Shalom

Sensing Ethan's fatigue, the demon sneered, "Tiring already?" He chuckled. "To be honest, I expected more."

Although he was tired, Ethan wasn't ready to give up yet.

Panting, he shot an icy glare at the demon as he spat back, "You haven't seen anything yet, dimwit."

A loud scoff escaped the demon's lips. Obviously, he was irritated by the insult. But that didn't matter anymore.

As the three-minute mark approached, Ethan readied himself to draw his weapon.

The second his hand latched the hilt of his sword, the room seemed to have frozen.

In one swift move, he drew his scythe, the metallic sound slicing through the silence.

A knowing smirk spread out on his lips as his gaze darkened. "Now, the real fight begins," he declared in a deep voice as his eyes locked on his target.

The demon, realizing the change, snarled, "So, the kitten has claws!"

Ethan lunged forward, his sword drawn. The demon roared, an ear-splitting sound that reverberated off the walls. It charged, a dark blur of fury and met Ethan halfway.

Ethan parried and dodged, looking for the best place to strike.

The demon, though human in form, moved with unnatural speed and ferocity. Its eyes, once human, now glowed with a hellish light, and its strength was terrifying.

Ethan dodged a ferocious swipe that would have cleaved him in two. He countered with a precise thrust, aiming for the demon's chest. But the demon twisted away, the blades only grazing its arm. Dark, almost black blood oozed from the wound, sizzling as it hit the ground.

The demon howled in pain and anger, launching a vicious counterattack. It clawed at Ethan, its fingers now elongated into sharp, lethal talons. Ethan narrowly avoided a swipe aimed at his arms, feeling the wind from the demon's claws on his skin.

He rolled away, coming up to his feet just in time to block another savage strike. The force of the impact sent a jolt through Ethan's arms, nearly making him drop his scythe. He could feel his muscles screaming in protest, but he pushed through the pain.

Lara, watching intently, called out, "Watch its leg!!"

Ethan heeded her advice, aiming a kick at the demon's knee, hearing a satisfying crack as the joint buckled. The demon staggered but didn't fall. It shrieked in rage and lunged, its mouth now a gaping maw filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth.

The demon, relentless, conjured dark flames around its claws, attempting to engulf Ethan in an unholy blaze. Quick thinking saved Ethan as he dodged the impending inferno, his cargo trousers singed at the edges.

Sparks flew as the clash continued, the room. The demon, displaying cunning, feinted to the left before lunging to the right, catching Ethan off guard. A shallow cut appeared on Ethan's cheek, followed by a searing pain.

Through gritted teeth, Ethan hissed, "Fuck it!! I'm going to turn you into Ash demon!!" His black shirt was now stained with a mixture of sweat and the demon's dark blood.

Kirk watching could see the scene unfolding right before him and knew just where it was leading up to. However, befuddled, he was trapped in a web of thoughts.

'Is this how he exorcised the other one?! I can tell he is losing his patience already!'

The demon, amused, circled Ethan, a sinister grin playing on its lips. "You're amusing, mortal. But I haven't even unleashed a fraction of my power."

However, as the attacks continued, one of the blood whips caught Ethan by surprise, splitting into two tendrils mid-way and striking him on his face, the unprotected part of his body, drawing blood in the process.

As this happened, Ethan's movement momentarily halted and almost sensing the shift in mood, the demon himself stopped his attacks.

"What? Having cold feet?!" The incubus inquired. However, staring at the demon with unadulterated disdain, Ethan wiped the blood off his face and said two words.

"The audacity,". These words spewed out of his mouth with utter disgust and in the blink of an eye, Ethan had moved with his scythe, raging towards the incubus like an angry bull.

His grip around the hilt of his scythe tightened as he neared the incubus.

Seeing Ethan approach with clear intentions of causing havoc written on his face, the incubus did the one thing it could think of at the spot.

The demon doubled the whips in each hand, creating more blood whips and swinging it at Ethan.

But like a well-practiced dance, Ethan casually weaved through them, causing the whips to hit the concrete floor and tear it apart.

As for the unavoidable ones, Ethan used his scythe to rip through them like freshly baked bread. Then in the final meters separating both fighters, Ethan pressed hard on the hilt of his scythe, spun around and what had looked like an intended spinning elbow targeting the jaw region ended up being a slice to the demon's neck, decapitating it in one fell swoop.

As for Ethan, he stood panting just behind the demon, staring at the wall in front of him that had blood splattered all over it.

"Another one bites the dust," Ethan spat on the floor, holding the hilt of his scythe which had unleashed the deadly blade that had slain the demon. As he looked at it, an odd sense of familiarity washed over him. It was almost like the present moment was one that had repeated itself over time and time again.

At that moment, something else began to occur. The body of the demon began to disintegrate in real-time into ash. Ethan turned around to see this happen and took his eyes off it like it was any casual thing which of course it happened to be. For demon hunters like himself, this scene marked a victory and the demise of a demon.

The disintegration of the demon's body into ash was a sight Ethan had witnessed many times before. He watched the process with a mix of satisfaction and weariness, knowing that another threat had been vanquished. The air around him seemed to clear as the remnants of the demon scattered into nothingness.

Lara approached, her eyes wide with a mix of awe and relief. "Ethan, you did it again. That was... impressive."

Ethan nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. "That one had me worked up a bit," Ethan said, looking back at the floor, carpeted by the demon's ash.

As the last traces of ash dissipated, Ethan surveyed the room. The battle had left its mark, but the victorious hunter felt a sense of accomplishment.

As Ethan approached the team that was on standby, Lara walked past him and approached the area where Ethan had left the ash of the incubus.

As she got near, she bent down and removed a black conical flask. She opened the flask and began to scoop up the ashes of the demon. When she filled the ashes up, she stood with the flask and with a deep sigh, she whispered.

"Shalom,"...