Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [Version Discontinued]

96. Battle in the Devil's Lair (4)

A'Teh's movements increased in speed tremendously.  He moved faster than the lightning that Erebus had once tried to navigate through when fighting the Djinn.  Erebus pushed his mana to the extreme, creating a domain so his and Leo's attacks could become stronger.  However, they were only dodging and defending. 

Leo saw A'Teh coming for him and found himself with his back against the wall.  He lifted his sword to block, but A'Teh's claw pressed against the blade and snapped it in two.  His hand continued its path towards Leo's chest.

Suddenly thousands of black ropes snaked around A'Teh's arm and stopped his momentum.  Erebus stood behind A'Teh, holding on the other end of the ropes, his feet planted deeply into the ground.  His arms were straining, and the his shoulder that was bitten ripped open exposing his bones and his blood pour out.  He didn't cry out in pain because he was more worried about Leo and let out a relieved breath when he found that Leo survived the attack.  A'Teh's claws still punctured Leo's chest, but the wounds were superficial. 

Leo didn't discard his sword, but changed his metal blade to one made from his Shadow Mana.  He used all of his strength and sliced downwards on A'Teh's arm that was pierced into him.  The pressure made his claws rip down his chest.  He clenched his jaw until his teeth cracked, but found himself smiling when he successfully sliced through the arm and A'Teh's hand fell to the floor.

A'Teh snarled and sliced down with his other claw.  Leo threw himself out of the way, but the claw still clipped his ear, taking off his pointed tip. 

Erebus was quick and jumped on A'Teh's back and slammed his blade into his neck.  A'Teh trembled and a large pulse of energy pushed out of his body, throwing Erebus across the room.  He crashed into the platform that held Aboros' body and destroyed it with a reverberating bang.

Aboros' body fell onto the ground, and his head rolled several meters away.  Erebus groaned, realizing that his arm was now useless and barely holding together.  He used his mana to create a wrap and hold it in place, while he tied his dagger in the other hand.

He looked around desperately but the collision had stirred up the old ash and dust, creating a thick black fog.  He cursed inwardly and closed his eyes, focusing his energy.  He could see that Astra was in the same place and unharmed. He scanned and found the weakened energy of Leo. But Erebus could not relax and was taut with tension because he didn't know where A'Teh was. 

He scanned again, but the ash seemed to causing some sort of interference.  He was going to call out but felt a spine chilling sensation. He jumped as high as he could.  He felt a strong rush of wind under him and shuddered as he saw the glimpse of gold and black. 

He expanded his Shadow Domain on to the ceiling and made it collapse to the ground, like a blanket snuffing out a flame.  The black fog condensed to the ground, resembling a black pool of water that was knee deep.

He hoped to remove all of the fog but he was already at his limit and felt the Phonoi Heart scratching in his mind. 

He was still able to remove most of the visual obstruction, but it was a short lived victory because A'Teh was on him again, rising from the settling ash.  He grabbed onto Erebus' good arm and slammed him against the wall, cracking the wall from the impact.

Erebus looked at his arm that was being held by A'Teh and saw his marking with the wolf. 

"Fenrir..." He tried calling out.  He knew they needed help.

The wolf marking started to stir, but Erebus was not the only one who noticed.  A'Teh grinned and bit down on Erebus' arm, piercing his teeth into the marking.