"Not going to take this chance?" Kath'tan turned to the Shadow Demon, his arms held out. "The witch is dead."
Asael glanced at him, "You seem eager to die." He noted dryly, his attention going back to the shop.
"I'm merely confronting the inevitable," Kath'tan said darkly, "You are the one out of turn."
Asael kept his eyes on the shop, but he was no longer paying attention to it. It really did seem like he was reluctant to do what he was hired to, but his agreement was with the Vampire. Ending the Fiend's life in his absence felt like going back on his word.
"Am I?" He drawled, "That's not my decision to make."
Kath'tan's brows lowered, "Shadow Demons have no use for loyalty," He scowled, certain that the assassin was mocking him.
Asael's jaw hardened, he had no interest in convincing someone who wasn't listening, and even though he preferred to stand by his word, he was still an assassin. He closed the distance in a flash, coating a fist in the black shadows his weapons were made out of, punching down on the Fiend without warning.
Kath'tan barely blocked it, getting pushed down to one knee. The impact on his forearms stung, but it didn't seem to deal lethal damage. He managed to block off only a single hand with both of his, so he should have expected the hit to the side.
It was an even harder hit, almost like the Shadow Demon had used his less dominant hand the first time around. The impact threw him a few feet away, trees collapsing as he crushed them on his fall.
Asael glanced down at the darkness covering his hands, it had been centuries since he had done this, it almost took him back to being a child again. He straightened out his fingers, and the roiling shadows disappeared. He had no interest in killing the Fiend, yet... He glanced at the shop. The Vampire still hadn't returned, was it possible that he had found the witch?
Just as he turned to check for himself, the Fiend staggered to his feet. Save for the large darkening bruises on his body, he looked no worse for wear.
Kath'tan pulled out the poisoned blade, he was unaccustomed to small, finesse weapons, so he was at a great disadvantage, but his only plan was to get the Shadow Demon poisoned. It was the best plan he had come up with, with the limited resources he had.
"As I said," He tilted his head to the side, a loud popping sound coming from his neck. "Disloyal murderers have no use for loyalty."
Asael paused, he shouldn't stoop to the Fiend's level, his petty jaunts couldn't be baser. Yet this haughty bastard of a noble condemned to death easily got under his skin - shadows covered his fists again, in time to block a strike from the poisoned blade.
He didn't hold back this time, the impact throwing the Fiend even farther. Yet the bastard didn't stay down, he warped over in a flash, the blade glinting as it was brought down to his neck.
Asael easily blocked the strike, the shadows spreading down to his forearms at his will. He punched the Fiend away again, needing to block another slash almost instantly. He had been right to go for an ambush in the middle of battle because if the Fiend had his great warhammer, he would have had to expend effort to complete his task.
The periods between the Fiend getting punched away and returning stretched out after every hit, and without warning, he would warp over with an attack. Soon, Asael couldn't react in time to the unpredictable attacks and got slashed, blood spilling down his arm.
He glanced down at it, silver blood staining black skin. "All your efforts were to poison me?" He asked in surprise, he had simply thought that the proud noble Demon wouldn't wait around to be killed.
Kath'tan was healing as fast as the injuries came, patches of dark skin fading as he watched the Shadow Demon closely. His brows furrowed at the silvery blood that spilled out, it looked strangely familiar in a way that made his shoulders tense.
"I could have told you from the start that that was foolish," He said helpfully, taking a step forward.
An unfortunately familiar light flashed, a blast going off somewhere in the witch's shop.
Asael didn't back off, going after the Fiend with blackened fists.
-+-
In a gaudily decorated room in a distant city, the heavy, red silk curtains were drawn, obscuring the light of the summoning circle bathing the room in a wash of gold light. It appeared over a disproportionately large bed, missing the only figure on the bed by mere inches.
Ruoxi sat up with an agility that belied the languid way he had been lying down. He stared at the summoning circle in shock. Summoning circles were surprising enough because they had become rare. But even at the height of summoning, summoning circles could never appear here, so for one to be able to...
He glanced around the prison of a room he was in, diving into the summoning circle without hesitation. The gold light illuminated him properly as he fell in, glinting off his long black hair and the delicate jewellery around his neck. It showed the loose, flowy robes he wore and the matching jewelry around his ankle...
-+-
Dulce hurried to the source of the sounds that took him deeper into the shop, he stumbled onto a lower level and found a pleasant surprise. A bat flew past him as he took a step forward, it seemed to be the source of the crash, if the pile of pots in the corner was any evidence.
There was a perfect summoning circle already drawn, candles on the right spots on the sigils, their wicks out, it was like the illusion in the tome had been brought to life. It was clearly drawn by one incredibly familiar with the summoning arts, it was truly perfect.
Dulce absently looked around, distracted. Perhaps his previous summonings hadn't worked because he was still new to the art, could he possibly attempt again with this chance presented to him? All he needed were the other items needed, like obsidian...
Right in front of him was a table piled high with the black crystal, in woven baskets, in glass jars, some scattered on the wooden table underneath.