Zane and Michael were on the complete other side of the battlefield from Adam and Elesch. They were helping civilians get to the aircraft to help them get to safety, using their ice, speed, and darkness abilities, though Michael's second ability was just shadow manipulation, but he preferred to call it darkness manipulation.

As they were transporting and getting people to safety, one of the demons lunged at a woman with a white, burly cat. Zane immediately rushed over and grabbed the demon off the woman, and Michael got her to safety. She was one of the last ones in the vicinity who had survived.

After clearing out the rest of the people and killing the demons, they checked once more across all of the buildings, just in case they had missed anyone or anything. But more demons poured from the frontline, seeming to spill slightly past the massacre that the trio on the frontline were committing.

Zane used his ability, leaving behind echoes, confusing the demons, and then killing them in their dazed state, as Michael used his ice and shadow abilities, sometimes separately, sometimes together, and froze and erased the demons from existence.

As they continued their battle, like Adam and Elesch, a stronger, more profound demon had entered the arena. It screeched a dark melody of gore and intimacy. Its guttural scream annoyed Michael, as Zane laughed, thinking that the demon thought it was going to even touch them.

The demon, from where it stood, rushed in, Zane and Michael still only at each other, not knowing who they had provoked. Unlike the demon that Adam and Elesch had to face, this demon was much superior in terms of experience and vitality.

The demon punched Zane square in the face, as Michael finally registered what was happening, though that didn't help, considering it was already too late. The demon grabbed Michael and squeezed, not wanting to kill him in an instant, it simply threw him towards Zane.

Zane crashed against the side of a broken wall, the impact cracking stone and shaking dust loose from the edges. Michael landed beside him.

He groaned and wiped the blood from his mouth, eyes narrowing as he looked up at the towering demon. It stood there, muscles carved from shadow, skin glistening like wet obsidian, eyes burning with crimson fire.

Its grin stretched unnaturally wide, showing teeth shaped like daggers, dripping with the remains of some other unlucky victim. The ground beneath it seemed to wilt, grass shriveling, the air itself heavy with decay.

Zane rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "You think this thing's tougher than the last one?" he said, a half-smile tugging at his lips.

Michael exhaled sharply. "No. But it's smarter."

"Good. I was getting bored."

Before he could move, the demon vanished. A blur, too fast for even Zane's trained eyes. A moment later, something slammed into him from behind, sending him sprawling across the cracked pavement.

Michael turned just in time to see the demon appear midair, its claws extended, slicing through the ice shards he summoned as a shield like they were paper.

The shield exploded into fragments, each one freezing the air momentarily before melting. Michael raised both hands, shadows bursting from beneath his feet like a wave.

They tangled around the demon's legs, pulling, twisting, but it only chuckled. With one lazy step, it shattered the bindings and appeared before him, face inches from his own.

"Your darkness smells like fear," it whispered, voice vibrating with a dozen tones at once, some human, others not.

Michael's heart raced, but his expression didn't falter. "Then breathe deep," he said coldly, and launched an ice spear through the demon's chest.

The spear hit dead center and shattered. The demon's grin widened. "Cute."

It swung once. Michael barely ducked, feeling the rush of air scrape the top of his head. Behind him, an entire section of the street simply imploded, leaving a crater where buildings had stood seconds before.

Zane reappeared behind the demon in a blur, his body leaving several echoes that darted outward, surrounding their enemy. "Let's see how you handle this," he said.

The echoes attacked in perfect unison, kicking, striking, and slashing. For a moment, it seemed to work; the demon staggered, turning sharply, claws slicing through afterimages that melted into vapor.

But the real Zane didn't get a chance to land his strike. The demon moved faster, infinitely faster, catching his arm mid-swing. It twisted once, snapping bone, then hurled him into one of his own echoes, shattering both into flesh and blood.

Michael's rage exploded. Shadows flared around him, tendrils of pure black wrapping around his torso and arms like armor.

His voice deepened as his power surged, the temperature plummeting. "You shouldn't have done that."

The world dimmed. Darkness spread like ink in water. Every flicker of light, every burning ruin nearby, was swallowed, leaving only the demon, Michael, and the faint blue glow of Zane's blur fading on the ground.

The demon looked around and smiled faintly. "Finally. Something interesting."

Michael lunged, striking with both ice and shadow fused, twin energies spiraling into a blade of obsidian frost. The impact shook the ground, a shockwave bursting outward, leveling the nearby wreckage. For a second, it looked as though Michael had cut through the demon entirely.

But when the dust settled, the demon was still standing, untouched. It looked down at the blade embedded in its chest, then slowly pushed it out, letting the wound close as if time itself bent to its will.

"Toying with me won't end well," Michael growled, breathing hard.

"Oh, but I'm not toying with you," the demon said, raising a clawed hand. "This is me being merciful."

Before Michael could react, the demon flicked its wrist. A shockwave of invisible force sent him flying backward, crashing through two buildings and leaving a long trench of debris in his wake.

Zane forced himself to his feet, clutching his broken arm, cold mist seeping from his skin as he struggled to stabilize his breathing.

"You're not walking out of this," he said through clenched teeth.

The demon turned to him, its grin softening into something almost pitying. "You still think this is a fight."

It appeared in front of Zane in an instant, pressing one claw against his chest, just above his heart. "This," it whispered, "is survival."

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