Dravisha vs. Sebastian

"Lord, have mercy," Kurt muttered.

Dravisha glanced nervously at the bald artificer who now had his head bowed in silent prayer. She knew that whatever that beam was, it was not good for her, and she needed to get the hell out of dodge. With desperate beats of her wings, she flew away as fast as she could. She used the night to cover herself, making her nearly invisible. 

After she heard a loud crack, she turned around to look, only to see a luminous winged figure shoot upwards, its ethereal form stunning her. Long golden wings glided through the starlit sky. The scroll had imbued divine power upon the figure soaring toward her.

She knew she was slower, yet she flew desperately. She needed the advantage of the shadows, and the best place for her to be to exploit her powers was the forest. Before she reached the forest outskirts, the figure intercepted her, his sword nearly slicing her in two.

Dravisha blocked the sword with a desperate shadow blast, barrel rolling out of the way just as the blow connected. The raw turbulence from the clash, however, sent her crashing into the branches and trunks of the trees, tumbling along the forest floor. 

She groaned and arched her back in pain. Wiping ichor from her mouth, she got up with gritted teeth. She ignored the throbbing at her side as she glared up at the glowing figure in the sky.

"That's some advanced magic you got there, mortal," Dravisha said.

"To take out a demon such as yourself requires extraordinary power," The man said. "It's rather unfortunate, I was quite hoping to use this scroll for more profitable ventures."

His hand-and-a-half sword dripped with ice magic as he hovered closer. His wings appeared to propel him with some kind of levitation rather than through the wind. He was tall, lean, and had dark brown hair slicked back. He looked wealthy, clad in an enchanted cuirass and a billowing azure cape, various enchanted trinkets and talismans gleaming on his person.

Dravisha got into a low pouncing position, knowing full well not to take this fight lightly. "You must be the Company leader," Dravisha said.

"Indeed, I am. Feldhauptmann Sebastian von Adlersburg. I must say you are quite the intriguing specimen. I've never seen a Demoness as powerful as you are," He said with a charming smile.

"No mortal has summoned one such as I in a long time," Dravisha said with a playful bow as she concentrated mana into her hand. "You mortals have become more cautious over the years. We used to walk the earth more often in the old days."

"I've heard the legends," Sebastian said. 

His form blurred as he initiated the first strike. Dravisha used the darkness to disperse energy in front of her, momentarily draining his momentum and allowing her to dodge. His sword carved into the tree behind her, turning the bark to ice. Frost spread along the tree trunk before he pulled the sword out again.

Dravisha expanded a domain of darkness and wreathed herself in shadows. Light vanished, and Sebastian could see almost nothing. His wings increased the radiation of holy light to counteract the darkness, but Dravisha had already disappeared from her spot.

The Demoness had used the distraction to take off and silently fly in circles around Sebastian. She needed to finish the fight here and now; she knew he would pursue her relentlessly otherwise. Better to eliminate him.

As she moved, she threw shadow daggers at her opponent. He parried each attack with his sword, anticipating their direction even without seeing the Demoness.

Dravisha giggled lightly, sending tendrils of terror down to her opponent. They proved largely ineffective; Sebastian was highly resilient against mind attacks. Still, the accumulation of sneak attacks, coupled with the constant psychic assault, gradually wore him down.

He shot illuminating light in all directions hoping to reveal his opponent. A beam passed by Dravisha by mere inches, revealing her position.

"There you are," Sebastian said as he blurred towards the demoness with a horizontal slash. Dravisha had to angle herself back and flew back as fast as she could, but the sword still grazed her, leaving a freezing slash on her that stung like hell. She screeched as the frost burned into her, but quickly focused her demonic essence, combating the freezing damage and containing its spread.

His cold, pale blue eyes burned with sadistic glee as he stared down at her and quirked his lips. "Did that sting?"

Dravisha smiled coyly, the thrill of the fight and the challenge of a worthy opponent lighting a dangerous spark in her crimson eyes. "You remind me quite a bit of an old friend," She purred

"Oh, I didn't know demons had friends," Sebastian said in a cold tone. 

"Ah, but we do. Life would be such a bore without them." She pouted.

Sebastian could agree with that. "Quite an astute observation for a demon." He raised his sword at her. "Your friend must be a rather dashing fellow."

"Oh, hardly, he was self-conceited, small-minded, and petty, which is why he never saw it coming when I tore him limb from limb and beat him to death with them." Dravisha laughed before shooting a giant shadow blast.

Sebastian was knocked back, and the explosion of the blast tore through the enchantments of his armour and talismans. Part of his skin melted from the corruption, searing him with agony and igniting his rage. He screamed from a mix of agony and fury.

"You'll pay for that," He snarled as his wings fully unfurled, stopping his momentum. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were blazing from fury and pain. With a beat of his wings, he rocketed toward the demoness, slashing wildly at her.

"It took all Dravisha's concentration to parry and dodge the relentless stream of attacks. With mana-coated hands, she redirected the blade, her wings beating frantically to carry her backward. She used the trees as obstacles. Her thousands of years of existence and training had instilled in her extreme situational awareness, allowing her to dart through the branches and trunks without even looking.

Sebastian, meanwhile, tore through the trees like a berserker, simply slicing down the obstacles as he pursued her. 

"Is that all you are capable of? Just running and dodging?" He taunted. 

"It's called strategy, darling. Maybe you've heard of it," Dravisha responded as she flittered between two trees, setting up a tendril as an invisible string. 

A moment later, Sebastian burst through the string, caught off guard. The string tore into his armour before it snapped, causing searing pain along with a momentary loss of control. He tumbled through the air, caught by multiple branches, before Dravisha capitalized on her advantage, unleashing a shadow blast against him at point-blank range.

He was knocked back into multiple trees before being caught with a sudden thud. Blood burst from his lungs as he coughed. Dravisha did not relent. Immediately following up, she unleashed a flurry of shadow daggers. Sebastian only had a split second to respond and he immediately parried the attacks with his ice blade. Still, a few of the daggers glanced off his side, causing more searing pain.

Dravisha flew straight at Sebastian, in her right hand, she concentrated mana to unleash another point blank shadow blast and finish the fight. Her impact blast tore through the tree behind Sebastian, sending thousands of splinters in every direction. A thick cloud of acrid corruption spread around them, obscuring all vision. A triumphant smirk adorned Dravisha's face as she confidently flew in front of the cloud.

To her surprise, a sword suddenly thrusted into her abdomen, turning her smile into a panicked choke. Ichor belched from her mouth as she saw the disfigured face of Sebastian emerge from the cloud. He had dodged the attack at the last possible moment, saving himself from its full brunt. Yet, as his nearly melted appearance attested, it had cost him dearly.

"Die demon," He roared with unrestrained hate. His pain was unimaginable, and the only thing keeping him from going into shock was uncontrollable rage.

Ice spread up her abdomen, and she knew she would quickly die. Instead of pulling away, she further impaled herself on the sword and grabbed him. Without hesitation, her lips clashed against his, and she pulled him into a deep kiss. It wasn't a passionate kiss; there was no lust involved. It was a kiss of pure survival. A demon could sustain itself as long as it had enough demonic essence, even if they were fatally wounded. 

Through their kiss, Dravisha was draining Sebastian's emotions, his essence, his very being and converting it all into demonic essence, just like she was doing with Jenny. The only difference was that Dravisha was very careful in siphoning her witch, with Sebastian, however, she was unrestrained.

Sebastian's eyes widened with fear as he realized what she was doing. "Mngh hngh," He groaned muffled into the searing kiss as he frantically pushed her away. But it was no use, Dravisha sank her claws in as she pulled him flush against her. Their beating hearts met. He desperately punched, clawed and tore at her, but Dravisha accepted every bit of punishment as she continued to feed. 

She held on for dear life, because if she allowed him to slip out of her grasp, she would die. Ice covered most of her abdomen now and was fighting up towards her chest, her demonic essence struggling to contain the spread. Their kiss was a desperate and messy affair as they both fought for their life.

As seconds passed, Sebastian's struggling became weaker and weaker. His hands fell to the side as he lost the strength to pull them up. Dravisha finally pulled out the ice blade, dropping it off to the side. She gripped the back of his neck and deepened the kiss as she saw the last moments of his life flash before him. His body turned cold and pale, until finally he became an empty husk, his pale blue eyes staring vacantly into the distance with a single tear rolling down his cheek.

She let go, letting him fall to the ground with a quiet thud. Licking her lips, she looked down at her almost healed abdomen. Frost still covered her corset, but it was no longer life-threatening. She let out a sigh of relief before collapsing to the ground alongside him.