Azid let out a sharp grunt as he was hurled through several buildings in quick succession, stone and timber exploding around him before he finally skidded to a halt across shattered masonry. He pushed himself upright with a rough laugh, a wide grin splitting his face despite the way his panther legs trembled beneath him. "Now this is fun," he said, breath ragged but exhilarated. "An actual challenge."
The Demon Knight advanced without hesitation, massive frame closing the distance with purpose. His warhammer hung heavy in one hand, his greataxe raised in the other, both weapons angled to kill. Azid lifted his iron spear and set his stance, claws digging into the ground as he braced.
Above them, Mark lay flat against a rooftop, watching the clash unfold without daring to intervene. *How can I even get involved between those two?* he thought, heart pounding. His gaze dropped to the d20 clenched in his hand. *I need to roll well to help Azid.* He wrapped his fingers tighter around it, took a steadying breath, then peeked around the edge of the roof to keep watching for an opening.
The Demon Knight struck first. The greataxe came down in a brutal arc. Azid planted all four of his panther legs into the ground and caught the blow with his spear, gripping it with both hands. The impact rattled his entire body. Pain shot through his arms as bones cracked under the force, but he held just long enough to avoid being cleaved in half.
"Traitorous filth," the Demon Knight snarled.
The warhammer followed immediately. Azid had no time to react. The blow crashed into his ribs with a sickening sound, shattering bone and driving him straight into the ground. He landed twisted and broken, blood spilling freely as the air was forced from his lungs.
Still, he looked up.
His eyes were unsteady, his grin strained and shaking as blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth. "I may be a traitor," he rasped, choking slightly, "but I'm having a great time." He coughed, then added, voice weak but amused, "So keep calling me filth. I don't care. Hell, I'm a lust demon—it's a compliment to be called filthy."
The Demon Knight glared down at him from beneath his helmet and raised the greataxe for the finishing blow.
Something landed on his back.
Before he could react, a sharp, blinding pain tore through his left eye. He roared and staggered, dropping both weapons as blood poured down his armor.
Mark hit the ground behind him, dagger still slick as he jumped clear. "Eat a nat twenty, tinman!" he shouted, already turning away.
He rushed to Azid's side, eyes wide as he took in the damage. "Holy shit," he said quickly, "are you going to be okay? Can you heal or something?"
Azid tried to lift his arm for a thumbs-up and immediately gave up, muscles refusing to respond. Instead, he managed a weak breathy laugh. "Yep. I'll be okay," he said. "You focus on hiding or something."
Mark wanted to help Azid, but there was no way he could lift him in his current transformed state. He hesitated, looking down at the dice clenched in his hand, then shut his eyes and shook his head. "No," he said, voice firm despite the fear crawling up his spine. "I'm not leaving you to die while I hide."
He turned just as the Demon Knight ripped the dagger out of his ruined eye and flung it aside. "I'm going to rip you in half!" the knight roared.
Mark charged.
He rolled the dice as he ran. It bounced once, twice, then settled on a sixteen.
The Demon Knight swung blindly toward the sound, a massive fist cutting through the air. Mark slipped past it from the knight's blind side, barely managing the dodge, then darted behind him and drove a kick into the back of the knight's knee with everything he had.
It did literally nothing.
The Demon Knight barely shifted as he spun, a brutal backfist already coming around. Mark ducked just in time. The fist smashed into a nearby building instead, pulverizing stone and brick into a cloud of dust.
"Oh shit!" Mark yelped, all bravado evaporating. "This is so damn unfair!"
He had wanted to protect Azid. That was why he'd rushed in, acting confident, acting fearless. But now, staring at the reality of what he was up against, knowing he could only really hurt this thing if he rolled a nat twenty, regret hit him hard and fast.
"That's why I told you to hide, dummy," Azid called weakly from the ground.
Mark scrambled back to his feet and rolled away just as the Demon Knight stomped down. The impact sent a shockwave ripping through the street. The ground cracked and buckled. Every visible window shattered at once, and the force rolled outward far beyond sight, a pressure that could be felt from hundreds of kilometers away.
"Jesus Christ!" Mark shouted as he was hurled through a window, glass exploding around him. Luck spared him anything immediately fatal, but there was no time to recover. The Demon Knight followed through, smashing the building apart, reducing it to drifting dust.
"No more running, you little weasel!" the knight bellowed, raising his fist for the kill.
Then he stopped.
Frozen mid-motion.
"Uh… what's going on?" Mark muttered, staring. He glanced toward Azid. The shockwave had thrown him again, breaking his body even further, but he was still alive. He looked just as confused.
Mark pushed himself up slowly, every step cautious as he approached the unmoving Demon Knight. He reached out, fingers trembling.
The instant he touched him, the Demon Knight collapsed into red mist.
"What the hell!?" Mark fell backward hard, scrambling away. "Is that some ability or what's going on!?"
"I don't think that's an ability," Azid rasped, followed by a violent cough. "I'm pretty sure he just died."
"Oh shit, Azid!" Mark shouted, already running back to him.
He didn't notice the figure standing atop a slanted rooftop nearby.
The Unending Blade watched in silence. "Now that that's done," she murmured to herself, "I have to go back to pretending to be blind."
She vanished, and with her, the last trace of the Demon Knight, as the demon problem was pretty much dealt with.