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Devil Worshipper Wearing demon-hide armor, a lone Inferno Knight stood against about a dozen and a half men and women. His Aura of Hellfire illuminated his body. "Surrender yourselves in the name of Hades," he ordered, "or I shall slay you all." For about half a minute, everyone was silent. "Well?" the impatient Knight asked. "No," Stephanie answered. "What?" was the Knight's response. "We're not surrendering," Stephanie shouted back. "Come and fight if you want." "Very well," the Inferno Knight calmly said, and he rushed at Stephanie. He moved inhumanly fast. All that Vince could see was a red blur. Stephanie screamed in terror and held her staff in front of her, forming a Holy barrier, which protected her from the Knight's sword. "Help me!" Stephanie cried. "Vince!" Yet, Vince did nothing as the Inferno Knight gathered Hellfire energy into his blade, making it glow a bright orange. The Knight then swung his sword through the barrier. Stephanie screamed as her Holy shield shattered into pieces. She would have been finished then if a shower of particle shots hadn't rained on the Inferno Knight. However, those shots never reached his body. As soon as they touched his Hellfire Aura, they evaporated. The Knight momentarily turned his head toward Alice, and while he was distracted, Stephanie ran for it, but the Inferno Knight soon followed. Stephanie frantically cast a spell, and the Angelhair threads reached for the Knight, but they, like the particle blasts, burned up in his Hellfire Aura. "Here!" Kanin shouted. Stephanie ran past him, and as the Knight approached, he carefully aimed and fired bullets at his head. Unfortunately, that, too, was useless. The Hellfire Aura stopped everything. Kanin uttered a four-letter word, then ran for it, but he tripped over a crack in the concrete. The Knight approached, and Kanin hastily rolled over and aimed his gun, but the longsword came slashing down. The Inferno Knight's power was as inhumanly great as his speed. Kanin's body was tore in half and a large gash was cut in the concrete. "Kanin!" Darria screamed. The woman madly charged at the Knight, screaming and firing, but when she reached the Knight, he simply swung horizontally, cutting Darria in half at the chest. "Vince! What are you doing?" Stephanie cried. "Fight!" "He's human," Vince replied. An image of Tina stopped him. "I can't hurt him." Stephanie swore. Then, a boy about Steph's age attacked with a long wooden stick. The stick snapped in half from the impact, but the attack seemed to never reach the Knight. No, the stick had been broken by the Hellfire, and now, as both pieces burned, the Knight stabbed the boy through the chest. Two more Pedosians rushed the Knight. He quickly removed the blade from its human sheath, setting the boy ablaze. Then, with two quick cuts, one defender lost his head, and another was cut at the waist. "Vince!" Stephanie shouted. "He's killing everyone. You have to stop him. Kill just one guy, and no more people will die." Still, Vince was reluctant. He could only watch as the Inferno Knight killed two more. He slashed another man across his forehead, spilling his brain material. Another teen was stabbed in the throat. A woman with a gun fired frantically, but the Inferno Knight counter-attacked. First, she lost her hands. Then, as she screamed and ran, she lost her legs and fell to the ground. The Inferno Knight then lifted her by her hair and stabbed through the back of her head. On the other side, the blade emerged from between the girl's eyes. As another man came in to attack, the Inferno Knight slashed his belly open. "Vince, what's wrong with you?" Alice screamed. She grabbed her brother's arm and shook him furiously. Still, Vince did nothing. Frustrated, she kicked him in the shin, only to injure herself on his armor. "Ow!" she cried as she grabbed her hurting toes. A teenage girl jabbed a long metal pole into the back of the Knight's head, but somehow, it ricocheted off the Hellfire and went upward. The Inferno Knight quickly spun around and tripped the girl. Then, he grabbed the pole and, even though it wasn't sharp, impaled the girl through the belly. With unnatural strength, he shoved the pole into the concrete pinning her to the floor through her gut. Another man charged at the Inferno Knight from a distance, screaming his agony. Smiling, the Knight channeled Hellfire energy into his sword until, again, it glowed bright orange. When the man arrived, the Inferno Knight swung the blade. There was an explosion as the man's burning body burst into several pieces and went flying into the horizon. Next, the Inferno Knight turned toward Alice and Robert. Alice still fired at him even though she had already seen that the particle shots simply did not work. The Knight charged with incredible speed, and Robert and Alice only barely dove out of the way in time. Then, a thick, bright beam of Holy magic smashed into the Inferno Knight from behind. The blast shoved the Knight, scraping him across several yards of concrete. "Vince!" Stephanie cried. "They're all gone! He killed them all!" An infuriated Inferno Knight then ran at Stephanie, holding his sword in front of him. Steph closed her eyes and meditated upon the Scales of Justice. "He... killed them all..." Vince said to himself, as though he had only begun to understand. "They're... all gone..." Blood stained his eyes. The whole world became red. Stephanie fired the Holy beam, the Scales of Justice, but the Inferno Knight held his ground. Holy energy bounced off his Hellfire Aura and splattered in all directions. "Tina, you have to let me fight," Vince begged. "Please, don't hate me for this." It was as though the blade were cutting the Scales of Justice. The Knight held the longsword against the beam, and it deflected the beam to each side of him. Then, with his power, he walked toward Steph, pushing against the force of the Scales. Vince realized Stephanie was in danger. "Stephanie!" he roared. Just as the Inferno Knight was about slash Stephanie, the Inferno Fiend tackled him. Yet, the Knight's Hellfire Aura still protected him. Even as Vince touched the flames, he felt himself burning. He, the Dark Fiend of the Inferno of all people, burned. The Knight bounced back a few yards and staggered back to his feet. "What the...?" Vince asked as he stared at the singe marks on his gauntlets. "Hellfire," the Knight explained. "It's over a million times hotter than your flames, and this--" He pointed to his own flaming aura. "This is only a fragment of that flame." The Knight lunged at Vince, who leapt back several yards, then jumped back in for a leaping kick. Then, when the Knight counter-attacked with a swing of his sword, the Fiend kicked off his blade and performed a back flip. Then, a quick cartwheel brought him just out of the Knight's range as his sword swung by again. When the Knight charged again, Vince dropped hard to the right, and the Inferno Knight sailed right past him. However, the Knight was quick to change direction, and he dashed at Vince again. Suddenly, hundreds of yellow threads appeared in front of him, tying themselves into a web of sorts. The Inferno Knight ran right into this tangle of Angelhair, and Stephanie completed the spell, summoning more Angelhair all around him, trying to bind the Knight completely. It failed, though. Imbuing his blade with Hellfire energies, the Knight slashed through the cocoon of yellow string. With a roar of rage, he then leapt at Stephanie, his blade extended right in front of him, aimed right for the young girl's heart. Vince interrupted with a mighty kick, knocking the Knight off target just enough to let Steph to escape. The girl then blasted the Knight with a Holy beam, knocking him off balance. Vince rushed him and punched. A steel blade blocked the gauntlet. The Inferno Fiend then crouched and allowed his adrenaline to manifest itself as a shockwave of flame. As the Inferno Knight staggered back, Vince heard him grunt. It was then that he realized the Hellfire Aura's one weakness. Screaming a great warcry, Vince dashed in with flaming gauntlets. This time, the gauntlet not only pierced the protective Aura of Hellfire, it even connected with the Inferno Knight's forehead. He shouted as nerves flared up on his face, and he staggered back several steps before completely collapsing. "What happened?" he groaned as he slowly climbed to his feet. "My Hellfire Aura... it should have burned you to a crisp!" "Hellfire might be better than regular fire," Vince answered, "but in the end, they're still the same. They're still fire-elemental. While your Hellfire can still hurt me, my attack is so similar to your Aura that when the two of the combine, they merge just a little. I used this to my advantage and wrapped myself in flame, so that I could trick your Hellfire Aura into letting me through." "Then, next time, I won't even let you get close," the Inferno Knight shrieked. Hellfire poured into the Knight's blade. He dove at the Inferno Fiend, extending his blade outward. Seeing the attack, Vince ducked aside and sent a flaming upward kick toward the Knight's sternum, but he reacted. Moving his blade down and to the side in a single diagonal motion, he slashed Vince's armored leg. The longsword released its Hellfire, spawning a massive explosion that tossed the Vince aside. It was painful. Vince felt as though his leg were being torn off. Shards of armor shattered from his shin-guards. "I really should help him," Stephanie thought, "but Vince just showed us that the only thing that can hurt that Inferno Knight is a fire-elemental attack, which only Vince has. I'd hate to make Vince fight by himself, but it looks like I'll have to wait it out." The Inferno Fiend groaned. Still on the ground, he saw out the corner of his eye the Knight, slowly advancing on him, his sword carelessly at his side. All of a sudden, Vince sprang forward. He threw an attack with a burning right hand, but the Knight was quick with his blade. When Vince saw the blade move under his attacking arm for the counter-attack, he jumped and tried to convert his attacking momentum into a fiery kick. Unfortunately, the Knight ducked under Vince's attack and counter-attacked with an upward swing. Immediately, Vince leapt out of the way. "Damn!" Vince thought. "I try to attack him, but his blade keeps getting in the way. I gotta disarm him, but how? Maybe... I can break his blade." The time for deciding his next move ended abruptly as the Inferno Knight sprinted at him. Vince, too, dashed at his opponent, gathering massive flame energies. They arrived. The Inferno Knight swung his blade. Vince let loose a scorching punch. They clashed. The explosion blocked off all visibility for several seconds. When the cloud of flame finally disappeared, Vince's right gauntlet rested on the Inferno Knight's blade. The gauntlet was shattered. The blade was perfectly intact. Right away, the Knight gathered the Hellfires and slammed Vince with his sword, using such unnatural power that Vince went sailing several feet through the air. Laughing, the Inferno Knight charged at the fallen Fiend, prepared to finish him off. "No!" Stephanie cried. She ran in the way. The Inferno Knight attacked and, for the second time that day, hit a Holy Barrier. Again, he charged his blade with Hellfire energy. "Wait," Stephanie thought as she eyed the sword. "His blade. It's--" Releasing its stored energy, the sword smashed through Stephanie's barrier. As the Knight recharged his sword, Stephanie gave a quick prayer, and angel wings sprouted from her back. The Knight swung his blade across. Stephanie gently floated back, avoiding the edge of death. Then, the Knight swung downward, and Steph flitted to the side, easily dodging the sword. Stephanie then replied with a Holy shot, which the Knight blocked. He attacked again, an attack that Stephanie easily dodged, using the agility of the angel wings she wore. Angrily, the Knight attacked again and again, and each time, Stephanie dodged, always hovering slightly above the ground, always keeping a safe distance from her foe without drifting too far. The Knight made one last attack, roaring with his rage. This time, Steph chose not to evade. Instead, she blocked with a Holy shield. Although the Inferno Knight's longsword had been charged with Hellfire, this time, he failed to shatter the barrier. "What?" the Knight gasped his shock. "It didn't work!" Charging her staff with Holy energy, Stephanie jabbed the blade end against the Knight's sword. It shattered, throwing shards of broken steel all around them. "My sword..." the Knight said, still overcome with surprise. "How...?" "Simple. Remember when Vince hit your sword?" Stephanie asked. "Well, even though he didn't break it, he left some small cracks in it. There's air in those cracks, so when you charge your sword up, Hellfire gathers in those cracks and leaks out through those cracks. All I had to do was stall while your blade leaked energy. Then, when you tried to hit me with a weakened blade, it left you wide open for a counter-attack." "That's twice you've exceeded my expectations," the Knight muttered. "This is an embarrassment. I cannot let you make a fool out of me any longer!" The Inferno Knight discarded his broken weapon, and his Hellfire Aura expanded until it covered him in a thick, three-foot layer. Stephanie's pant leg caught fire, and she flew back, beating at her burning pants to put out the flame. "I'll introduce you all to the wrath of Hades!" he shrieked maniacally through the blaze. "I hope you all burn in Hell!" He drew a dagger from his belt and lunged at Stephanie. In response, she fired a Holy bolt, which hit the Knight and stopped him just long enough for her to crawl away. "His shield's down!" Alice yelled as she fired several shots. "No, wait, Alice!" Robert pushed her gun aside. "His Hellfire Aura ain't gone. He just spread it out so he can burn stuff with it." As the particle shots arrived, the Inferno Knight raised his arm to protect his head. The shots hit him in various shops on his demon-hide armor, leaving burn marks and a few small holes. Immediately following, he dashed toward Alice, his dagger extended. Vince grunted as he slowly climbed to his feet and shook the dizziness from his head. Seeing the Knight charge at Alice, he roared and dashed at him, but the Knight heard his footsteps and turned to face him. Vince had no time to stop himself from running into the Inferno Knight's dagger, but he had time to put up his left arm. The sharpened steel pierced Vince's armor and skewered his arm. Even at this distance, he could feel the expanded Hellflames burning at his flesh. The Knight removed the dagger and lunged. The blade tore through his dragon-engraved armor and embedded itself into Vince's chest. The Inferno Fiend shouted his pain, and the Inferno Knight responded by pushing the knife even deeper. Vince grabbed the Knight's arm and, with both hands, tried to pull the knife back out. Yet, even by touching the Knight's armor, even though he himself wore metal gauntlets, Vince still received a sharp, stinging burn in his fingers. At that moment, Vince realized that he was touching the Inferno Knight himself, not his Aura of Hellfire. He remembered Stephanie's Holy shot and that Alice's particle shots. They, too, had reached the Knight. Despite the wound in his chest, Vince called forth the flames and unleashed a mighty blaze at the Inferno Knight, all at point-blank range. The Knight screamed as the fires engulfed him and threw him across the parking lot. The concrete below fragmented as the Knight slammed into the ground. "Impossible!" he roared. By now, his Hellfire Aura was completely faded away. "You're mistake," Vince explained, "was in switching your Hellfire to offense. Unfortunately, you can't have both offense and defense at the same time. By increasing Aura's offensive power, you let down your defense, and that was how we were able to break through. You sacrificed your own barrier so you could burn everything around you. How foolish." Vince slowly approached the fallen Knight. "It's over. You lose." "No," the Knight said. Then, he screamed, "Not yet!" Far surpassing the already unnatural speeds he attained before, he came to his feet and, in a single motion, dashed forward. Vince barely rolled out of the way in time, but he wasn't the Knight's target. He had aimed for Stephanie, and by the time Vince realized this, Stephanie had already been stabbed in the belly. She screamed. "Stephanie!" Vince cried. The image of Tina that had weighed down his body finally faded completely. With anger and hatred in his heart, Vince ran at the Inferno Knight. The Knight spun around and tried stab him, but the Inferno Fiend caught his arm. With a scream of savagery, he tore the Knight's arm off, spilling blood and muscle tissue. Tearing the knife from his death grip, Vince aimed the dagger right between the Knight's eyes. Just as the knife began to touch the Knight's forehead, Tina's visage reappeared. "Tina," Vince whispered. Then, he shouted at his body, "No, stop! Stop it!" But he could not stop the knife. It stabbed into the Inferno Knight's brains. He fell to the floor, his own dagger impaled in his head. Elsewhere, Stephanie, grunting and groaning, waved her hand over her belly, casting a Healing spell over her newest wound. Vince collapsed to the ground. His armor liquefied and his black hide became skin. Tears of frustration, tears of fear, tears of self-pity flowed forth from his eyes. "Tina, I'm sorry," he cried through the tears, clutching his head. He then put his hands over his face and covered his eyes. Vince couldn't stand to look at Tina after the great sin he had committed. |