CHAPTER 42:The Elders and Demon Clash

"That was a close one" Vince sighed in relief, when another somersault had brought him out of the range of a devastating punch that shook the entire tower.

Shooting two arrows before he landed on a step, Vince gave a short nod towards his other 'claw'; a signal that only the Midnights could understand.

The demon sensing something in the air raised up a forearm, blocking a nasty strike that would have headed for its neck before he sent a nasty kick that forced Alexandre to disengage.

Using the small gap of time that Alexandre's attack gave, the two Claws shot. But to their utter amazement the demon showed no sign of pain as the projectiles sunk into its obsidian neck and instead continued to run straight for Vince who at the moment had his back to the wall, with no sure route of escape.

Vince continued to fire more arrows at the charging demon that was just seconds from goring him. "One down" the demon smiled, covering the distance between the two with a speed that looked impossible for a creature of his bulk.

And then something strange happened, something that not even the wily Alexandre could foresee.

*CRASH*

"Sh*t! the demon roared mostly out of pain when he collided with the dwarven stone wall that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. A loud cracking noise followed the even louder bellow of pain, Vince on the other hand stood shocked, looking at Alicia who now stood in front of him;with such awe that one would think he had met a goddess.

Everything had happened suddenly and so fast that only Vince's sharp eye; having been trained to hit the smallest of targets, could notice what had saved him.

Mere seconds before the demon crashed into him, a flash of light appeared and instead of a dreadful demon impaling him, Vince to his utmost joy saw a beautiful dark skinned mage panting from obvious exhaustion.

Alexandre and Cassandra didn't need another explanation before they made use of the opportunity that Alicia had provided.

With his sword glinting in the slowly rising sun Alexandre charged forward aiming for the demon's neck as he began the maneuvers necessary for his finishing move.

The demon sniffing the air could sense that a foe was approaching but alas his horns still remained embedded inside the dwarven stone.

"Roar! The demon shouted breaking more bones in the neck as he turned around with all his energy, breaking the tip of the giant horns and finally freeing himself from the seemingly impenetrable stone.

Two arrows at that instant struck his already broken neck making him to collapse to one knee.

And then Alexandre struck, lunging forward with a stab that his prey desperately tried to avoid, but unfortunately for the demon the stab was only a feint that was meant to pave way for the main attack.

Moving his feet quickly and straining all of his shoulder and back muscles, Alexandre spun around on the dot, shifting the blade to land with a deadly slash that headed straight for the demon's neck.

"NO it won't end now" the demon panted gathering all of his energy and straining a severely twisted neck to release a heavy obsidian punch in an effort to protect himself from what seemed to be the unstoppable end.

*BOOM*

The sound of a pained roar and that of a shattering blade echoed through the ruins moments before, the first bright lights of the morning took over, illuminating the darkness with the vain hopes that as the day broke so did all of the evil and problems of the previous hellacious night.

Vince's eyes squinted a little before they opened up, glad at the sight before him.

Leaning against the wall was a bloodied white haired elf who was wheezing as he struggled to breathe with the deep bloody line across his throat.

Towering above Wulfe stood Alexandre; proud and tall.

Taking a look at the shattered blade in his bleeding palm, Alexandre smiled a little before his gaze locked with a sitting Alicia that winced every now and then as a result of the massive spell that had protected Alexander from dying with the demon.

The nod from the mage told him that death was too good for the traitor and it seemed the sun would still have use of Wulfe. Or rather the Demon, for even Alexandre couldn't exactly say who was beneath those malicious eyes.

The demon inside Wulfe would have roared in outrage over his defeat but could only stare with hatred at the mortals that had managed to stop him.

"In the end I still couldn't accomplish my end of the bargain" he coughed. "But still Draghyr would still be pleased with the fact that the location of the 'Chosen one' has finally been found".

"Still I'm pretty sure the shame of this defeat will follow all the way to the forsaken realm" the demon sighed using his left and only arm in a vain effort to stop more precious blood from flowing out.

His defeat had happened mostly due to the demon's arrogance that had made him fall prey to the trap that Vince and Cassandra had set up from the beginning. Though him charging for Vince and ignoring Cassandra's poison arrows hadn't been expected so as Alicia using one of her trump cards to switch places with the demon. The plan still worked perfectly all the way to the last ditch fireball courtesy of Alicia that missed Alexandre by an inch before it destroyed the demon's right arm in one fell swoop, leaving him open for the fatal slash that would have normally beheaded most creatures if not for the last ditch contraction of neck muscles that managed to keep his head attached but was still not enough to stop the silver blade from sinking deep into his flesh before it broke.

…

"You have a lot of questions to answer demon" Alicia smiled; moving her hands in complicated patterns as she began the spell necessary to seal him into place.

"Not today" the demon smiled.

"ALEXANDRE! Alicia shouted in warning when a violent surge of mana revealed to her that the demon was ready to close the curtains on this 'play'.

Fortunately for the 'Hunter' a massive leap towards the side saved him from the bright crimson flames that surrounded what was left of Wulfe's body.

"I'm so glad that's over" Vince smiled.

"Not quite" Alicia sighed. "He is not dead, or rather the demon is not dead". She stomped her foot in anger and continued

"Rather the contract used to summon him had been rendered void which would explain why he was in such a hurry".

"So he couldn't perform his own part of the contract?

"Apparently" Alicia replied. "Though it's rare for you to see one that has a time limit, especially if the cost used to obtain it was the soul of a supreme.

"Which means the demon is still very much alive and has simply been sent to his realm upon failing to fulfill his end of the bargain". Alicia after this gave a quick smile

"Be rest assured however, for it means that Wulfe wouldn't be having an afterlife and our dear demon is probably going to go through series of punishment for not holding his own end.

"Though I wonder what exactly the contract wanted him to fulfill" Alexandre said.

"What about him? Vince asked, pointing at the still sleeping Bethran.

"I think it will be best for us to keep it a secret and maybe question him later privately" Cassandra suggested.

The rest all nodded in agreement before they continued up the tower to find Leo who they hoped was still alive, and any signs of the missing Superintendent.