For a moment Ishiki and the demon stood face to face... though it couldn't be said that it was face to face as the demon was far taller than Ishiki standing at 2 meters of height.

But the silent confrontation didn't last long as Ishiki jumped back out of caution and fear in equal measures.

He landed just besides kaori who was grabbing Nina by the wrist and gasping heavily.

On the other side of the battlefield not too far away... Arthur's group which had lost three of its people. But still they were pushing through the hordes of Withering beasts with relative ease.

None of them cared enough about Ishiki and the two girls with him to even spare them a look behind... well, even if they cared. No one would go out of their league to help them when their own life was in grave danger.

"Ishiki... what should we do?" kaori asked, her voice trembling as her eyes were fixed on the demon.

"Listen to me," Ishiki started. "I will distract it... and while I do, take Nina and join Arthur's group, get to the other side of the gate before the withering beasts do."

Nina was the first to speak, her voice was small like a whisper. "What... what about you big brother Ishiki?"

Ishiki looked at her and flashed a fake smile. "I have a score to settle with him." He said with a deep voice.

"I'm not leaving you to—" Kaori started.

"I'll kill it," Ishiki interrupted her... His voice was steady, carrying a Certainty and part insanity. "I hate debts..."

Kaori stared at him for a long moment, trying to deduce where the confidence came from while he was holding a bent rebar.

There was nothing exceptional about him... but his eyes shone brighter in the darkness than they did in the light. Actually... that was only natural.

"You're insane," Kaori said, while laughing lightly.

"Probably," Ishiki agreed.

The Demon laughed "How touching. The sheep commands the shepherdess to flee while it faces the wolf alone." It turned its full attention to Ishiki. "Very well. Let us see if your conviction tastes as sweet as your fear."

Kaori wanted to stay and help but she knew she was useless under the silver moon and would only die not long after the fight begins.

"Damn you," Kaori hissed, and turned away, dragging Nina with her toward the gates.

The demon moved once again with that terrifying speed.

This time Ishiki saw the motion—or at least the direction of it. The demon became a blur of shadow and displaced air, closing the distance with a speed that made mockery of physics.

Ishiki rolled sideways, abandoning grace for pure survival instinct. The demon's foot slammed down where he'd been standing, and the cobblestones shattered with a crater spreading outward in a spiderweb of cracks.

Ishiki stopped rolling just a little away, he used a lot of force and straightened the rebar in his hand... and stood up, activated Ghost Blade once again and swung.

The metal sang through the air, whistling with velocity.

At first the demon didn't act, but suddenly he raised his hand and caught the rebar just a few inches from its abdomen with a single hand, like a stick thrown by a kid.

Its fingers closed around the rusted steel with perfect control. For a moment they were connected by that length of metal—Ishiki on one end, the Demon on the other—frozen in a tableau that would have been almost comical if not for the palpable aura of death surrounding them.

The demon pulled.

Ishiki didn't have time to let go.

He was yanked forward, feet leaving the ground as his body became airborne and helpless. The demon's other hand came up in an uppercut that would perfectly mangle his face.

Ishiki twisted mid-flight, and removed his grip from the metal bar... while doing it he even dismissed a pauldron from his armor. The sudden weight shift sent him spinning, and the Demon's fist grazed his side instead of his face.

It still hurt like hell.

The impact sent him tumbling and rolling through debris. He fetched up hard against a toppled pillar and stopped but the impact was so strong that the pillar gave away and the amour's breastplate split down the middle.

The armor would break if used more so... Ishiki dismissed the whole thing. The [Berserker's Effigy] broke into several motes of light and disappeared.

Ishiki struggled to his feet, now clad only in his torn and bloody clothes beneath.

He had never felt more exposed.

The demon looked at his fist with a rare expression of pain on his face... his fist had been impaled by one of the spikes that protruded out from the armor.

It left a gaping hole in his hand from which golden blood mixed with some green blood flowed out. The two kind of liquids were like oil and water that never mixed for some reason and still the Demon had both in his body.

Before Ishiki could think of something else... the demon was again on him. He didn't know how was the bastard able to perceive him because he was currently using [Ghost Blade] to its fullest.

But that didn't matter... so without contemplating on the matter further, Ishiki jumped to the side and summoned the only weapon he had.

[Aether Blade] came to existence in his hand... the motes of light turning into a bladeless hilt that he gripped tightly.

The demon missed Ishiki as his punch hit noting but empty air... and there for a moment he was lost.

Ishiki as just on his left and as son as his legs touched the ground he jumped again... the demon's neck twisted instantly to his side.

But Ishiki was already swinging his blade... the invisible blade's tip passed through the demon's skin and his eyes widened and he instantly jumped back.

"You trickster." The demon said with gritted teeth as he moved his hand around. There was no wound on the skin, but it pained to move.

The shoulder muscles had been cut a little.

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