I shakily began to raise my blade up defensively as the Demon started to swing her claws down towards my head, right as a rapid red blur suddenly zipped in to the Demon's left, who stiffened before her gaze began to shift across...
"[Triple Impact]!" Yelled Ariella, the Demon's head snapping across to the right as Ariella slammed her fist against the left side of the Demon's face, knocking out a couple of fangs upon impact.
As the Demon stumbled across to her right with a dazed look on her face, I scrambled back onto my feet as fast as I could, sprinting towards her as I mustered up the last reserves of my strength, before springing forward as I closed in.
"No!" She exclaimed in alarm, starting to raise her arms over her face before freezing as I slammed my palm onto her solar plexus.
"
She screamed in pain as a violent, spasming shudder erupted across her body, an agonized gasp ringing out as she shakily stumbled back with blood pouring out of her mouth and splattering across the ground, before frantically raising her hand as I shot towards her, an unstable mass of Negative Energy starting to form.
"
But she was far too slow, I evaded her attack with ease, a look of despair appearing in her eyes as I slammed my palm onto her solar plexus again and met her gaze, several spots across her skin rupturing as I unleashed Mana Pulse again.
Sprays of blood burst out of her skin as she collapsed onto her knees with a gasp of pain, barely able to move as I stabbed my blade into her left shoulder, transfering her health and Mana into me.
Hm, feels like her Mana is almost completely drained. She's trembling, trying to move but to no avail, and her regeneration is getting slower and slower.
The pain all over my body began to fade as my HP steadily ticked back up and I felt my stamina getting restored, my broken wrist healing as while, before I used Drain to consume the rest of her Mana as I pulled my blade back out.
The HP and MP transfer effect of my blade works differently to Devour and Drain, the former replenishes my existing pools of health and Mana, while the latter increases the capacity of those pools.
"Y-You...stole my Mana? What...what the hell are you? I...I know there are humans more powerful than I am, but you...you are different. Your strange abilities, the fact that you are able to wield a Personalis Arma, it...it does not make sense," She uttered weakly, her regeneration having slowed to a crawl.
She isn't even trying to fight anymore, looks like she's given up.
"Who can say? Alright, then...time to put you out of your misery," I remarked, before tearing her head off with Devour.
As her body fell over and hit the ground with a thud, I cut her chest open and pried out her Core, starting to use Devour on the rest of her body before turning my gaze back as hurried footsteps echoed out.
I turned around as Ariella came rushing over, my eyes widening as she leapt forward as she closed in on me, tackling me and knocking me onto my back as I winced slightly.
"Kai! You did it! I'm so glad you're okay!" She cried, a wide, relieved smile on her face as tears streamed down her face.
O-Ow...I didn't absorb enough of her physical energy to heal myself all the way through, so I'm still in a fair bit of pain. A-Also, uh...
"H-Hey, you need to get off me...I-I need a few minutes," I stuttered as I did my best to stay calm, my Arouse Skill still very much in effect.
"Huh? Are you okay? Your face is super red and-...," She began, before trailing off as I lifted her off me and got back up, taking a deep breath and letting out a strained sigh as I turned my back to her and calmed myself down a bit.
"I-I'll...explain later. For now, I...I just need a moment, okay?" I replied with a slight gulp, before adding as I used Devour to consume what was left of the Demon's body, "Also...I'm glad you're okay too. You really saved me at the end there, I'd be dead if it wasn't for you. So, thanks, I owe you one."
"No, I should be the one thanking you. When she knocked me out, right before I passed out, I thought for sure we were all going to die, I didn't think I'd ever wake up again.
And then, when I finally came to again, I saw that you were still fighting, and I wasn't going to let your efforts go to waste.
Since the Demon didn't noticed that I was conscious again, I stayed still and waited for an opening," She explained, as she sat down with a slight grimace.
"It's a good thing you did, I would've been helpless to stop that attack if you hadn't intervened. Also, uh...could you take the credit for this? At the very least, downplay my contribution and say that you're the one who actually finished the Demon off," I requested sheepishly.
"Huh? Why?" She responded with a confused tilt of her head.
"Because I'd prefer to keep my abilities under wraps, for now. Oh, here, I guess you'll be needing this," I remarked, as I tossed the Greater Demon's Core at her.
"What? No, I can't accept this," She frowned as she caught it, adding, "You played the most significant role in killing her, it wouldn't feel right for me to take the reward for it."
"I mean, there's no way I could've beaten her alone, so you deserve at least half-credit. Okay, how about this? You take the Core, say that you killed the Demon while I helped a bit, get the reward and then split it in half with me," I suggested, after mulling it over.
"I guess I could, but...I don't know, I'm not a fan of the idea of taking credit for something I didn't do," She sighed, a conflicted look on her face.
"Come on, please?"
"Well, if you're that insistent...okay, fine. But I want something in return," She replied with a reluctant sigh.
"What is it?"
"I want to ask you more questions about your powers."
"Hm...yeah, alright, that's fine. At this point, you've probably figured out a lot on you own, so sure, I'll give you a few more pieces of info. But for right now...we should probably check on the others," I remarked, as I glanced around the room.
"Huh? Oh, shit, I totally forgot about them!" She exclaimed, before rushing over to one of the Mages.
As I approached one of the others, I distributed the points I'd gotten from the Greater Demon, bringing my stats up to:
HP: 219 -> 225
MP: 214 -> 233
Strength: 220 -> 226
Agility: 271 -> 280
Vitality: 218 -> 224
Perception: 260 -> 270
Power Level: 233,700 -> 243,000
Potential: 233,700 -> 243,000