Chapter 149: Dangerous Demon Dance

Chapter 149: Dangerous Demon Dance

Sofia had good hopes that this would be resolved without a fight. Until she took one, last, fateful step toward the altar. The shackled demon laying on the altar stopped struggling.

She had been in the middle of one of her incomprehensible sentences, one she had repeated at least ten times when a ritual she hadnt seen activated, it was hidden within the floors decorative patterns. The world froze. To Sofia, this wasnt a new sensation. Kuli had done it and so had Aphenoreth. She was, however, now starting to understand that it wasnt something as simple as time magic or space magic. This was the sign of something much grander. She could SEE it now. This was the effect of the planes collapsing together. Like a superposition of colors and states of existence.

One thing wasnt frozen however, the bolt. It kept condensing over her staff.

Red runes appeared everywhere on the immobile demons body, shining like the sun was burning inside of her. The mana emitted was such that it was washing over the petrification curse and the Darkness. It pushed aside the stone statues, cleared the center of the cathedral of debris. And then the mana stopped. The runes dimmed, but the demon was shaking, vibrating to the rhythm of an inexistent quake.

The angels bolt around her staff had absorbed ungodly amounts of mana from the wave; it looked brighter than when she double-casted the actual skill version in the Thrombber mines.

The world regained its usual shape. She exploded.

From the second Sofia had become frozen, she had been trying to summon her blessed shield construct from [Bone dominus]. Any kind of protection would help.

In that one instant while the world unfroze, the golden shield appeared in front of her and all of her other items disappeared into her storage ring, except for the Staff and Spatial anchor bracelet which couldnt be so easily moved.

Explosion met explosion, and the Buried Cathedral was no more.

The hero : Pareth has succumbed.

Sofia woke up from her death three seconds later, falling. Before she could even open her eyes, she spread her wings and checked her stats.

Health : 5995 / 5995

Stamina : 1995 / 1995

Mana : 5200 / 89000

Thats not a lot of mana.

She also had two runes left.

Stamina : 179 280 / 179 280

Mana : 0 / 179 280

Higher than it used to. Double in fact. Does it double each filter?

She still had the same name, level and class, her skills were still there, she just had no mana. Not waiting for the other Demon to have the first move, Sofia plunged down to get her shield. She still had two runes, so the regeneration from the blessing wouldnt help her but it would repair her armor, and she really needed that because it usually required mana.

During the plunge she reviewed what tools she still had at her disposal. The wings are still there, work perfectly, armor cant repair yet, cant take the bones out of the storage without mana either. [Bone dominus] should work if I can touch that things bones If it even has any. But the blessed greatshield will help. The staff should be out there somewhere too but it wont help. [Way of the Fool]s thinking speed is doing its best work right now, and [Sanctity] is probably the best thing I have going for me.

Nothing much in terms of active spells.

Back to the basics.

I only have five minutes before the skill ends and leaves me as a weakened and manaless human.

Red magma splashed around as she grabbed the greatshield in passing and flew right back up. A shame I cant change the form after its a blessed construct without it losing the blessing.

The Avian Demon let out a piercing screech as it fully unfurled its wings. Sofia soared through the air, her tail whipping behind her as she ascended to meet the monstrous Avian Demon, unfazed by its immense size. The two demons clashed mid-air, each striking with incredible speed and strength.

Their physical strength was equally matched. As they fought, they flew up and up, trying to take the advantage on each other.

The petal-looking wings of the Avian were sharper than mithril blades, they left gashes even on the blessed greatshield Sofia hid behind. Its talons struck with the strength of a falling tree. Sofia parried however she could, raising her shield, kicking away the talons. The flying Avian tried to get under the shield with a high-knee but Sofia intercepted the blow with the bottom rim of the shield. She used that force to launch herself back in an aerial backflip. Her tail violently slammed in between the Avians legs, projecting the Demon up and deep into the ceiling of the spherical cavern.

Sofia dodged with minimal movements the rain of stone and debris that fell around her as the Demon forced its way out of the stone. She was already flying up, delivering a heavy punch to her struggling enemy. The fist was caught by the creatures talons and promptly torn off.

Sofia felt no pain anyway; she still had the greatshield, two legs and a tail, enough to fight. She didnt think full thoughts anymore. She was only focused on dodging, weaving her way around the attacks of the Avian Demons long legs and occasional wing swipes, waiting for another opportunity. She could only stay below now. The talons raked on her shield, it was starting to get heavily damaged and the regeneration couldnt keep up with the pace of the fight. The Demons other leg came and Sofia caught the flaw in the strike, kicking away the clawed foot, obliterating the bones inside.

Wanting to end this as fast as possible, she threw the shield like a projectile at the monsters face while she flew in between its legs. The Demons wings cut the shield into two, but Sofia had made her way to its back. The following tail hit was devastating, raking off the Avians flesh and leaving a huge bloody gash across its back.

With a single wing-beat, the Avian turned around to face Sofia, then, spreading its wings and legs like a starfish, it screeched again. The cry this time was charged with mana. Sofias vision and mana senses were currently the best they had ever been. She understood that this was a curse rapidly closing in on her.