Noah took a deep breath and focused inward.
The battle had already pushed him close to his limits, but he could not stop now. Everyone was still fighting. Everyone was still depending on each other.
Mana flowed through his body.
He guided it into his legs first. The familiar sensation spread through his muscles and bones. Strength filled his lower body, making his stance more stable. Then he pushed mana into his arms. The power settled deep inside the muscles, making them feel lighter and stronger.
It was not enough to match Marbas. But it was better than before.
Noah raised his free hand. Four ice weapons appeared around him.
They were two swords and two spears.
The weapons floated in the air, shining with a pale blue glow. Their cold surfaces reflected small fragnts of light across the chamber.
Noah gripped his spear tighter and rushed forward.
Marbas had just recovered from the previous exchange. Traces of dark violet energy still drifted around his body like smoke.
Noah closed the distance.
Instead of thrusting straight ahead, he swung his spear upward from below.
At the sa ti, he poured mana into the stone floor.
Cracks spread across the ground beneath Marbas. A mont later, enormous ice spikes erupted upward.
They burst from the floor in every direction around the demon.
Each spike was taller than a person.
They were sharp and dense. For a brief mont, the chamber looked beautiful.
The pale blue ice reflected the torchlight, creating the appearance of frozen crystal surrounding the demon.
Marbas glanced around at the spikes. Then he threw a punch.
BOOM!
The force behind the punch exploded outward. The entire ring of ice shattered instantly.
Countless fragnts flew through the chamber.
Pieces of ice rained down like broken glass. Several shards struck Noah’s face and arms. The impacts stung, but he ignored them.
He continued forward. His spear shot toward Marbas’s chest. Cold mana surged through the weapon.
Marbas blocked the attack with his forearm.
BOOM
The impact sent vibrations through the spear.
Noah felt the shock travel into his hands, arms, and shoulders. He gritted his teeth and pushed harder.
’Damn! His too strong...we need surprise attack.’
Every bit of his mana-enhanced strength went into the attack.
For a brief mont, the two remained locked together.
Noah was using both hands and all of his strength.
Marbas was using one arm.And he still looked completely relaxed. Then Damien attacked.
A golden slash cut through the air from the side. Marbas imdiately pulled back to defend.
The pressure against Noah disappeared. Noah stepped backward and regained his balance.
At the sa ti, he commanded the floating ice weapons. The four weapons shot toward Marbas from different angles.
They were not strong enough to seriously hurt the demon, but they forced him to keep moving.
Damien took advantage of that. The swordsman was exhausted.
Noah could see it clearly now. Damien’s breathing was heavy. Sweat covered his face.
The golden glow on his sword was much weaker than before. Even so, his movents remained precise.
Every step was controlled. Every attack had purpose. He continued pressuring Marbas without wasting a single movent.
Then Noah noticed sothing. Damien adjusted his footing. It was a small change.
And he imdiately understood.
Damien was preparing his strong move.
Two golden circles suddenly appeared above Marbas.
There was no warning. One mont they were not there. The next mont they existed.
The circles rotated slowly in opposite directions.
Marbas looked up. His eyes narrowed. Then the chains appeared.
Golden chains dropped from the circles at incredible speed. The glowing links shot downward like lightning.
Marbas reacted imdiately. His body blurred. He dodged four of the chains.
But two of them connected. One wrapped around his right wrist.The other wrapped around his left ankle. The mont they touched him, smoke rose from his skin.
The chains burned him. Not like normal mana attacks. This was different.
The holy energy inside the chains directly hard his demonic body.
Marbas’s face twisted. For the first ti during the battle, he looked genuinely angry.
He pulled against the restraints.
The chains trembled. But they held him.
At least for now. Damien did not waste the opportunity.
He stood upright. Then he calmly rolled one shoulder. After that, he slid his sword back into its scabbard.
Click.
The sound echoed through the chamber. His hand rested on the hilt. Everything beca still.
For a mont, it felt like the entire battle had stopped.
Damien lowered his breathing. His eyes focused completely on Marbas.
Then he moved.
Noah barely saw it.
The sword left the scabbard and returned so quickly that his eyes could not follow the motion.
A thin blue line appeared in the air. It crossed the distance between Damien and Marbas.
Then it vanished.
Silence followed.
Then blood appeared. A red mist spread into the air. A second later, everyone saw the result.
Marbas’s right arm separated above the elbow. The severed limb fell to the floor.
Thud.
The sound echoed throughout the chamber.
For the first ti, Marbas scread. It was not a controlled reaction. It was not calm. It was pure pain and fury.
His roar shook the chamber.
The pillars trembled. The walls echoed with the sound. Then dark violet energy exploded from his body.
There was no buildup. The energy detonated instantly. The shockwave spread through the chamber.
Noah felt himself leave the ground. The force threw him backward. He crashed against the stone floor and slid several ters.
The floating ice weapons shattered the mont the energy touched them.
Pain spread through his body.
His ribs hurt. His arm was bleeding.
Still, he forced himself up. Across the chamber, Marbas stood in the center of the destruction.
The golden chains had shattered. Fading pieces of light drifted through the air.
His right arm was gone below the elbow. Blood covered his coat.
Yet his expression had beco even more dangerous.
The relaxed smile was gone. The amusent was gone.
Only cold focus remained.
Marbas pressed his remaining hand against the stump.
Dark violet energy gathered there.
The bleeding stopped imdiately. The wound sealed itself. It did not look like normal healing.
It looked like the injury had simply been denied permission to continue.
Marbas slowly looked around.
He saw Noah standing again.
He saw Damien gripping his sword despite being nearly exhausted.
He saw the others preparing themselves once more.
His jaw tightened.
"Fine," he said quietly.
Noah imdiately summoned four more ice weapons.
These ones were smaller. Faster to create. He sent them toward Marbas.
The weapons attacked from different directions.
Marbas moved.
He punched two of them apart.
Ice exploded across the chamber.
The remaining two missed as he stepped past them.
Then he rushed forward.
His target was Ken.
"I will take you first, human!"
The demon’s speed had changed.
Before, he had been holding back.
Now he moved with much greater aggression.
Ken t him head-on. Mana flared around his sword. He swung with everything he had.
The blade cut across Marbas’s shoulder.
Blood appeared. A real wound.
Ken imdiately prepared another attack. But Marbas was faster.
"Not this ti."
His remaining arm swung horizontally. The punch struck Ken directly in the chest.
The sound was horrible. Ken’s body flew through the air.
"Gaah!!" Ken scream from the pain.
He traveled several ters before crashing onto the stone floor.
He bounced once. Then he stopped moving.
"Ken!" Mary scread.
Marbas had already turned away. Ryan charged from the side.
His earth-enhanced mace ca down with trendous force.
The attack struck Marbas’s back.
For the first ti, the demon genuinely stumbled.
Only half a step.
But it was still enough to show the attack had affected him.
Ryan attacked again imdiately.
This ti Marbas caught the mace.
His hand closed around the heavy weapon head.
Ryan pushed with all his strength.
Nothing happened.The mace did not move. Then Marbas pulled.
Ryan was dragged forward. Before he could react, Marbas slamd an elbow into the side of his head.
"Arrghh!"
Ryan collapsed instantly.
He did not get back up.
At that mont, Marina released her spell.
A powerful column of compressed wind crashed into Marbas’s back.
The force drove him forward two full steps.
His coat tore apart under the pressure.
Without hesitation, Marina launched another attack. A thick wooden lance ford from nature mana.
The projectile flew toward Marbas’s head. Marbas caught it. Then snapped it in half.
A second later he was already moving.
That was all it took.
Marina tried to retreat while creating a wind barrier.
The defensive spell ford in front of her.
Marbas punched through it.
The barrier shattered. His fist struck Marina’s shoulder. She spun from the impact and collapsed.
She managed to brace herself with one hand. But she could not stand. Then Ophelia attacked.
She had been waiting for an opportunity. Lightning covered her body. Blue sparks danced around her blade.
She moved like a bolt of lightning. Her katana struck Marbas’s unguarded side. The attack landed perfectly.
The blade cut through flesh.
Lightning exploded. The entire chamber flashed blue-white.
Marbas cried out in pain.
"Arrghhhh!!You insects! "
Ophelia imdiately attacked again.
But Marbas reacted faster. His fist smashed into her jaw. Dark violet energy exploded on impact.
Ophelia’s head snapped sideways.
The lightning around her vanished instantly. She collapsed onto the floor. And did not move again.
Noah’s heart sank. One by one, everyone was falling. He looked around the chamber.
Ken was down. Ryan was down. Marina could barely move.Ophelia was unconscious.
Mary was still standing, but only barely. It looked like as if her mana was almost depleted.
Damien was kneeling on one knee. His sword remained in his hand.
His head was lowered. He was trying to gather enough strength to continue fighting.
Marbas stood in the center of the chamber. He looked terrible compared to before.
His arm was gone. Cuts and burns covered his body. His coat was heavily damaged.
Lightning scars stretched across his ribs. But he was still standing.
And everyone else was not. Slowly, Marbas looked at Noah.
Then at Damien. Then back at Noah.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Done?" he asked.
Noah did not answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the demon.
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