Chapter 167

I charged at the Ice wall, my sword transforming into hammer form and swelling with energy. Pivoting on my feet, I swung, shattering the center of the structure with a wild vortex of energy. Only the Fire Knight and Val waited for me behind the structure, and they went on the offensive immediately.

The Fire Knight swept downward in with a fiery cut that projected a compact blade of energy. Eyes wide, I dove to the side, narrowly escaping while I pulled my energy pistol from my waist and let off several rounds. The knight raised his shield, absorbing the impacts.

Val was behind me when I came to a stop, stabbing at my side. The impact blunted against my Vibranium skinsuit, and I let off an explosion of demonic energy, sending him spinning. I followed after with a hammer strike, but he was gone before I even spun around. The Fire knight had closed the distance between us in that time, bringing his blade down on me. I caught his strike with my bare hands, absorbing the energy of the strike and a chunk of his demonic energy. He tried to pull back, but I activated my Cloak, spiking my physical strength and absorption rate. The fire on the demon's blade sputtered out, and he abandoned it with clear panic on his face.

Val stabbed at my side this time around, but I was faster than last time, catching him by his hand and drawing deep from him as well. He sputtered in surprise, looking up at me. He tried to stab me with his other dagger, filling it up with dark energy. The attack vanished before it even touched my armor, and I took a page out of Dante's book, flashing him a wicked smile as I let out a wave of kinetic energy.

It shoved the charging Fire Knight back and thoroughly discombobulated Val. I raised my hammer high and brought it down.

It was inches from his face when I heard the Ice Knight's voice boom.

"Stop! Or they all die."

My eyes widened slightly. In my fervor to end the fight quickly, I'd overestimated the fighting prowess of the other members of my team and underestimated the enemy.

I spun around to find three out of our four soldiers subdued. The last one was dead. Clint and the Cap frozen neck down. The Snow vehicle we'd brought was in a similar state. The Ice Knight stood on the hood, looking down at me.

"You're coming with us." He sounded so sure of himself, which only pissed me off even more.

"I don't think I am," I said, my grip tightening around Val. He was almost halfway empty. He energized his blade once more and took another swing at me, but it once again dinged harmlessly off my armor, the kinetic and shadow energy stolen.

"He can steal demonic energy," Val croaked out a warning. "Don't underestimate him."

The Ice demon's eyes widened slightly and bored into me, regarding me carefully as it leveled the tip of its blade at Clint. "He's the softer of the two," he said. "Do not make me repeat myself."

"Help's here, Rin," I heard a familiar voice whisper in my ear, and it immediately filled me with energy. "Your team is safe."

It was Wanda's voice.

The aura around my Cloak intensified as my energy swelled and my grip on Val tightened.

The sorceress who'd been crouching in the snow to the right spoke.

"Kill them all." The urgency in her voice was unmistakable. All hell broke loose, and everyone acted. Val surprisingly lopped off his hand with a single stroke of his other dagger, leaping back in shock and pain. The Fire Knight unleashed a powerful wave of fire that engulfed me.

Shit.

I spread my hands out, rapidly pulling in the fire as I charged toward the Fire Knight. Wanda had assured me I was free to act, but if Val somehow managed to escape because of my hesitation…Dante would tear me a new one.

Wait, Wanda!

'You still there?' I asked mentally as I finally came out of the fire, coming face to face with a slightly started Fire Knight.

'If you are, please don't let that demon escape.'

The Fire knight clicked his tongue and stomped the snow, flooding it with demonic energy. Steam rose as the snow rapidly evaporated, and I winced as I was overwhelmed by a burning sensation.

I shoved it to the back of my mind as I leaped forward. My hand palmed the helmet of the Fire Knight before he could react, and I slammed him into the ground. Energy poured out of my fist a second later in an explosion that warped his helmet and had him groaning.

Fire poured out of every orifice of the knight in a last-ditch attempt to push me off, but it only made me stronger. The heat cooked me under the Vibranium, and I healed almost instantly. Rose shifted from her Hammer to Blade form, and I activated my Precision runes, stabbing down. It sent straight through the demon's eye, ending his life.

It was a satisfying sight, but it did nothing for the pit that was growing in my stomach. My eyes searched the battlefield, but Wanda was nowhere in sight. Mordo was here, however. He was engaged in a fast-paced duel with the Ice Knight.

He dashed, swayed, moved, and opened portals to redirect icy attacks but never returned any of his own. Just when it seemed the master was on the back foot and the monster was about to win, a portal opened up in front of its feet as it charged at Mordo.

It hurriedly leaped backward, which led him straight into the second portal Mordo had opened up behind him. Eldritch whips wrapped around his neck, pulling him halfway through before the portal abruptly shut, splitting him in half.

Demon blood and offal spilled into the snow, letting off steam.

Every other living member of the team had recovered and was watching the last of the exchange, freed from the ice, likely by Mordo or Wanda's hand.

"Jesus Christ," Tony muttered. "Maybe you should've been on our team instead of the kid. No offense."

I was too distraught to even dignify the snide remark with an eye roll.

"Something the matter?" Mordo looked at me, clear concern in his eyes.

"The Dream runner and the sorceress escaped."

"They did not," Mordo simply stated. "Wanda took off to the east when they vanished."

"Oh…" I said, pleasantly surprised. She'd heard me. I felt a warm tickle in my chest.

---

Dante

Gust pulled me downward as I filled Severance and Rebellion with demonic energy. Below, two pairs of Modified Devourers chased Pietro around. He constantly zipped around, casually shattering the sound barrier as he rapidly repositioned, setting both of them up for my arrival.

Behind me, six more modified monsters lay dead, victim to our overwhelming power and teamwork. Pietro sped off one last time, slingshotting past me. The monsters gave chase, practically tumbling over themselves to rip at him. Eventually, one did leave the other behind, throwing out its numerous tentacles.

That was when I pounced, tapping Burst. I appeared in front of the unknowing monster with a cross-slash, ripping through its heart and brain, and immediately struck the second devourer.

I landed with a thud. 14,000 Red Orbs appeared on my status screen as a reward for the takedown, and I wasn't even panting. I was, however, covered from head to toe in devourer gunk. I was tempted to burn it all off with a flash of fire, but I was rationing energy so much I didn't dare.

Pietro sped up to me and made a disgusted face as he wiped his armor down. "I think I'll have to burn this suit after the mission. I don't think I'll ever get all the blood and guts out."

"And waste all that good Vibranium?" I said, "you have no idea what I went through to get it."

"Aren't the scales of those monsters what your suit is made of? They can't be that valuable."

"Uh." As much as it pained me to admit it, he was right. It begged the question, though. "Who told you about the scales, though…wait. Let me guess. Rin."

Pietro gave an awkward smile. "The kid can be a bit overeager sometimes."

"His greatest strength and weakness."

We saw a pinprick of light in the distance that expanded into an explosion. The shockwave and sound reached us moments later. The light was so bright it hurt my retinas and fried Pietro's. He healed back when the light subsided.

"What the hell was that?" Pietro blinked. My throat felt dry. That was demonic energy—a lot of it.

"Lumos," I whispered. "We need to get out of here."

That was power on a scale I hadn't ever seen. Even in Devil Trigger, I doubted I could output that much damage without relying on my bombs. And even if I could, I sure as hell couldn't sustain it for long. Lumos, on the other hand, could.

Isha hadn't minced words when he said the Demon Prince was out of my league. One didn't climb to second place in the Cambion hierarchy without significant power. He reportedly had more demon energy than Rank two and was said to even rival Rank One, but that was not what truly made him dangerous.

It was his dual affinities. He had three ways to piece you apart. Light, Telekinesis, and Telepathy. All very powerful, all with the potential to bring you down.

If you failed on one front, you failed in all. He was likely fighting Ulyetrix, who seemed just as dangerous, if not more.

I'd gladly fight whoever came out of this debacle…but both of them at the same time?

That was suicide.

I sped off, activating multiple Bursts that propelled me in the opposite direction. Pietro shot ahead of me.

The presence of the demons just added a whole dimension of difficulty to the mission and raised all sorts of new worries and variables.

What were their intentions?

Did they plan to set off the array sooner than we'd anticipated?

Or did they know about Ulyetrix's invasion or planned to retrieve Banner themselves for some other reason?