Beast

The quick death of two of their fellows in arms stunned the future Knights, the scene of the demon easily dispatching the two warriors replayed in their minds, their visors concealing the disbelief that marked each of their faces. The demon in question was currently basking in the pleasure that came with the pain of her wounds while marvelling at the power increase that came with her new injury. Her enjoyment was cut short when her newly heightened senses started screaming at her, if she didn't move at this very moment she would die. Giving into her instincts, Faye leapt away from the spearman's corpse, barely dodging the arc of light that crashed into her previous position. She was sure that the large Knight was responsible for that attack, the light from that attack was similar to the light that his sword was coated in. A quick glance at the giant Knight proved her guess right, he was currently standing with one foot in front of the other while his claymore was raised high above his head.

As Faye turned her focus to the Seedlings who had awoken from their stupor, a small part of her attention was placed on Edin as she wondered how he created that arc of light. This wonder of hers would be answered instantly as his Aura concentrated on the tip of his blade before he executed a downward swing. The black-haired girl couldn't help but turn her head towards the Knight as the tip of his sword drew an arc of light in the air, which began to charge straight towards her as soon as his large sword came to the end of its swing. As the attack approached Faye, she quickly inspected the state of the battlefield, the group of knights closest to her had had their numbers brought down to five whilst the other group still had seven. Both groups were trying to move towards seeking to wear her down enough so that one of their leader's Aura Slashes could land, which would most probably end her instantaneously. 

Faye's original plan was to take out one of the groups before continuing her assault on the other group, leaving the giant Knight for last. But, with the reveal of his weapon art, Aura Slash, the demon decided that the best course of action now was to remove the Knight and his ranged attacks. With her decision now set, she moved out of the path of the Aura Slash before rushing towards the large Knight reaching his position within seconds.

'So it worked'

Upon seeing his plan work, Edin increased the amount of Aura coating his claymore while simultaneously circulating Aura in his body in a specific pattern resulting in a temporary boost in his strength. Raising the flat side of his sword, the Knight calmly watched as a red energy blade collided with his sword before pushing the demon away, giving him to time bring his sword above his head. Faye could only watch as the Knight's sword came down with great force, slashing her from her uninjured shoulder straight down to her waist. Wasting no time, Edin turned his sword and slashed upwards, his weapon wanting more demon blood, only to be disappointed as Faye barely dodged the attack.

The Knight didn't worry too much about this as he knew more opportunities would come for him to end this battle, after seeing the demon's fight against Ryder and the spearman, Edin believed he had a decent chance against her. This was due to her lack of experience and skill, the reason Faye was able to kill two Knight Seedlings was that she was able to overcome the disparity in experience and skill with her brute strength and high agility.

However, when faced with someone who possessed a vast amount of experience along with the skills to back it up, her enhanced physique could only help her so much. Edin began to approach the demon who was picking herself off the floor, his eyes searching for the perfect opening to exploit. Sidestepping a sudden lunge, Edin smacked the hilt of his large sword into the demon's back, his helmet hiding the frown that had appeared on his face. She was getting faster. Additionally, the red energy that cloaked her body had turned many shades darker. He had seen something similar happen after the demon was wounded by the spearman's thrust, was she growing stronger with each injury? The large knight realised the dangerous implications of this thought he just had, this meant he had to finish this battle as soon as possible.

Pleasure coursed through Faye's veins as untamed power permeated through her being rendering her body desiring more pain, it wanted more of this bliss and power. At the same time, the girl's sanity was slowly slipping away under the immense rush of emotions that her mind was experiencing, she was slowly becoming a beast. And she loved it. Sanity was nothing more than a shackle for her, to become the truest version of herself, she had to rid herself of this shackle. The state of being sane was something, in Faye's mind, was the very antithesis of what a demon was. So, the demon indulged in these wild emotions, letting the lust for pain, power and blood slowly take over. 

As the battle raged on, the Knight realised the demon's movements were becoming strange and unpredictable, they were primal and instinctual. After the demon had taken the hit from his sword's hilt, she realised that she couldn't kill Edin the same way she killed the two other knights. This led to a shift from her energy blade to simply coating her fists in the dark red energy, aiming to chip away at the Knight until an opportunity presented itself. The ease at which the Knight dismantled her attacks and counterattacked, caused the want to improve to appear in the demon, she would use this battle to slowly sharpen herself until it was enough to cut down the Knight before her. But as Edin dealt more damage, the intelligence in her eyes was slowly being overpowered by the bloodthirsty beast contained within, it was hungry. 

Edin was already finding it harder to land attacks due to the demon's increasing speed and it didn't help that the damage he was taking was rapidly increasing. But if things continued as they were, he would win, that was until the demon's movements and method of attack started changing. She had shaped her now sanguine energy into clawed gauntlets, and each time she struck, it was filled with the intent to kill. What didn't help was the fact that this beast-like approach was allowing the demon to efficiently use her brute strength and high speed. It was like this beast was the girl's true form, and up until now, she had been holding herself back. 

They were sure of it. The Captain was losing. The remaining 12 Seedlings had intended to support their leader but how were they supposed to help in this wild brawl? Their eyes could barely keep up with the demon's movements. Only their Captain could handle her. But this thought changed as they watched Edin struggling to keep up with the demon, his claymore was now simply deflecting attacks directed towards his vital points while he allowed all other attacks to land, his previously pristine armour was now dented and covered in claw marks, his shoulder cloak torn to rags. Suddenly, the Captain let out a wave of Aura, though it was weak, it was enough to push the demon away from him. The Seedlings watched as he roused the little Aura he had remaining, it seemed he was going bet it all on a final attack. Hope began to fill the warriors, only for it to be ripped away from them. A giant flying claw mark crashed into their leader, severing the giant man into four pieces.

Silence descended upon the battlefield.