I already know that I can't channel the mana to Ruby, and if I try to hold it in me, I will die for sure. I can only think of one other option and, without time to think twice, I immediately start channeling all the mana to Blitz and Black Razor.
I quickly realize that I'm only channeling the archmage's mana, but I can't pay attention to trying to figure out what happened to the demon's mana. I feel quite a bit of pain, but I ignore it as best I can and keep drawing mana from me as fast as I can.
Everything goes black for a second and when I open my eyes, I find myself leaning against the far wall of the cave. I can hear sounds of struggle, Ruby needs me! I stand up and discover that my left hip hurts. I look down and discover that my flesh is burned and torn and Black Razor is not there. A quick look around shows no sign of him, I guess he couldn't handle the mana and exploded.
That must be how I ended up unconscious and against the cave wall. I push those thoughts out of my head and look for Ruby. I see her dodging the demon's attacks, but she's being pushed back and is about to run out of room. I lunge toward the demon, ignoring the pain in my hip. I pull Blitz out, happy to see that it's intact, I don't even have time to wonder why the lightning is black now.
I run at full speed towards the demon, barely making a sound, but somehow the demon senses me and begins to turn towards me. I hit the demon at full speed and bury Blitz to the hilt in the side of its wolf body. I bounce backwards and rip Blitz off and lunge backwards. I see the demon's hand coming towards me, I'm almost out of its reach as it passes by my face.
Only one claw lightly hits the left side of my face, suddenly my vision is half lost, my left eye stops working. I fall backwards to the ground and roll backwards to my feet. I can see that the demon is bleeding where I hit it with Blitz, at least I can hurt it. It has some other superficial wounds that bleed a little, they must be from Ruby.
Suddenly, the demon is right in front of me and throws a right-handed claw at me. I dodge to the right to avoid it, but it was a feint! I fall into the trap and don't realize it until his left fist hits me in the chest.
- You've suffered an impact attack! 372 HP damage!
HP: 883/1255
I hear a loud crack and go flying backwards until I crash into the cave wall. I feel like I've been run over by a truck. My chest armor is in a heap of tiny pieces between me and the demon and, from the pain I feel when I manage to breathe, I think I have some broken ribs. I look up and see the demon coming towards me. I still have Blitz in my hand, so I struggle to my feet.
Ruby says, "She's not dead, but she's not very well either. look out, she's coming back!"
I look up and see the demon moving toward me. It seems to be moving slower, which is good. I start moving to my right as Ruby moves in the opposite direction. The demon stays focused on me. I guess I pissed it off.
I stop moving, crouch down and let it come at me. Just as it's in range to attack me, I see a flash of blue pass behind it as Ruby swipes at its already injured legs. He roars, gets up and starts turning to chase Ruby. Seeing an opening, I lunge as hard as I can straight at the thing. I slash at its chest with Blitz just before crashing into it with my shoulder, it goes backwards with me on top of it.
I jump to get away as it crashes into the ground and I hit the ground somersaulting to make sure I'm far enough away as I get to my feet. The demon is getting to his feet as I stand up and turn to face him. I can't see Ruby, but I don't want to look away from the demon to look for her. I see the demon take a deep breath and, as I see the glow forming in its open mouth, I dive to my left.
I feel the intense heat behind me as the demon exhales a cone of hellfire where it was a second ago, I hear a female scream as I get to my feet and immediately attack the demon.
"Ruby?"
Ruby says, "I'm fine, I've just never been burned before, I was surprised."
Hearing Ruby's response, I am relieved as I charge at the demon who continues to spit hellfire. I notice it has its eyes closed to protect them from the glare of the flames. This is my best chance. I run down and slide underneath its wolf body. I cut into his stomach as I slide to the other side and roll backwards to stand up. I run a few steps before turning to see where the demon is.
big mistake!
It's right behind me and I'm about to be trampled. Luckily, with its injured paws, I'm a little faster and manage to stay out of its reach. The problem now is that I'm running into a wall and don't have much room to maneuver; if I try to turn, he'll be able to hit me. The cave is mostly round, so the walls are curved. I guess I'll try something stupid.
I hit the wall at full speed and run straight up, I do well until the whole wall shakes when the demon hits it, I manage to push off enough to fall to the ground behind the demon.