Demon King Domine stood with his back to the portal, arms crossed, surveying the ruined heart of the city as though he were waiting for someone to step into view. His gaze drifted across shattered streets and collapsed buildings, three eyes scanning with predatory patience.
"There's no way you fire one arrow, beat my Demon Lords, and then just leave," he called out, voice carrying easily through the devastation. "Not you."
Silence answered him.
Domine clicked his tongue, irritation flashing across his face. "Is she waiting for something?" he muttered under his breath. "I'm alone right now. This is her best chance to strike."
He exhaled slowly, then turned his head to the right.
"And you all," he began.
All three of his eyes locked onto two half-standing buildings nearby. "I can smell you already. There's no hiding that rot."
The response was immediate.
From the building on the left, dozens of undead demons poured out at once, limbs jerking unnaturally as they rushed him in a loose, ravenous wave.
"I suppose this will pass the time," Domine muttered, stepping forward.
An undead drakorath lunged first, wrist blades flashing, jaws stretched wide. Domine didn't even slow. A single backhand reduced it to fragments, its body bursting apart as if struck by a siege weapon. An undead imp scrambled toward his legs; Domine brought his foot down and crushed it flat against the stone.
He moved through the horde like an executioner walking a line. Every strike ended a creature outright—skulls shattered, torsos torn apart, bodies reduced to debris with single, casual blows.
*Hmm,* he thought as the last of them fell apart around him. *This is a distraction.*
Domine turned his attention to the second building.
On the rooftop, Vilak stood frozen, staff clutched tightly in his hands. The moment Domine's gaze found him, the necromancer flinched. He slammed his staff down, necromantic energy surging outward as the four skeletons rose and closed in around the Demon King.
The swordsman attacked first, lunging in with a thrust aimed at Domine's stomach.
The blade sank in and Domine's body opened.
The point of impact widened into a living gap, swallowing the sword and the skeleton's arm up to the elbow. The opening snapped shut with a grinding crunch, consuming half the limb in an instant. The skeleton jerked uselessly as Domine's mouth opened.
The broken sword launched out like a projectile.
It tore through the air and punched straight through the armored skeleton's shield and chest, shattering it in a spray of splintered bone and metal.
The archer released its arrow. It struck Domine square in the head—and bounced off harmlessly. His tail lashed out in a blur, snapping both the archer and the maimed swordsman apart in a single sweeping motion.
The mage skeleton hurled a fireball.
The flames engulfed Domine completely.
For a heartbeat, nothing was visible but smoke and fire.
Then an arm shot out of the blaze. Domine's hand closed around the mage's skull and crushed it effortlessly, reducing it to dust as the flames dissipated around him. He stood there untouched, the magic having done nothing to him at all.
On the rooftop, Vilak stared in horror, eyes wide.
*What was that?* he thought. *That opening in his body… and the fireball—it didn't hurt him at all. Not because he was too durable. It just had no effect!*
Meanwhile, Domine's thoughts shifted.
*I could go up there and kill him,* he considered, glancing toward Vilak on the rooftop. *But something feels off. Why would just one person show up here alone?*
His gaze moved past the necromancer—
—and he saw them.
Five figures cutting through the ruined streets toward the portal. Xain at the front. Zee and Mae close behind. Lia just off to the side. Callum breaking formation slightly.
"So that's their plan," Domine mused.
He vanished.
The cobblestones cracked where he had been standing as he blurred forward, closing the distance in an instant.
"Callum!" Xain shouted.
Callum exhaled sharply. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered, already moving to intercept.
Does he think he can take me alone? Domine wondered, tail twitching behind him. He angled it subtly, ready to impale the man the moment he entered range and end it cleanly.
Callum didn't slow.
As he ran, his body began to change.
Bones snapped and shifted beneath his skin. His shoulders broadened violently, spine arching as muscle swelled and tore through fabric. Fur spread rapidly across his body as his jaw elongated into a lupine snout lined with fangs. His hands warped into clawed paws, legs bending into digitigrade form as he surged forward mid-transformation.
In seconds, the man was gone.
A towering werewolf lunged at the Demon King.
Domine's eyes widened—genuinely widened.
He had not expected that.
The hesitation lasted a fraction too long.
Callum slammed into him like a battering ram. The two of them crashed into the street, rolling through shattered stone as claws raked and fangs snapped.
"Come on, let's go!" Zee shouted.
The others broke past them, sprinting toward the portal.
On the ground, Callum drove his claws down toward Domine's torso. The Demon King hissed sharply as the claws scraped across him, the contact burning in a way normal attacks didn't. Callum's jaws snapped toward his throat, teeth grazing skin.
"Ugh—damn dogs and your supernatural slaying claws!" Domine snarled, driving a fist into Callum's ribs. The blow would have caved in a normal chest; Callum only staggered and lunged again, teeth snapping inches from Domine's face.
Domine raked his own claws across Callum's side, then planted a foot against the werewolf's abdomen and kicked hard.
Callum skidded back across the stone.
Domine rose instantly and lunged forward, seizing Callum by the head with one hand, claws digging into fur and flesh as he lifted him slightly off the ground.
"Let's see you try to heal a broken neck!" Domine said, tightening his grip and beginning to twist.
Lia skidded to a stop. "Now! Quickly!"
Domine felt it before he saw it.
A surge of killing intent—sharp and absolute—flared behind him.
It was so sudden, so concentrated, that his body reacted on instinct. He released Callum and leapt sideways without thinking.
He landed several meters away and turned.
The Fiend stood exactly where he had been a heartbeat earlier.
Domine clicked his tongue.
*He couldn't have hurt me,* he assessed calmly. *But that intent…*
*It made me move.*
His three eyes flicked between the group splitting—some staying behind to face him, others racing toward the portal.
"I don't know what you think you're going to do," Domine began, voice low and dangerous, "but whatever it is, it won't—" He didn't get to finish his sentence. As a blinding light suddenly flared, swallowing the entire city.