Steel flashed and sparks burst as they tore across the rooftops, the fight leaping from building to building in violent, staccato bursts. To anyone watching from the streets below, they would have been little more than smears of motion—black and crimson shapes colliding, separating, then colliding again.
They landed on opposite rooftops at the same time, tiles cracking under their feet. For half a breath they faced one another across the gap, eyes locked.
Then they lunged.
Wolf struck first, his longsword whipping upward in a tight, rising slash aimed straight for Armada's eyes. Armada jerked his head aside at the last instant, the blade grazing horn instead of face, sparks snapping as steel scraped keratin. Wolf didn't slow. The upward cut flowed seamlessly into a brutal downward slash that raked across Armada's chest.
The blow bit deep, carving a clean X across muscle and armor alike. Flesh split—
—and immediately began to knit back together.
Armada snarled and slashed with his right hand, claws snapping toward Wolf's throat. Wolf stepped inside the arc and drove the broken sword forward, impaling Armada's palm. He twisted sharply, then dragged the jagged edge sideways, splitting the hand nearly in half.
They crashed down into the street below in the same instant, stone shattering under their combined weight.
Wolf pressed the advantage the moment their feet touched ground. He drove a straight thrust toward Armada's sternum, forcing the Demon Lord to twist his torso aside, then instantly turned the motion into a sweeping cut aimed for the ribs. Armada caught the flat of the blade on his forearm and shoved it away, only for the broken sword to snap in low, stabbing toward his hip. He recoiled just enough that it punched into muscle instead of joint, then answered with a backhand claw swipe that tore through empty air as Wolf slipped past it.
Wolf pivoted around Armada's flank, slashing upward toward his shoulder. Armada ducked under it and raked his claws across Wolf's thigh, forcing him to hop back mid-motion. Before Wolf could reset, Armada lunged, driving a clawed strike straight for his chest. Wolf crossed both blades, catching the claws between steel, then twisted his wrists and kicked off Armada's knee to break the bind.
A swipe from Armada's left missed Wolf's head by a finger's width. Wolf ducked, came up under it, and raked the broken blade across Armada's ribs. Armada answered with a sudden stomp—his foot snapping upward in a vicious arc.
Claws.
Wolf twisted away too late. The talons on Armada's foot ripped across his chest, drawing a sharp line of blood before he landed and skidded back.
Wolf clicked his tongue and took a step away, eyes flicking down briefly. "Seriously?" he said flatly. "That's disgusting."
Armada flexed his foot as the claws retracted slightly, blood dripping from their tips. "Says the man who's one step away from being a furry," he muttered, already watching the damage on his body seal itself shut.
Wolf raised his longsword again, point leveled at Armada's chest. "How many times do I have to slash you up before you finally die?"
Armada's grin widened. "Who knows?" he said lightly. "Maybe I'll never die."
Then his expression shifted.
He turned his head slightly, gaze pulling toward the eastern side of the city. "Looks like Arkanis is getting serious as well," he muttered.
Wolf followed the glance just enough to smirk. "Oh? Who's that? Someone actually worth fighting?" he taunted.
Armada exhaled through his nose, the sound almost bored. Then he reached out, dug his claws into the side of a nearby building, and tore free a massive chunk of stone and timber with one hand.
He swung it down at Wolf.
The swordsman didn't retreat.
He stepped into it.
As the chunk of stone and timber came down, Wolf snapped his wrists and cut diagonally through the mass in a single, fluid motion. The blade sheared it cleanly in half, the two sections crashing past him as he continued forward without breaking stride.
"You think you can beat me through brute force?" he said, already inside Armada's reach. "Think again!"
His longsword drove straight in, punching through Armada's stomach. The Demon Lord grunted as the blade burst out his back, claws snapping down instinctively as he tried to shove Wolf away and tear the weapon free.
Wolf didn't let him.
He dropped low in the same motion, slipping under a wild swipe, and rammed the broken sword down through Armada's feet. Before Armada could react, Wolf wrenched the jagged blade backward and jammed it into the back of Armada's right knee, twisting hard before leaving it buried there.
Locking the joint.
Stopping the regeneration.
Armada clenched his jaw so hard his teeth creaked. He roared and lashed out blindly, claws tearing gouges through air and stone until Wolf finally hopped back out of range, leaving both swords embedded in the Demon Lord's body.
"Oof," Wolf said dryly, eyeing the damage. "Those look like some really bad wounds."
Armada reached for the sword in his stomach—
Wolf charged again.
Armada yelled and swung his left foot up in a desperate arc, claws flashing toward Wolf's chest. Wolf sidestepped it with ease, letting the talons slice through empty space.
"Of course," he laughed, "that's the only leg you can swing!"
He planted his feet, reeled back, and drove a brutal haymaker into Armada's face. The impact snapped the Demon Lord's head sideways and launched him bodily into a nearby building.
Armada crashed through the outer wall, skidded across splintered flooring, and smashed into the interior of a house—coming to rest in what had once been a living room. Furniture exploded around him. Dust and debris filled the air.
Before he could rise.
Before he could rip either blade free—
Wolf was already there.
Both hands locked around the hilt of his longsword.
"Now," Wolf said quietly, bracing his stance, "let's twist."
He wrenched the blade free in a violent pull.
Armada screamed as the steel tore out of his body, blood splashing across shattered walls. Wolf stepped back, lifted the longsword overhead, and aligned the edge with Armada's neck.
"So long," he said coldly, "you piece of shit."
He brought the sword down—
And a blinding light erupted, swallowing the city whole.