Daniel's expression was solemn yet misleading. There was still that irritated look in his eyes, but beyond it, I could sense….pity.
The claws dug through the barrier, and moved towards his neck. He had me in his arms so he was handicapped, and his back was facing the threat, so he could do nothing about it.
But I could.
I didn't know what point it was, but my hand had already started moving. All around my cross, a blue light shone, and it surrounded the cross.
I forced myself to move faster than I could. I broke my limits at all costs.
Perhaps pushed by adrenaline, or empowered by the spirit, I lifted my right hand, firmly gripping the cross. And in that moment, time slowed down.
I could see it.
I saw it.
It was…slow.
The claw was less than an inch away from piercing through Daniel's neck. I could see it move, slower than ever, and I could negate it.
I can fight it.
I can stop it!
My left hand was wrapped around Daniel's back, so just before he completely collapsed—or before the attack reached him, I tilted to the left, focusing all my weight in that direction.
I was trusting gravity in this situation. But that wasn't all to my response.
Deep in my subconscious, I continuously prayed the Psalms of Protection. It was my brain's defence mechanism against the fear of death—even though this act was supposed to be futile.
Psalms were meant to be spoken, not thought. Unless I had high spiritual attunement, just thinking about a prayer wouldn't enforce it in reality.
I thought.
Yet it did.
A bright flash of blue light was emitted from the cross. A sword was created.
And immediately, I slashed at the claws.
All of them, at once, were split in twos.
"....!"
A strange feeling was born in me from that moment. An unexplainable feeling.
A drive. No, it was more than that.
I am not just able to conquer.
I WILL conquer.
"KIIEEEEE!!!"
The demon shrieked loudly and retreated immediately. He had definitely not expected me to attack him first. Even though he wasn't hurt, since he could easily regrow his claws, I saw his expression. He was scared.
'He'?
It—the demon, suddenly developed a wary look on its face as it leapt back a few meters. I also made sure to stand up swiftly, my eyes locked on it.
"....."
"....."
Suddenly the demon screamed and bolted at me, racing at an intense speed. I barely saw it move, but 'barely' meant I could see it.
I didn't know how. I was just able to.
Its movement appeared like a playing of distorted frames—I saw it one second, and it vanished in the other. However when it reached my position, it was crystal clear to me.
Surprisingly, my movements did not slack. With a full swing, I cut towards the exact point that the claws appeared. My weapon clashed with the claws, and the demon's attack was cancelled.
"Don't forget me." Daniel's voice sounded through the chaos. A blue streak of light flashed from his position. And before I could even register what was happening, an arm was sent flying.
The right limb of the demon was separated from its torso. It was sliced—clean off.
"SHIIIIEEEKK!!!"
That was….kinda amazing.
Daniel looked at me. And we both nodded. However I wondered how he was still maintaining his composure with his fractured and possibly dislocated leg.
Well if he's fine. I've got to be better.
The two crusaders agreed on something without saying a word. Not giving the demon a chance to breathe, we pounced on it, sending a flurry of attacks at once.
One limb down. The second one had to go.
If we forcibly amputated both arms, the demon should be handicapped. And then it would be easy to exorcise.
Or so we thought.
I slashed leftwards, and he covered my right. I sliced upwards, and he cut downwards. There was only so much a few claws could do against double the attackers, so…the demon morphed a lot more.
From every one of the humanoid faces on its body—30 to be precise, shadowy hands sprouted, splitting those faces in halves.
The demon lost 1 limb. Now it has 31.
"...!"
Each of those limbs had the same number of claws. And they rained down on us.
We didn't even contemplate it—we both retreated at once, leaping as far away as we could.
I like how we both landed at the same time.
Sheesh that's not what matters right now.
The place we once stood was now ridden with gashes, holes, and a bothersome depression.
It's like the difficulty jumped from normal to super-hard.
What could we actually do now?
The demon appeared to be a lot slower. In fact, it was barely moving from its position. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the several arms that surrounded it. They whipped back and forth at insane speeds, wiggling like floating serpents in mid-air. Except those serpents had claws rather than fangs.
Daniel bit his lip. "This demon is unusually tough."
Hm?
I turned to look at him. "Maybe it's a third-stage manifestation?"
But he shook his head, "It's tough, but third-stages are a lot worse."
So it doesn't compare.
I thought back to the second stage manifestation that I fought during my first exorcism. Despite the fact that it was a premature one, the idea that that demon was on the same stage as this one didn't make sense to me. Yet there was certainty in Daniel's words. This thing was only second-stage.
It couldn't be too difficult, right?
Daniel tucked his swords in one hand, and lifted his injured leg. There was an awful looking sprain on his ankle, but he didn't wince in pain. He grabbed his foot by the sole and pulled in the other direction.
I heard a snap sound from his ankle.
"I have a plan." Daniel muttered, cautiously gazing at the demon as he let down his leg.
"What do I have to do?"
"We'll have to trap it since it's slower." He explained. "You know the Psalms of Retribution, yes?"
….
Ah.
I didn't respond, but my countenance did. The moment he realised that I didn't know the Psalm, a strange glint flashed in his eyes.
It was the same irritated look that I had perceived earlier. But once again, I wasn't too sure. Could have been a misinterpretation.
A wry smile crawled up my face. "Urmm..do you have a sort of Plan B?"
He smiled sarcastically. "Of course I do. After all, I'm a supercomputer."
Eh?
So…
"Urmm…we aren't cooked right?"
Daniel replied instantly. "Escape is an option. I'll open a portal, and you can run as fast as possible into it."
"...."
"But…" My gaze was uneasy. "...what about you?"
"Running isn't my thing."
"...."
Not like I intended to run either.
"Guess we are just charging at it then."
Daniel nodded.
Suddenly, someone else spoke.
"Oh you wouldn't have to."
Huh?
At first we both thought it came from the demon. But the voice came from behind us—opposite to its position. Daniel and I turned to look. And we saw two things.
A portal, with what looked like glowing blue dust bleeding from its circumference. And a man, emerging from it. He wore a grey jean jacket with a white top, and a black jean trouser with white sneakers.
This dressing style wasn't so common in the Sanctuary as it appeared to be set-back in technology at first glance.
However there was one person I knew that dressed this way frequently.
"Father Azrael?"