Armada crashed into the rubble of what had once been a smithy, stone and twisted metal collapsing around him. He hit hard, skidding through broken brick before coming to a stop amid shattered anvils and scorched tools. A sharp hiss escaped him as he pushed himself up, pain flaring through his body. Standing was difficult enough under normal circumstances, but doing it with only one arm—his non-dominant one at that—made it worse. Still, he forced himself upright, boots grinding against debris.
"Dirty bastard," he snapped through clenched teeth.
He reached inside his coat and pulled free his strange pistol, leveling it with one hand. Without hesitation, he fired at one of the half-collapsed walls. The beam punched through stone, blasting the wall apart in a shower of dust and fragments.
Wolf stood on the other side, longsword already in hand, body coiled and ready.
"I hate to admit it," Wolf said, eyes fixed on him, "but you've got good senses."
He leaned forward, muscles tightening as he prepared to dash. "Too bad you don't have an arm to do anything with those senses!"
He lunged.
Demonic energy erupted from Armada in a violent pulse. The air warped around him as his transformation began mid-motion. His platinum hair darkened rapidly, draining into an ashen grey. Two horns tore through his skull with a sickening crack, curving upward as his eyes slit into sharp, predatory lines, their blue glow hardening. His skin flushed into a pinkish hue as muscle packed on in dense layers, his frame expanding as his height surged past seven feet. Claws tore free from his fingertips, and his features sharpened into something regal and monstrous all at once.
"This'll regenerate in seconds!" Armada snapped.
His missing arm reformed in a violent rush of flesh and magic, snapping fully back into place just as Wolf's blade came down. Armada caught the strike with his claws, steel screeching as the two locked together, sparks flying between them.
"You really think you can win!?" Armada barked, shoving forward. "You lost last time, and I wasn't even in my demon form! You only got me because of a sneak attack! You're injured! You're just going to die this time!"
He forced Wolf back and fired his pistol again. The beam tore past Wolf's head as he twisted on his heel, momentum carrying him into a vicious swing aimed straight for Armada's neck.
"Don't act like you beat me fairly last time!" Wolf shouted.
Armada leaned back just enough for the blade to miss. Wolf adjusted instantly, turning the swing into a thrust aimed at Armada's heart.
"You only beat me by threatening civilians, you piece of garbage!"
Armada brought both hands up, crossing his claws around the blade. The impact sent him sliding backward through rubble, stone grinding beneath his feet. Wolf drove the sword in hard enough that it punched clean through Armada's pistol, pinning it and forcing Armada to drop the ruined weapon.
"You think that matters!?" Armada yelled. "I won! That's all that matters!"
He surged forward, slashing with his right claws. Wolf blocked. Armada followed immediately with his left, bringing it down in a brutal arc. Wolf raised his longsword to catch it, sparks bursting as he was driven back. In the same motion, Wolf snatched up a fallen longsword from the smithy floor and swung it across Armada's face.
"You really don't have any pride, do you!?" Wolf snapped.
The blade carved a shallow line across Armada's cheek. Armada snarled, jaw tightening, and seized the borrowed sword with one hand, crushing it in his grip and snapping it in half. Wolf's longsword flashed upward, cutting into Armada's torso. The Demon Lord staggered back, one hand pressing against the bleeding wound as Wolf stood ready, longsword raised, broken blade still in his other hand.
"What do you know about Ercale, huh!?" Armada snarled, glaring at him. "Just because you and that Chosen One fought him, you think you know how he thinks!?"
Wolf let out a short chuckle.
"Let's take things up a notch," he said, ignoring the rant entirely. He leaned forward slightly, posture shifting, pressure rolling off him. "Let me show you what a guy who fought the Strongest Demon Lord and his generals fights like—properly."