No blood, no wounds. It looked as if the battle had only just started. Outside of the nearly naked man in front of us and the pieces of demon bodies, it didn’t look like much had happened.

  The reason for the bad feeling came a moment later though, when that perfectly sculpted body started to change color. The greater demon’s skin turned to bronze as his body cracked and twitched. I was confused as to what was happening, but only for a moment.

  He was transforming back into his demon form, and I could imagine that meant he would be that much more vicious.

  “Don’t let up, this is a chance!” Lucas yelled out and then rushed forward without a care. “Bruce with me!”

  All the melee that had been protecting the ranged charged forward as well, and very quickly the battle was more chaotic than I’d seen up to this point. Everyone was in the thick of it, and no one held anything back.

  The greater demon was fully on the defensive while his body physically changed. Bones cracked and tearing tendons snapped and popped in the air while he ran, and the sound of projectiles and clashing metal added to the noise as we chased him with renewed fervor.

  Retreat was the greater demon’s only option, while only some of his body was functional. But it was easier said than done to evade us with my undead troops enclosing him. With nothing being held back, he was facing even more of an onslaught than ever before. The damage was accumulating quickly, too.

  The clear luster of his bronze and slowly bulking body showed solid slashes and deformities that weren’t healing like before. In fact, by the time he was fully transformed, he wasn’t near one-hundred percent. His health was around seventy, with gashes, cuts and even deep incisions all over him.

  Still, the calm demeanor the demon boss displayed never changed. As if starting at seventy-percent of his maximum was perfectly sufficient to deal with us. Despite his manner, I felt that the possibility of the demon slaughtering every one of us had passed long ago. I knew now, most of us knew now, that we wouldn’t be wiped out by this greater demon. How many might die was the question lingering in my thoughts now.

  “There’s still time…” The demon started.

  “Don’t speak, just die!” Alan didn’t give him the chance to try and persuade anyone, opting to rush forward with reckless abandon. He still had Rebekah’s buff, and was in good fighting shape. In fact he was thriving in the madness.

  Alan was probably even better now than when he started the fight, which was the best news for us, because he needed to be. The demon gave up on his attempted speech and met Alan blow for blow, which sent him back several steps.

  Alan could evade and the strikes he had to take were more sharp than strong, but the blasts of air that rippled past me with each deflection of Alan’s shield this time was intense. The boss wasn’t a demon ruler just for show, and his physical prowess in this new form was definitely much stronger than earlier.

  Still, the greater demon had sacrificed his speed and because of that, the fight was progressing more smoothly. Alan could absorb the large blows by abusing his passive and Thomas’s shielding spell.

  My undead that had been on the outskirts rushed inward to join the melee onslaught. Even Spikey #1, with his single arm, didn’t hesitate. Instead, I had opted for my skeletons to go in for what was something of a kamikaze attack. Regardless of what happened to them, at the very least their bones would turn into vicious projectiles inside Anna’s Blizzard.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Lucas and Bruce moved together like true assassins, finding gaps in the greater demon’s vision and abusing it completely. My undead were constantly latching on to an arm or thigh or even hand. They clawed and bit like rabid dogs, only to be exploded into a mess of bones by a single strike. And these sacrifices created even more openings for my team.

  Bullets, arrows, and the occasional melee weapon connected with the greater demon’s carapace. His bronze and lustrous body was being mutilated at a terrific speed. He was rapidly declining in strength, and as a group we were doing a massive amount of damage now that the weights were off.

  Spikey #1 managed to get close enough to send all of his strength into a single attack, sending the zweihander directly through the thigh and out the other side. A riposte thundered, the trunk of Spikey #1’s body shattered like a tree struck by lightning, sending splintered bone fragments everywhere.

  Lucas used that same moment to send a strong Wind slash through the crevice of the greater demons elbow, precisely where the frost from Anna’s barrage of attacks had built up. It went through with almost no resistance, sending the arm from the elbow down flying through the air.

  “Stay vigilant!” I reminded everyone. A cornered beast was always the most dangerous, and I made no mistake in recognizing the thing before me as nothing but a wild beast. I cast Shallow Grave and immediately replenished my undead horde, sending Spikey #1 directly back into the mix.

  Spikey #2 hadn’t died, but both of his legs were shattered. It was terrifying to watch him crawl along the floor while dragging the butcher’s cleaver like a deranged psycho. I could feel his desire to even just bite the flesh of the demon and inflict any damage he could. It was deranged.

  The fight was nearing its end. There were no remaining options left for the greater demon. With only one arm, and an unusable leg that made maneuvering near impossible, his death was sealed. “Tanks back to the ranged.” Lucas said and backed off with Bruce. I agreed with the call. There was every possibility that just before death the demon had a desperate attack or skill that might kill those near him.

  The boss wasn’t regenerating; there were no weird blood attacks. Alan was making it look easy now, even though I knew it still wasn’t. Even that single arm would land a devastating blow, strong enough to turn most of us into a meat paste.

  We had reverted back to our original tactic, except my skeletons were still going ballistic. I decided the possible twenty-four hours without being able to summon them was worth the risk. Bethany and Ryan lay dead just a few feet from us, I didn’t want anyone else to die.

  In the end, the greater demon had no final trump card to play. After another five minutes of monotone exchange, Alan landed a brutal upward slash and then embedded his blade directly through the heart of the demon. Godless Arrow and an explosive bullet from Evee immediately after put the boss to his knees.

  “Yeah, you don’t have anything to say now, do you?” Alan looked at the demon’s lifeless eyes. He was goading, daring the demon to speak. It was silent for just a moment, and before any more words could be exchanged Alan’s blade jammed into the demon’s neck and ripped out the side.

  Just like that, the fight was over. The night ambush had taken two lives, but that could have been far worse. We had done well. Thirty enemies and a boss was a massive amount to take on such short notice in the dark of night.

  I couldn’t be happy about the outcome though. No one was—not a single cheer rose up, nor a cry of ‘good job’. It was a dreary atmosphere post-battle. Rebekah walked over to Bethany and leaned down, tears dripping down her face. Pain.

  Marcus scooped up Ryan and started walking off, “I’ll be burying him tonight.” He looked at Bethany, “I’ll make a second grave if you’d like.”

  Rebekah nodded and wiped a tear.

  “I’ll help.” Alan came over and picked up Bethany and followed behind Marcus; Nicole and Rebekah followed behind him, while Evee and Bruce went with Marcus.

  “We’ll deal with the loot tomorrow,” I said, “take the day off.” Everyone badly needed rest and a mental reset. “Good job everyone…” The last bit barely made it to those distant ears as they went to dig graves. I doubted anyone felt they had done a good job.