Page 276 of Mayhem and Minnie

“Minnie…” I call out, my voice hoarse. “Hurry up.”

Her voice picks up the pace as she speeds through the lines of the chant.

The smoke plunges up in the air again and hits once more, this time breaking the shield and flooding the inside of the sphere with the noxious demonic energy.

Minnie coughs and splutters before finally saying the last words of her chant. A bright light flashes out from her palms, enveloping the entire cathedral.

I squeeze my eyes shut, unable to look at it.

My ears ring as a sharp, screechy sound erupts in the air. I wobble on my feet, falling backward.

“Marlowe?” Minnie whispers as she comes to my side, shaking me.

I dare to open my eyes and note that the shield has entirely collapsed now. But the demon formation has been broken as well.

The demons are scattered throughout the cathedral, their chests fully healed up. There’s no more black smoke. Only a lingering bright light that still burns my eyes.

“Are you all right?”

“I think so.” I nod as I get to my feet.

Though the ritual managed to separate the demons, the hardships are far from over. They’re slowly advancing toward us again, with the closest one a mere foot away.

Minnie summons up her swords, and placing herself in front of me, she assumes a fighting stance.

The first demon steps onto the remnants of the ritual, and the moment his foot touches it, he collapses to his knee, his mouth opening on a shrilly scream. Not even a few seconds later, his entire body is pulverized, turning from physical matter to a gray, amorphous smoke that ultimately dissipates in the air.

What the…

Minnie is equally surprised.

“I’ve never seen something like that in my entire life,” she murmurs, stunned.

“It must be the ritual. He stepped on it.”

She nods. “But how do we draw the others to step on it, too?”

No sooner is the question out of her mouth than the other demons begin their attack too. They charge at us from all sides, and Minnie brandishes her swords around, cutting at them.

But these demons… Now I see why they’re high level. They mimic her weapons, though theirs are made out of that dark smoke.

While Minnie fights with a couple of demons to my right, I note a fast approaching one to my left.

I only have my retractable blade, so I block the demon’s sword with it—what a fine David and Goliath moment. Of course the sword cuts right through my tiny blade, so close to my hand that I jerk away. The handle of the knife slips from me and falls to the floor.

Minnie shoots me a worried look, but she can’t do anything since she’s surrounded by more demons now, all going at her with full force.

I suppose the only thing left to do is some bareknuckle fighting.

My palm stings. Even though the wound is healing faster than normal, it’s still not as fast as before when I had Minnie’s blood right away.

The demon charges at me with his sword, and I dodge to the side and push my palm against his shoulder while trying to take his weapon with my other hand.

I only manage to touch the dark sword before the demon’s mouth opens wide, the same shrilly sound from before coming out. He starts shaking violently and crashes to the floor. His body, too, dissolves into a gray dust that’s swept away by the night breeze.

Minnie glances at me in confusion.

This demon didn’t step into the ritual. If anything, he just…

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