RD 4 Ch 25

I roared, and a Crimson Barrier snapped out of me, pushing away the demons. I whipped my sword out of the gate guardian and charged into them with sweeping, powerful strikes.

The demons scattered out of my way, yet at the same time tried to swarm in behind me, their spears finding purchase when my barrier shattered.

Blood Boil made my muscles swell, and I used my size and mass to my best advantage. My reach kept the demons far enough away that they couldn't all collapse on me at once, even with their longer  weapons. Meanwhile, anyone I singled out was easily overpowered simply by me throwing my weight around. 

A massive gust of wind slammed into me and the demons as Circe turned into a wisp of blue air. She exploded out of her fight, only to spin above me and send dozens of them flying.

I grinned and threw a fistful of talismans on the ground. Each of the talisman slapped onto a discarded weapon, causing the weapons to sizzle and a dangerous purple mist to rise out of them.

The demons closest to the growing cloud of poison began coughing blood into their hands, even as the rest of my group hurried to get clear of the poison. 

Circe understood what was happening well enough and caused the wind around the group to swirl and spin, containing the miasma. It was meant to kill as many of the demons as it could and now she didn’t just have wind, but a cloud of miasma to wield. 

My own poison resistance kept me from it being too effective. After all, mostly D and C rank poisons were being created. 

However, not all the demons were discouraged. Some weren't as affected, or simply didn't care about the pain they were suffering. They rushed me, their weapons glowing with abilities as they stabbed into me, only to find that their weapons didn't get far.

I grinned, holding my Bloodiron Blade tight and spinning quickly. In the blink of an eye, I slashed and beheaded a dozen surprised demons. 

The gate guardian howled in rage, and his tail slapped down on top of me.

My grin faltered, and I created two more Bloodiron Blades, stabbing all three into the ground around me as I ducked down within the small cage of protection.

The demon's tail pierced itself on the three weapons, and its flesh dimpled above me, just enough to prevent me from becoming mush that even Immortal Body couldn’t fix.

The swords took the brunt of the attack before I made a fourth and pierced it up into the tail swinging over my body. I cast as many Sanguine Slashes as I could, one after the other, inside of its body. 

The demon howled in pain and slammed its tail upwards to get away from the cuts. Its head came around to see just what exactly had happened, only to spot the three dark red swords sticking out from his tail.

I staggered to the side, several of my bones needing a moment to put themselves back together.

"You'll pay for that," it cursed, coiling around itself in an instant before rearing its head back and blotting out the sun with a torrent of bubbles.

The bubbles floated down, covering miles around me. It would be pretty the way the red beam reflected in each of them, except that I didn’t have time to admire them if I wanted to survive.

"Defensives now!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

There was a flurry of motion as our party formed small clusters wherever they could to protect each other.

Thorin, my mother, and Merlin were together, each casting defensive barriers. They should be okay, many of the Mul Branova were rushing to take shelter among them or a group of Circe’s elites.

I launched myself over to Simone and Gloria, using my Crimson Barrier to protect those two. They were my top priority.

Simone threw up her own only for Circe to sweep down with Nyx tucked under her arms us as both of our barriers were coming into place. 

When Circe was within reach, she chuckled nervously. A tornado wind kicked alive all around us, shooting directly up into the bubbles cascading down. The second the two spells met, there was a massive blast above us that rippled through the whole mass of bubbles.

It was as if a thousand bombs were going off in a huge chain explosion.

Simone's barrier shattered first and mine cracked heavily. Even as more explosions went off all around us, my barrier finally caved.

I wrapped all of them up in my body as best as I could, feeling my flesh and bones ache as explosions rocked us from every direction.

The world rang with noise inside my head as I lost my hearing and it only made the pain more pronounced.

I pulled my body away once the blasts stopped, finding that Gloria had further protected Simone.

The mob princess managed through, her coat ruined and coughing up a few flecks of blood. She was tougher than the others though.

Simone put her hands on Gloria, rapidly casting one healing spell after the other on all of us.

There was a small hint of jealousy from Circe as she watched us. But the look was gone a moment later. Circe’s hair splayed out in every direction as she shot up, carried by the wind, and began hurling huge blades of air at the massive demon while flying around him. 

As the blades hit, the gate guardian uncurled itself from its own defensive position, where it had been protecting its army from the blasts. Hundreds of demons poured out from within its coils, re-engaging our group.

"Focus on getting everyone on their feet, Simone," I said before rushing headlong into the mass of oncoming demons, not caring for my condition. We were all battered and bruised.

If the demons, sheltered from most of the blast, were allowed to rush us, they would roll right over our group.

Gritting my teeth, I activated charge and smashed through those in the front rank. Amidst their forces I began cleaving through them with wide, heavy strokes of my sword.

Demon blood and guts flew everywhere, only for their bodies to land and disappear a moment later. Yet, the blood on the ground stayed, an odd quirk of the system, one that at the moment worked in my favor.

Right now, I needed to be a distraction, a big one if I were to save the lives of those who depended on me.

I activated Bloodrage Ascension. My body and muscles, already swollen from Blood Boil, redoubled as my bone structure stretched inside of me. My skin continued until it was at the point of breaking, large wounds ripped along my skin as corded muscle grew too large and too fast. I more than doubled my height.

The gate guardian laughed. "Don't think you are the only one with powerful abilities, little human," it emphasized 'little' with a chuckle, probably because it was still massive compared to me.

Its giant moray eel face grinned as its eyes glowed during my transformation. It coiled in on itself, its body shrinking rapidly. After a moment, I realized there was nothing left than a husk of skin before a humanoid form that was half my size again burst out of the shedded skin.

Even with Bloodrage Ascension active, it was still bigger, but far smaller than before. A fair portion of its height was a long neck that ended with a miniature version of the grinning demon's face.

It spun around a massive halberd and pointed at me in challenge. A wicked smile crossed the demon’s face as it looked over the weapon, our eyes locking for only a moment before the spearhead of its halberd punched into my chest.

I blinked and looked down, not quite sure how that had gotten there.

The demon’s arm had stretched over twenty feet and closed the distance while we’d been staring at each other. Apparently, this form was capable of extending its limbs.

I spat out blood and snatched the weapon before the demon could pull it back. I gritted my teeth and leaned away as I tried to swing it off its feet, only to discover that while the demon’s size may have shrunk, its weight perhaps had not changed whatsoever. The demon didn't even budge an inch as I threw my whole body into the effort.

Instead, the demon’s arm whipped to the side and carried me up into the air before I had a chance to adjust my strategy at all. 

The drop sword appeared in my hand, more like a trinket than a weapon. I activated it, slamming the demon’s arm and weapon to the ground as I also created a Bloodiron Blade and pinned the demon’s arm before he could try another trick.

Still, the demon seemed unbothered.

Something was very wrong, I paused to see what trick he’d pull out next.

It pulled its arm back, shredding it along my blade and abandoning his weapon. Despite the damage it had done to itself, it moved with a casual pace. "I did not expect a human on this poor planet to give me a worthwhile fight," the demon said. If anything, he seemed more excited now.

Suddenly, shards of ice slammed into the side of the demon’s head. It turned, glaring at Merlin, only for Circe’s Hammer of Wind to drop down on him. Both were decently powerful abilities, but in this form, the gate guardian had significantly enhanced his constitution.

I was genuinely worried about what would actually faze it. 

The demon scoffed as it pulled his good arm back. A spear appeared before he hurled it so hard through the air that I could hear the wind split.

The spear punched straight through Merlin's chest and carried on behind her, drilling itself through one of Circe's elites as well.

The demon laughed like a madman, spinning about as it summoned a dozen more short spears and began hurling them at me and any human that moved. “Run humans. Give me a challenge!” 

But as I narrowly avoided one of the attacks, it became clear that they were not spears being hurled. Instead, they more closely resembled the spines that had been on the demon's back in its larger form. The demon laughed madly now, hurling spear after spear like it had never run out and we were the perfect target practice. 

I rushed in close, noticing that ever since shifting into the smaller form and bursting free, the gate guardian had not once taken a step.

When I reached the demon, it was forced to stop throwing spears and instead use one of the spines to block my attack. The demon’s strength was incredible, but I wouldn't let him win.

Instead, I spit a glob of blood straight on him before using a Blood Hex to try and increase his weight even further. 

The ability took effect, and the demon’s face fell into a frown as a snarl emerged. For the first time, that cocky smile had been wiped off his face.

I grinned in return for figuring out the flaw in the transformation.

The demon was too heavy to throw around anyway. I might as well use that weight to my advantage in slowing the demon down.

I followed up, slashing my blade over the demon three times as it struggled to adjust to his arms being heavier than it expected. I jumped back as a massive hammer of wind slammed down atop its head and rung his bell, only to jump right back in, stabbing my Bloodiron Blade as deep as it would go before making another and trying to turn the demon into a pin cushion.

While the demon was struggling to adjust its arms, it revealed another weapon. The demon’s head, still attached to a massive eel-like neck, clamped down on my shoulder and tore out a huge chunk with needle-like teeth.

I could feel myself flagging as my body warned me that I was taking too much damage.

The demon grinned and another spine appeared in its hands, one that he dropped down into my leg. Even if he couldn’t swing them around well, he could drop them even harder. The demon went to stab at me with another, but I barely diverted the spine, feeling it brush my thigh.

With my shoulder and leg injured, the block was fairly weak but at least effective enough. I fumbled backwards, ripping out the first.

Only for the demon to follow up as he bit my other shoulder to hold me in place. A spine in each hand found its way into my gut. 

The demon laughed, already excited for its victory. It didn't realize that my skin was getting pale, not just because blood was draining away from my flesh, but because Last Stand was activating. My entire body filled with strength as my stats explosively increased.

I came up from my grim situation with a giant grin on my face as I stared the demon in the eyes. Another Bloodiron Blade appeared in my hand. There was certainly enough of my own blood coming off of me that I had the material for another before I thrust it into its neck and jerked down, ripping a massive cut from the throat of its head down through that long neck, and deep into its chest.

The look on his face was priceless as his previously tough body, failed to hold up to my explosive gain in strength.

I nearly bisected the demon with that strike, but I wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot. I reached my hands inside the demon’s throat, got a good grip, and pulled hard. 

The demon gurgled something that sounded like a shout, only for me to continue to rip and pull its throat apart.

I activated Bloodline Manipulation from the giant leech, pulling on the demon’s blood and trying to drain his bloodline through the massive wound.

A small stream of dark blood ripped directly out from its heart, coalescing into a drop in front of me.

He struggled with every ounce of strength left in him, his body flailing as his arms coiled around mine and tried to separate us.

I was impressed with how much control he still had despite nearly being torn asunder. Every muscle in my body strained with one last explosive pull as I ripped the demon in half, scattering each half to the side with a hard push.

It was done, he wouldn’t survive that and the system proved it as the demon’s body began to melt into the ground. 

I stood surrounded by blood, panting, as Simone's healing spell washed over me. I closed my eyes for just a second, taking a brief respite before cracking them open and seeing Simone.

"Good girl," I said, grinning like a loon.

Satisfaction filled me as the Saintess finally blushed.

The remaining demons wanted to be as far away from our battle as possible, leaving me standing alone with Simone. I didn't try to keep Last Stand active, instead letting it decay, as the rest of the group swept over the remaining demons.

Two of Circe's elite flanked me for protection in my weakend state. Gloria joined them, standing in front of me ready to batter anyone that tried to attack me.

"What now?" she asked. 

"Pull back. We came in and we killed the gate guardian. If we rest and recover, the next time will be far easier. If we keep pushing now, too much will be spent on protecting me. I’m out of the fight for now." As Bloodrage Ascension, and Last Stand both came to an end, I felt like a cripple, all strength leaving me. I did not particularly enjoy feeling as frail as a piece of paper. 

Circe must have heard my words, because she swept by in a breeze, hoisting me in a princess carry before kicking off the ground.

The wind roared behind us and carried both of us high into the air and clear of the battle. "You are far too light," Circe commented, looking down at my body.

I knew that I was extremely emaciated; it would take some time for my body to recover. "Got him though," I grinned at Circe, still feeling high from the victory. 

"The demon should have known better than to think it would win a fight with you," she smiled softly down at me. "And don't you worry, I'm sure my elites will pick up your share of the loot." The wind curled around both of us as she rocketed through the air, working to get us back back to Vein City quickly.