Page 56 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

“Kell!” I shouted.

In an instant, Eligos appeared in front of me, drawing his sword.

“You should be worried about yourself, misfit mage.”

I tried to open the box, saturating mana in the air to create a barrier. Not fast enough. Eligos swung his sword. I was going to die. Bez was going to die. Mora and Kell were going to die.

A black fireball smashed against Eligos’ armored head, burning his helmet until tendrils sprang from the visor and smothered the fire. He halted his strike, the tip of his sword pressed against my stomach. We both turned our attention to Kell’s burning body, collapsed on the floor.

Tony was perched on the Cerberus’ back, guiding Weather into the room. Sunny held my work grimoire in his mouth. It was filled with all the incantations I’d learned over the years. Cloudy licked the black flames burning Kell’s scorched flesh and swallowed big gulps of fire. Stormy, in turn, belched the black fire and snarled. Tony used an incantation he took out of the grimoire and guided the flaming projectile at Eligos. They worked in tandem to distract Eligos, who unfortunately deflected the flames with ease, now aware of their presence. No. His posture shifted in the most minute manner, indicating he planned to zip across the room and kill my familiar and Mythic beast.

Not happening. I pried open the box and lunged at Eligos, mustering all the Diabolic essence coursing inside my body to match his speed. I jabbed the demon blade through the open slit of the knight’s visor.

Eligos shrieked, thrashing about and punching me in the stomach so hard it knocked all the air out of my lungs. I choked, breathless and shaking on the floor. The blade clinked nearby. Eligos’ armor rattled as he attempted to mend an injury his essence couldn’t.

Demon’s Demise made it impossible for Diabolics to instantly recover since it repelled their essence from wounds it inflicted.

I forced myself up and retrieved the blade, intent on stabbing every weak point in this suit of armor, but a barrage of black elements whirled around Eligos. He wailed, still incapable of stitching the injury to his face. Rocks and fire carried by wind protected him and blocked the only exit on or off the villa.

Fuck.

I raced toward Bez, grabbed his head, and ran out of the helm deeper into the villa with Weather and Tony at my side.

We needed to escape, survive, and find a way to kill this demon later.

16

Beelzebub

My head throbbed, jostling about as I swam deep in the depths of my mind, searching for all the essence I’d lost. The devil essence radiated brighter in this void of complete blackness, making it more tangible, almost alive with a will since I’d lost so much of my demon essence.

Where had it gone?

My eyes flitted, catching glimpses of a corridor and then a bright green light. I sank deeper into my mind, searching for the energy to wake up. I needed to wake up. Protect Wally.

“Shush,” Wally said with heavy, exhausted breaths. “We have to be very quiet.”

Weather whimpered, Sunny based on the joyful inflection soured by sadness. When had the dog shown up?

Wally’s breathing didn’t weigh on me, didn’t register, but I could sense the pain in his winded breaths. Why couldn’t I feel his pain? I ached all over yet couldn’t form a fist to express my fury.

Eligos attacked me.

Then what?

It was darkness. Diabolic essence boomed, noisy, screaming, blood, but all too far away.

“Bez.” Wally sobbed. “Bez, why aren’t you waking up?”

I attempted to call out, but my throat… I floated in this darkness, unable to speak. Had I lost my voice? Was it some spell? Where had my essence gone?

The blackness of devilish essence whispered, calling me deeper into the nothingness of my mind, and Wally’s voice became a hollow whisper. As I fell further away, pieces of my will drifted, remaining far from the infinite depths, and a power I never should’ve taken radiated.

Beelzebub’s power. The true strength of a devil offering me the voice I needed. Strength. An escape from this nothingness. But with my demon essence waning, lacking, lost—would I be able to harness and control such power, or would it control me?

It seemed I’d be lost in darkness no matter what I chose.

Crimson splashed in the black sea surrounding me. Oil and blood raged and swam further.

---