That moment when he lost focus was all the man needed, a punch dropped harold to the ground.
Looking at the stone powering the array began losing its light, he knew the array was soon to be no more.
'When that happens i can kiss everything goodbye'
He thought to himself as the "man" loomed over him.
The floorboards groaned beneath the undead woman's weight as she peeled back the rug, her fingers—now twitching back to unnatural strength—digging into the hidden hatch. Harold's vision swam from the punch, but he caught the exact moment the array's central mana stone flickered like a dying candle. Three seconds left. Two.
One last punch was swung by harold who quickly got up off the ground. After which he took a good look at these monsters as they regained their strength. "That was all i had left."
Yet the creature in front if him noticed as his eyes trailed to his dropped crossbow. Before harold could even do anything, his right forearm was severed by a bladed tendril.
"Aaahhhg!" Harold quickly grabbed his arm, to try stop the bleeding if only a little, falling to his knees.
The creature stepped closer. "Don't worry, you wont die. Not until I've killed everyone in that basement."
The undead woman broke through the floorboards, revealing a bunch of maids and civilians hiding between wine barrels.
A smile creeping up her unnervingly beautiful face.
"Well what do we have here?"
Mary had to hold the child close, covering her ears, but as the young girl read her almost ghostly facial expression, she too began to get even more uneasy.
*harolds estate now*
Shiva, Chase, Damian and Andrew were all Running towards the estate.
Chase's claws dug into the cobblestones as he sprinted, the scent of burning flesh and corrupted magic sharp in his nostrils. His demonic blood sang with urgency—something ancient was unfolding at Harold's estate, something worse than the hive-mind puppets they'd fought in the square.
Shiva matched his pace, her sword slick with black ichor. "That scream—"
Damian didn't let her finish. His flaming axes carved through two lumbering husks blocking their path, their bodies erupting into greasy smoke. "Move!"
The estate's gates hung twisted off their hinges, the wrought iron glowing red-hot where something inhuman had melted through. Andrew's blood-whip lashed out, clearing a path through the thrashing tendrils that sprouted from the ground like cursed seedlings. Chase vaulted over the wreckage—and froze.
Harold knelt in the foyer, clutching the bleeding stump where his right arm had been. The trenchcoated creature loomed over him, its fingers elongating into jagged blades. But worse—far worse—was the hole torn through the floorboards. Below, the undead woman crouched amidst the cowering civilians, her third eye dilating hungrily.
'Came a bit late, but at least hes alive.'
As everyone ran into the entrance, they bore witness to what was happening.
They were lining people up to feed to the creature with no eyes. Even worse, they made harold watch.
Harold was currently kneeling on the ground, his forearm severed by a bladed tendril. The trenchcoated creature was looming over him, its fingers elongating into jagged blades, it was smiling anymore, merely observing the look in harolds eyes as the blind creature began devouring a man whole.
Chase wasted no time rushing in, punching the creature as hellfire coated his fist. As they locked eyes, Chase noticed, this was definitely the guy he walked past. This thing was definitely a kind of demon!
Before he knew it, multiple punches hit him, the first completely halted his momentum. The second, sent Chase barreling backwards.
Chase barely rolled away as the trenchcoated man lunged, claws shearing through the air where his throat had been a split-second earlier. Black ichor dripped from the creature's split knuckles—hellfire still clinging to the wounds, refusing to extinguish. It barely seemed to notice.
Behind them, Shiva's sword met the undead woman's acid-coated fingers with a screech of corroding steel. Damian's axes flared crimson as he cleaved through the brute's regenerating tentacles, only for new ones to burst from the stumps like grotesque flowers. Andrew's blood-whip lashed out, binding the eyeless maw shut—but the flesh dissolved instantly, reforming.
Seeing everyone else come in, harold wad just happy. The people he contracted being demons quickly became an afterthought. Looking to the panicked people who now had nobody holding them hostage, Harold screamed. "Quickly! Outside, through the front!"
Shiva noticed them, but was unable to take her attention away. "Head toward the grainery!"
People began scurrying toward the exit—some tripping over splintered floorboards, others clutching weeping children. Mary shoved the little girl toward the fleeing crowd, her apron now stained with the child's terrified tears.
As everyone began walking out, harold too decided to leave. If he didn't heal his arm, he'd be a useless corpse. "Ill leave the rest up to you then, Shiva. Thanks." He quickly followed the crowd of people. If anyone were to see the exit, they would see mary holding him up. As they walked towards the grainery.
Shiva didn't have time to respond. The undead woman's fingers elongated into razor-sharp talons, carving furrows through the air as she lunged. Shiva pivoted, her blade singing as it deflected one strike—then another—but the third grazed her ribs, shredding fabric and flesh alike. The scent of her own blood flooded her nostrils, metallic and warm.
"Enough games" The Man removed his trenchcoat as his body got taller and skinnier, horns sprouted from his temples and his hair dissapeared his eyes became slit and his skin became purple.
Chase barely dodged as the demon's elongated arm speared through the wall where his head had been. The creature—no longer bothering with human guise—flexed its clawed fingers, the air around them warping unnaturally. Damian's axes came down in a flaming arc, but the demon twisted its torso impossibly, letting the blades pass harmlessly through the space it had occupied a millisecond prior.
The demon swatted them both away, heavy gashes appearing on their figures as the crashed on the other sides of the estate. His voice sounded like the cries of many in a terrible chorus.
"Come, attack again. Surely you'll make it this time!" The demon quickly dashed towards chase, a knee crashed into Chase, sending him flying out of the estate through a wall.
Andrew was fighting the brute as he heard chase get flung. He quickly took all the blood in the area and his eyes glowed a bright yellow. The brute was quickly blasted back by blood.
'We need something final. Maybe we should run.'
Andrew was second guessing alot in his mind.
The undead woman was still fighting Shiva—but she was losing. Shiva's blade carved through her ribs with a wet crunch, hellfire searing the wound shut before regeneration could begin. The creature shrieked, her third eye rolling wildly as she stumbled back—only for Shiva to reverse her grip and drive the sword through its throat. The blade erupted from the back of her neck, ichor sizzling against the steel. Donny sealed the deal, striking the burning spots, his short sword piercing all the way to her core.
As it shattered. She fell, her body turned into a heeo of corrosive sludge the began melting the floor. Donny: "thats one, Chase can't be in good shape"
Shiva: "Then hurry."