"Uh… What's that guys deal?"
"He's… A special case. By the looks of it, he is somewhat immortal. At least he comes back everytime he is killed through physical injury. He also has his left hand in his pocket the entire time, something's off about that."
"That's all we know? What about the other guy?"
"Some sort of demon. For some reason he and a woman Yuki deals with right now listen to the priest. The demon deflected on of Yuki's attacks and turned my magic off. I'd assume he primarily fights with magic and is less focused on physical combat."
"So, what now?"
"Good question… I have no way to deflect his magic anymore, but he doesn't know that. So he might stop throwing it around aimlessly, but don't let your guard down."
"So we should focus on the demon?"
"It doesn't look like the priest has any offensive capabilities, so yes. But don't let him out of your sight. Go!"
Yamato and Lucy circled the demon, who was about to fly up but Lucy threw a small knife at his wings, which caused him to drop down just enough for Yamato to reach his leg with the tip of his sword, pulling him down further with it which he used to grab onto his arm and force him to land. However the surprise factor was gone now and he created a shockwave which threw Yamato off, throwing fire at him while he was thrown back. However another knife throw into his hand stopped him from spraying more fire than Yamato could deflect with his sword. The fight coming to a momentary stop.
The clock struck 6.
"You are so persistent… Are the two of you in love?"
"What?"
"The angel and you. From her reaction at Petrisha's provocation, I'd assume she is. But you… I can't tell. She kissed you, but you not her. You let her go on her own instead of fighting beside her. I was under the impression humans value such acts."
"Why are you asking?"
"I was merely curious…"
"Are you thinking of provoking me as well? If so, I'm afraid you have to find another way."
"So you do not love her then?"
"I won't answer that."
"…I really can't tell."
"This human… He barely reached adulthood, yet… That reaction time earlier… It should have been impossible for anyone to react to a sudden loss of mana mid air. Yet he, caught himself, and even deflected my attack in a way I do not understand… And I cannot even say what he is thinking right now. And that woman next to him… She was able to sneak up on us without me noticing, how is such a thing even possible? Petrisha should hurry up, before this gets out of hand…"
However, Petrisha had different things to worry about at the moment. As she emerged from the stones that buried her, she waa greeted with an immediate kick to the face, followed by a shockwave that hit her like a cannonball in the stomach, throwing her back into waiting swords, which pierced her through the shoulder, stomach, and one thigh.
"Your kind repulses me. Demons are generally seen as the opposite to angels. And angels such as myself obviously represent perfection, so demons must represent imperfection. Can you follow me?"
Petrisha threw up blood as she was still floating mid air, unable to move or heal while the swords where still inside her.
"You… You are wrong…"
"Oh? About what exactly?"
"I'm not… Some flawed creature, you arrogant scum…"
"Hm? What exactly do you think you are?"
"I am… Alive… Just like you…"
"Huh… Let me think about that."
"What…? What is there… To think about…?"
Yuki thoughtfully tapped her chin, but her coin only had one side.
"Hmmm… No, no I don't think so. You refuse reason. You don't hold the correct beliefs. Therefore, you are worthless. However, no life form can be considered worthless! Thus, you being worthless means you are not counted as life form."
"What kind of… Psychopathic logic is that…? You call yourself an angel?"
"No, you called me an angel. Remember, just earlier you said something like "an angel!" while looking up at me. Rightfully so, of course. Ooh, that reminds me. You see, I take great offense in anyone disrespecting my master. I don't expect something like you to understand… But I do think you should take responsibility regardless of if you understand what you did wrong or not."
"Can you just… Stop talking!"
Since Yuki was now right in front of her, Petrisha cast a small shockwave behind her, making her slide of the swords which pierced her from behind, and able to ram her knee into Yuki's face, who was unable to dodge in time and was hit with full force.
The clock struck 5.
"Hey, I was monologing!"
"Fuck you, and your master!"
Petrisha grabbed the chain of her morning star off the floor and tied it around Yuki's neck while she was holding her nose. The size of the morning star at the end made a knot that was impossible to untie at a strained chain. Now distancing herself while her wounds were healing, she spun Yuki around into more walls, across the ground, back and forth, up and down, not seeming to end anytime soon.
The clock struck 4.
After she had continued for a whole minute, she was exhausted, as throwing Yuki around whilst she was resisting required an immense amount of force. As Yuki noticed that fraction of weakness in Petrisha, she finally managed to get a hold on the chain, so she could cut it in two. The chain slipped of her neck, the morning star hitting the ground and causing it to shake due to how heavy it was. Petrisha was ready to attack again, when she realized that her previous attack… Had accomplished nothing. The only visual difference between Yuki before and after the attack was that her clothes had gotten dirty and her hair was messy now. No scratch, drop of blood, or even a bruise. A sight that would make anyone lose motivation to continue fighting.
"What was it that you were trying to accomplish with that? You said yourself I was an angel… But I'm beginning to wonder if you even know what that means. Maybe I need to show you… To make sure you understand the situation you are in."
"I know exactly what your kind is! A heartless, arrogant, pretentious—"
Interrupted by a force pushing her onto the ground, feeling like gravity had increased a hundred fold, she was brought to her knees in an instant. Yuki walked towards her, as he clothes changed to their base form, shining white robes, which despite being dragged across the dirty ground remained perfectly clean.
"This is, what it means to be divine. To be beautiful. I impersonate greatness. Greatness, subservient to my masters design. What are you supposed to be again~?"
Yuki stopped right in front of the archdemon, looking down at her with that same grin which she hid behind her hand earlier, now on full display as she enjoyed the rush of superiority.
Meanwhile Yamato had more problems showing off superiority, as his demon had decided to attack again. As the demon raised his hand, the entire sky above them filled with a seemingly infinite amount of black swords, which all pointed downward and fell as soon as the demon dropped his hand. Yamato looked at Lucy, who seemed at a loss, at which he ran over to her.
"Quick, I need mana to do something about that. Give me some of yours."
Without hesitation, Lucy tried giving Yamato mana, as his idea was to use an explosive spell to make the swords spray away from them. However what happened next surprised not only him, but even the demon.
As if rejecting Lucy's mana, she was pushed away by a powerful shockwave emitted from Yamato, and all the swords that were about to hit them were too. The demon increased the distance between Yamato and him, visibly perplexed at how they survived this long.
"What are you doing, demon?! Kill them! I said kill them now!"
As the demon got even more frustrated by Mateo's commands, he forgot about Lucy, who was thrown back far enough to be outside of the demons view, and now able to throw two knifes which perfectly cut off his wings at the roots, maning him fall out of the sky. Though they were already in the middle of regenerating, it was not fast enough as Yamato had already rushed close enough to decapitate him.
His head drifted apart from his body as both were about to hit the ground, time seemingly slowing down for him in this moment of defeat.
"What a disgrace I am… How could I let myself be wounded to such an extent? No demon, let alone a human has ever managed to land a critical hit on me… However, I feel no rage… Only admiration for my opponent, who I seem to have much to learn from… It is such a shame, that I have to end this now…"
Before either part could hit the ground, they grew back together again as if nothing happened.
"That wasn't it either, huh…"
As Yamato muttered that, the demon caught himself on his hands and spun around, kicking Yamato in his stomach, or aiming for it. Yamato managed to block again in the last moment with his sword, but being thrown far away. Despite not having a way to win, Yamato did not have a single thought that included his loss. The only thing he could clearly see in his future was victory. Lucy however was not as confident, but still tried her best to keep up. She still had her magic after all, even if it was nothing compared to Yuki's or Yamato's, if he had any right now. However, magic was not the only tool she had at her disposal. Laying traps often included deception, some would even say dishonorable methods. However that was part of the hunt. The demon fell to his knees, as a rainbow colored skin irritation spread from his back across his neck.
The clock struck 3.
"What… What is the meaning of this…?"
"You know… For an angel, Yuki sure knows her way around poisons. This one is especially painful, as I recall. You're a demon, so it might have a different effect on you than on humans, but I doubt you can just shrug it off. This one is modified, after all."
"What are you talking about…"
"Don't worry about it… Why would you want to know about anything, if it ended up bringing you into the option position anyway?"
Yamato looked down at the demon in front of him, feeling strangely comfortable with the situation.
Being sure of oneself's inherent superiority even while facing a seemingly impossible challenge, was the essence of pride.