enough to unbalance it long enough for him to get away with the child.
~
Rath focused on the young human it was holding onto. The small creature had gone limp after crying for nearly half an hour. As for him he was still waiting for the signal from his liege. He was ready and waiting for the command to kill the young boy.
"Rath, now is the time kill the boy." the command entered his mind.
As his eyes flared up and flames began to lick their way up his arm he heard a voice shout out from above him.
"Shrike Blade: A single strike to impale a thousand foes, Strike Hammer: A single blow to shatter the mountains."
Rath's eyes had shot up as soon as heard the words being roared out. At the same time his arms let go of the child as he raised them to defend against the oncoming attacks.
~
Chace leapt into action as soon as the flames began to form. His voice rang out as he dropped down onto the Ifrit.
"Shrike Blade: A single strike to impale a thousand foes, Strike Hammer: A single blow to shatter the mountains." As the incantations left his lips the blade in his left hand and the hammer in his right glowed with a torrent of lightning.
The next moment the two forces collided against the Ifrit's raised arms. Chace could feel the demon's footing give way and it stumbled back a few feet. However, other than that it seemed unscathed from the first strike.
"Wretch." it spat out at Chace. The disgust apparent in its voice.
He didn't bother to respond as he charged forward. His weapons already beginning to glow again as magical energy began to course through them again. He swept his sword out first aiming for the Rath's left leg. At the same moment Rath brought his burning hand to the blade stopping it as a cushion of flames burst forth. However, Chace just as quickly brought his hammer down towards Rath's head. Rath's other arm shot forth to block in a similar manner to the first.
"Strike Hammer: A single blow to shatter the mountains, a second blow to sweep away the dust." he said the first part incantation as well as the second half. The Strike Hammer's force doubling as he did so. The strengthened strike slammed down into Rath's hand, shattering it. It continued further, crashing down onto Rath's skull and forcing his head towards the ground.
~
Rath stumbled back his vision whirling about. He hadn't expected the human to be able to hit harder than he already had. He spat out a loose tooth and shot his leg forward towards the blurry figure.
~
Chace on the other hand leapt up, passing a few inches above the leg, the air pressure rushing below him. As soon as the force stopped he kicked down against the outstretched leg, pushing himself towards the Ifrit's body. His words already rushing out.
"Shrike Blade: A single strike to impale a thousand foes, tear away the flesh and call to the sky." with that utterance of the last line of its incantation the blade in his hands shone with an even greater light.
~
Rath moved his arms as best he could. However, his body no longer responded, the strike to the head had dulled his movements significantly, and as he heard the words being spoken he realized his death was inevitable.
The blade jammed into Rath's stomach, and rushed upwards, shattering his ribcage, rupturing several internal organs and collapsing one of his lungs. His body gave out as the blade exited, falling backwards as some of his intestines fell out of the wound. His vision darkened and breathing hurt with each passing second, however the death he had expected did not come.
His eyes opened just enough to see the human that had bested him fleeing with the child in his arms. He gritted his teeth realizing he would slowly bleed to death within these woods.
