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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

"Or something else?" Isen suggested a third option. They didn't know what else the DSTF had up their sleeve. With the realization that there were other demons out there, unbound by Catalysts, it was possible anything could have been outside of the city, trying to find a way in, or perhaps already inside, trapped within by the checkpoints.

"I don't feel anything off about any of this. There's a lot of magic coming from that barrier, but that's about it." Ignas added his piece and Isen sighed.

"Let's check the other side. I doubt anything will have changed, but we might as well."

He began walking back towards the city to check one of the other exits. As they traveled through the streets, however, Cresthaven seemed much less busy than usual. Sure, there were still cars moving across the street, buzzing back and forth between stores and homes and workplaces, but they hardly came across any people walking aside from DSTF guards, who seemed to be posted at intersections and once-busy streets. They kept their distance, not drawing any attention to themselves as they passed, but the entire situation felt ominous, like they were expecting something to happen and they were keeping the streets clear.

Or people were scared.

Confirming that the north side of the city was also in a similar state of blockage, Isen sighed. He began climbing a fire escape to the roof of one of the buildings, finding it in an alley where they would be shielded from anybody who was actually still outside of their home thinking they were up to anything suspicious. He waited for Adelaide to join him, using the higher vantage point to get a better look at what was happening. He suddenly felt like they were preparing to fight the drones again, on a roof top, over looking the city as everything fell apart. It was a staggering reminder of what they had lost on that day, and what they couldn't afford to let happen again.

His eyes scanned the city from above, but all he saw were more checkpoints and more guards. They had figured out nothing that they didn't already know, and that was extremely frustration to him.

"On the bright side, there doesn't appear to be any immediate threats." Ignas told him, sensing Isen's frustration within his head.

"I still don't trust it. They have to be up to something. Why can't we figure it out?" He asked, banging his hand down against the chimney on this roof. He didn't feel the pain when his bones crunched against the concrete and Ignas sighed, letting his magic heal the fracture.

"You won't figure anything out like that."

Oh, now he wanted to be helpful?

Isen was about to say something in retort, but he began to hear a noise in the distance with his enhanced hearing that drew his attention. Without saying anything, he moved to the edge of the building to get closer, to get a better look. It sounded like...fire works? No. That was gunfire. It was coming from the west, faint but loud enough for him to hear from where they were even if Adelaide probably couldn't pick up on it yet. Each round echoes until they stopped. What were they shooting at? And had they hit their target?

"Isen." Ignas spoke up, again. "There's something coming. Witch, can you sense it? It feels like...another demon? No, multiple."

"You're serious...?" Isen's eyes narrowed as three figures menacingly approached the barrier gate. From where they were, they couldn't quite get a proper look at them, but had they been closer they'd have noticed that these individuals had been riddled with arcane bullets that had pierced through their ragged clothing but they were walking as though they were completely unharmed. The glow in their eyes, the shape of horns protruding from the sides of their head. They were, just as Ignas warned, demons.

The energy of the gate began to flicker until the barrier stopped. The three demons walked into the streets of Cresthaven, passing through what should have protected the city. When they were on the other side, the gate whizzed back to life, creating a solid connection between the two posts. The demons hadn't tampered with it at all, at least from what Isen could tell, they just walked through like somebody had shut them off. Isen watched as one of the demons raised their hand, stopping one of the driving cars. They lifted it aloft like it weighed the same as a feather and tossed it aside, metal crashing and caving in on itself against concrete, surely killing whoever was in the driver's seat for absolutely no reason.

First, the sound of metal. Then, the sound of screaming, the three figures dispersing through the streets. Gun fire followed, but from what Isen could see, it was all for show. None of the shots were hitting and if they were, they weren't doing much of anything. He watched a civilian, climbing out of their car, attempting to make it through one of the energy gates. It didn't open the way it did to let the demons inside, it remained shut until that poor soul was run through from behind by one of the invaders who had circled back for easy prey.

Isen was appalled by what he was watching. This was a slaughter. They weren't keeping anything out, they were using the barriers as a cage to keep those in the city from escaping. What did the DSTF have to gain from this? They were clearly in on it. Anger settled in across his face as he turned towards his companion.

"Adelaide...We need to go. Right now." Isen warned, reaching out to grab her in his arms. He was already on his way down over the side of the building, towards the chaos, helping her land safely at the bottom so they wouldn't waste time climbing ladders. "I'll go on ahead, run a diversion. Get into position and help me take them out, okay?"
 
"Something else like what, though?" That was the question, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted an answer to that. With their enemies constantly growing stronger and coming out of nowhere, the thought of another being stronger than them was unsettling. They hadn't even managed to secure a plan to beat Maximilian without being drained of their lives successfully this time, and now they were going to have to face... What, exactly?

"I'm in agreement with Ignas." Unfortunately that seemed to be becoming common. "It doesn't feel overly strange or anything." Checking the other side of the city was a good idea, but the further they walked back the more uneasy Adelaide felt. The traffic in the city hadn't entirely ceased, but the fact that they seemed to be the only people on foot aside from guards made everything seem more off.

"Something's not right." She glanced over at Isen when she heard bone smashing, sighing and shaking her head. "Don't do that. The demon is right. One day you won't be able to do that without injuring yourself long term, so you need to start adjusting to that ahead of time." Either that, or she was going to be playing nurse constantly as he adjusted to being human again. None of that was going to mattered until they addressed and eliminated all of the current threats, though, so she was eager to get through all of it relatively unscathed if possible.

"What do you hear?" She frowned when Isen moved closer to the edge of the roof, following after him and tilting her head as she tried to hear what it was. Gunshots? "Is someone shooting, or am I going insane from being overworked?" When Ignas spoke her heart dropped, a pit of anxiety balling itself up in her stomach as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to concentrate.

"He's right, there's more than one." Danica sounded perplexed as she finally voiced her opinion. "Not common lowly demons, either. They have enough power to be a threat." She didn't sound overly worried about it on the surface, but Adelaide could hear the edge of uncertainty in the demon's voice. "Witch, be careful."

"Is that what I looked like when I moved a car? No, I didn't throw it, did I?" Adelaide frowned, rubbing at her temples as she tried to think on how the hell they were going to handle this. How were demons getting into the city? It didn't make sense that the DSTF would allow the city to be overrun by the very beings they were threatened by, not when the demons were clearly unbound.

"Yup, now." She shifted to allow him the ease to take them both down to the ground level before she was on her phone, cradling it against her ear and listening to Nikolai's voice as he picked up almost immediately.

"DSTF has the barriers up caging everyone in and they let demons in. It's a slaughter. Call Isabella and tell her to make sure all her people are safe and keep the shop safe. We cannot afford to lose it." The call was ended abruptly as she nodded at Isen, watching his retreating back and trailing after him in anticipation.

"Kill them all, little witch."
 
Isen had already put some distance between himself and Adelaide, approaching the situation in the way he knew best, drawing Onigoshi as he neared the cross walk where the three demons had gathered, causing havoc on anyone who was unfortunate enough to be nearby. He heard a building crumble as something was driven through the bricks of it's exterior wall. He cringed from the clear sound of broken bones and the blood curdling screams that both predated and followed the apparent attack. One of the down sides of becoming more in tune with his human half was that these things suddenly bothered him more. He couldn't block them out, he couldn't just escape the feeling. Right now, what he felt most, however, was anger.

"You can't seriously be running straight for them, can you? Have you learned nothing?"

"What would you have me do? Hide and wait while they kill more people?"

"Maybe not leave your magical nuke of a girlfriend in the dust behind you?"

"If they see her coming, she might get hurt."

"You're just trying to play hero again. You alwa-you're not even listening to me, are you? Isen..."

Emerging from the alley he had used as a short cut, he leapt, using his speed to propel him towards the nearest demon, Onigoshi swinging downward towards them. Before Isen knew it, however, his blade hit concrete and the demon had moved aside in an instant. Was it teleportation? Or was he simply just that fast? A knee to his back quickly answered that question, sending him in the opposite direction. He turned, sword raised in front of himself, defensively rather than offensively, since he needed to better assess this threat. Perhaps running in blind wasn't the smartest play, but he had all of their attention now; he just needed to keep it long enough for Adelaide and Danica to get into position.

"We knew you'd show up eventually."

"The Reaper-turned-soft. And I do mean soft." Mocked the one who had landed the blow on Isen. He felt the three of them slowly surrounding him from all sides.

"Haven't you heard? He's a family man now. Got a whole bunch of friends he's trying to keep safe, a pretty little mageling. It's sweet, really."

"If you think watching a living legend lose his edge 'sweet', then sure, it's a whole cake."

They were mocking him. They were trying to get a rise out of him.

"Speaking of blondie, where is she? Did you decide to run this one solo?"

"He's probably trying to protect her. How disgusting. What about them, Isen Hiyori? Why didn't you protect them?" The demon asked, nodding towards several bodies, lifeless and losing blood, against the curb side.

"The Lancaster girl doesn't have a chance sticking by this guy's side. He's no Reaper. Not anymore. Just a has-been with a fancy sword."

"You think she'd have better taste, wouldn't you? Maybe she likes the power dynamic, knowing she's in control...all that magic and power at her finger tips. She doesn't need him, so there must be some reason she sticks around."

"Isen..." Ignas warned, feeling Isen's pesky, human emotions start to spike again.

"Stay focused, Dagon. Your crush is showing. We have a job to do here."

"...why are you here?" He asked them, bluntly, trying to remain calm, but he was already gripping his blade tighter.

"Isn't it obvious? Maybe you've lost your edge, but us demons, we tend to enjoy killing. You did once too, didn't you? Butchering whole towns, killing anyone and everything that even so much as breathed in your direction. A full city full of delicious humans and so much blood to be spilt...all trapped and scared and helpless. This place is practically a buffet."

"Did the DSTF send you?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Does it really matter? I think you should be more concerned with the three of us than that silly little organization, don't you agree?"

"And more importantly, you never answered our question. Where's the girl?"

Isen shook his head. "She's not even in the city. You won't be getting anywhere near her." Isen's voice flared, it was noted instantly by the trio circling him like vultures over a fresh carcass.

"Ooh, struck a nerve, did I? Maybe if we kick his ass, she'll show up to rescue him again. That's their thing, it seems."

"It wasn't part of our briefing but...we never were ones for playing by the rules, were we?"

"Very well, have your fun. I'm interested to see how long he lasts."

The three demons began to get closer to him, closing inwards.

"Isen, we need a plan. You...do have a plan, right? ...Isen?"

Isen's plan was to stall until Adelaide was in place. She had yet to cast a spell, which meant she hadn't quite caught up yet, so what little plan he did had was already crumbling apart. There were three of them and only one of him, but he had a better idea of how the city was laid out by now after all the time he had spent there. He also knew that as long as they were focused on him, nobody else would be getting hurt. He was fast, but not as fast as the man who appeared to be their leader. He wouldn't be able to run, he needed to find a way to fight them without turning over control to Ignas again. And he was out of time to think it over. All three demons engaged at the same time with him in the middle, caught within their coordination.
 
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"This isn't another batch of DSTF agents we're talking about here, Danica! I can't just... Magically kill demons on sight just because I have actual magic! Especially with you sucking up some of the magic in there..."

"There's an endless amount of magic in this ring, silly girl, me taking a little bit," A lot, really, and Adelaide had a feeling that was the case when the demon paused, "Isn't going to turn you into some normal, pathetic mortal. You have my powers to aid yours, so just work with me and we'll slaughter them all. Besides, I don't want Ignas to have the satisfaction of slaughtering them himself. Your boyfriend is soft, I can hear them mocking him, but he'll clearly die for you, and I don't think you want to watch him die again." Adelaide jolted to a halt in her run at Danica's words and then cursed. Ignas could see Isen's memories or what he was thinking, it made sense that Danica could do the same to her and could access the memories of watching Isen die again and again. That was not something she wanted to think about when she was so far behind her partner that was facing multiple demons by himself.

"Shut the hell up and let's just catch up. Honestly, can't you get me there any faster with your fancy demon power?"

"My dear girl, I thought you'd never ask." Holy hell did her legs burn from the sudden change in speed. Adelaide went from running and gasping for breath to absolutely flying through the streets, a feat that would have been impressive had it not caught her so off guard she'd gone clear past where Isen was before managing to turn around and go back in the right direction.

"Enough of your silly crush, Dagon, I've claimed the little mutt for myself!" Now Danica was calling her a mutt because of her mixed heritage? Adelaide rolled her eyes and looked down at the demons from where they'd somehow gotten on a roof, her hand extended and a growing ball of fiery orange flames hovering over her palm. "You can't have her, any of you! Unfortunately, you can't have the bastard down there either..." The demon trailed off, seeming to concentrate before she sighed in irritation.

"Bloody hell. Sorry, little witch, I need to borrow your hands for a minute."

"Really, Danica? A little dramatic, huh?" Adelaide watched with a mixture of awe and amusement as the single ball of fire began to warp and split off into three separate entities that then morphed their shape into little skulls that seemed to be laughing. "You know what? If it works, I don't even care. Do your thing and give me my hands back, this feels gross."

"Stop your complaining and just let me do this." Danica's voice was slightly strained as she adjusted to controlling parts of Adelaide's body, wiggling her fingers before sending off her little skulls in the direction of the demons below. They seemed to veer off for a moment before they each dove toward one of the demons, specifically ignoring Isen as Adelaide was forced down the side of the building and a ways back from where the fight had begun.

"I need you to bleed on the ground."

"Excuse me?"

"Bleed on the ground and we can create a wall they cannot pass on this side."

"Oh for.. Fine, fuck's sake." Cutting her hand and dripping blood on the filthy ground it was.
 
Isen braced himself, moving as quickly as he could, attempting to deflect and parry. The demons were unarmed, but they certainly didn't need any weapons to pack a punch with their strength and their magic. He was able to keep up with two of them quite well but the third demon, the one with the enhanced speed, was too much even for him. While one of the demons tried to use fire, coating their first within the flame, the quicker of the three simply went about things the old-fashioned away, picking his spots and delivering body shots, crunching bones and bruising skin. Ignas cursed in Isen's head, using his magic to repair the damage. A wide swing of Onigoshi knicked the slower two, forcing them to back up for a moment to assess the damage. With the small break in the assault, Isen was able to focus on the leader in particular, this time catching his next swing, Onigoshi's blade horizontal so that his forearm gashed across the razor's edge of the sword, drawing his demonic blood.

The demons were regrouping, preparing for a second attack, when something whizzed past them at a speed comparable to that of the speedster Isen was fighting.

"Was that just...?" Ignas asked, practically breaking into laughter, despite the serious mood of the altercation.

Dagon smirked from ear-to-ear upon seeing Adelaide finally arrive, peering up at her from below. "There you are, blondie."

The third demon reached out with their arm, pulling Dagon back. "Wait a minute, you heard that, right? That wretched voice...you have to be joking..."

"...Danica? I don't see her anywhere."

As Danica's flame manipulated itself into skull shapes, it was beginning to dawn on the demons what was going on. "R-Rykard. What do we do?" Asked the third demon, suddenly seeming less confident in their number's game.

"What do you mean what do we do? You know our mission, Armen. It matters not if the mage is bound to her, we proceed as normal."

"First, the Reaper, now the fucking demon-maker? I wasn't looking to share..."

"Dagon. Focus."

The demons dispersed as the skulls moved towards them. Isen braced himself, expecting to be caught in the crossfire, but they weaved around him, leaving him unscathed while focusing on Dagon, Rykard and Armen, granting Isen a reprieve from their attention. He looked up at Adelaide, the same way that Dagon had done, but it was more in concern than admiration of her finally arriving. He could tell that she was letting Danica call the shots right now and, while he was thankful for the back up, he was concerned with what exactly that might mean.

"Show off." Ignas grumbled. "I hate her, Isen. Should've let me finish the job..."

With Adelaide closer to him, his instinct was to move in her direction, to be near her once the demons shook Danica's spell and came back for more, but he was perplexed as he watched her cut her hand, her blood dripping out of the wound and onto the ground. Isen feared this would only incite the demons more, but clearly, Danica had some sort of plan.

"You can't get angry with me for hurting myself if you're going to do something like this." He warned her as he reached her side in spite of the mess she was making. "So...what exactly are we doing here?"
 
"I'm doing it for a spell, Isen, that's different." Adelaide huffed unhappily through clenched teeth and walked back and forth to create an unsteady line of blood on the ground. "Danica you'd better fix--Oh, that was fast. Good, that shit hurt. I can't imagine having to do that all the time, although it could come in handy..." She watched in fascination as the long cut across her palm knit itself back together before disappearing entirely, then her attention immediately went to looking for the demons that had seemingly fled.

"Oh, hell, I was hoping they'd burn a bit more." Danica seemed put out as one of the skulls promptly disappeared from the air, and Adelaide could almost see the demon pouting inside her head. God, that was going to get annoying. "Don't worry, you have your freedom back for now, little witch." Clearly the demon couldn't make up her mind on what she wanted to call Adelaide, but anything was seeming better than mutt.

"Okay, so they can't pass this way, but that doesn't help with much of anything else. I don't think there's much point in doing something like throwing cars at them, and the fire didn't do much..." They were going to be back any minute unless they had truly fled, and she doubted very much that they had actually done that.

"You can still kill some of them, Ignas dear. I haven't killed them, just singed them a bit."
 
Isen eyed the line, curiously. "So, this is some sort of...barrier?" He asked, confused. It wasn't like any barrier he had ever seen before, but if they were certain it would work, it cordoned off the majority of the city, keeping it safe behind them while also meaning the demons only had a small area to play around in, an area they could move in and out of freely while keeping tabs on them.

"I don't need your permission for that, imp." Ignas fired back.

Behind them, Isen began to hear commotion, once again, but this time, it was from people in the city coming closer. They were trying to help the wounded, hoping to pull them to safety, while eyeing the two of them, carefully. Isen knew that they were beginning to get a bit of a reputation after the drone incident, but this was the first time he had seen it directly. Civilians were helping the wounded while looking at them not like they were monsters, but like they were saviors, a divider between a clear threat and the safety of an entire city. Amongst them weren't just humans, but Dissonants too, coming out of hiding, trying to play their part in the face of a bigger threat, to try and over come the fear the DSTF's occupation had caused them to feel.

"No pressure?" Isen asked, laughing under his breath.

Rykard was the first to arrive back at the blood-line. He stopped up just in front of it, breaking out of his speedy sprint. It appeared to be working, holding them back, just as Danica said it would. He didn't try to cross the line, perhaps he simply couldn't. Armen and Dagon joined him, standing on the opposite side, like both sides were looking through a window at each other.

"That's a neat trick."

Dagon's eyes were fixed on Adelaide, getting a proper look at her now, despite not being able to actually reach out to touch her. Armen's elbow bumped into Dagon's side, trying to pull him out of his stare.

"You're just going to stand there on the other side? Like cowards?" Rykard taunted.

"We're not the ones who attacked innocent people."

"Oh, spare me the self-righteous bullshit. We both know what you have done. Just because you fell in love and decided to have a change of heart doesn't erase your blood-soaked past, Reaper."

Isen paused, for a couple of seconds, glancing at Adelaide. She had been the driving force behind his change, but he had never used the word love to describe how he felt, despite others having implied it in the past. His eyes narrowed back on the trio opposite the division.

"I've left that behind me. I've changed."

"And how does that demon in your sword feel about that? I bet he's just ecstatic, bound to a human who's in turn bound to another."

"I can change that for you, if you'd like." Dagon lifted his hand, trying to move it towards Adelaide, but still unable to cross the threshold. Isen flinched, gripping his sword tighter, like he was ready to slash the demon for even trying to get close to her. "Relax. I won't lay a finger on her. Yet."

"Try it." Isen warned. "See how many you have left when we're finished."

"She doesn't need you to fight her battles for her. Maybe you're the one who needs her?"

"You asked me why we're here. My answer wasn't entirely untrue, but I digress. We made a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yes. A deal. With somebody from the DSTF."

"So, you are working with them? With humans? Doesn't that go against your whole speech earlier?"

"Oh, we weren't planning on upholding our end of the bargain. He was an invitation to an all-you-can-eat special."

"And in return?"

"You and the mage have caused a lot of trouble for them. You've shaken the city's faith in their once great protectors." Isen thought it ridiculous that they were being blamed for that. The drone attack was ordered by Orion, they only tried to mitigate the collateral. "So, we cause a little panic. We kill some people...a lot of people, give them a reason to be afraid of something else."

Isen felt disgusted. This was all a set-up, like they feared. The DSTF unleashed demons into Cresthaven to scare the public into trusting them again, into thinking that they needed their protection after having their public reputation tanked by their own mistakes.

"But you failed. You're not getting back into the rest of the city. You won't be able to kill anybody else."

"This spell won't hold forever. When it falls, do you think she'll be fast enough to do it again? Faster than me? If I wasn't savoring this...Isen, I could have killed this entire city in seconds, flat." Though it sounded improbable, with how fast this demon was capable of moving, Isen didn't want to take that threat lightly.

"And believe me, after I get back inside...I will."
 
"Call me what you will." Adelaide shrugged, although she was uneasy with how the one demon in particular seemed to be overly interested in her. Had Danica said something about a crush? Danica laughed inside her head at the question, which all but answered it without actually answering it.

"A demon jealous because they're not capable of feeling love?" She knew that was false because of Ignas, but highly doubted that the demons in front of them were capable of feeling love for anything other than carnage. If the barrier Danica had made her create hadn't held... Well, she might not be there to even question their motives right now.

"Poor thing, you're just dying to touch her, aren't you?" Danica cooed to the other demon teasingly, making Adelaide roll her eyes as she held her ground knowing the demon couldn't strike her past the barrier. How long it would hold, however, was another story entirely, and she didn't want to be constantly cutting herself just to keep a barrier up around them. Even with Danica healing her immediately, the blood loss would get to her before very long.

"It doesn't matter who needs who." She shrugged. "At least we're not relying on dirty deals just to have some fun. Although I have to admit the thought of killing you sounds fun..." Especially the one who kept staring at her like she was a piece of meat. She would have no problem letting Ignas kill that one, or even doing it herself if she'd been strong enough. Could she even kill a demon herself, now that she had Danica's power tangled with her own?

"Working with the DSTF. I hope you kill all of them." Did they know about Maximilian and his demon, or were they simply working with the lower ranked in order to cause some trouble in the city? Who was he?

"You have no idea what I'm capable of." That was true. Probably. Right?
 
Isen rose a brow as she made her threat. Maybe something about the way Dagon was speaking to her was making her angry, or Danica was influencing her. Isen didn't like the possibility that the latter may be true.

"That's strong talk for somebody hiding behind a barrier line."

"And somebody who, despite all of her natural given power, needs a tag along to teach her how to use rudimentary magic."

"Come out to play, blondie. We won't bite. Well, they won't, at least."

Isen had heard more than enough out of these three. They were very clearly powerful demons, but for some reason, he didn't get the vibe that they were particularly used to fighting. Their tactics, in their brief skirmish, were very basic and in a fair, one-on-one fight, Isen probably would have wiped the floor with them. The numbers advantage, and Rykard's speed evened the playing field, but there was no technique behind their movements other than to overwhelm. If they could separate them...

"How about you play with me, instead?" Isen asked, stepping forward until he was directly against the line that had been drawn. Even another inch forward and he'd breach to the other side where they could touch him.

"You're old news, Reaper. We want the girl."

"Unfortunately, you're getting me. You could always just go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, though. It might save you some headache. Losing three-on-one...that would be embarrassing." Isen taunted, very out of the usual for him. He would sometimes take jabs at his enemies, verbally, but never so pronounced. He hoped Adelaide, or Danica, would pick up on how he was purposely trying to provoke them. They seemed irritable, especially the one who was ogling Adelaide.

"Embarrassing? You're kidding, right? You think we'd lose to you? We had you on the ropes before the mage came along."

"I made you bleed. Are you so sure?" Isen asked, recalling the gash he had made with Onigoshi, it's blade still slick with demon blood as it rested, pointed downwards, at his side. "I don't want to fight either of you, anyways. I want your leader."

Rykard smirked. "With all the talk of three-on-one, I thought you wanted a fair, fighting chance, Hiyori. Challenging me head on isn't going to help you one bit."

"Then maybe you should prove that." Isen stepped forward, across the line. Neither demon moved, at first, they watched him pass through the perceived barrier until he stood, face-to-face, with Rykard. "Well?"

Rykard's sick smirk contorted, growing more sinister. It seemed like he was enjoying this little game they were playing. Isen was watching closely, waiting for the slightest hint that he was going to move; a twitch of his muscle, the shift of a foot, the sound of the demon's heart beat picking up pace even by a beat. When he moved, Isen did as well, reacting pre-emptively. Before anything else could be said, the two of them were off, away from the border line, leaving Adelaide and Danica with the other two while he occupied the strongest. He pushed himself as hard and as fast as he could, thankful that his body couldn't feel the strain on his muscles, but Rykard was just so much quicker that in a straight up battle of speed, he stood no chance, which is why he tried to use his experience to his advantage instead.

Meanwhile, the other two demons looked straight towards Adelaide, not even bothering to turn around to watch the fight behind them, or to join in. They had total confidence that Rykard didn't need them.
 
"Somehow I don't believe you don't bite."

"Oh, they definitely bite. In fact, I seem to remember one of them having a bit of a fetish for me getting my fangs on them..."

"Okay, so did not need to know that Danica. Gross. I don't want to hear about your sex life."

"Who said anything about sex?"

Adelaide shuddered at the thought of what Danica could be implying, but quickly found herself distracted by Isen interacting with the demons. They were very set on trying to get their claws on her, and Isen was clearly having none of it.

"You don't have a chance in hell of beating him." He was baiting them, very clever, and Adelaide couldn't help but to join in the taunting a bit as Isen stepped over the line and put himself face to face with the leader of the demons. They sped off before she could do or say much more, Danica laughing in amusement inside her head.

"This should be interesting. Whatever will you two do if he slaughters Rykard? Oh, I hope he does. That bastard always annoyed me, being so cocky. I should have killed him myself when I had the chance. No matter, these two are here, and I've got an appetite for blood... Little witch, lend me your body again." Did she really want to let Danica have control over her entire body? It had been disorienting enough to let the demon take control of her hands and cast the laughable flaming skulls that chased the demons, but her whole body?

"Not a chance in hell. We work together, I'm not your puppet." There was the concern that the barrier could fail at any time and she would be left vulnerable, but giving Danica full control could end in a spree like when Isen had been overtaken by Ignas.

"Sweet girl, I don't think you're going to have a choice soon."
 
Isen and Rykard clashed in the section of the city that hadn't been cordoned off by Adelaide and Danica's spell. The bright side of this was that there weren't any humans left to be caught in the battle, so he didn't need to worry about collateral or bringing danger to anybody else. It, unfortunately, also meant that the clash of two demons had plenty of buildings, homes and vehicles around them that would be caught in the crossfire instead.

Using his better knowledge of the area, Isen was able to utilize some of the alleyways to his advantage, ducking in and out of Rykard's line of sight. Though the demon was moving at such high speeds, he didn't seem to have precise control over the way he could turn or react, something Isen picked up on pretty quickly. If he caught Rykard sprinting in a straight line, it was difficult for him to turn on a dime from his momentum, something Isen began to abuse. By keeping him turning and moving, he was able to actually off set the difference. Onigoshi landed several cuts across Rykard's body, and though they just create wounds that would quickly seal back up, it was proof that he wasn't unbeatable.

"You're annoying." Rykard grumbled. "But it's been ages since I've met a match."

"And you're sloppy." Isen responded, not wanting to give him credit, but also hoping to keep inciting him to make him even more reckless.

For Adelaide, she was facing down the remaining two demons, but with the power and knowledge of Danica, it was more than even. They were strong, but without their leader, they had no guidance to channel their magic towards.

"Go ahead, give her control. I can handle the both of you." Dagon smirked, sickly.

"I'm not sure you want to be pissing her off, Dagon. You know what she's capable of."

"Was capable of. And only barely. She never really could get that power of hers to work right."

A loud crash interrupted the conversation as Isen was sent hurtling through the air, connecting with the hood of a car a couple hundred feet away from the barrier. Rykard appeared above him, in an instant, looking down at him. "Sloppy, huh?" He asked, smirking.

"Lucky, too." Isen replied, unphased, as Ignas healed the fractures created by the impact. Rykard's smirk only seemed to grow as the two of them engaged again, Isen pushing off the metal, creating separation between them both via the fall from hood to concrete before bolting off again. As he did, he took a glance over towards Adelaide, who still hadn't done anything to attack the other two demons.

"What is she doing?" He asked Ignas, who was well aware of what Danica was trying to do.

"You should finish up with this asshole...we may have bigger problems..."
 
"You boys have no idea what I've been up to lately. How do you know I don't have an army of demons just waiting for my command?" Danica sounded so confident that even Adelaide wondered if she secretly had an army stashed away just waiting for her to be free of the mage.

"Enough banter. Do your tricks, demon. Send your flaming skulls or whatever else you can do."

"Sweet girl, there are so many things I can do, you only need let me. Your boyfriend is busy with Rykard, but we need to take care of these two while he's doing that. Your little barrier is already weakening." Was it? Fuck.

"You give me back control the moment I say so."

"You'll have your control back as soon as these pests are dealt with, fear not."

That didn't sound particularly reassuring when Danica worded it that way, but the damage had already been done and Adelaide could feel her body changing. It was just a small tingle at first, nothing painful, nothing extreme, but the feeling spread like wildfire through her limbs and began to burn so intensely she wondered if she was actually on fire. Then her feet were moving, one and then the other, stepping over the fading barrier toward the two demons still watching them intently.

"Danica, don't do anything stupid, I don't want to come out of this missing a limb."

Why the hell did her voice sound so strange? Had her nails always been that sharp? It was like looking at herself from the outside as she flexed her fingers, although they were looking suspiciously like claws as the seconds passed, and her voice sounded like it had been overlapped with someone else's and spit back out through a machine.

"Holy shit!" Fire had erupted beneath her feet and fanned out, but neither her shoes or clothes were burning in the nearly white flames. No, the flames seemed to be lunging at the other two demons as she walked, gaining ground before her entire body jolted forward and she could feel flesh tearing and dripping blood beneath her nails.

Apparently being possessed by a demon made her very fast.
 
"Uh, hey, Dagon...maybe we should go get the boss?"

Dagon was watching Adelaide as she changed, becoming one with the demon inside of the ring until it had taken control of her body. "Finally." He remarked, watching Adelaide, transformed, cross the border line. Before he could say anything else, however, he had been torn through by the claws she had manifested, drenching them both in blood. The other demon looked on in wide-eyed horror as Dagon's body fell to the ground, injured, no longer talking, or looking at Adelaide when any form of fondness.

"Jesus Christ..." Armen stammered, slowly beginning to back away. He spotted another nearby car and grasped it with his magic, lifting it aloft. "Stay away from me, you freaky bitch." He yelled before hurtling it into their direction.

"Isen...it's too late." Ignas conceded. This took Isen's attention away from Rykard, his head turning to see what had become of Adelaide once Danica had taken hold. He suddenly felt flashes of what he had done under similar duress, memories both fresh and forgotten. The distraction allowed Rykard to get in a cheap shot, using the momentum of his run to pierce his full arm straight through Isen's stomach, shattering bones upon impact. Isen felt himself pinned to the concrete, which had buckled under the pressure. Rykard almost seemed disappointed that he had landed the blow.

"It was fun while it lasted." He remarked, sighing. Isen, injured as badly as he was, couldn't feel the pain, so while it forced him to his back, it didn't yet stop him. Adrenaline kept his body running while Ignas tried to heal him and he caught Rykard off guard, lifting Onigoshi upwards, blade angled. With all the strength he had, he sliced it straight through the arm that was still embedded in his stomach, severing it at the elbow, sending the demon recoiling backwards. Isen groaned as he sat up, clearly in no mood to play around anymore, concern for Adelaide fueling him now. He ripped the disconnected limb out of the wound it had made, tossing it aside as purple magic swirled through the opening, sealing it. Rykard, holding his arm where the cut had been made, tried to force his healing to fix the wound as fast as possible. Isen cast a look down at him, then heard the screaming of the demons behind him.

Onigoshi pulsed with magic where the blood rolled off of the blade and to the concrete. Isen, knowing that he might need to stop Adelaide by force to save her from Danica, decided then and there to do so without using his sword. He pushed it's point through one of Rykard's legs and into the ground beneath it, pinning him in place with it's magic so that he couldn't run off again, then turned to walk back towards Adelaide.
 
"Aw, is the poor little demon scared?" Danica taunted Armen as she glanced down to where Dagon had fallen, looking at him as though he were little more than an ant she was ready to squish, a thought that was solidified as she brought Adelaide's boot covered foot down onto the fallen demon's chest until his ribs gave way with a sickening crunch.

"Did you really think that you could beat me because I am bound to a human body? You really are pathetic, this mortal's body is perfect for me, there is so much power for me to take, to use, so much magic that I could kill you all and still be thirsty for more blood." She raised a bloody claw to Adelaide's mouth and licked it, an action that had the mage trapped beneath the surface wanting to vomit. She could taste it, and it was repulsive, but that didn't stop Danica from advancing quickly on the remaining demon when he threw the car.

Metal dug into her skin as it swiped her side, tearing through her clothing and dragging across her arm as Danica ignored the fragility of a mortal body in favor of sinking her claws into Armen's shoulder.

"Your boyfriend is coming back." Danica sounded annoyed by that as she stepped back from a swipe coming from Armen, huffing and glancing in the direction Isen was coming from with clear intent to disrupt her fun. "Ignas, don't let your idiot host leave Rykard laying there, kill him already!"
 
"Do you think he's going to listen to me?" Ignas scoffed. "Isen...the amount of magic I feel coming from them is...alarming. Remember how I called her a magical nuke? I don't think a blood line spell is going to contain what she's capable of doing in this form. Nuke might have been an understatement."

By the time Isen had gotten back to them, Danica had already killed Dagon, and was in the process of finishing Armen off. Isen could practically feel the demonic energy radiating from her, reinforced by the dark arcane of the ring. "That's enough. Give her back control." Isen told Danica, not expecting her to listen. He looked past them, past the barrier. Where once there had been people watching with adoration as they faced down the threat, there were now few remaining, most of which were in total fear of the brutal, demonic form they saw before them. Had they watched the transformation? Had it just made them exactly what everybody feared?

"You know as well as I do that she isn't going to do that."

"Hey, Adelaide? You're still in there...right?" He asked, trying something else, appealing to her.

"You do realize what you need to do if you want to stop her, right?"

Absolutely not. He wasn't about to make the same mistake Adelaide had made.

Behind him, Rykard was trying to free himself, struggling to get the cursed blade out of his leg. His two lackies had already been separated from this world, and though he seemed to have a weird respect for Isen, he was trying to make himself scarce, quickly, perhaps even too being afraid of what Danica had turned Adelaide into.

"I won't repeat myself. Give her back control of her body." Isen repeated, a second time, his voice sharper, angrier.

He was fully prepared to fight for her freedom, even if it meant ending up ending up like the two who had been slaughtered before him, but even in the face of that danger, he didn't seem to regret leaving Onigoshi behind just in case it could have caused any permanent damage to Adelaide or her body in the process. "You don't want to do this without me, Isen. I'm serious..."
 
"I'm a little busy here, reaper." Danica ignored Isen with a scoff and raked her claws across Armen's throat, giggling at the blood that spurted out of the wound and splashed the front of Adelaide's clothing and face. "Now we just need to kill the last obnoxious bastard, and boy am I going to take my time on you, Rykard!" Her voice rose with the last few words directed at the other demon that was trying to flee, her eyes gleaming as she grinned and continued to puppeteer Adelaide's body happily.

"Your girlfriend's still here, don't worry, I didn't absorb her or anything silly like that, I'm just the one in charge right now. You both need me to deal with this nonsense, and we're wasting time while you let Rykard try to get free from where you staked him to the ground. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, quite literally! You look so delicious laying there bleeding, Rykard! Now, either help me take him out, Ignas, or get the hell out of my way." She took a step toward Isen and then another, advancing on him until she was mere inches from him before she reached out and shoved him.

"Move."
 
The force of the shove was clearly inhuman. It pushed Isen back in a way Adelaide never could have on her own. She told him to move, but he steadied himself, remaining in between her and the pinned demon she wished to reach. "No." Came his response, short and simple. He stared into eyes that were being borrowed, looking straight into both Danica and Adelaide. "Let. Her. Go." Each word was slow, punctuated with the cadence of a threat. His patience had grown very thin for Danica, someone he never liked or trusted to begin with, and this was only making it worse.

Isen's eyes dropped down to her hand, to that damned ring. If only he could get it off of her somehow...

"Isen, maybe she does have a point. We shouldn't let Rykard live."

"I don't care whether she's right or wrong. That body isn't hers and I won't let her turn Adelaide into some kind of monster. People are watching, they're scared of her."

"Are you?"

"...I'm scared of what Danica might do to her."

The Reaper. Afraid. If only Rykard could have heard that. He'd have had a field day.

"This is a terrible idea..." Ignas trailed off, letting out a sigh in Isen's head. "But fuck it."

Isen rose a brow, wondering what Ignas meant by that. It felt odd for the two of them to finally be on the same page, but it was such a relief to Isen when he heard Ignas go against what Danica had requested and, instead, back him up.

"Alright, evil imp. You heard what he said, let the witch go. You've had your fun."
 
"At least your demon has common sense! You can have your witch back after we've dealt with the last demon." She narrowed her eyes at him and prepared to push again, flexing her clawed hands and debating on what part of him would have the most impact if she put her power behind another push.

"Stop being such a child, she'll be fine. She's busy yelling at me right now, but she can wait her turn to speak." She cocked Adelaide's head as Ignas' tone changed, her expression changing from mild agitation to fury in an instant. "Stop calling me an imp! You of all people, you traitorous bastard, have no room to be calling anyone else names! You betrayed us all for some stupid witch because you couldn't control yourself, and for what? To get trapped in a sword and bound to a pitiful human like this? I won't be talked down to by someone like you, you heathen!" She snarled at the unseen demon and took a swipe at Isen, grasping for any bit of clothing she could reach to dig her wicked claws in and create a wound to deter the two of them from getting in her way.
 
Claws met flesh, tearing through cloth and drawing blood from Isen's chest. He could have moved, but he didn't. He stood, resolute, holding his ground. Though he was scared, he wasn't showing it outwards, because his fear wasn't of Danica but rather for what would happen to Adelaide if they let this continue any longer. Magic swirled, curing the wounds before any blood could even drip, Ignas was clearly invested in this confrontation and ready on a moment's notice to act, almost like he was trying to prove himself to the demoness opposite him.

"I'd rather be bound by a sword to a human than spend a single second bound to you." He told her. Isen practically laughed when he heard the pettiness. The tension would have been amusing had their not been so much at stake, he rarely got to see anyone get to Ignas the way Danica did. "You have the power to create demons and yet you're still alone because you can't do that without screwing it up either. No wonder you've sank your fangs in so deep, this is the closest anyone's ever been to wanting to touch you in ages."

"Can we focus on freeing Adelaide now?" Isen asked. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.
 
"Danica, knock it off or I swear to god I'll find a way to make sure you can't do anything ever again, and then you'll never get what you want!" Adelaide's threats were lost on the demoness who was intently stalking Isen, cursing and snapping at the demon housed in Onigoshi as if she were a feral animal. Clearly Ignas had struck a nerve with her and it showed, sending her lunging at him again despite the small size of Adelaide's body as it slammed against Isen.

"Says the demon who lost the witch he claimed to love. Love is a falsehood, love is for humans, not demons. We exist to kill, to feed, to rule over this pitiful race of humans and other creatures that think they're better than everyone else! Now move out of my way!"
 
Adelaide's body smashed into Isen's with force, staggering him back once more. He, again, steadied himself, returning to where he had planted firm, once more refusing to move an inch and let her get what she wanted.

"You heard what he said. We're not moving until you let the witch go." Ignas also doubled down. Isen wasn't sure if he was only doing this because he was stubborn and didn't want to let Danica win, or if he actually cared about what happened with Adelaide. At this point, Ignas was a confusing mess in general, Isen couldn't really tell what he was thinking or feeling anymore. At one point, it used to be so easy. He was a selfish, evil demon who just wanted to kill and cause chaos, but the more layers they revealed underneath, the more difficult he became to read.

"I know what you're thinking, Isen. I can read your disgusting thoughts. I do not care about what happens with Adelaide." He responded. Isen wasn't convinced, but wasn't about to argue when they were actually working together for once without Ignas forcing control away from him. "You're right, Danica. Love is a waste, and it is for humans, but I'm connected to one right now and I feel what he feels. Every ugly, disgusting emotion. Fear, bravery, hatred...and love. He isn't going to stand down, he would trade his life for hers without a moment of hesitance. So, maybe love is a waste to us, but not to him. Not to them. I might have fucked it up once before but I won't let you take from them what was taken from me."

Maybe he really did care. Or Isen's hero complex was finally rubbing off on him.

"Ignas...?"

"Either fight us proper, instead of treating us like a cat toy that you're scratching at, or let Adelaide go."
 
"Damn you, Ignas!" Danica was clearly seething, looking between the obstruction Isen and Ignas were creating, and where Rykard was nearly freed and ready to flee before she could finish him off. "He's going to get away! Do you really want me to kill your host so you have to deal with bringing him back?!"

"Like hell you're doing that, Danica, knock it off and fucking give me back my body!"

"You can have it back after I've killed this obnoxious bastard and then the one lying over there bleeding!" Danica seemed intent on mauling Ignas, despite the fact that it was Isen's body she was mutilating and not Ignas himself. None of that seemed to matter to the demon as she latched her claws onto any part she could grab, or when she tried to singe him with deformed, less than perfectly made fireballs.
 
"Kill him? You know you can't. As long as I am bound to him, you can cut and carve and burn away whatever you'd like and it would make no difference." Ignas told her, defiantly. Isen could practically feel the dark magic in his body surging. This had really gotten the demon going, clearly.

Her sharp nails broke skin again. Isen, not feeling the sting, stood still. Fire extended from her palms, singing away the cloth of his shirt, singing burns into his skin. With a flash of purple light, it was though nothing had changed at all. All the while, Isen didn't move a muscle to fight back.

"Isen, you know this is a fight, right? You're supposed to actually do something."

"I'm not going to hurt Adelaide." He said, as more scratches drew blood from his body, requiring immediate, magical repair.

"Just when I thought we were finally on the same side about something." Ignas grumbled.

"We are. Trust me, we are. But I won't hurt her."

Behind them, Rykard had finally freed himself from where he had been pinned. He had practically sliced his own leg on the blade to try and pull it off, but it had worked. Now, he was forcing his healing to kick in. His arm had already begun to repair, but his healing was nowhere near as potent as Ignas', so it was going to take much longer. He wouldn't be able to repair the damage done to his leg either, so he awkwardly pulled himself up onto one foot to try and hobble towards the gate. He looked back at Danica thrashing Isen's body in confusion. He wasn't dodging, he wasn't fighting back. Rykard had a moment of pause then, using his magic, he hoisted a crumpled mail box out of the ground and lifted into the air. He aimed and fired, throwing it across the border line. Since it wasn't a demon, it passed right through, straight towards Adelaide's body, a parting gift to Isen for sparing him? Or perhaps a sign of respect?

To Rykard's absolute confusion, the only time Isen moved was now, to intercept the projectile. It smashed into his back, shattering upon impact. Isen looked over his shoulder, seeing Rykard as the source of the attack, not realizing what was it's purpose. Rykard couldn't comprehend why he would protect his enemy. Rather than stand there and look stupid, he made his way towards the gate, which deactivated to let his injured body pass. Isen, meanwhile, pulled himself back up to his feet, staggering forward against Adelaide to balance himself.

He said he wouldn't let anything hurt Adelaide, he intended to keep that promise.
 
"You coward!" Danica forced Adelaide back as the mailbox came flying in their direction, startled when Isen stopped it from hitting the mage she was puppeteering but quickly being distracted by Rykard passing through the gate. She cursed profusely and made an attempt to run after him, halting as Adelaide fought back and quite literally dug her feet into the ground to stall the demon.

"You can't go through the gate anyway, Danica, and I want my body back." It probably looked rather comical to anyone who didn't know what was going on, the mage's body jolting and then halting like a malfunctioning robot as sweat beaded on her forehead. She was sick and tired of having other people make decisions for her, of being controlled by people who wanted her only for her powers.

"You let him get away!" Danica was shrieking angrily now, stomping one foot even as Adelaide turned herself to look back at Isen with an annoyed expression.

"Can you just... Knock me out, or something? I'm sure Ignas would love a chance to hit Danica, even if it's through me."

"Don't you dare let that vermin touch us! He's not worthy of our power, mage, and he let Rykard get away!"

This was getting very, very old.

"Danica, if I have to pull some anime protagonist bullshit and threaten to kill myself to get you to stop, I'm going to be pissed. Now you've got about thirty seconds before I either stick this knife in me or tell Ignas to have at it, and I don't think you want to risk me dying and you losing out on all this power." Her voice was faltering, jumping between the halted mix of human and demon and her normal tone as she fiddled with the knife she'd used to cut her hand earlier, poking the tip against her fingertip just enough for the demon bound to her to experience the pain.

"You're lucky I need you, little mutt." Danica's voice was full of venom as she snapped at Adelaide and shook her head, glaring at Isen one last time before the inhuman color of her eyes abruptly morphed back to Adelaide's icy blue and she shut up completely.

"Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick." Adelaide muttered and dropped the knife, swaying unsteadily in place before taking a deep breath and exhaling shakily. "There's not a chance in hell I'm teleporting back after... That. How far are we from the shop? Hell, I'm just gonna.. I'm gonna sit down." Snow be damned, her entire body felt heavy despite the fact that Danica had finally released her, and only a second had passed after her declaration before she plopped down right where she was at, rubbing at her face with a series of muttered profanities and threats about locking Danica away forever.
 
As Adelaide was at odds with Danica, Isen watched on, confused and curious. He had, originally, started to follow after them as Danica bolted towards Rykard, but when Adelaide started to pull her back, he too stopped, looking on. "I...are they okay?"

"Women are confusing, Isen. Just let them work it out, I'm tired of healing you."

When he caught wind of Adelaide threatening to hurt herself, he started moving towards them again, but it seemed to have done the job. She began to revert back to the way she was before, no more sharp nails to scratch at him with, or fireballs to burn his clothes away. She seemed normal, for a moment, dropping the knife, until she started to display signs of being sick. Isen swooped to her side as fast as he could, helping her down onto the ground. "Hey, easy. I got you." He told her, making sure she didn't actually fall and could ease slowly into a more comfortable position.

Ignas sighed, within Isen's head. This was what he had decided to fight for, after all.

"Are you proud of yourself, imp?" He asked, making conversation with Danica while Isen checked on, and comforted, Adelaide. Ignas didn't want to admit it, but seeing the way Isen's affection had grown for Adelaide to the point where he was willing to lay down his life no matter the odds to protect her had reminded him way too much of how he had felt before everything had fallen apart. He didn't want them to experience what he did, but that was entirely un-demon of him to the point where it actually made him uncomfortable to admit that Isen's returning human feelings and sensibilities were starting to bleed over, taking more prominence in their shared conscience. After all, like he had told her before, the only emotion he couldn't seem to suppress was the way he felt about her. He could take away his pain, his sadness, his grief and remorse, but he couldn't touch her.

Ignas made a quiet comment to Danica afterwards, unsure whether she even heard it but not particularly wanting Isen to. He was distracted, anyways. "Is this not worth protecting?"

"No teleporting. Come on, I'll carry you back." He instructed, ready to take her onto his back to carry her the rest of the way to the shop.
 
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