Demonic Magician

As it turned out, both the good and bad news were that we had some demons to kill. More struggle for this odd life in another… plane of existence? But also potential rewards. I could almost taste the next level, even over the ash trying to pet its way into my lungs.

“Do you know this type of demon well, Roger?” I asked, trying to fan some cool air on my face. It wasn’t working.

“Not like… first name basis, Boss.” He gave me a shrug and turned his purple eyes back to our potential prey.

I stared at him for a few seconds before giving up. While the heat of hell hadn’t been that bad at the start, the longer we were spending down here, the more I had started to feel it. Ren hadn’t been complaining, but her signature scowl had settled back in to be a permanent fixture once more. Wolf had been as irritated as I’d ever seen him.

We needed to find a way to acclimatize - or at least find somewhere in the hells that wasn’t so heated.

I gave up and yawned. Allowed the world to know that I was tired already. My urge to put on a show waned even if my desire to pulp demons into mush in the name of gaining experience still drove me forward.

“Let’s just play this straight, then? Ren up on a roof. Wolf, I will assist you.” I was pretty sure that one of my passives gave me heat resistance, but maybe this was something different.

The bear grunted and moved forward, but the elf just turned a tired glare toward me.

“I feel like a sack of sweaty ham cutlets, trickster. I’m worried about our long-term prospects here.” She removed her hat to fan at her face.

“You look as radiant as ever, but I understand. I’m losing my edge too.”

“Flattery gets you nowhere. Until I get a bath.” Ren swept the top hat across her body and vanished, to be replaced by a white dove.

I turned my attention to the roof a little ahead where she now stood. “Roger. This place is rather hot for us. Is there a cooler area we can move to along the way?”

He shrugged again, before catching the look in my eyes. “Sure, Boss. After we find your Imps, we can circle around the more central areas to somewhere it isn’t so oppressive.”

Although I smiled at him, there was no humor or goodwill in it. I knew that it wasn’t just the heat that was getting to me. It was how the area was steeped in demonic power. Thick with the bastards. I hadn’t lost control over the crocs, but it seemed to be wearing me down again. The current opponents had me feeling…

“Boss?”

I blinked away the haze of thoughts to see that they were waiting for me. Rolled out my shoulders and I followed on behind Wolf. Down the end of the road out of the croco-demon town and there was a field - or rather an expansive plain of pure overheated rock. Spined dinosaur-looking demons roved around in packs of three. There were scores of them, stretching out to what appeared to be a dried-out forest. No doubt our intended destination.

The creatures themselves were made of dense bone, their bodies tight bands of the gray-white material. Tusked maws and jutting spikes along their back. Bright yellow eyes in the skulls, and wide feet that looked just as deadly as Wolf’s.

“I’ll move closer once you’ve made a dent,” Ren called from the building, now slightly behind us.

I raised a hand to confirm her statement. Wasn’t much in terms of cover or vantage points within the expanse of rock. With her radiant powers, it turned her already lethal sniper rifle into a precision scalpel that tore demons from this existence. Being a demon myself, I… no, I wasn’t a demon. Had to remind myself. I was a magician.

At my signal, both Wolf and Roger ran side by side toward the first pack. I approached at a slower pace, cards twirling around my hand. Before they got the attention of the first monster, Ren struck one of the three in the head, exploding their skull with golden light.

The remaining two turned to our assault, immediately casting something that washed over Wolf and Roger - dazing and rooting them both. The bear activated a skill to wash away the debilitation and powered into them. Roger remained in place, not reacting to the other large demon coming toward him.

My cards were out, circling around the rabbit and biting into the monster. Chipping away at their bone armor before I had to release the power. Drew a critical card and launched it in a blaze of crimson to strike and burst at a foreleg, crippling the demon. Roger recovered and brought his mace up.

Wolf tore through his demon, spitting shards of bone to the ground as the rabbit finished his off with a heavy blow to their head. Ren’s next shot cracked through the air to strike the next pack, piercing through the chest and bringing up entangling roots to pin the others in place.

I hummed to myself as I stepped forward to continue to support the other two. Shot a glance back at the pack of Hellhounds who I had left back near where Ren was perched. If she was going to be out almost solo, then I wanted to leave her a backup in case something tried to sneak up on her. Plus, I didn’t want to see any more of our little flock getting turned to mist underneath the sharp feet of whatever these demons were called.

Usually the System provided a handy pop-up when I encountered something new, but it had been relatively quiet since we landed down here in hell.

Surely nothing to read into there.

While one hand idly slashed cards through the enemies, I brought up my Chat.

[Max: Hey Ruby, how are things?]

[Ruby: Peachy <{n>n}>]

[Ruby: Although we were attacked…]

[Max: Crimson Shadow?]

[Ruby: Oddly, no. A couple of assholes who worked for the marketeers, we think.]

[Ruby: We killed them - sorry if you wanted answers.]

[Max: No stress. Good to tick something off the grudge list.]

[Max: We are currently in literal hell. Let me know how you guys get on.]

[Ruby: Seriously? I can’t believe you half the time <{?>?}>]

I did want answers, in fairness. Knowing more about the group that had been stalking out Players for their gear might have added a few more bad actors that needed erasing. Who did they sell to? It must have been the couriers that Ruby and Fiona had just gotten rid of, so hopefully that was at least a chapter ended, even if further corruption still lingered out there.

What most impressed me is that they had done the deed. The group had been struck with ineffective indecision when we met them, hunkered down in place with the fighter, who was unable to lead the gathered Parties toward any sort of goal. Now that they were returning to the second area, it sounded like Fiona had gotten a confidence boost and knew how to deal with the stakes. Sparing the paladin looked to have worked out in their favor as well.

Good. We’d need them to step up soon enough.

My focus returned to the battlefield, and in my peripheral I noticed three of the demons baring down on me. Perhaps I should have been paying more attention.

Cannon went out in front of me just before they arrived, my Spear of Luck splitting the head of the first in half. Ren shot the second, blowing out the shoulder joint, causing it to crash into the dried ground and slide my way. Third circled around my siege weapon and chose to dance with me.

Cards out and I whipped them around like flashing blades. Damage wrought but not enough to fell it. It attempted to gore me but I turned and dulled the attack, so instead just tumbled to the ground from the force. Dusted up my sweaty suit.

Hand was shaking as I stood to my feet, but it wasn’t from fear or damage.

Power meter was rising.

I had come too close to the demons and now my Hunter past was disgusted and angered. The dinosaur attempted a second goring attack, but this time I blocked it with and grabbed hold of one of its many tusked prongs emerging from its head. Magic card bloomed in my other hand and I sunk as much energy as I could into it before I plunged it down like a knife. Through the skull and into the brains.

Ren’s shot finished off the wounded one, and I looked over at the other pair of our Party as the one I killed slumped to the ground. We had been drawing too much aggro. Wolf had three on him, while Roger had two of his own. Even as I stepped toward them, another trio was coming up on my left again.

Well, two could play that game.

I turned back to my new assailants and gripped at my right wrist. Single card that I sunk all my power into, draining some of my life. Behind me, the padding of my hound horde approaching. It would take a bit of micromanagement, but as I blinked away the amber hue of hell, I started to see the underlying threads of everything.

White glove was now wrapped around my outstretched hand, even as warm blood started to soak through it.

They were slightly more unwieldy than my cards, but I’d always had a mental connection to direct the demon dogs… with some focus, I could…

And there it was. Card released just as the large demons collided with me. I closed my eyes and planned the show out from the safe darkness of my own mind.

All movements in wireframe, my mental notebook planning out the choreography of it all. As the first went to gore me, I’d step to the side so that a hound could take a bite - but before the creature could retaliate, my pup would move away. Like a conductor, I moved the little shapes of my summons in my mind. Avoiding the slower and deliberate attacks of my enemies - the hellhounds would fall back into safety on one side while others darted in uncontested.

While this was happening, my illuminated card scored through the scene in my mind. Sometimes just to damage, and others to waylay or block an attack going toward my little helpers.

Despite being doused with sweat, I felt cooler. More at peace.

Even as the show got more complicated, the flow of it was just… perfect, in a way. A practised precision that felt natural. Could feel my hands burning, but otherwise this was relaxing. A meditative state, almost.

Stage directions to the most accurate degree, playing out in real time even though I was well away from the situation.

But then it was over - a gap in production as my hounds had nothing to weave within, no more targets for my card to interact with. I let go of all the threads I had been controlling, and my eyes blinked open.

“Max! Max you asshole!”

I turned my head and pulled a face. Seems as though I had become an overachiever once more. Caught red-handed, soaked with my own blood. A river of broken gray demons lay between my throng of hounds and the perturbed elf as we had fought our way far beyond the original trio attacking us. Far beyond.

That was a lot of corpses I had to go back to loot.