As One

As Venden ducked under a swing of the aesh's sword, having learned his lesson on blocking after losing his hand, Fate rejoined the fight.

He hacked at the place he had buried his sword in, his arm vibrating as his sword stopped half an inch in.

He cursed and rolled out of the way of the aesh's sword, forced to leave his weapon lodged in the demon's hip.

Samantha, Cait, and the Adept covered him as he reached for the Master Guard's sword, the first girl's short sword and the latter's looted longsword digging into the aesh's extended arm, one from above, one from below, and one from the side, just above the elbow.

Samantha had loosened the leather of her weapon's hilt off so her hands could come into contact with the iron underneath, and now the blade carried the biting cold of -60 degrees.

Cait's sword had no special effects, instead backed by the strength of a kitsubus empowered by her Pride.

The Guard's sword was enchanted with durability and strength, which would give him an edge, but not a large one.

Alone, all three would be hard-pressed to get their swords halfway through the demon's arm, which was 90% taut muscle.

But Gevum lent his modicum of strength, and just as the blows landed, Kravoss shot a water beam at Samantha's blade.

The aesh howled as his right arm was sliced apart, the arm going limp and the sword falling from his hand. The nerves and muscles had been severed.

The demon's bone was far too strong for Journeymen to ever dream of cutting through, but now the arm was just a glorified club to swing around at the shoulder.

Fate, who had obtained a single-edged sword by now, and Venden both attacked while the demon was distracted, the latter piercing down with his pitchfork while the former swung his new sword.

Fate's sword dug into the aesh's Achilles tendon on his left leg, but the tight tendon was too sturdy, and Fate could only leave what amounted to a papercut on it. The sword lodged itself in the aesh's leg, and Fate swore inwardly as he tried to get it out.

Venden dug into the foot of the same leg, skewering the demon through with the rod of metal. Due to the downward strike, he leveraged most of his body's weight into the pitchfork, allowing his pitchfork's tines to go deeper.

The aesh's howl turned to a roar as he punched out at Venden, who was closest to his working arm, but Venden's Skill warned him the attack was coming, and the aesh's fist crumpled the pitchfork's metal pole apart as Venden danced backward.

But the aesh, in his rage, forgot that the pitchfork was still lodged in his foot, and his punch tore it out in the most gruesome way possible, the mangled remains of the farming implement raking deep grooves in his foot.

That enraged the demon more, and he whirled around, bringing his right arm to bear on Fate. In doing so, he ripped the sword in his Achilles tendon out, widening the tear in his mad attack.

Fate swung at the oncoming fist with his sword, willing to take a limp punch in exchange for another grievous wound on his foe.

The aesh's eyes flashed with anger as he noticed what Fate was doing, but he had already committed too much to the swing and couldn't stop it now.

Fate grunted as the punch drove him back, the blunt end of the sword pressing against his shoulder as the aesh's fist split beneath the blade, and Fate was sent stumbling backward, his sword slipping out of his hands.

The aesh sneered as he pulled the sword out of his fist, a well of blood painting the ground below red as the aesh examined the weapon.

"Nothing but a toothpick," he snarled, chucking it at the airborne Kravoss.

Kravoss squawked and flapped his wings, narrowly avoiding the projectile as the demon laughed.

And with the aesh's head turned up at the bird, he saw the incoming arrows.

With little effort, he caught three in one motion, all of which were aimed at his face.

The other twenty-three either broke against his skin or burrowed less than an inch into the demon's skin, making him look like more of a porcupine than he did before, with the previous arrows.

The aesh snapped the three arrows in half between his two fingers, then took a menacing step toward Fate. Then another.

His eyes widened in surprise as his leg gave out.

The aesh fell to his knee, frowning as his left foot refused to cooperate.

He shoved the attacking Fate and Guard away with a palm and forcibly stood, mouth set in a grim line as the pain from his foot flooded his system.

"You humans are such a pain in the ass," he growled, wrapping his hand around the attacking Samantha's sword. Blood dripped down from his palm, but he didn't seem to care as he tore the weapon out of her hands and turned.

With an explosive flex of all of his muscles that cracked the ground beneath him, he launched the sword at one of the archers on the rooftops, whose head was flying through the air before he could even blink.

"One less bug to worry about," the aesh mused as he lowered his arm.

Cait pierced forward with her sword and Venden swung his as the aesh's back was turned, the Time Mage having grabbed a sword from among the nearby dead.

The demon bent at the waist and kicked backward like a donkey, his left foot connecting with Cait's face and sending her sprawling onto the ground. Venden's swing overshot, passing harmlessly over the aesh's back.

A grunt left the aesh as he planted his feet and turned to the humans. "Cheap tricks, cowardly tactics," he said contemptuously. "That's all you weaklings can do. But in the face of true power, your tricks are meaningless."

"We're doing pretty well, I'd say," Venden replied as he, Samantha, Fate, the Familiars, and the Adept surrounded the aesh in a half-circle.

Fate's gaze flickered to the Master Guard's body behind the aesh, feeling something subtle and strange coming from it. He recalled the Guard's previously outlined plans, one of which involved his death.

He just had to trust the man's words.

His eyes went back to the aesh, determination setting in his brow as the four humans and three Familiars rushed forward as one.