He gave a nod in return and stepped away. “Protect the Goddess of the Underworld and the Queen of the Dead!” He shouted his orders to the minions that didn’t know what to do—to obey the demon lords that they feared or the god they were supposed to serve.
They made their choice, a group of them taking up positions around me as the red-eyed demon came for me.
Callum continued to issue commands. “We stop the other demons from getting to her.”
I didn’t hear what else was said because the demon swung at me with both swords—and the fight began.
“Oh fuck.” I dodged backward and ducked one sword before I blocked the other, and I barely managed to take a breath before the first sword came at me again, aiming to slice my head off like it was the top of a carrot.
I didn’t have a clue what was going on with the others because I had to give my entire focus to this one demon. The monsters started to do their job, two of them crawling up the back of the demon who came for me, while another grabbed a heavy stone and hoisted it at the fire-eyed menace. It gave me a chance to get some space and take a breath.
But the demon punched the monster with his bare hand and shattered the stone.
It was going to take more than talent with the sword and the strength of a god to defeat this thing.
He came at me again, rushing forward and yanking orcs off his body with his two free hands while the others with swords swung at me.
I ducked and rolled, panted and heaved, careful not to release the only sword I had.
I had to think—and think fast.
When he threw off one of the orcs, I got an idea.
“Continue climbing on him,” I ordered to whoever would listen.
They moved in another wave, climbing up his body. It was like he didn’t notice they were there, like he was the earth and they were tiny ants crawling on a mound. When both hands were filled with monsters and the swords were still coming at me, I dodged one attack and then jumped onto his arm that held an orc just in time.
The sword followed in an effort to hack me into pieces as I let go and hit the floor.
The sword sliced straight through the demon’s own arm, and it dropped beside me on the ground.
Black blood started to gush out of the wound and drip down his body, and he stopped to stare at the damage that he’d caused to himself.
It was the only chance I would ever get to do further damage because he would expect me to repeat my plan, so I rushed forward and raised my sword over my head and brought it down with all the force I could muster—slicing off the other arm.
This time, he screamed, more black residue dripping from his severed extremity, and he jerked back in horror as he understood that my sword had managed to slice through his hard exoskeleton because I’d packed enough force into it.
He released another scream as he relaunched his attack with his two swords, desperate to hack me into tiny pieces out of spite. The rage gave him a surge of energy and speed that dominated me, and he pressed me forward viciously as onesword came down and then the other, and even sometimes both at the same time.
The creatures that were now under my command struggled to keep up because he moved so quickly.
I felt my muscles start to tire for the first time because, every second, there was another sword swiping at me. He was overwhelming me with his attack, knowing I would falter at least once and then the sword would hit its mark.
He backed me up farther into the castle walls, and soon, I had nowhere else to go and no other choice but to block, over and over, my back to the wall, a mixture of sweat and blood on my face.
The creatures started to crawl up his body again and claw at his face.
I just had to wait long enough until he was overpowered and forced to rip them off.
His red eyes were locked on mine as he slashed with both of his swords, ignoring the two orcs on him that reached for his face, determined to make me break before he did.
But I would never break.
One of the orcs finally jabbed a dagger into his chest, making it only an inch into his hard exterior, so he tried again and again, impaling a little deeper each time. There seemed to be enough damage this time because the demon screamed and thrust his body, trying to throw the monsters off his shoulders like they were annoying insects.
I made my strike, bringing my sword down on his core and feeling it bounce off like he was made of stone. I made another attempt, spearing him with my sword and cracking the wall that protected his interior.
He turned back to me, and I rolled out of the way away from the wall, putting space between us before he barreled down on me again.
