Page 87 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

Essence circulated around me, primal and base, lacking any real awareness as it lapped at my fleeting mana. It would do better possessing me, but it had no understanding of how given it lacked sentience.

I widened my eyes. That was it.

Bez refused to possess me after losing so much essence because he worried about the collision of consciousnesses, but these Diabolics no longer had a consciousness to collide with mine.

Still, this idea would probably kill me—a mortal or Mythic could only contain so much essence inside them at any given moment before it destroyed them. Bez took precise measurements when sharing his essence, very particular to offer enough to keep me safe, us connected, but not so much it devoured me from within. In order to stop Eligos, I’d need a lot. Enough to heal my injuries, to rescue Bez, to keep up with the knight’s abilities. Enough to kill the demon who harmed my boyfriend.

I grabbed a shard of glass from a broken orb that stuck to the essence, which fed on the fading incantation I’d cast. Looking away, I sliced my palm. Sure, I’d already broken the wrist, but something about actually seeing the cut made it hurt more. Like a fucking shot. I shivered at the thought of a needle stabbing my bicep. The literal worst.

Shaking away my squeamishness, I blew air onto my broken bone, slowly mending it through a simple healing spell I’d learned from Sarai during our years at the academy and had now found a masterful hack for thanks to Kell and her wicked ways.

Craving the fresh mana, the essence crawled toward me. Pinpricks hit my skin as the black sludge slithered into my open wound. I bit my other hand, stifling a yelp. Alerting Eligos would make all this for nothing. Let him think I’d fallen and passed out. Let him think he’d won.

Once the essence made its way inside me, I took a deep breath, searching for its presence. It felt nothing like Bez’s essence. There was no connection, no emotion, just raw energy. I needed more.

I slapped my broken hand onto the ground, summoning lightning until it crackled black, indicating a trace of Diabolic essence had truly rooted itself through my veins.

Essence sought me out, creeping toward me until a small horde surrounded me. Reeling back the tiny bit of essence inside me, I let the lightning burn bright and white with natural elemental casting that baited the mindless essence which stalked me. Each lumpy tendril plunged into my open wound, adding to my strength.

Inadvertently, my palm healed along with the joints in my wrist. I snatched the few remaining bits of essence that missed out on my magic due to my sealed skin and chomped down on them. Thick sludge slid against my tongue as they squirmed in my throat, latching onto my lips, reminding me of the horrid sight of Bez eating the live octopus he’d smooshed between a giant s’more. I gulped, swallowing the tarry energy.

My body buzzed. Mana and Diabolic essence hummed around me. This would work.

I balled a fist, staring at the literal aura radiating from my pores—I could see it all, nothing Diabolic hidden from my vision. Despite the presence, I didn’t feel the faintest trace of anyone else inside me, not like how possession would work. Not even how it felt having a piece of Bez linking me to him. This was just pure Diabolic power coursing through my veins.

Willing the essence, it obeyed me with the same ease Bez’s had over the last few months. I lunged, sending a torrent of telekinesis below me that sent me rocketing off the lower level of the engine room and back up to the railing beside Eligos.

I swung a fist, releasing all the pent-up rage and pain into a telekinetic punch. It landed, hitting the dent Eligos had kept on his suit of armor, sending cracks through the chest piece like splinters that added to the gaping hole in his stomach.

Maintaining the flow, I swiveled around, floating further behind the demon knight, ready to obliterate his armor altogether. Eligos caught my fist, squeezing tight until I released my telekinesis.Dammit.

“You think what you stole is enough to challenge a true Diabolic?” Eligos’ golden irises leered. “These fragments you’ve gathered pale in comparison to the demons they once were.”

Pulling his arm back and jerking me forward, he slammed my head into his helmet before flinging me back to the ground. I crashed hard, but it hadn’t hurt. The essence protected me, shielded the pain, and helped me land a lucky shot. But I needed more if I wanted to stop him.

“Perhaps enough to snuff your mortal existence, but you won’t have enough to challenge a real demon.”

Racing to a pillar, I smashed all the orbs, releasing Diabolic essence that I quickly snatched and devoured, taking so much into my body, everything slowed. I smashed another pillar and another and another. If a dozen wouldn’t stop Eligos, then perhaps a hundred would. My muscles rattled, flexing, strengthening. Every cell in my being pulsed like a billion independent warriors radiating power and demanding satisfaction for the anger consuming me—a fiery fury fueling my movements.

I shouted, throaty and feral as I commanded the essence to coat my hands in sheen black claws. The subtle hues of countless Diabolic auras bubbled and shimmered, creating a rainbow effect on my talons.

Using the same tactic as before, I studied Eligos’ movements, hoping to land a few hits before he tossed me aside, learn his patterns, and come back a third time, then a fourth, a fifth—however many more times it’d take to kill this demon.

Only that didn’t happen.

Eligos moved but so slowly that I landed a hit, darting around him, landing a second, and repeating this cycle again and again. I kept the strikes light, relying on the talons to nick his armor, repeating the process like the steady flow of erosion. I couldn’t move faster than him and hit hard at the same time, so I went for tactically wearing him down. Eventually, he shifted his posture, pivoting away from me as shadows blossomed behind him, leading to his own private void world where he planned to hide and counter, make it impossible for me to track.

I eyed my discarded dagger, the Demon’s Demise, which would kill him. Too far. Not enough time. My heartbeat pounded, thrumming in the back of my eardrums faster than the flutter of a hummingbird.

“Not happening.” I snatched his armor, digging my talons into the hole and holding him here. I remembered how Bez snatched me when under Ian’s control, preventing me from returning to Mora’s void realm in Seattle.

It hit Eligos’ armor like a cyclone: the shadows and I held the demon like a game of tug of war. And this particular rope—his armor—was precious to the demon.

His void closed as essence funneled out, prioritizing energy to fix his ripped suit. That’d be his downfall.

In a blink, I whirled behind Eligos, slashing deep into the back of the suit, claws tearing into the flesh of his Diabolic body coiled inside the armor.

When he swirled to strike, I circled him, everything moving in slow motion, then I’d hit Eligos heavy-handed, snap the world back into place, before zipping away and repeating it all over again from a different angle.

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