Chapter 244: Fighting a Bone Artisan

Chapter 244: Fighting a Bone Artisan

The demon lunged straight at Kai, so damn fast that there wasn't even time to fully manifest a Tyrant's Claw. Instead he dodged to the side, buying just enough time to form one. He'd planned to swing it horizontally to catch his opponent, but the demon had already broken away.

He attacked Zae Zin Nim next and she desperately turned aside his swift blows. The demon thrust his hands forward in knife position, confident as if he expected them to pierce any barrier, so her smooth martial arts were a better defense. Kai prepared another Claw but hesitated as he tried to find his moment. What was the demon's fundamental strategy? Perhaps he was trying to take out the weakest members first, before they could use their numbers to their advantage.Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

And he was buying time: a massive beast formed from bone leapt at Kai from the side, swinging three limbs of different lengths. Instead of trying to deflect the unpredictable attack combo, Kai hit the beast with a Tyrant's Claw that sent it flying backward.

Meanwhile Omilaena had finally acted, launching a series of needles at the demon's back. He managed to ward them off even while fighting Zae Zin Nim, keeping them both at bay simultaneously. Kai couldn't attack without risking one of them, so he took the moment to examine the demon properly.

Name: ???

Total Power: 847

White Demon: Spinel Rank (201)

Bone Artisan: Topaz Rank (410)

Physique: D-0 (200)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

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There were no obvious weaknesses in the demon's spirit, except perhaps a slightly low Soul Level. Perhaps that came with the territory, when you drained your power from others. But that wouldn't matter, given how more beasts were shambling from around the fort toward them. Not beasts... constructs made of bone, presumably created by the demon's Bone Artisan abilities.

Something lightning-fast flickered past Kai and he felt a pain in his leg. It was that speedy little construct and it could have taken out his leg, if not for Behemoth's Heart. As near as he could tell it was already skittering on the opposite side of the fort, so Kai just kept an eye on it and leapt into battle.

Not against the demon, which was already chaotic enough, but instead against the approaching constructs. While in midair he unleashed a thin stream of Baleful Breath that created a cloud of death across one side of the battlefield, and even the bone constructs didn't enter that lightly. Then he crashed down with a Tyrant's Claw, tearing apart one of the weaker constructs. Another swung at him and he managed to kick it in the chest, knocking it away from the melee.

The time he'd bought them nearly paid off. Omilaena closed in, wielding a syringe, and the demon naturally prioritized her as the greater threat. But he underestimated Zae Zin Nim, who finally connected with a palm.

Her qi rang like a bell and a shockwave of blue fire expanded from the point of impact. The demon skidded all the way back across the top of the fortress... his arms crossed in front of him. He looked a little singed, but he lowered his arms and grinned.

"Not as weak as you look," he said in a ghastly voice. "But why are you here?"

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I'm not strong or fast enough to fight the demon in melee." Kai met her gaze and saw her anger vanish against his confession. "Let me take on the big construct. Keep him tied down."

"Fine." They both leapt back toward the roof of the fort.

In their brief absence Zae Zin Nim had managed to get away from the scythe beast and the demon was only just emerging, so it looked like they had a chance. But while Kai was still in the air, the fast construct unleashed a fragment of bone... no, there were several.

Multiple constructs unleashed projectiles against Zae Zin Nim, who needed her full attention just to deflect half of them. The rest slipped past her hands and were caught by her aura of blue flames. For a moment it seemed she'd stopped all of them... until the last bone shard managed to break through and hit her stomach. Zae Zin Nim looked down in surprise and stumbled back.

As much as Kai wanted to run to her, he stuck to the plan. Omilaena was already leaping in to stop the demon's attempt to finish her, so Kai met the largest construct head on.

His first Tyrant's Claw tore off one arm but wasn't enough to take it out. The bear-like construct hit back with shocking force. Kai managed to halt his stagger and struck back, brawling with the beast. He might not be able to fight the construct's master, but he could eliminate this threat to Omilaena.

When he finally got close, he used Isulfr's Bite to tear off its upper half. The result tasted like bone and clearly didn't have any monstrous essence he could use. Just in case, Kai kicked the rest of the body off the side of the fortress.

Meanwhile, it looked like Zae Zin Nim had managed to burn out the shard in her stomach. She was holding the injury and grimacing, but she'd be capable of fighting. Omilaena and the demon were blurring in a storm of projectiles and eventually Omilaena had no choice but to retreat before the onslaught.

"This is more trouble than I thought." The demon frowned and manifested several slivers of bone in his hand. "My brothers and sisters will be interested in this."

He tossed the bone slivers off the side of the fortress. When they hit the ground they began to unfold, more bone forming out of pure chakra. These weren't combat constructs, just small bird-like skeletons. Some of them began to run and others rose into the air. They were all headed south, toward the Commonwealth and presumably the other demons.

"Stop them!" Kai shouted. Zae Zin Nim moved next, unleashing a flurry of qi bolts.

She managed to destroy all the fragile constructs... and the demon grinned as he leapt. Faster than Kai had seen him move before, he grabbed Zae Zin Nim around the neck. Fragments of bone began to pierce her skin and she cried out as her energy began to drain from her body.

Kai couldn't stop himself this time, he was already running. At the last second he realized that the demon was no doubt trying to inspire a wild charge from a greater threat. Instead of aiming for a direct blow or saving Zae Zin Nim, Kai twisted at the last second, dodging a strike and instead hitting the demon's arm holding her.

He thought he just glimpsed Zae Zin Nim tumbling away, then the demon's hand was on his throat. Kai pretended to be drained for just a second, just long enough... uncertainty entered the demon's eyes as he realized that he couldn't drain him. In that second Kai's teeth snapped closed.

His plan had been to take off the demon's head, but it jerked back and his spiritual teeth grated against something too tough to easily eat. In the end Kai was left with a mouthful of flesh unlike anything he'd tasted before, with purple blood running down his teeth. The demon fell back, a major chunk of his arm removed, for the first time truly shocked.

Shock turned to rage and the demon was on him faster than he could react. The first blow smashed him through the fortress wall and against the mountain, but the demon followed up this time. Kai tried to fight back, but the next blow hammered a bone shard into his arm. Shard after shard after shard, Kai was impaled to the rock.